After two long days of travel, we have made it to the beautiful Exumas, and we’re bobbing on anchor off of Highbourne Cay, our ‘usual’ first stop in the chain.
After a fun Sunday evening reuniting with friends with Southwest Harbor connections (they bought the first Hinckley that Andy and I ran together, and in fact it was on a mooring not far from us in Hope Town), we finally had the drenching, “fill the tanks and a few more jerry cans to boot” downpour. Monday morning Andy woke early, checked the weather and realized it was a great window for us, and also the only window for about a week. We made for it.
A long (twelve hour) day of motor sailing with the wind behind us, the major success of that leg was catching not one but two small mahi. The first was small enough that we decided to throw it back, and then began to question our logic, just as a second hit the line. Apparently the cedar plugs we were using were enticing, which is good to note. It’d been a long time (years) since we’ve caught a mahi, and with his other trips fishing with friends and not a lot of catching, Andy was thinking he was the curse on the boat. Now we’ve realized it must have been Lily. (Ha! KIDDING, Bird!) Anyway, after a moderate blood bath on the first landing (the hook must have hit just so, and the spray was impressive), we sharpened up our act and had it tidy and filleted and in the fridge and freezer in no time.
Tucking into an anchorage south of Egg Island rather than going into Spanish Wells’ ‘inlet’ after dark, we had a quick but great night’s sleep before Andy woke before dawn and sailed us off the anchor. A great wind angle, a little bit of sea, but a beautiful day’s sail ducking through the coral heads on the Yellow Bank before dropping anchor here. It was both a mental and physical game of gymnastics for Andy at the helm (I was too busy reading, of course) weaving around the coral all day. Our bimini over the cockpit (ahem, keeping the readers in the shade, as we wish) means a lot of popping in and out of the cockpit to spot the coral heads, and then maneuvering above or below them, while negotiating the sails. It looked exhausting (I thought, as I continued to read my book).
We had a quick trip ashore to grab the last few bits of produce and dairy for at least a week, since Highbourne’s store is all there is until Staniel Cay, with the length of our favorite Land & Sea Park in between. Being able to comfortably enjoy the park without running out of things is key, and Violet having green apples and me having half and half for my coffee is key to our comfort. In that sense, mission accomplished.
We also hung with the resident nurse sharks for a bit, and noted with a slight chill that the large bull shark we had seen the last time we were here is still lurking in the deeper waters off of the nurse’s shallow bank. No fishermen throwing carcasses while we were there, but the bull was lying in wait just the same. Pass on the harbor swim, that’s for sure.
In looking at the charts and plotting our general course, we’re thinking we might try some new, more obscure anchorages this year. We’ll have to hit up our favorites, of course (Shroud for its mangrove exploration, Hawksbill for its moon-like sand flats, Warderick Wells for its everything), but with a less aggressive feel to our schedule due to not meeting up with other boats or specific kid-boats, and with Violet not really caring about activities one way or another, we’ll go a bit rogue on our usual plans.
It’s just so different being three. Violet is more subdued, for sure, but the sense of traveling from some ‘thing’ to another is less apparent as a guiding force. Lily wasn’t ever insistent upon doing certain things at any point, but she is the kid who was always up for any adventure (hence her current position), and knowing that she would fold Violet into that excitement made wherever we went such an easy stop. What Andy and I are learning is that we aren’t great Lily stand-ins; Violet doesn’t so much care how excited WE are for any given experience.
That said, we are finding that now that our kids are bigger, three on the boat is easier to manage. Last year our “we’re gonna need a bigger boat!” motto came out often, as we bumped into each other in the salon, fought for coveted cockpit and movie-watching seats, and struggled to get the dinghy up on a plane. And while Andy and I are extremely jealous of the fact that V gets a queen-sized bunk to herself while we jockey for position in the 24″ width of the foot of our v-berth, Chickadee is a great boat for three people.
As we venture into the Land & Sea Park soon, we’ll likely be without WiFi, so unless we find a great new nook of service in a new anchorage, we’ll see you in Staniel!