Cruising the Exumas with family (part 2)

My parents came to stay with us for almost a week while in the Exumas. We planned lots of fun activities (and some work as well) to show them what the live-aboard lifestyle is all about. Check out the previous post (part 1) to see what their first three days aboard entailed.

Day 4: Learning to hookah dive

One of the main things my parents want to try while on this trip is the hookah dive system. Fortunately, the weather and location work out well and we are able to get it all set up. Last time we had visitors from Matt’s family, we weren’t able to use the hookah – which was pretty disappointing. We start with a quick safety briefing, before getting my parents all set up with the gear. Initially, we start by just snorkeling around the boat, while breathing through the regulator. next, we give them some weights so that they can actually go down to the bottom and get comfortable being under water. They do quite well, so we decide to try getting them over to the nearby reef, in order to give them the full experience. 

We blow up the inflatable tube for the hookah motor and swim over to the coral heads. The water is still quite shallow – around 10 feet for most of the time, but they are able to stay under a few feet and get much closer to all the coral and fish. Mostly this is just to gain comfort anyways, since they are still considering getting scuba certified. We spot lots of colorful fish, a sea turtle, and a lobster during our time exploring. There is no current today, which makes this a very serene and peaceful place to hookah (or snorkel for Matt and I). After quite some time, I eventually coral everyone back to the boat. We still have some more snorkeling to do today, so I don’t want everyone too exhausted. 

Day 4: Snorkeling the Aquarium and sunken plane

Some of the better snorkeling that we have found in the Bahamas is inside the Exuma Land and Sea Park at the Aquarium and the nearby sunken airplane. We definitely wanted to visit again with my parents, so we pack up the hookah, hoist anchor, and head that way. Typically when it’s just Matt and I, we will leave the boat anchored and travel further distances by dinghy. The dinghy gets quite slow with 4 people in it, though, so for this week we are trying to get the large boat as close to our activities as possible. We find a nice place to anchor close by, where we can keep an eye on when the snorkel buoys are clear at each of the two sites. 

Last time we snorkeled the sunken plane, the current was so strong that I only let go of the mooring line once – to chase a turtle and completely tire myself out. This time, we’re really hoping to visit at slack tide so we can not only dive down to the plane but enjoy the large coral heads nearby. Luckily, we manage to time it pretty close and don’t have too much of a current. We are all able to snorkel the area freely, enjoying the coral as well as a quick look at the plane. Shortly after getting in the water, a large nurse shark swims by which gets us all pretty excited -it just never gets old. We also spot a very large grouper while snorkeling here. 

As the current starts to pick up a bit, we head over to the Aquarium – which is largely protected from the current. True to its name, you feel like you jumped into an aquarium when you enter the water. The fish here are use to being fed, so they will swarm around when a new boat pulls up. In order to give my parents the full experience, we do feed the fish just a bit at the very beginning. Matt throws the food into the water near my parents while I use the GoPro to capture some fun shots of the sergeant generals swarming around them. 

Snorkeling the aquarium is fun and relaxing. Everyone is able to swim around at their leisure and we don’t have to worry about dragging the dinghy behind us or a current taking anyone away. The sun is bright and hot – making for an enjoyable snorkel and more vibrant colors in the coral. If anyone is unsure if they like snorkeling, they first need to try doing it somewhere like this. It’s pretty amazing. 

Day 4: Feeding “pink” iguanas

As late afternoon hits, we decide we better get going to our next destination. We motor for a couple hours – officially heading back south towards Great Exuma. It’s a bit sad that we are already turning around, and my favorite parts of the planned itinerary are over -but, there’s still lots of excitement planned! 

When we arrive at our desired destination of Guana Cay, I’m quite concerned to see how rough the anchorage is. The plan was to spend the night here and then feed the iguanas that inhabit the island in the morning. We are really rolling, though, so we make the quick decision to head in to see the iguanas right away. If we don’t linger, we figure we can still make it over to a better protected anchorage afterwards before dark hits. We all load into the dinghy (including Monster) and head to shore. Initially, we are a bit concerned when we don’t see any iguanas, but then a couple start to appear. 

Based on the remnants of vegetables strewn across the beach, we’re guessing these iguanas must get a lot of tourist visitors. By this time at night, they likely aren’t too hungry. We bring them fresh romaine lettuce, though, which seems to get the attention of a few of them. We have fun taking turns feeding them the lettuce, amazed at how gentle a couple of the iguanas are when taking it right out of your hand. These iguanas are Bahamian Rock Iguanas, and are only located in a few places around the world. There are a handful of islands in the Bahamas where these iguanas reside – almost all of them becoming fun tourist stops. My favorite part of the iguanas is how they actually do have a pink hue to them. It’s not obvious at first, but once you notice it – very pretty. 

Once we run out of lettuce and get tired of holding Monster back (she desperately wants to chase the iguanas twice her size), we quickly head back to the boat and hoist anchor. We have about 30 minutes to our anchorage and about that much daylight left. 

Day 5: Snorkeling the mermaid and piano statue

You may recall from a previous post (or just know) that the famous magician, David Copperfield owns several islands/cays here in the Exumas. We travel past many of these cays, including Musha Cay which hosts his extremely exclusive and expensive resort, ultimately landing at Rudder Cut Cay where we anchor for the night. When we pull into the anchorage, we are excited to see that we have the whole place to ourselves – which when considering the somewhat rough conditions isn’t that surprising. Luckily, we are able to tuck up very close to the beach and be quite protected. 

Nearby is the mermaid and piano sculpture which David Copperfield had sunk several years ago. There is no real reason for it – just something fun and whimsical. We grab out snorkel gear and take the dinghy over to check it out. Per usual with almost every snorkel site in the Exumas, there is a swift current. We are trying to time it close to slack tide so that we can have an easier time actually seeing the statue and diving down. My parents decide that they are content seeing it from the surface, but Matt and I take turns diving down to get pictures with the statue. This time, my GoPro is fully charged! There is still a current, and I struggle quite a bit to have the energy to make it down, but I do make it – barely! 

Day 5: Searching for sand dollars and star fish

After leaving the statue, we head over to nearby shallow sand bars where we plan to look for sand dollars during the low tide. Hundreds of feet of sand becomes exposed at low tide, allowing you to walk between two beaches and look for the sand dollars and star fish that live in the area. The sand dollars are alive, so they look quite different than the bleached, white sand dollars most of us are use to seeing. They also don’t sit on top of the sand, but just slightly beneath it. Using our feet, we softly shuffle around the area – this allows us to feel a sand dollar and then gently lift it up out of the sand using our hands. After admiring each one, we place them back in the sand since they are still alive. We do find a couple large dried up sand dollars still buried under a thin layer of sand, which we take with us for our collection. 

After a while, we begin to realize there are lots of tiny star fish also buried under a thin layer of sand. You can just faintly see the outline of a star in the sand, and that’s how you know one is there. We have a lot of fun searching for these as well – really, really hoping to find one not alive that my parents can keep. All the starfish we find, though, are alive (which i guess is actually good), so we place all of them back into the sand where we find them. Like most places that have sand dollars and star fish, there are also conch nearby. We admire some of their pretty shells, and examine their goofy looking eyes. It’s hard to think about eating these weird animals – although, I admit that I kind of like conch fritters now. 

We spend a couple hours combing the beaches, enjoying all the sea life, and finding a few more (empty)shells for our collection. Monster has an absolute blast half running and half swimming through the area – she’s completely tuckered out. We eventually head back to the boat to finally have an evening of relaxation – except we don’t. 

Day 5: Worse night ever

Instead of relaxing, Matt and I are leaning over the edge of the boat, praying for the sickness to pass. Yep – food poisoning. Our own fault – we made turkey sandwiches with leftover turkey that was probably too old. In a normal refridgerator, it should have been fine, but our fridge doesn’t stay cold enough. The turkey looked a bit funny, but it smelled and tasted fine so we ate it – and had my parents eat it too. Thank goodness, only the two of us got sick. But boy, did we ever get sick. 

It started with me first  – as soon as we got back to the boat, I felt so hot that I got in the water with a raft and tried to cool off. A few minutes later, I get sick, but then I feel better. Maybe just a fluke – or Matt thinks it might be heat exhaustion. I head up to the front trampoline to just lie down and relax a bit, but then I get sick again, and again, and a few more times. I feel a level of bad that is hard to describe – and then I hear Matt get sick off the back of the boat. At this point, we are pretty certain it’s the turkey and we are all four going to be sick. What a way to treat your guests on vacation. Plus, I’m scared to death about how we are going to make it back to Great Exuma so they can catch their flight. 

Somehow, my parents don’t get sick, though – they just continue to take care of us. Bringing us new water with electrolytes each time it doesn’t stay down and trying to coax me a couple saltines. As fast as the sickness came, it went. It was three of the worst hours of my life, but by night time Matt and I were laying on the couch sipping ginger ale – mostly okay. My parents ate protein bars for dinner and headed to bed early. Not exactly what we had in mind for the evening, but i guess it could have been worse. Oh – did I mention it’s my parents 30th wedding anniversary? Nothing like a fancy meal and entertainment to celebrate. 

Day 6: Back to Great Exuma

When we wake up in the morning, Matt and I feel fine and my parents are still not sick – seems like we are out of the woods! We get an early start motoring back to Great Exuma. We have a reservation to spend the night at the Sandals Emerald Bay Marina – figured that my parents deserve some luxury (and AC) on their last night of vacation. 

It’s a calm and pretty day to be out on the water. My mom relaxes with Monster up on the trampoline, while my dad keeps me company driving, and Matt works. At one point, I spot a dolphin and get super excited. This is the last thing on my parents list that they were hoping for (although we warned them it likely wouldn’t happen). I yell out to everyone, and my mom is able to spot the next time the dolphin breaches the surface. But then – nothing. We never spot more than the one dolphin and we only see it breach the surface twice. It’s a bit of a let down and my dad never even really saw the dolphin – but better than nothing. Technically we saw a dolphin on their trip. Shortly after, we also manage to spot an eagle ray! I would have loved for my parents to see an eagle ray underwater, but this is the second eagle ray that we have spotted from above water with them. Still pretty great! 

Day 6: Relaxing and recovering 

We pull into the marina in the early afternoon. I think we’re all a bit sad to see the trip come to an end, but also a bit relieved to have made it back – especially after last night. We have one last fun activity planned for my parents. The marina we are staying at is associated with THE Sandals resorts, and there’s a resort walking distance away down the beach. We decide to spurge and head there for the afternoon/evening. The grounds and beach are absolutely gorgeous, and the pool is vibrant with island music playing in the background. We relax around the pool, enjoying some frozen drinks and then later and pizza and ice cream for an early dinner. This is the type of place that you never want to leave – but we do. It’s time to get back to the boat to walk Monster and get my parents packed up for their morning flight. 

Day 6: Changing the generator oil

Not letting my dad get off too easy, we task him with helping us complete one (or two more) items. Our generator is supposed to have the oil changed around every 100 hours. We are just over that amount, and are looking forward to having my dad’s help for our first oil change. Technically, I don’t really help, but my dad and Matt get to work. It goes pretty smoothly and quickly, so they decide to tackle one last small project of replacing a butt connector on wiring going to our windlass. As you probably know, we’ve had a lot of trouble with our windlass. We finally fixed the issue back in Georgetown when we found a corroded wire – but we didn’t have the best tools or materials. My dad brought us some new electrical butt connectors with waterproof shrink wrap and some new crimpers (since we bent ours while installing a new float switch). Now we’re more confident that our windlass fix will continue to work. 

Day 7: All vacations must come to an end

In the morning, after a quick walk with Monster we say our goodbyes, and I drive my parents to the airport to catch their first flight back to Fort Lauderdale. All good things must come to an end. 

I may be biased, but I think we did a pretty amazing job of exploring the Exumas in only 6 days time. We certainly enjoyed having my parents aboard and showing them what this whole life style is about. 

Check out this video capturing our time spent underwater in the Exumas!