The past couple of weeks have been wonderful. We hosted
Amie’s parents, Marmar and Farfar for 10 days over the holidays, and we had a
blast. The girls were so happy to have their grandparents, and Marmar and
Farfar were such great guests. We picked them up from Norman’s Cay on the 22nd,
and they brought over 50 lbs of food! They also managed to pack a ton of
Santa’s presents into their bags and spoiled us rotten. We stayed in Norman’s
through Christmas with a bunch of our friends on other boats. In the afternoon
of the 25th we all gathered at a beautiful beach for a potluck. It
was definitely a different Christmas, but an incredible one as well.
On the 26th we headed down to Hawksbill Cay with
s/v Sheila. After setting the hook before lunch, we spent the afternoon
exploring the reefs on the south side. Hawksbill is inside the Land and Sea
Park, so no fishing. On the 27th we continued on down to Staniel Cay
for some provisioning. We explored
Thunderball Grotto with Marmar and Farfar on the 28th, and then
sailed about 10 miles south to another settlement, Black Point. Black Point is
the second largest settlement in the Exumas, but that is not saying much – its
year round inhabitants probably do not count more than 300. We found its
reputation as a great place for cruisers to be absolutely true. The Islanders
are incredibly friendly, and supplies are reasonably priced. The infamous
breads baked by Lorraine’s mother were superb!
On the 29th we sailed a bit further south to
Jack’s Bay and spent the 30th even further south at Oven Rock. Both
offered us solitude and beautiful beaches to explore. Oven Rock also boasts a
cool cave that we hiked to, and we managed to spear one lobster and a bunch of
lionfish. On the 31st we sailed north again back to Staniel to
prepare for Marmar and Farfar’s departure the next morning. Staniel was crowded
with megayachts and we chose to stay on the boat for a quiet night to ring in
the New Year. Everyone on board was asleep well before midnight.
The girls both wailed (literally…passersby were concerned)
for half an hour after Marmar and Farfar’s plane disappeared into the clouds.
We had such fun with them. We returned to Momo and did some organizing before
pulling anchor to head south again to Black Point. We knew there was a cruising
regatta going on that day at Staniel but neither Amie nor I was too excited to
race as we were still wrapped up in the sadness of saying goodbye to Marmar and
Farfar. However, our course to Black Point took us right by the committee boat,
and at the last moment we veered course to ask when the start was. “The
sequence starts in 10 minutes….please join us!” they shouted back. If this trip has taught us anything, it has
shown us that sometimes incredible experiences happen when you least expect
them. “Ok, we are in!” we replied. Our dinghy was still towing behind Momo so
we frantically stowed in on deck and made preparations below for the race. The
race committee was gracious enough to delay the starting sequence a few minutes
and we just barely had our act together when the gun went off. We managed a
decent start and by the second buoy had worked our way into the lead, but as
the race went on we were gradually passed by faster boats. We crossed the line
6th out of 17, which felt pretty good considering we entered at the
last minute, were the only boat with kids, and one of 2 that was crewed by just
a couple.. It turned out this was the 40th Anniversary Regatta,
which is a big deal on Staniel. The locals put on a big sit-down dinner, and
because we raced, we were invited for free. The food was delicious but nothing
compared to the charm and graciousness of the local people and the community.
The entire day was one of our highlights of the trip so far, and we are so glad
we changed our plans and decided to participate.
This morning we fulfilled our plans to make it to Black
Point, and it turns out everyone else did as well. When we arrived at 0930
there were 20 boats here. The sun is now setting and we just counted over 50.
 |
| Momo crossing the finish line |
 |
| Santa brought the girls wetsuits. |
 |
 |
| Scouty showing off her muscles. |
 |
| Marmar in glassy conditions on the bank. |
