Our first visit through the northern Exumas

We anchored in Norman's Cay for the night of the December 30th along with at least 4 other boats all from Montreal. Just like Lake Champlain, our anchor was barely on the bottom when I was called on the VHF that I was too close to someone. By the time the anchor settled in and the boat stabilized in the wind we were 300 feet from the complaining boat - didn't hear from him again!

For New Years eve we motored around to the bay in front of the now abandoned Normans Beach Club  and McDuff's - so very sad to see what was such a vibrant and entertaining spot now sit quiet. Damage from the last hurricanes is very evident. We were however very surprised at the amount of planes that were arriving and taking off from the airstrip - clearly there remains life on the cay for the few homeowners. I am sure that they miss Rox's meals at McDuff's!

Our next tour spot was Shroud Cay where we anchored on the north west side of the cay - all alone except for one other power boat. We were just a short skiff ride away from the creek that crosses the mangroves to the ocean side of the cay. This has o be one of the most outstanding beaches and views in the Bahamas.

Next stop was to the Exumas Park at Warderick Wells where we climbed Boo Boo Hill ... not exactly a mountain hike but it is for the Bahamas .... probably a good 75 or 100 feet high! This is where everyone leaves a piece of driftwood with their boat name on it. I looked for both L'Attitude's and Ambition's from 2009 but nothing found. I suspect that they make a bonfire every year to clear out the wood.

A trip to the Bahamas would not be complete without a  visit to Staniel Cay to snorkel into Thunderball grotto, made famous by the James Bond film by the same name and also the movie Splash. The fish surround you by the thousands and the water is lit by the openings in the top of the grotto - spectacular.
Big Majors is right next door and we got to see the swimming pigs in action - these are no little piglets that swim ... these are full sized family packs of ham with a side order of bacon kind of pigs!!! Maryse brought along some little carrots to feed them.... for some reason they were more interested in the leg of lamb that someone left on the beach and the handfuls of lettuce and leftover meats that the dinghy next to us offered up. Anyway I was kind of happy not to have these huge pigs nuzzling up to Rusty!

On our way back to Nassau we spent an evening at Allen's Cay to see the iguanas - the only place in the world where this species of iguana exists. There were hundreds to meet us on the beach - despite warnings to not feed them, they really enjoyed the lettuce that Maryse offered up this time.

January 7th we headed back to Nassau Harbour Club Marina so that our guests could catch their flight home on the morning of the 8th. Life is good in the Bahamas.