January 9th, 2019
Swim Training
One of the things I miss as a cruiser is the opportunity to train, particularly as it has been such a key part of my life both in the Royal Marines and as a sportsman. Now that we have stopped moving so much I have started swim training and am doing three quarters of a mile every morning, soon to be upped to a mile. When I joined the Royal Marines I was knocking out county times and they wanted me to take it further. I declined because counting tiles for hours a day was just desperate. Here, as you can see, I have a carpet of sea life to entertain me. This morning I was swimming down the side of a reef only to meet an eight foot shark coming the other way. Somewhat surprised he broke to my left and I fortunately broke to my right. The remaining twenty minute swim was accompanied by the Jaws theme tune, just couldn't get it out of my head.
January 9th, 2019
Toys
Now this man likes his toys to go with his mini super yacht.
January 9th, 2019
Tracey gets wet feet
Just had to add this rare of rare pictures of Tracey with her feet in the water. She had a terrible fright when she was a child and its such a tragedy that she just cant bring herself to swim. This picture is a measure of how charming the Bahamas are for it's the deepest I have seen her get in forty five years.
January 9th, 2019
Endurance
The walk to Boo Boo hill takes you through a tough environment and I am always amazed at how nature can draw life from such a harsh conditions.
January 9th, 2019
Warderick Wells
Warderick Wells Cay is the epicenter of the award winning Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and its amazing. My morning swim took me over a five foot Sting ray and a large Nursing Shark which was chillin between two coral heads swamped with tropical fish. On going ashore we walked to the top of Boo Boo Hill which is the highest point on the Island and gives lovely views of the sea. Tracey just wont go in the water so I snorkel whilst she uses her Bathyscope off the bow of the dinghy. This enables us to drift dive through a the cuts which generally have a carpet of coral teaming with life.
A rather nice feature of Boo Boo Hill is that it is marked by a pile of driftwood with visiting boat names. We are on the lookout for a nice bit of wood so that we can return and leave Pearls mark.
January 9th, 2019
Downed Plane
One of the main forms of transport between the Cays are small aircraft serviced by numerous airfields. As you can see it can be dodgy at times.
January 9th, 2019
Friends
The sailing community is great for you meet all sorts of amazing people with varied and interesting backgrounds. Having a common interest makes for an immediate bond and easy conversations. Everyone is generous to a fault which was captured in a little cameo at Warderick Wells. We have been joined by our good friends Michelle and Ian for a while and had bumped into Alex and family on the yacht Helios at Shroud Cay. Alex had a rip in his mainsail so out came Ians sailmakers sewing machine and we all got around to help and offer unnecessary advice. Alex, who originates from Yugoslavia started to chuckle and asked what do you call three men watching one man work..........Socialism. Great bonds have been made on this trip.
January 9th, 2019
Shroud Cay
Shroud Cay is stunning on many levels but the best bit is a trip into the Mangrove Swamp with open channels, much like a maritime maze, which thread you through to the east side of the island where there are a couple of cuts into the open sea. The water is crystal clear above bleached sand so you can see everything as you glide along. A real highlight was watching sharks hunting fish as they came in on the tide. Great bow waves washed over them in the shallow water during frenetic battles of the food chain. Shark fins carving here and there as desperate fish jumped about or were flicked into the air by hungry predators.
