Warderick Wells- a top 5 Cartermaran Bahamas destination

Shroud to Warderick Wells and we are hoping to get into the shop this time!

Moose and I got the same ball as last month on the first shot. While we were still on the deck, we saw something black swim toward us. We called out what we thought it was... turtle, ray, shark... ultimately, I said ray because it looked pointy. As it got closer, Hattie started barking at it and we found out it was a black garbage bag. Rescued it with the boat hook on the first shot, too!

The park warden boat came by on his way out. He said they open at 9 am tomorrow. Going to check it out then. We hope they have some shirts in our sizes... or at least a key chain or sticker or SOMETHING.

We got ready to sandbar. Low tide was at 1:32. We did the sand bars. Walking over to the nursery, there was a black thing in the sand. Ben pulled it up and found out it was a rudder from a SUP or kayak. Moose found a crab to play with. There were beautiful shells- possibly a milk conch?, sand dollars, and sea stars. Being a national park, this is a no take zone, so we took a few photos ro capture the beauty. This is a favorite place for all of us.

Brought my phone in a doubled up dry bag to take photos this time since I knew I would be swimming to and from the boat. It worked well! Didn't see as tiny of items at the nursery this time, but saw several babies. Hung out there up to, during, and after low tide. Moose was set on getting to the sea stars before the seagulls did and he kept running after them like his life was on the line. What a sweet little Moosey.

Swam under tunnel on way back to boat, in the current. That's always a fun swim! Moose swam to the beach, looked for fish, and explored.

Not much to see today from the boat. A turtle. A large stingray. Some yellow fin tuna. A reef shark whose attention we tried to get, but were unsuccessful. I really wanted to have the nurse shark visit the back of our boat again! Maybe tomorrow...

Squall at 7 am. A little after 8, Ben had to turn on boat to reposition mooring ball that was continuously hitting our starboard side hull. We were the only boat in the mooring field for a few hours.

Ben and Moose set off around 9:30 to see if the store was open and if there was anything we would be interested in purchasing there. Turns out the only shirts were size 2XL, 3XL, or youth small- sadly, not even big enough for Roo.

Several boats came in. Most were charters, making us nervous grabbing the ball in front of us and backing up to allow some space for the boat in front of them to back up and get their boat hook that fell off.

Didn't want to go to the beach with it so crowded. So we swam to the sandbar instead. Walked further out when a tour boat came in blasting music and full of drunk adults getting dropped off at the beach.

Moose wanted to borrow a kayak ever since we were here last month. He explored around and came to take me for a ride to the sandbar that was on the other side of the mooring field loop. We hadn't been there yet. Heard Ben yell for us from the Cartermaran and got back in the kayak to head back. Found out the nurse shark was at the stern for a while hanging out with him and Hattie. He knew I wanted to pet one and was too chicken last time. We didn't make it back in time. 

Moose dropped me off by the girls at the closest sandbar to the Cartermaran so I could swim back with them. They told me about how they swam back from the Cartermaran to the sandbar. Roo nonchalantly told Bear there was a shark in the water when they were halfway to the sandbar and neither of them freaked out, but kept swimming. 😳 

Because of that situation, they wanted to head back to the Cartermaran, but were afraid, so they waited for me... like I could help the situation 😂 I told them to swim straight across the channel and let the current push them to the swim ladder at the stern of the boat. We linked up, Bear in the middle, Roo closest to the boat, and kicked to the middle of the channel as hard as we could. At some point, we had to unlink, with the exception of Roo. We ran into our mooring ball, but made it under the boat. I grabbed the line and held it as Roo climbed up. Bear climbed up the ladder on the other side.

Moose was still exploring on his kayak. We dried off and had a few snacks, and Hattie started acting weird. That's when we saw the nurse shark was back. This was my chance! I shot up and went to the back step where we could see it. Moose came back on the kayak and we told him to just float right by so I could pet it. It took a few tries for the shark to get close enough for me to pet it but I finally did! Everyone said it felt like sand paper, but to me, it didn't feel as rough. It felt more like tiny, smooth pebbles. I was just so happy I finally got my chance and didn’t chicken out! 

Swam to the beach that now had way fewer people on it. Thankfully, everyone left after a few hours. This beach is not very nice. The sand has a lot of little pieces of jagged shells and there are a million little divots to fall into while walking. We only lasted a little while here and all of us preferred the sandbar.

Moose found a dead white octopus on the rocks, so the girls and I went to check it out. It was gross. We thought it may still be alive so he poured water onto it, but it didn’t move.

On our walk back to where we were, the girls and I spotted several small conchs. We brought two of them together in the shallow water where they were and watched them eye each other and move around. Roo found a few more and brought them to these ones forming a circle- a little conchregation of 8. They all popped their eyes out to see each other and moved around. It was funny to see when one shell hit another and the one whose shell got hit popped its eyes out to see what the heck just happened to its home. 👀 

We walked to the corner of the rocky area, a little past our Mooring ball, to use the current to our advantage to get us back to the Cartermaran. Again, we had to swim straight across so the current could take us to the stern of the boat. This time, none of us made it under the tunnel of the boat- we just couldn't get that far out before the current sent us. It was still fun!

Our underwater lights were on, so after the sunset, we could see some activity behind our boat. The minnows were attracted to the boat lights. The bigger fish came to eat the minnows there. The birds dove to get the bigger fish. It all was quite a commotion. When Moose realized what was happening, he grabbed the bucket to try to save all the minnows. We realized all of this was kinda our fault, so we turned the lights off and went inside.

We did not hike up Boo Boo Hill to see the status of our sacrifice. Both Roo and I wanted to. The heat has been so intense and as much as I wanted to see, I knew there wouldn't be much that changed in a month!

Bahamas Independence at Atlantis

Happy Independence Day, Bahamas! 🇧🇸 

Headed to Nassau for some celebrations. Fueled up at Rubis again. It was 16 cents more per gallon than it was a month ago at the same place. This was our last time fueling up the Cartermaran. 😔 It should make it the rest of our journey on this tank.

Roo's take on the arrival in Nassau:

Today we're going back to Nassau to loop back to Florida and we were asking if we were going to a marina or anchor. Mom said marina then Moose complained about it because he wanted to fish. Mom asked if he wanted to see fish. He said no. She asked if he wanted to be a fish he said no and was very upset. Moose asked mom why we had to go to a marina and mom said cause we need to be in the marina to go to the park. Then we said we what park? Then we said are we going to Atlantis again? She said yes if you want. ✨️ 

Surprised the kids with another stop at Atlantis- this time we were in slip 6, so it was just a tiny bit closer to the water park. Hoped for fireworks, but they celebrate at midnight between the 9th and 10th, so we missed them. We did have them on the 8th of June while eating dinner at Shake Shack, so I guess that will have to do for our independence day celebrations this year.

Dinner at Sip Sip. I wanted to try the lobster quesadilla and it was worth it! No reservation needed and we'd be in marina Village for the Junkanoo parade... Just a little too early. We went back to the boat for a little bit and then headed to Ben & Jerry's around 8:30. Parade at 9 pm.

Roo and I hadn't seen the parade. Everyone else saw it with the Grasshoppers on their last night with us here last month. She and I loved it!

Woke up and did Atlantis Aquaventure again. Started at the Coral Pool- all of us, requested by the kids. Did a few rounds on the Rapids River. Ben went back and washed the boat. Luckily for all of us, today was a pretty overcast day. It made it less sunny, but also just a little cooler- and less people than the past few days.

Moose and I headed back to the boat for a quick break around 2:20. We took a few detours on our way back. He wanted to take a few different paths to see some more of the marine life and then we purposely stumbled upon Dolphin Cay. (The weather was helpful again in my willingness to do this!) Made it to the marina office, Moose had a potty break, and I asked for a ride in the golf cart to our slip.

Return trip to the park, Ben got on the golf cart with Moose and me to get taxi info for someone to bring us at 7 am to see a boat listed for sale this week in Nassau. Captain Shervin was in the front seat riding with his buddy and offered to take us.

Dinner reservations at Anthony's Seafood & Ribs. Underwhelmed. Super pricey for some food that was mid.

Met Shervin at the marina office at 6:50 am. He took us to see the boat, Santtina. He stayed with us and toured the boat and gave us his honest opinion of it all. We spent a little over 2 hours with him- looking at the boat, driving to grocery store, he took us to see Santtina's sister boat at the charter dock. Captain Shervin knows everyone! We were so lucky to run into him yesterday. He hopped on the golf cart at the marina office with the marina employee and took us to our slip. We were ready to depart just before 9 am and had already accomplished so much on a Sunday!

Travel day to Highborne Cay, but we wanted to anchor at a different anchorage that wound up being full, so we continued on to the next island- Hawksbill Cay. Ate dinner, but it was pretty rolly, so we picked up anchor and went to Shroud again instead, but only because we knew that anchorage was not going to be rolly all night. Not to beach. We want to get to Warderick Wells again during a decent low tide time tomorrow. 

Shroud Cay... again!

Headed north to Shroud Cay. Ben had a call until 3:30, which was perfect because high tide was a little after 4 and we wanted to head to the Secret Beach (aka The Washing Machine) during high tide for a change. When we stumbled upon this place in 2022, we wound up swimming, floating, and carrying the tender a lot of our way through the water in the mangroves. We knew we needed the higher tide to make the water navigatable.

Bear had a headache and stayed behind. The other 4 of us got into the tender and set off for the mangroves. We noticed the tide difference right away! The mangrove roots were completely submerged and the top layers of the leaves were above water.

We spotted a few turtles, but with the water 3 feet deeper than usual, it was harder to see the creatures or their shadows under the water.

As soon as we could see the beach, I said we weren't going anymore. The waves were rolling in and crashing over the sandbars and we finally figured out why this is called the Washing Machine! The place we beached our tender and ate lunch just a few weeks ago was completely submerged. Ben got us close enough to anchor and not one of us wanted to actually get out anymore. (Shockingly, not even Moose wanted to!) We took a few photos for evidence of the extreme difference to show Lori and Bear. Ben asked if we wanted to take the tender through the rapids and we all told him- no way, take us back!

On our way in, we spotted a beach that we could see from the Cartermaran, so we decided to go to that one. It was much calmer and we could actually enjoy it! There was even a giant sea turtle that swam by to say hi. Moose swam out to look at it underwater with his mask and said it was the biggest one he has ever seen.

I looked up tide times for tomorrow. Low tide is around 9:40 and Ben's first meeting is at 11. I think we could make a quick secret beach trip around low tide. Fingers crossed.

Anticipating getting to the beach and back in time for Ben's meetings had me up earlier than normal. I told Ben my plan. If we left by 9, we should make it through with enough clearance before low tide. That would mean that coming back at least 40 minutes after low tide (10:20) would give us the same passage and clearance, getting Ben back in time for his meetings.

The kids were still asleep a little after 8 and Ben said I had to wake them up if it was going to work. For a few minutes I debated just sneaking out with him and letting the kids sleep. Decided against that. I woke Bear up first. She said she would rather sleep longer and went back to sleep. Roo woke up and I asked her if she wanted to go. She said yes. I almost left Moose sleeping (he never sleeps in!), but Ben said if he woke up and he found out we didn't take him, he would be really mad. He said Moose doesn't care about sleep like us girls do, so I went in and woke him up. Sure enough, he hopped out of bed to join us. (Later, I asked him if he would've been mad if we left him behind and he said no.) I told the kids we would be gone for such a short time and back before the intense UV part of the day, so they just needed to wear rash guards. This cut our getting ready time drastically. 

At the entrance of the mangroves river, the water level was back to how we have seen it so many times, roots, sand, and rocks exposed. There were a few shallow spots in the channel, but we kept an eye out to navigate around them. We saw several turtles. Turning the last corner, we could see the sandbars and calm waters left behind. We were the only ones there!😍

Ben and Moose anchored the Chicken while Roo and I went to enjoy the beautiful morning at the secret beach at low tide. We walked all around, as far as we could in every direction, admiring the shells 🐚, the sand patterns, and the water. Moose and Ben decided to connect the water pools. Roo and I found the smallest conch we've found yet. It was maybe 3-4 inches long! We talked to it and watched it crawl under the water, leaving a long trail behind itself.

We got back in the Chicken when Ben spotted a shark- its fin above the water- back where we had come from. A fish was jumping out and thrashing around in the water near it, so we kept an eye on the area as Ben took us closer to it. It was a small lemon shark. We quietly followed it until it took the fork to the left and we had to go to the right. There was a tender full of people headed in as we were headed out. We told them they get to enjoy the beach all to themselves.

Got back to the Cartermaran at 10:50, giving Ben just enough time to shower and get dressed for his first meeting. We had to dry off so we could put sunscreen on and head out leaving Ben with peace and quiet for his meetings. A little after 11, Ben came out and told us his meeting was at 11 mountain time, not eastern, so he still had some time. I wasn't even bummed that we could've stayed longer at the beach because I knew that other tender would've been there with us and we were able to enjoy it the whole time, just the 4 of us.

Ate lunch, filled water bottles, and got sunscreened. Then, Moose took us to a small beach by the anchorage to hang there. Bear spotted some small jellyfish 🪼 and made Moose touch them to see if they stung. They didn't but she still wasn't happy with staying there, so he took us to the beach from yesterday. He did great driving us and anchoring the tender at both beaches on his own. I was so proud of him and I know he was beyond proud of himself too.

We hung out at the beach for several hours, just floating, chatting, and snorkeling. The sea turtle from yesterday came by a few times too. Bear, of course, loved being able to see it. Although, we all wished it swam closer to us.

Ben called me at one point between his meetings to tell me that the Malcolm Tennant cat he has been wanting to see was anchored right in front of us. He said they were out on their tender and for me to keep an eye out for it when it came back and let him know. He said he had 2 more meetings and then was done for the day.

Moose brought us back to the Cartermaran about an hour later. We thought Ben would be done with his meetings, but he came out and told us he still had 2 more- some of the senators were running late. The kids and I dried off on the deck and in the cockpit. As we were drying off, the Malcolm Tennant tender was coming back, so I told Ben. He said it was perfect timing because he was almost done and we could go over there and check it out.

Ben knew they had family on board, so he said it would just be me and him going to see it. The kids were bummed to stay behind.

Waymaker is a beautiful boat with a crew that adores her. It was great to get on a Malcolm Tennant boat since Ben has spoken so highly of them. I can see why now! It is definitely bigger, taller, and can navigate the water with much more ease. We got to tour the boat and chat for about an hour and a half.

Being the amazing children they are, when we got back to the Cartermaran, they had dinner all cooked for us and ready to eat! Little did I know it was an effort between Bear and Moose to not share our rose and thorn for the day. Silly kiddos. We still did!

I rinsed off and cooled down. We knew we had an early morning to get to Nassau by noon tomorrow, so everyone went to sleep early. 

Rudder Cut Cay, take 2

We knew we wanted to get further north and tucked behind the islands before Wednesday, the 8th, due to the forecast. Most of our cruising time today consisted of 4 foot waves following, which normally feel fine, but they must have been closer together because I was having a hard time doing anything but staring off into the water without feeling nauseous. 

Rough inlet by Rudder Cut Cay. The waves were coming out, instead of in, like we thought they would based on what we were experiencing on the outside. Ben had it under control and it wasn't a big deal. It just took a little bit of manual steering.

Went by the caves Lori and 4 of the kids explored a few weeks ago when we were here and anchored in the exact same spot. We picked up speed cruising by and knew the current was strong. 

I prepped the snorkel gear for me and the kids. Lori told me she hoped the current was in our favor for exploring and to look for the big conchs moving along the floor. Since we knew the current was strong when we came in, we planned for Ben to take us to the further of the caves, unload there, and have him follow nearby on the tender, ready to rescue any of us.

Last time, the kids couldn't make it around the corner against the current to the large cave, so we figured we could ride the Chicken over to that one and work our way back with the current. 

On our way over, I pointed out a sharp rock at the surface, so the kids could be aware of it. Ben told us to go between that rock and the island rather than further out in the water to avoid the current.

The big cave was so shallow. We could stand as soon as we god off the Chicken and there was a little beach area- even just after high tide. Looking up, there were several skylight holes, with trees peeking through. It was so pretty! We snorkeled out of the cave and toward the channel.

Roo spotted some giant conchs. We were watching them move along the sand, leaving tracks behind. Then, I realized their eyes were out! They looked like coral popping out from under the shell. Their eye stalks were so thick. It popped its eyes in and then came back out again. I was so excited that Roo and I both got to see that. Thanks, Lori, for telling us fun things to look for!

Then, coming around a corner, we saw that sharp surface rock we spotted on the way over, but the rock was so tall and wide under the water. I wanted to go on the water side instead because it was closer and I wouldn't have to go against the current. I was telling Ben that I changed my plan and when I put my head in, I was probably 4 feet from a sea turtle!! The water was so clear and perfect for viewing the beautiful creature! I screamed and grabbed Roo so she could see it. Moose and Bear saw it too. I was closest to it. Moose swam after it with the camera, but he didn’t have it on. They were not as excited to see it as Roo and I were, since they watched several turtles eating sea grass for a while the last time they were there.

When we got to the side of the island where we could see our boat, the current was awful. I was kicking so hard and told Roo I needed her to also. (When we snorkel, she holds onto my life vest and I swim us around.) It hardly made a difference and it just made me anxious thinking about how much we were splashing, thinking we would attract sharks. 😂 

When my head was out of water looking to see where Bear and Moose were, I spotted another turtle, this time much further out- popping its head out of the water. Roo saw it too. We could barely see it as it swam to the second cave. 

Once we got to the second cave, we looked underwater at it, and didn’t go in. Everyone was worn out and done, so we climbed in the tender and came back.

It's okay that our snorkel adventure didn't last long because I saw what I wanted to see! I'm so happy we came back to do that. I missed out last time because I had just washed my hair and didn't want to get in the salty water. 🙃

Mother Nature is in Charge!

About 2 hours into our journey north, Ben announced that the waves are going to be 4 footers the next few days instead of the 2 footers we anticipated from the last few days' forecasts. He and I made the quick decision to turn back and head toward the Exumas today.

A few hours into that new journey, he brought up stopping at Long Island for the night instead, cutting off a few miles and an hour or so from our journey. This sounded like a great plan, so that's what we did. 

We passed by the water side of the Columbus Monument that we drove to last week and anchored for the night by the Cape Santa Maria resort in Galliot Bay.

Heading toward Moriah National Park, once again, today. We shall see what the area offers as far as protection while anchored goes.

Moose and I were rockstars with grabbing the mooring ball at Redshank Cays. He had the boat hook and pulled up the eyelet on the first try. I pulled the starboard cleat line through first and tied it off. Ben was able to come out and we worked together to get the port line through the eyelet and tied off.

Ben and Moose went to Brown's for the fishing supplies that he had been looking for at every store for the past several weeks. They stocked up and when they got back, Moose put it all away.

I made lunch. Girls and I got ready for a beach tour day. When the boys came back, Ben took a look at the radar because he said it looked like a storm was heading our way. Nothing threatening on radar, so we took the tender out to explore beaches. 

We wound up circling Crab Cay, got off the tender once or twice (found a small beach with tons of snails, an abandoned resort, and a shipwreck) before going to George Town to check for bread and yogurt.

Unfortunately, the water conditions were not in our favor to get us over to Moriah on the tender. It looked like it would be 30-45 minutes with choppy waves on the bow, so we will just have to try again some other time.

Cat Island

Moose casted his line as soon as we were deep enough. He noticed some insects in the solar panel above him. Ben sprayed them. There were so many! He did some research and found out they were actually helpful insects that eat microscopic plant molds, fungi, and plant debris. They are completely harmless to humans and structures. Oops. It made me wonder why they were up in the solar panels, but then I read that they're attracted to bright lights at night and I remembered we had the underwater lights on for a while last night.

Once we anchored at Cat Island, we cooled off in the cabin for a while and waited for the heat to dissipate a bit. That's kinda a funny game we have to play because by the time the sun is further down, it then becomes a race to get back to the boat before we run out of sunlight and the mosquitoes start to come out. Always gotta find the perfect time!

We left the boat around 4 and took the tender to the beach next to the dinghy dock which was a super tall cement dock, about as wide as a 1 lane road. The tide was about 45 minutes from low tide, so we knew we had about 90 minutes before the tide was back at this same level again. That helps us determine where to put the anchor so that we don't have to carry the boat back to the water, like we did after our hike to Gemstone Cave. It was an easier choice to anchor the tender than tie up to the dock.

Pulling into this anchorage, we saw one of those fun, tall, colorful art island letters signs spelling out Cat Island. The I was part of The Hermitage, which sits at the tallest point on this island, and is the tallest point in this country. 

Walking over to the letters was our first stop on Cat Island. We all picked a letter to sit on and took some photos. (Bear picked C, Roo picked the tunnel of the I, I picked the L, Ben picked the A, and Moose picked the N. Bear was sad to be the only one in Cat.)

The letters weren't added to Google Maps yet, so I also took a picture without anyone in it, and created a new place on Google Maps for all of the future tourists who want their photo op. 📸 You can even see the Cartermaran looking cute in the picture. 😉 

The very air conditioned police station was across the street (Queen's Highway!) from our Chicken, so we walked back over there to chat and get some info about the hike we intended to do (up Mount Alvernia aka Como Hill- she said it would take us 15 minutes and made sure we brought water) and hours and location of the nearest grocery store (open until 6, after discussing our hike, she said open until 6:30).

A goat was leashed in the trees at the start of the road/trail and marked the start of our journey, along with a sign closer to Queen's Highway. It took us 16 minutes to get to the end of the paved road, which included 2 water stops. We passed a mini-farm where we noticed corn and watermelon growing. 

The next leg of our trail was very steep and made of coral. I read that this was a hard hike and thought it wasn't too bad, until we got to the next change in paths at the fork off for the Stations of the Cross. (I added this on Google Maps too, so the current photos there are mine.) The coral and limestone path became even steeper and had narrow stairs, which made it feel more like we were bouldering than hiking at some points.

These stations were carved in stone, by hand in 1939, by the priest who built and lived in the Hermitage, Father Jerome, and were very beautiful. (Those of you who grew up Catholic, I'm sure, have some recollection of the Stations of the Cross commemorating Jesus' path on his way to crucifixion.) They were dispersed, though not very far apart, along the super steep path and offered a good distraction along the last leg up the hill... mountain?

The Hermitage was built as a retreat from the world and sits at the highest point in all of the Bahamas. From what Ben could identify, there was a chapel (tiny church), a bedroom, and a kitchen all sitting at a whopping 206 feet above sea level, with amazing views of the island and water around it. The kids and I peeked inside, but didn't go in as far as Ben did because there were some huge wasps that must have felt a spiritual calling to live there.

On the way down, the girls spotted what they thought were artichokes growing from a tree in the little farm area. I wondered if they were hops. I took a photo so we could look it up later. Turns out they were sugar-apples, which have a custard like pulp. Those are now on our list of things to find and eat while here!

All 5 of us were sopping with sweat and purposely walked through the minimal shade we could find. I told Ben we should stop back in the police station just to cool off for a minute or two before our walk to the grocery store. He said he needed to ask for directions anyway.

We were back at the police station about 45 minutes after we left. The lady was gone, but we talked to the man for all of 60 seconds and were back in the heat and humidity on our way once again.

As we passed by the Cat Island Sign, walking single file on the left side of the road, Ben in front while I pulled up the rear, a truck pulled up next to us and stopped. We all looked back to find a local man who offered to drive us to the grocery store. The kids and I shoved into the back of the cab and Ben took the passenger seat. The windows were down and the breeze was more than welcomed. We all giggled about being told this was a 10 minute walk and were relieved we didn't have to walk this far! Ben said we would be okay to walk back, but just wanted to make sure we got there before it closed!

After all of the stores we've been to recently, this one was like a Costco! It was huge and had everything we could've needed... except for fishing lures and 2 lb containers of yogurt. We bought a few new drinks we hadn't seen before to try later.

As we were checking out, Ben asked the lady if she knew of anyone who could give us a ride back to the police station. She said normally she does that, but she was the only one working so she couldn't. She told us the other customers who were there right now rented a van and could probably take us. When they came to check out, Ben asked if they would be able to drive us back and they said it wouldn't be a problem at all. They said something about being from Colorado and I said so are we. Turns out they're from Arvada! We all couldn't believe it. They dropped us off, we all wished each other a Happy 4th of July, and we took our tender back to the boat for the night.

Looking out at the stern, with the underwater lights on, the water was the clearest we had ever seen at night. The bottom was right there and we could see further out than usual. We even saw a sea star on the sand just off the swim steps!

Tomorrow we will go further north on Cat Island and explore another beach area.