Highbourne Cay

Found out at 2:42 am that our boat was running on battery power and not shore power, which is weird because we were plugged in for 2 days prior. Everything turned off and it was silent. Ben had to turn one engine on for a little to reset it and get it back on shore power. Turns out it came unplugged or loose around 9:30 pm, but we didn't notice. Since Hattie has been feeling better, she and Dixie have been running around on the boat deck, so maybe they kicked it loose.

Engines started for real at 7:45. Our salon turns into sleeping quarters for 3 while the Grasshoppers are here with us and we love it.

We had 3-4 footers, 4 seconds apart. Not fun! Ben told us last night that we would have 1.3-1.6 footers at 6 seconds. He wound up zig-zagging so we didn't have to keep taking the big waves on the beam. Even the dogs were laying down waiting for it to end.

Finally got to our anchorage at Highbourne Cay. We love the little secluded beach right by the anchorage here and have been here at least 3 other times. It's a great spot to hang and break up the journey between the Exumas and Nassau.

Everyone put on sunscreen and called for me or Lori a total of 78 times. Did anyone ask for Ben or Keith? No. Just the moms. Once we were ready, we loaded up in the Chicken. Moose drove us all over to the beach where everyone started to explore. 

Moose and Lori snorkeled a bunch together. They are good snorkel buddies and could float off together watching the sea life for hours.

Everyone else found giant conch shells- most of them were still occupied! We were on Conchwatch 2026 and tried to get them to come out, with a few successful ones. The eyes are so funny and the conchs themselves are just strange creatures. The foot, body, eyes on antenna-type things- it's all just so different from any other animal we see on a regular-basis.

Photo below taken on Eleuthera in 2021:

Ben took Bear, Moose, Keith, Sasha, and Luke to go see the iguanas at the island where Moose got bit in 2022. This time when they came back, no one was bleeding! That's a win.

They came back to get us and we went back to the boat and started making dinner. Then, we got to make our plan for the next several days while they're here and we make our way through the Exumas south to Georgetown. 

Atlantis

Atlantis said our slip would be ready at 11 am and we were up around 8, so I worked on updating our blog notes. Uncle Paul, Aunt Denise, and Jac each got a conch from Honesty, as well as some fresh mangos.

Around 10:30, we made our way over to Rubis and fueled up so when Wednesday rolled around, we could just head out of Atlantis with the Grasshoppers and not have to worry about stopping for anything. At Rubis, Denise saw a spotted ray. I wondered if it lived in these waters and was the same one we saw in the Atlantis Marina years ago.

As the fuel prices rose in the US this spring, we started to worry about what that would mean for us and anticipated the marine diesel prices this summer. At Rubis, we wound up paying just a little less per gallon than we did at the end of July 2022.

Once we filled up, we made our way to the Atlantis entryway canal. It was about 11:30 when we got there, but the dockmaster told us the people in our slip were preparing to depart, so we sat just outside the entryway for 30 minutes watching the boats and looking for animals. We got to see a sea turtle surface quite a few times. Didn't get to dock until 12:05.

Tied up. Checked in. Slip 1. Literally the furthest slip from anything. Lots of steps in our future! Ben said we could call the marina staff on the VHF and they'd come drive us.

Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise came with us to get wrist bands, then went to the casino for a bit. 

Carters did a bunch of slides and the River Rapids (best "lazy" river in the world!!!) Last time we were here, Roo was too little to do anything but the Rapids River, so she couldn't wait to get down all of the other slides, especially the Serpent Slide which ends in a tunnel surrounded by all kinds of sharks.

Walked through the area that we don't spend a lot of time in- the beach, the Coral Pool, and got to look at some of the tanks along the way.

Found our Cartermaran sticker from 2022! Can you find it?

Came back for dinner on the boat, then the kids and Ben walked for ice cream.

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Ben called the marina office a little after 8:00 am for dock pickup and had the marina office call for a cab. Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise left for the airport with their conchs in tow. Bringing them through customs was a debate they had before leaving. Uncle Paul wanted to leave them with us to bring to them when we return at the end of July. Aunt Denise thought they brought them back just fine last time. Turns out they should've left them here. TSA said they can't have them in their carry-on, but they could have them if they checked their bags. Uncle Paul did not want to check bags, so he said that TSA now owns them for resale. (Don't tell Honesty!)

Ben did maintenance on the boat engines. I threw the guest bedroom sheets into the laundry, sunscreened everyone, then took the kids to the water park. I kept my phone in a water bag and noticed that toward the end of the day it had a moisture alert, so I set it out- charger port side facing the sun. Thankfully, it dried out pretty quickly!

Roo decided she was ready to try The Leap of Faith slide. This body slide is almost a straight down drop through a tunnel in the same shark tank as the Serpent Slide. Moose, being the only other one of us there to have done this slide, decided he would take her while Bear and I waited to take video of her drop. He didn't initially want to go, but as he got closer to the top he yelled down that he would go right after her.

Hattie's test results that we were waiting on came back, so Ben had to run back to New Providence/Nassau. He docked the tender by Honesty, and picked up her new antibiotics, to replace the current ones.

The kids and I came back to the boat with 30 minutes to spare (just enough time for a quick shower and to make guest bed) before the Grasshoppers arrived.

We walked to Shake Shack for dinner and enjoyed looking for and watching the manta ray, spotted ray, tarpon, and other large fish. For some reason, Atlantis lit off a ton of fireworks while we were eating. Roo thought it was for World Ocean Day and I explained to her that that would be contradictory to the type of celebration World Ocean Day would be. The display of fireworks was very loud because they were just outside of the restaurant, and lasted a long time. We did not enjoy them. 

We walked back through The Dig, which is an underwater viewing area of all sorts of tanks. There were jellyfish, lobsters, grouper, sharks, etc. One of the lobster tanks was a tunnel, so when we looked up, we saw a lobster with all kinds of orange eggs under her tail. We couldn't believe how many there were!

Once we were back to the boat, I had just about 20,000 steps for the day! I walked back and forth to the waterpark area 3 times, and that was in addition to the steps through the waterpark.

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Ben woke us up at 7:30 am so we could all eat, get into our suits, and get sunscreened. The park opened at 9, but most rides didn't open until 10. We all stuck together for one run on the Rapids River (we were there before it opened and we one of the first ones on!) before the kids ditched the adults for some more thrilling slides. We ate lunch and then did a little more together.

We walked back to toward the boat, but stopped along the way scoping out restaurants for dinner. We also got to show the Grasshoppers the Predator Lagoon and Tunnel. There was a very mobile (albino?) sawfish that Lori and I enjoyed watching. Any other sawfish we had ever seen had always just been laying on the floor. This one swam over us in the tunnel and was moving all around the tank.

Ben started working on the boat, using parts he ordered and had the Grasshoppers bring with them. The rest of us reapplied sunscreen or put on UPF clothes and went back to the park. Keith, Lori, and I just did the Rapids River over and over while the kids went together, again, on the slides.

Moose, Lori, and I were the last ones off the Rapids River. First ones on, last ones off. That was exactly how we wanted to spend our day. Time well spent.

We gathered all our stuff and met Ben at the marina pizza restaurant. All of the outdoor tables were occupied and we had to wait 30 minutes for our 3 pizzas to be made. We played a guessing game of which table would be done first and got one with a few minutes to spare before the pizzas were ready. Lori and the kids were busy eating all of the not-honeysuckle, honeysuckle flowers in the bushes next to our table.

After we ate, we walked back to the heart swing for a few photos. Sasha and Keith stopped for a drink at Shake Shack. My crew wanted Ben & Jerry's, so we decided to meet up there. Once the Carters got there, the line was so long, and Roo and I decided we didnt even want anything, so she and I walked back to the boat to shower. The Grasshoppers and the rest of the Carters caught a Cirque de Solelil advertisement parade. Ben was told that the marina staff leave at 8 pm, so the Atlantis Hotel people would be able to give him a ride to the slip instead. When Ben walked there, they told him no, so the 7 of them all wound up walking back to the boat too.

Nassau

Up at 6 and on our way shortly after. Wanted to get up early so we could get to Nassau in time for a vet to see Hattie. Ben took her out to potty at 4 am. She hasn't been acting like herself and hasn't been drinking her usual amount. Have to find a marina or day dock we can tie up to while we get her to an appointment.

Messaged a clinic (Animal Medical Group-Nassau) on FB Messenger before they opened, based on comments in a google review on the clinic. Got an autoreply, and then a response within the hour that they could see her at 1 pm, which was perfect because we would be docking a little after 12. They got all of our info and asked us to bring a urine sample. Found and booked a marina that is a 7 minute walk from the vet.

I got Hattie to drink some water while I sat with her and we were underway. I put some water on my finger and she licked it off. Did this for a few minutes and she stood up to drink some water on her own after and perked up a little bit. She just seems sleepy and out of it.

Nassau Harbor Hotel Club and Marina is on the waterway between Nassau and Paradise Island. Nassau Harbor is a main port for the cruise ships, so a lot of smaller boats run through the harbor for various excursions, causing lots of waves, on top of the actual wave, current, and wind conditions. It reminded us of New York Harbor when we anchored by the Statue of Liberty!

Docking makes me a little nervous. Ben always has it under control but my mind likes to play the what-if game, especially when the current and waves are kicked up. Initially, Ben wanted me to follow Hattie around with a ziplock bag to collect a urine sample rather than helping to dock, but I had Bear sit with her in the cabin instead, freeing me up to help with the lines. Three guys were on the dock to catch lines and pull us in. Our slip was between a dock and a cement wall, and the guys were tying us to the dock, but the boat kept drifting closer to the cement wall, requiring lots of loud spoken suggestions from Ben while the guys were communicating with each other about how to best pull and position the lines. 

Once we were tied and the engines were off, Ben and I walked Hattie to the vet. We still didn't have a urine sample, so we brought the ziplock baggie and a small Mason jar that Ben sterilized in the microwave before we left. Ben's job was traffic-watching and safety, my job was Hattie-watching and urine-collecting.

Most of our walk was through a shopping center and its parking lot. Each store front had a security guard on door patrol, opening the door for patrons. That made me uneasy, but we kept walking. As we rounded the DQ drive thru, I told Ben I had spotted the vet. I was pointing it out to him and he stopped walking and noticed that Hattie had squatted. I quickly shoved the ziplock under her and collected quite a bit before Ben put the mason jar under for a cleaner catch. I was shocked that Hattie kept going while we were both there under her. His hands were completely dry after, while mine had a few drops on them. I was just excited that we finally were successful in getting the sample, only a tenth of a mile from the vet's door! 

When we got to the clinic, we had to ring the doorbell and get buzzed in. I believe this method was in place of the door security person. We were seen by the nicest vet and vet tech. The vet asked how we found his clinic. I told him Google reviews that Claude searched for animals with a UTI, but that the selling point was a reviewer who said they have someone who replies to Facebook messenger after hours, so we could ensure we would have an appointment and not have to wait until 9 am to know.

Hattie had the most thorough exam (including x-rays, ultrasound, urinalysis, and bloodwork) and we, gratefully, got so much information back about her. It took quite some time, understandably, for all of it to process, so some naps were taken. He suggested a few things to follow-up on when we got back home, as well as a few things to just be aware of- based on what he saw. I was given 3 types of medication for her- a dewormer (given only 1 time when we got back to the boat), an antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory. Before we left, they gave her an injection of the anti-inflammatory, so we will start the pill version of the same thing tomorrow.

While we were gone, Uncle Paul, Moose, and Roo made friends with a man named Honesty sitting on the cement wall by our boat who was cutting coconuts on his day off. He had a small boat full of conch shells that he caught and told them he sells them to anyone but the markets because he doesn't want them making money off of his hard work. He cut open a coconut for Moose, who said it was the best coconut water he has ever had. (He had only tried boxed coconut water once before this. 🤣)

Moose and Roo wanted to swim at the marina pool, so Aunt Denise and I took them for a while. Bear got a little burned on the back of her legs while snorkeling yesterday, so she wanted to stay out of the sun, especially since we will be at Atlantis tomorrow. Uncle Paul helped Ben do a few things around the boat.

After swimming, we came back to the Cartermaran. Ben, Moose, and Uncle Paul went to the grocery store for a few things- mozzarella, milk, and some snacks. We made some pizzas for dinner. When the dishes were done, we walked over to DQ for some cool treats before calling it a night.

Eleuthera

Off the dock around 7:30- headed to Gaulding Bay, Eleuthera. We anchored there at least 2 other times, and we love the spot right in front of Lenny Kravitz's house. 

First, we had to get through the Eleuthera Cut, and fortunately, the current was with us. It was windy and there were little ripple peak waves, then it was smoother for a bit before making a turn and causing them to be more beamy 3 footers 4 seconds apart and a little more uncomfortable. 

Bear, Moose, and Roo jumped in the water as soon as we anchored. Uncle Paul joined them and they all snorkeled to the beach. They saw 2 baracudas- 1 huge and one small. When they got to the rocks on the beach, there was a wall of minnows, some yellowfish and snappers, and 2 needlefish. They swam back and played around and under the boat some more. Moose found a small, but spiny sea star for everyone to look at.

Hattie has never been known to potty on our fake grass, which was a blessing today. It helped us recognize there was a problem and that she needed to get seen by a vet. Luckily for us, we are heading to Nassau tomorrow, so we will find a vet and get her seen and feeling better soon.

Ben was fixing the kill switch and other things on the tender, and reorganizing the front lockers while waiting for the water maker to finish. Aunt Denise and I were helping where we could.

In the meantime, the kids and Uncle Paul snorkeled back to the beach. Once the watermaker was done, Aunt Denise, Ben, and I took the Chicken to the beach and we all hung out for a few hours, until we started getting cold. At one point we noticed the group of people at Lenny's house walking toward us at the beach and we got excited, but they turned back. They must've heard Moose being very loud and ornery.

Went back to the Cartermaran, Ben dropped us all off and took Moose out on the Chicken to teach him how to drive it. He has been begging to be able to drive it for the past several summers, whenever we take it out for a ride. They were cruising all through Gaulding Bay with no other boats in sight besides the Cartermaran.

We had to wait for high tide to pass and turn to low tide before we could go to Queen's Bath. Everyone dried off, ate dinner, then headed back to the beach one last time. Moose got to drive us all this time. 

This marked the 3rd time the Carters have been to the Queen's Bath. It is always fascinating. The way the water gathers in each of the pools during high tide and then leaves behind various critters and items as the tide receeds makes it different with each visit. Unfortunately, we also noticed an increase of trash, mostly plastic, that has washed ashore and is stuck in the pools. 

Everyone showered and got ready for bed as the sun set. We got a beautiful sunset and an even prettier sky after the sun had set. The lights came on at Lenny's house and illuminated it, adding to the evening beauty of this anchorage.

Spanish Wells

We were going to wait for high tide to provide a little more distance between our hulls and the reefs, and leave between 10 and 11 this morning. It started to rain around 6:45 and turned into a nearby thunderstorm a little before 7. Several lightning strikes were in the area where we were, 1-5 seconds away. This prompted Ben to check the weather for an updated forecast. 

Yesterday when he looked, it was forecasting calm seas for crossing to Spanish Wells and Nassau for the next several days. Today it was looking like 2 ft for tomorrow, then 5 ft and 3-4 the next day, so we up and left around 8 am. Our crew swap is in Nassau on the 8th- Uncle Paul & Aunt Denise leave and the Grasshoppers arrive, so we didn’t have an option to chance it and wait it out to see if it would change again.

Ben said we would just head to Nassau today (for the next 4 nights), cutting out Elbow Cay, Spanish Wells, and Eleuthera from our plan, which made me sad. Reluctantly, I got ready for the long day of 3 ft following seas, 7 seconds apart. To make it sting a little more, we would be leaving right then, without more time on the beach and without Florence's cinnamon rolls. When I came up to the cockpit, they decided we could likely make it to Spanish Wells today and hang there a day or 2, so that cheered me up a bit. 

Smooth ride to Great Guana Cay. There are lots of big houses on the beach there. We were wondering if they're residences or vacation homes.

Ben called the guy I had in my phone from last time we were in Spanish Wells to see if we could rent a golf cart from him. He said he didn’t do golf cart rentals anymore.

He called and got $1.50/foot at a dock Spanish Wells. We think it may be the same place we docked in 2022.

Had an uneventful crossing from Abacos to Spanish Wells. The 2-3 ft waves were 9 seconds apart, very tolerable. Just a long day- hanging out, napping, playing cards, watching DVDs, snacking, working on the blog and Instagram posts. Underway for 11 hours.

Docked in the same general area as last time, but I think it was a little further east than we were the time before.

As we were tying up, Ben, Uncle Paul, and I were getting eaten alive by noseeums. For the first time this summer, we were forced to eat inside.

Lots of middle-of-night wakings! The tide came in, so our boat was rubbing on the dock, ben went out to fix fenders. Around 3 am, it started raining. Ben got up to close up the cockpit, and saw Uncle Paul heading out to do the same. Much quieter for them due to being plugged in and the generator was not running. Aunt Denise said it was too quiet.

Uncle Paul and Ben walked to get a 6-seater golf cart rented for the day. The shop opened at 8. They got there before Jennifer, the lady who is retired and supposed to only work 2 days a week and now works everyday. 

Ben had a meeting at 10, and it was 9:10, so we all loaded up for a quick trip to the grocery store. Got a few necessities and a few non-necessities. They don't use plastic bags, but green bags that are 100% compostable. We were thrilled to see and use those.

Drove to the far west side of the island and looped back to the dock. Ben got ready for his meeting and everyone else got ready for the beach.

Left Ben at the boat and I drove (on the left side of the road) to the beach. There were 2 wooden swings over the water with a Spanish Wells sign above them, so we took advantage of the photo opp. We walked out falling into almost every hole in the sandy bottom, until the water got to waist level and came back. Moose and Roo resumed their digging and castle making, Bear and I walked around to the south side of the beach and then to the north side, where the winds really picked up and we had to hold onto our hats!

Everyone started getting hungry for lunch. It was time to leave. Aunt Denise mentioned that she saw a sub place on the way to the beach, so we stopped there and brought it back to the boat. 

While we were gone, Ben had his meeting, fixed the anchor roller, put the shower head on the hose at the outdoor stern shower, and replaced the light in our laundry room. He had a very productive morning.

Aunt Denise and I wanted to go shopping for some souvenirs. Everyone else decided to come with us. She got the shirt she wanted and a pretty bracelet she found. I got a sticker for my school computer, an ornament, a sign for my classroom, and some shark tooth necklaces for my prize box at school. Ben and Moose got some UPF shirts they wanted that say Spanish Wells. Bear got a Spanish Wells sweatshirt and a sticker for her computer. Roo got some postcards and bracelets for her and her besties.

We got in the golf cart and waited for Roo to write on her postcards so we could drop them off at the post office. Along the way to the post office, we saw a fire department, so Ben turned around to go back to see if anyone was there. Turns out we turned around in the post office parking lot! No one was at the fire station, so we went back to the post office to mail the postcards. When we walked in, no one was there either. It was just a wall full of PO Boxes. We knocked on the door that said staff only and no one answered. Next door was the administrator office. They were surprised no one was there and thought they were out for lunch. I asked what time it closes, they said 4 pm. It was 2 pm, we decided to drive around and explore the island and then come back and check again closer to closing time.

We drove to the east side of the island, looped around to the south side where all of the docks are in the narrow channel. There were pallets stacked high full of goods- we saw TVs, diapers, dry goods, toilet paper, etc. It was then that it clicked for the adults- it was delivery day for the stores. Imagine how long it takes to get anything delivered to the island before it even hits the shelves!

After we crossed over the bridge, we drove around Russell Island. We started off going to the east side and then headed back west. There was an awful noise and we kept thinking something happened with our golf cart. The kids (in their rear-facing seat) said it was coming from a truck behind us. Ben pulled over and a truck passed us. I still heard the noise and it wasn't coming from that truck. Then another truck passed us towing a boat on a trailer and we saw the back driver side tire of that trailer was not rotating, but instead being dragged because the brake was locked up, burning the rubber off the tire and leaving behind a long mark on the road. The smell? I bet you can smell it just from reading that!

We drove to the west, the furthest we could, and found a "Sign your name" sign, so we added a boat sticker to it.

In 2022, we went to a restaurant called Sandbar with Ben's mom, sister, and niece. We remembered liking it, so we were going to eat there again. It had a beautiful mosaic wall on the side of it that Roo wanted her picture in front of, so we had to recreate that photo. On Thursdays, they are only open for lunch, which means 11:30-5. It was 3. We weren't hungry quite yet and wanted to freshen up before dinner, so we left and went back to the boat. 

Ben dropped us off and took Bear and Roo to check the post office- one more time (it was still closed)- then see what the availability was for another restaurant we liked, The Shipyard. He was told they only had one more table at 6:30, so he reserved that for us.

When he got back, we decided to eat at The Shipyard. There was some time to kill, so the kids did some fishing off the dock. The adults moved the boat back a few pilings because another boat was coming in on the dock tomorrow morning and we wanted to be able to get out if it arrived before we left. Then, Bear, Roo, and I played some Farkle with Aunt Denise. We tried cards, but it was too windy.

Shipyard was perfect! Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise wanted to get some appetizers for the table. We all decided on the sticky conch (cracked conch) and conch poppers (conch fritters). Everyone liked them both, which was exciting because last time we came, only Roo tried conch. Moose and Bear refused to even give it a shot.

Our main dishes:

Uncle Paul- Mahi 🐟 

Aunt Denise- Coconut Chicken Strips 🥥 🐔 

Ben- Lobster Mac & Cheese 🦞 🍜 

Lisa- Grilled Pineapple Chicken Breast 🍍 🐔 

Moose- Conch and Chips 🐚 (I wasn't sure he would like this and he ordered it before he tried the appetizers. Our backup plan was for me or Ben to swap him for ours if needed.)

Bear- Cheeseburger 🍔 

Roo- Buttered Noodles 🧈 🍜 

I chose a coconut calabaza grits for one of my sides. I wasn't sure what calabaza was, but the waitress described it as similar to squash, so I decided to give it a try. Boy, was it tasty!!! 

As dinner was finishing up, we got to watch the sunset off the porch. It was the first actual sunset in a few days- as the others previously had been pretty cloudy and obstructed.

On the way home, we drove up to Papa Scoops for some ice cream. The line of golf carts was wrapped around the corner by the time it was our turn! We left our sticker among the other cruiser stickers before enjoying our scoops of ice cream on the way home.