Little Pipe Cay

Many boats were gone by the time we left our mooring ball. We are headed to Little Pipe Cay for low tide, to enjoy another well-loved sand bar. We have never been there, so we are excited to see how it compares to those at Warderick Wells and Man-o-War Cay.

As we got closer to the anchorage, we saw about 10 tenders beached on the sand bar, and it was still 3 hours until low tide! Clearly this is a very popular destination.

We got into the tender and wanted to take it around to see our surroundings, but I said we should go to the sand bar first. We can explore at any tide.

Ben found us our own sand bar so we didn't have to hang with 10+ other tenders. The kids immediately started looking for treasures to keep because this is not part of the Land and Sea Park.

Moose started digging waterways. Bear, Roo, and I grabbed the conchs that were underwater and now exposed. We wanted to have another conchregation and see what happened. We walked around to collect some conchs. Roo and I found a PURPLE conch that was pretty young, so we left it where it was. I didn't have my phone with me. I was bummed I couldn't take a picture of it. I had never seen a purple one before. Roo and I thought it was beautiful!

We had about 10 conchs, of all different sizes and ages, in a circle facing each other. Their eyes came out and one of the oldest ones pushed its way through the circle and down into the water. It did not want any part of our shenanigans.

A couple from France came to chat with us as they were walking back to their tender and while we were talking, most of the conchs went on their way. The people from France had collected several conchs and were looking for a few more, but weren't sure any from our conchregation were large enough.

They offered to give us some of the conchs to eat, but we said we don't have things to prepare them with on board. We did ask how they harvested them and they so kindly showed us right there on the beach. They said they like to pull them out on the sand to help with cleaning the slime off the meat. Once out of the shell, they had to cut off the intestines, eyes, and mouth before peeling off the harder parts by the foot. It seemed like a lot of work for a little bit of meat. I was having a hard time trying to figure out the top from the bottom- it all looked like a blob to me.

The man handed Ben the chisel and knife to have him learn how to get one out. This couple bought their boat 3 months ago in Martinique and haven't caught any fish! They were going to cook 2 of the conchs for dinner tonight and then freeze the rest for their journey to Cuba.

We didn't make it out to explore on the tender and have some more time before we have to move onto another island group, so we will stay another night and explore a bit tomorrow before the sand bars pop up.

The current right off our bow is crazy!! Watching it puts me in a trance. It is just so cool! The water is exceptionally clear in this spot. We can see our anchor, even with that current right here!

After a peaceful sleep, the girls didn't want to go explore, so Moose took Ben and me on a trip around the cays in this area. Lots of private resorts and beaches. Nothing too exciting to see, so we didn't get out of the tender. We could see it was trash burning day over at Staniel Cay. The current through to the Exuma Sound was entertaining, and even had a natural coral rock breakwater in one area. We cruised around and headed back to the boat.

Checked out the sand bars with the girls. Didn't want to go to the exact same place as yesterday, so we went a different way and landed in a new spot. We weren't there very long when the girls and I wanted to move. We didn’t see any conchs for a conchregation and there were no shells or sand dollars in the area we were sifting. This was the area that 10+ boats were beached yesterday, so it probably gets picked through often.

We went to another area, closer to the mangroves. Moose got out his casting net and started throwing it. When the girls jumped out, they both squealed about the feeling of the sand in their toes. When I jumped out, I realized why. It felt very squishy and thick- almost like cement. It was very odd. We walked through it, saw a stingray, and made it to the sand bar.

The coolest thing about the sand bars is looking out and seeing how flat it is, with all these pools of water draining, and every now and then spotting an isolated pointy conch. We knew we were going to hold another conchregation, so we set off to collect them. The first one I saw, I sent Roo to get. It turned out to not only not be a conch, but it was a gorgeous shell AND no one was home! It is the most beautiful find- a male King Triton Conch.

We collected a few other conchs (one was an empty one that was a meal for another animal at some point), shells, and sand dollars and moved to the water to set them up in a circle. This circle was in water a little deeper than the last 2, so it was harder to see them clearly. We started with 14 of them. One turned around and left right away. Another one went to the middle of the circle and around, greeting everyone. After a little while, more conchs had left. When there were only 6 left, we decided to try to swim across to the other sand bar. The current was moving quickly in the channel, but we made it!

Roo and I went for a walk around this sand bar. She really wanted to find some big sand dollars on her own. Bear and I had both found a few each.

We found the purple conch from yesterday and took some pictures of it today. Then we brought it and a young pretty pink one to the water by the private beach by our boat so no one would kill them. This seems to be a popular place, not only for sand bars, but for harvesting conchs- both days people here were doing so.

I thanked Ben for letting us take the baby conchs somewhere that wasn't the sand bar or the channel here. I didn't want them to climb the hill to the sand bar and be seen again. Then, of course, I worried about dropping them into the deeper water rather than placing them on the sand and figured they preferred to be in deep water rather than dead from someone harvesting them right away, even though they were not big enough. I did some research and found out when they're really young, they live in 12+ foot deep water anyway. If Queen Conchs are interesting to you as well, I recently came across a partnership between FAU and Eleuthera that studies and breeds conchs, since they are a threatened and overfished species. We have learned so much about them. Check it out!

Moose ended the night doing his favorite thing... fishing.

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.