We went to sleep with a house on shore blaring an
eclectic mix of music into the night; we don't know when it stopped, but woke
to a welcome sound of a dousing rainfall that washed this salt-encrusted vessel
clean of the buildup of our ocean passages.
Twenty-five years have passed since I first stepped
ashore at Cat Cay. The first time
around, I was part of a group of gung-ho sailors from mainland who had rented a
boat to do some traveling around these cays.
I don't remember much about the Cay, except that it
was private, but we somehow snuck onto the beach via dinghy on the other side,
while the Coast Guard guy (who was sweet, we think, on one of our crew members)
turned a blind eye. We had arrived late
to the shore, we made a campfire, and we ended staying there until dawn,
catching snatches of sleep when we could.
Apart from a few sand flea bites, we made out pretty good sleeping on
the sand under the stars.
This time we entered legally, anchoring out until
this morning when Gary went ashore to provide the proper paperwork and hundreds
of dollars that the Bahamian Government requires to allow us boaters to
visit. When all he needed was our
signatures, he radioed us on the boat and said we could come to the marina
where the Customs and Immigration offices were located. But, we had to wait in the boat until it was
okay to set foot ashore. Gary brought
out our slips of paper to sign, he got them verified, and gave us the signal
that we could clamber up on the dock.
As soon as we rounded the deck, the Security guy
asked us if we had checked in with the Harbor Master, since this is a PRIVATE
ISLAND and the Harbor Master needs to know we are here. We agreed with that and Gary said he had
walked over to check in with him, but the office was empty. Gary said that he would try again and, again,
the office was empty. Maybe this is some
sort of Bahamian joke that gets played on non-owners of the exclusive property
there. Construction sounds filled our
ears yesterday and this morning; we found out that business has been good and
the number of owners has increased and they're all building houses. We had assumed it was refurbishments to
storm-damaged homes, but no, they're on a roll.
I can't even imagine how an island gets to be a privately owned island,
but less how much it would cost to own a piece of this paradise.
We decided to part with more of our money with a
great lunch at the Nauticat restaurant; a delicious meal of chicken bbq on a
pretzel roll, lobster roll for Gary, and jerk chicken sandwich for Elliott. I had worn a dress and flip-flops (for the
first time on this trip) and almost tripped up some stairs. Need those sturdy Keen's to keep my balance. Elliott said that if I hadn't had my special
nautical training of balancing on a moving vessel, I would most likely have
face planted. I think he's right.
After lunch, we moved the boat over to Gun Cay in
Honeymoon Harbor, which we've visited several times as a group and as a family
for our ten-year anniversary cruise. The
land is very different now, probably following storms and hurricanes, with the
sandy beach on the northern side pretty much washed away. The coral is still there, of course, but it
just seems strange. There are more
little beach spots on this side now. I
forget that landscape is always changing and because the last time we were on
Gun Cay was 11 years ago, it does appear drastic.
Gary and Elliott decided to go to shore and do some
exploring and possibly some lobstering.
I stayed on board to continue reading a new book, knowing that tomorrow
I would be ashore most of the day. When
they returned, they reported beautiful marine sightings along the wall along
this side of the island; they also walked around the tip of the island and
noticed a kid about Elliott's age excited about something in the water. They waded in and were surrounded by rays and
even were able to touch they slick leathery wings. They will swim right up to your feet! I was busy watching a small ray slide by when I was shocked by the huge wingspan of a much larger ray swimming right next to me. The variety of sealife here is amazing and
both guys had big smiles on their faces as they recounted different sightings
and their personal favorites.
Elliott sure is a hard one to get out of the water;
as soon as they tied back up to the boat, he put on flippers and mask again and
fell backwards into the water to spend another 30 minutes swimming around. He just told me that he found the fish that
must have been the inspiration for the unicorn dragon from Adventure Time. O-kay!
I told him it was getting late and this safety officer requires a
listening to; still, he's like a kid at the pool when you tell him to get out
he will swim the entire length of the pool to stay in the water as long as
possible before exiting. I pretend to be
grumpy about it, but he makes me smile and he's so gorgeous swimming in the
water, diving deep to bring up a sea biscuit for me to see, or a live conch, or
a live hermit crab (the size you don't want to take home for a pet!).
I remember finding all these cute little cone-shaped
shells here years ago and scooped them up and put them in my pocket to save for
later. A short while later, I feel
movement in my pocket. Pulling one of
the shells out, I realized that every single one of them was alive with a crab;
those shells never moved so fast in their lives away from me and back on the
rock from where they came. Freaky!
We are staying through Wednesday morning, when we'll
set sail across the Great Bahama Bank for a small shoal area to anchor
overnight on our way to the Berry Islands, which is about 70 miles away. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's trip to
shore because I know my camera will be keeping me very busy and maybe, just
maybe, I'll try a little snorkeling at water's edge.
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