Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

Great Inagua, Landfill Point on Crooked Island, Clarence and Calabash on Long Island, then Georgetown.

5-15 Cale checked us out of the marina and the Armada came at 4pm to check us out of the country. The Armada officer had a “friend” with him. He used Google translate to tell Cale, ‘a tip would be much appreciated.’ As soon as we gave them the tip, they gave us the paperwork, and were off with a smile. I drove the boat off the dock. It was really calm and a great place for me to practice. It went great. It was a little rough for about 2 hours and the really settled down. It’s a 30 hour passage and we will most likely motor the whole way because there is just hardly any wind. We have shifts set up for the night. At about 4:30 we will be about 20 miles off the coast of Haiti which is a little unsettling.

5-16
The shift schedule didn’t quite work out how we planned. Cade didn’t wake up for his shift, so Cale did 10-2. I came up at 2. About 4, Cade stumbled up and slept on the bench with me. I didn’t think I’d be able to go back to sleep so I didn’t wake up Kira for her shift. At around 7, I woke up Cole. Him and Cade did a shift together for awhile and Cale came up shortly after. The rest of the day is just a rotation of looking at the water, moving places to sit, filling water, trying to eat, killing time, and catching up on sleep. The kids had a record amount of screens. I had a bad headache so didn’t have the energy to have them do other things. They took a break mid-day for a while and we sat up front. It was really beautiful. Cole caught a mahi-mahi. We were so excited, but then not as much when we had to kill it. We got a Marine Biology lesson done. Thankfully, no storms caught us although we could see some in the distance. As we got close, around 10pm, there were some fishing buoys so I went out front and watched. There were tons of flying fish. I could also sometimes see fish at the bottom. The water was really clear. There was also so many mosquitos. Cale had shut the doors, but not before a lot had gotten inside. We got the anchor set pretty quickly. It was a nice sandy bottom. We are at Great Inagua, Matthew town in the Bahamas!!

5-17 We woke to Cade in our room about 5:30 and he was super itchy. We discovered mosquitos were everywhere. We went on a killing spree and then went back to bed. The kids stayed up and did school. The anchorage was rollie, but not terrible. The water was beautiful. We cleaned up the boat and Cale went and checked in. I cooked up Cole’s mahi-mahi and made some guacamole with the biggest avocados I’ve ever seen that we bought in the Dominican. It was super tasty. Cole hopped in and saw a huge barricades under the boat. There was also jelly fish, so the other kids didn’t swim.
We headed out around 3pm. It was so calm the entire way. Just unbelievable. It felt like a lake. This allowed us to be a lot more productive on passage then normal. We did a marine biology lesson, played uno, and kept up on keeping the boat clean (when its rough the boat is usually a wreck once we stop). We stopped in the middle of the ocean and jumped in the water for a break and just because it was sooo clear. It’s crazy to think it’s 7500 feet deep and there is just nothing you can see. We were all a little nervous to jump in, but it felt very refreshing. We had dinner and then watched the sunset and did scriptures. It was a nice day. The water is absolutely so amazing and the whole day was so peaceful.

5-18 It was so calm when we went to bed. I came out for my shift from 2-4. Cade came up after me, but I stayed out in case he needed something and to watch the weather that was developing. I got Cale up at 5 to look at the weather. When I woke up at 8, Cale had changed course and decided we should head for land. We had been on route for Clarence Town on Long Island, but instead ducked in at Long Cay near Crooked Island to wait out the a storm making its way to us. We made it safely and in plenty of time and got anchored. We also lost a fender on our way. We saw it go, but at the time we were really nervous to get anchored in time so left it. In hindsight, we had time to go grab it.
We put all the electronics in the oven and waited. The storm dissipated before it got to us, thankfully. Around 11:30 am, we decided to jump up to Crooked Island for a little more protection for the night. It’s a beautiful spot. The kids jumped off the boat. We went snorkeling. It wasn’t great where we went as far as corral ,reef, and fish. We did see a huge barracuda that wouldn’t leave us alone. It just kept following us. The kids eventually got nervous and we got out. While we were standing on the beach Cole saw a shark. I was skeptical at first, but sure enough there was a big shark along the shore. He would come in close and then go out, then come back in again. The kids (and Cale) grabbed their masks and got in at the shore to try and see it. It was a big one! Cale thought a reef or bull shark. Yikes!! Right where we had just been snorkeling. We went back to the boat, because a storm was building off the shore. It didn’t end up being much. Once it passed, Cale and the kids went fishing at a spot where we could see tons of fish feeding and lots of birds. I still have a terrible headache, so I stayed back. Sadly, the only thing they caught was a barracuda. Cole tried the drone again. We had dinner, did scriptures, watched the chosen and went to bed. If the weather looks good, we will leave tomorrow for Clarence Bay.

5-19 We had a super chill day. Cale and I got up and debated about possibly taking a weather window and leaving. It seemed like maybe it was going to be okay, but we decided to wait and it was good that we did. A big storm passed right through where we would have been.
The kids did a lot of school. It was overcast, but hot. We ran to AC most of the day (which we haven’t done much at all). Cale cleaned the cockpit. By the time we got done with school the kids just wanted to hang out. We had dinner and watched the Chosen. About that time, we started seeing lightening. Within 30 minutes, it was the kind of lightening that lights up the sky. The storm above us and the storm below were both growing around us. It was pretty intense for a while. All the kids came into our small, hot room for a while. I could hardly blame them. The lightening was pretty crazy. It lit up the entire sky. We all went to sleep knowing an even bigger storm was coming. It passed over us, but we all slept through it so must not have been that bad. I said lots of prayers and if you saw how the radar looked and how it somehow missed hitting us directly I was saying a lot of prays of gratitude as well.

5-20 Cale woke up at 4, and we saw the storm was over Turks. We checked again around 8 am and decided we had a weather window. We pulled anchor and headed for Clarence town. It was a 6.5 hour passage. It was pretty uneventful. Our starlink service changed the rules so we will be a lot more limited. It will be nice in some ways, but we defiantly rely on it a lot, especially on passage.
We got here about 3pm and went to get fuel. The deck hand was very helpful. The first thing we noticed were the sharks. They hang out all around the docks because of the fishing boats. They know the boat engine means food. They were big. He said they are bulls, reef and nurse sharks. We went into the little store after and he told us about snorkeling at the Big Hole and mangroves. He told us where not to snorkel because it was where the sharks wait for the fishing boats. We first snorkeled at a small private beautiful beach. We were all a little more cautious getting in the water then normal. I mean we had just seen about 20 sharks in the water not that far away.
There wasn’t too much to see, but it was super clear water. We then dinghied over to a sand bar by the Blue Hole. The kids had a blast playing on the sand bar. It was exposed because the tide was so low. Even as we sat there it started to get covered with water. The boys skimmed and we played volleyball. We dinghied a bit over to the mangroves, but it was still super shallow. We did see a very cute little green turtle. We also saw a couple huge rays in the water. We stopped and swam at the Blue Hole. It went from 3 feet to 650 feet super quickly. It was a little creepy.

5-21 We got up and going around 6:30am. We weren’t sure if we’d go all the way to Georgetown or not. We ended up going 6 hours to Calabash at the North point of Long Island. We no longer have unlimited internet underway so it’s been an adjustment for the kids, but was nice that they had to be more creative with their time.
We caught another fish, a tuna. Kira reeled it in. Cade had a mahi mahi on the hook but it came off. We cooked up the tuna for dinner. It was tasty. It’s so fun to be finally catching and cooking fish.
*I still have a headache so I felt okay on and off all day.
The entrance into this anchorage (Calabash) is pretty narrow. We sat up front looking for shallows as we came in. We got the anchor set and immediately saw a couple sharks swimming around the boat. They would come out from the grassy area about 20 feet from where we were anchored over sand. We dinghied around the mangrove but it was pretty shallow so we ended up at the beach. We met a guy who lives alone on his boat named Marcos, from Honduras. He has been in the Bahamas about 2 months. His English was a bit hard to follow, but he showed us some cool places to check out.
Kelsey made brownies for a treat. She did it all by herself. We did “church” which was the kids each teaching a section of the lesson. They all did a great job. I love how pure and simple the gospel is.
This anchorage is very rollie, it almost feels like we are still underway. Hopefully, we can all get a good night’s rest.

5-22 We got up and got going pretty early. Calabash is a beautiful place. There was still a lot more to explore, but the way the waves were coming in from the north it was super rollie. We went straight out of the channel. It went well. It was a little rough, but not too bad. About 2-3 feet swell from 60 degrees or so and wind about the same. We had a good sail, about 7.5 to 8 SOG most of the way. It got a little rougher when the swell started coming off the beam. We dropped sail when we got to the channel, since its a little shallow. We decided to anchor at Sandy Beach. There are a lot of boats here but it put us close enough to take the dinghy to shore. The kids swam and then we went to check out Georgetown. I can’t believe we are actually here. It’s been a long few days on the go. The town is small. The first market we went to was the most well stocked. I anticipated high prices and that was the case. A few things like apples and oranges weren’t as high as I thought they’d be, but most was equal to or more then Grenada, although more American selection. We walked around, but all the marine stores were closed. We found a place to eat called Eddie’s Edgewater. It almost felt like a house converted to a restaurant. We got there at 6 and were the only people. About 7, a lot of people from resorts came. It was really good food. We had crack chicken, which were like fried chicken strips, but so good. We realized later its a very popular place. As of right now, I’d have to rate the friendliness of the people pretty low. I’m not sure if its just that they see so many tourists or what, but while some were nice, some didn’t even respond to a hello.

5-23
Cale and I went to Georgetown around 9am to provision. When you enter Elizabeth Harbor you go under a bridge. We first went to Top II Bottom. They had a little of everything, but quite expensive. We got a window Bahamas flag, that will hopefully work as a courtesy flag.
Cale had to take a taxi to get oil for the generator. I forgot I didn’t have cash so walked to the ATM and then back to do the shopping. We are pretty well stocked, so I didn’t get much. Things are 50 to 75% more expensive. Apples and oranges actually weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be.
Cale took groceries back and I went looking for stuff for Cole and Kira for their birthdays.
We stopped by the library and got some maps. We still haven’t been able to find a cruising guide. We came and decided to leave for Black Cay at the top of Great Exuma Island. It was a 3 hour motor. We are all ready to not be on the go so much, but this will put us at a place we can wait for friends to find us.
We saw dolphins on our way out of the bay. It was pretty calm. I drove into the bay to anchor and it went well. It’s hard getting used to how shallow everything is. We double checked the depth of our keel when we got to anchor. We changed it so its now reading from the keel instead of the water line. Right now we have about 4 feet below the keel. Crazy!