Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

5-23 We decided to leave for Black Cay from Georgetown at the top of the Great Exuma Island. It was a 3 hour motor. Kira was especially not happy, but I think we are all ready to not be on the go so much.
We saw dolphins on our way out of the bay. It was pretty calm. I drove to the anchor and it went well. It’s hard getting used to how shallow everything is. We double checked our depths. It’s now reading from the keel. Right now we have about 4 feet below the keel. Crazy!
5-24 We stayed at Black Cay all day. The kids did school. I was quite productive. I got up and cleaned our bathroom and started laundry. We did probably 6 or 7 loads. The toughest part is finding space to put it out to dry and then having to move it when rain comes. We did have some stormy skies, not a lot of rain, but some.
We went to Pig Island, White Cay Bay. Right away they start swimming out to us. It was wild. We were the only ones there so weren’t quite sure how brave we wanted to be. They were pretty aggressive. We fed them the food we had, which was some cabbage, cookies, and carrots. It was hard to get it in their mouths. Cole finally braved the beach. They aren’t fast enough to get you. We all made our way to the beach, except Cale stayed with the dinghy. We pet them. There were babies, which were super cute.
We went snorkeling at Black Rock. It was okay, not great. We then tried off the south point of Black cay. It was much better. There was one coral area with lots of fish. It looked like a boat wreck with all kind of parts scattered all over. It was a fun snorkel. We came back and made fish tacos with the meat from our tuna.
The kids swam for a while then the boys surfed behind the dinghy before we decided it was getting stormy. We played monopoly for a while and then decided to meet our neighbors who got here today. It was a boat called Alexandria, from Sweden, Vicktoria and can’t remember the husbands name, with 2 girls 10 and 7. They crossed the ocean and are getting ready to cross back to Spain. They were really nice.
We started to see lightening so went home. It’s been flashing on and off around us, but looks to be pretty far away. There is a problem with the water maker. It keeps loosing power. Cale is going to trouble shoot it more tomorrow. The wind is shifting and coming from the south. We are hoping it won’t make things to rollie.

5-25
Cale was up a lot watching the storms roll through. I slept through most of them, but about 5 a big one came pretty close and was super loud. We just sat there and watched it hoping it would pass. It lasted about an hour.
Cale trouble shot the water maker and was able to get it started, but only at 800psi. We decided to move from Black Cay to Rat Cay. We went out of the channel. It was quite rough, but only for about 30 minutes. We tucked back in at the pass north of Square Rock Cay. It was a tight little channel. I drove. It was quite shallow coming across to Boysee Cay. We anchored by the blow hole, but it was rough, so we went around the corner to Rat Cay. The day was a bit weird. It was stormy on and off all day. We relaxed and played games. Cale and Cole wing foiled. We got in a snorkeled from the boat over to some cars and truck wrecks that someone has put there. They made for some interesting things to look at. The water is beautiful. There was a couple of really pretty coral heads, with lots of colorful fish and we also saw a huge puffer fish hiding out.
Another storm started to approach, so we quickly swam back to the boat.
It was stormy on and off. A huge lightening storm passed behind us around dark. We played “thunder” music. It was cool because it was pretty far away. It’s been crazy to see how almost every time the storms dissipate before they get to us or split in half and pass on both sides. It’s happened now 3 or 4 times when we thought it was coming right at us and it didn’t. I am so grateful. We have two friend boats that should be catching up to us tomorrow. We are excited to see them.
We heard a lot about Conception Island. We will have to do that next time for sure.

5-26
We got a big storm that hit us direct around 4 in the morning. It was pretty scary. It was bad, but not as much as it could have been and we were safe. We went out to secure the dinghy and check on stuff in the night. Cale and I were up in the night so we slept in. Eventually we got going on school. Around 12, we finally had a break in the weather and went to the blow hole. It was super rough getting there. We anchored the dinghy and swam in, which was also super rough. The blow hole was great. So much fun to see.
We played around there. The little swim hole near it was fun. We saw Nomoya coming and raced back to meet them. It was the roughest, wettest dinghy ride yet. I was bailing out so much water. We had Nomoya anchor in a slightly different spot, at Pigeon Bay which was a little more protected, then we moved over as well.
It was calmer, but still pretty rollie. It calmed down by evening. The kids immediately met the Nomoya girls at the beach. Kira had the nice idea to make everyone cookies. I finished cooking them. Shortly after, Lia arrived. We are excited to see them again. The kids waisted no time playing. We went over and visited with Nomoya for a while, then came back and had dinner. The kids played more at the beach and on Lia. The adults met on CAVU and kids on Lia for a planning meeting. We mostly just talked, but landed on staying here tomorrow and then moving up 10 or so miles the day after. More lightening over us now.

5-27 A day of endless water fun and sun burns. The kids were in the water sailing, playing with the sea bobs, swimming, wing foiling, and paddle boarding. They all played so hard. After lunch, we went to the blow hole beach and swam and played and skim boarded. After we had dinner and had a bonfire on the beach. So many bugs, but absolutely beautiful. We all worked on our foil skills today. It’s starting to click for me. Cole got up on the foil for a few seconds. No sharks! The kids went to Lia to watch a movie. No big storms today.

5-28
We got up and going around 7:30. We were a little surprised to see Nomoya much closer then we expected. The had spun and we were just hanging. Thankfully, we still had room to spare. We got ready and left around 9am. We exited north out onto the Atlantic side. It was a little rough when we first went out but settled down quickly. We went out a little farther and tired to fish. No luck! We couldn’t. Sail until the last hour when our wind angle shifted. At that point, it was great sailing. We went about 3 hours up and went through Rudder Cut. About 20 minutes before we got there I noticed a tornado cloud and pointed it out. It’s called a rain spout over water. It was about 2 miles east of us. Kind of scary to see, but actually so cool because it wasn’t near us. You could see the water being pulled up into it. We got through the channel easily although its very narrow. We went north to the coast and anchored there by the caves. It’s a very amazing place. Small islands all over. We did church as a family and then lunch and then the fun began. There was lots of sailing, sea bobbing, paddle boarding and swimming. The adults all snorkeled to the cave. It was loud inside, but so cool with big caverns and holes in the top. We all took turns with the sea bobs. We saw a ray and some fish. We went back and got the kids to check out the under water mermaid sculpture. While we had been gone Kira made cookies and it was hilarious to see the kids all trying to get the most they could. They are all missing fresh baked treats. The current was super strong at the statue. We were able to get there and look at it and that was about it.
We came back to the boat and swam some more. I worked on the blog. The kids played and played. Cale tried to foil behind the boat. The kids played games at Lia.

5-29
It was a bit rollie at night, especially for Nomoya. I also didn’t sleep well, so we decided to move anchorages. We went out Rudder Cut and north about an hour. We went in at Galliot Cut and then went right and anchored at Big Galliot Cay. Once we were settled the kids quickly began another day of water and fun. They did sail boat races in teams of 2 and timed them. Cale and I snorkeled at the shore. A barracuda stocked us for quite a while. Just hung behind us and followed us around.
The kids anorkeled as well and swam and swam. Corin and MJ came by and also Matt and we visited for awhile while the kids swam. Mj ended up getting his tube and taking the kids behind their dinghy. Matt, Cale and I went and did a drift snorkel. It was so cool that we went back and got the kids and all did it. We found two spots to drift between Galliot and Farmers Cay. On our way back we stopped at a little rock and had some great snorkeling, really amazing coral. It looked like an aquarium. It was great. It got progressively calmer all day. It’s beautiful here.

5-30 It was a sloshy night. We had lightening pass, but not much thunder. About 9:30 am at low tide, we went over to the 2 mile sand slip. The first place we stopped was about 2 feet deep water. It was really cool with lots of sand dollars, but we realized the actual sand slip was father out so we went out about another 1/2 mile. It was really amazing! You feel like you are in the middle of nothing in a couple inches of water. It was amazing. The kids played keep away and swam. We visited and enjoyed the amazing experience. We stopped at a small island on our way back and did some great snorkeling, however, the tide was a bit strong. Kelsey loved these white angel like fish that kept ducking down into their little holes. We went back to the drift dive we did the day before. This time we started and it took us towards the boat. It was so cool. It was a lot deeper then before when we did it. We saw a huge sting ray. A huge grouper and Kelsey and MJ said they saw a shark. Lots of fish and really beautiful.
We came back for a break and lunch and before we knew it a storm was here. The kids had all their various flotation devices at our boat so they waited out the stormy weather. They played games and made treats. At one point when it got really loud and seemed like it was going right over us we sent all the kids into rooms to wait it out. Soon enough they were back out and rearing to go again. The storms just kept coming. Eventually we got all the toys where they needed to be and the kids all went home around 8:30. A full day.

5-31 I’ve gotten in the habit of waking up at night around 4 because of storms. Last night they hit earlier, around 3. There was some really loud thunders, more so then we’ve had. It was also pretty sloshy.
We decided to head out around 8. It was still rainy and cloudy but no thunder. It was a pretty calm motor. I was able to work on videos.
We got settled we had lunch and then went over to the Thunder Ball Grotto. Pulling up it doesn’t look like much, but it was so cool. Right away the snorkeling was awesome. So many huge fish and colorful coral. We followed the rope into the Grotto area. It was a very cool cave with a hole at the top. We were the only ones there. It wasn’t long before we were diving under rocks. First ,we went out the backside. There was tons of current so it was hard to get through. I was out there with Ruby and Gina and I was worried for them. Gina hit her head on a rock coming through. It was easier to get back though. Then, we all went down and out the other side. There was 2 ways. We all went out both ways and then pretty soon the kids were going in and out of multiple paths. It was very cool. Again, so many fish.
Next, we went to the Pig Island. Two pigs came out right away. Cole and Cade decided to jump in and right after a shark came swimming up. It started to swim towards the boys and we were telling them to hurry and swim to shore. It was a bit scary. The pigs were fun and pretty cute. We fed them in the water and then went to shore. There were more pigs then the other beach we went to. Similar in size.
It started to storm as we left and on our way back we were going into a huge rain storm. The drops were hitting us so hard it felt like hail and actually hurt. The weather cleared off a little shortly after we got back and the kids took turns on the foil board behind the sea bobs. Cale and I went to Staniel Cay town to get stuff for Kira’s surprise birthday. It’s a cute little town. We found the laundry mat. She said 8,9,10 per load and dryers are separate cost. She wasn’t too friendly but maybe because we caught her at closing.
We checked out the blue and pink store. The pink had a whole freezer full of ice cream so we got 3 of those, a chocolate bar and a deodorant and it was 54 dollars. My jaw almost dropped.
We came back and all the kids had ventured to out boat. We were happy to have them. After a bit they went to Lia, which worked out well because I was able to make brownies to celebrate Kira’s birthday.
We gave all our liquor to Nomoya. There were excited because some of it is South African. We all met for dinner on Lia to eat up the tuna they caught. It was a potluck, which Caron had to look up and see what it was. It turned out great. After, Cale and I went back to the boat to get the treats and we sang to Kira with her brownie cake. She was super embarrassed but I just wanted to make her sweet 16 special. We had brownies and very melted ice cream, but the kids loved it. It’s the first time for ice cream besides at a store since we left. Everyone said something nice about her…she’s so patient and good with kids, she’s not too cool to play and enjoy the kids, she is fun and responsible and a good student, she is beautiful inside and out, she is nice to Owen (from Greg). It was great. The kids begged for one more movie night. The parents visited and then went and broke up the party around 11:30.
Nomoya leaves tomorrow. I’m so grateful we had the chance to meet them. I learned so much about their country and they are just great people. South Words: Lakar- somethings good, Sure as Bob, long drop, and bri.

6-1 It was sad to wake up and have Nomoya gone. We will miss them. The girls gave everyone bracelets and Kira a whole bunch of them for her birthday. It was very thoughtful. We cleaned the boat, organized and fixed stuff. The kids did school and helped clean. The boys went with the Flanders to the grotto. This time they jumped in the hole. Kira and Kelsey went on an expedition alone on the dinghy to a beach. We did a load of laundry, self serve ant the laundry/liquor store. They were big machines and it went quickly.
We went with the Flanders to look for a skim spot. We didn’t find a skim beach, but we did have a fun time exploring drift mangroves and then the rocks along the shore. We even eventually went out to the Atlantic side. The rocks and caves are really amazing.
We went in for dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. While waiting for the food the kids went out and were able to touch the nurse sharks in the marina. They were swimming all over. Tide was super high, it was a little tricky getting in and out of the dinghy beach, but it worked.