Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited

6-2 The kids did school and cleaned the boat. As soon as the rain let up we went to town for some groceries. The kids were supposed to finish cleaning to get ready for guests.
We had the golf cart which was so helpful. We went to the general market near the airport. They had a lot of great produce selection. The prices are super high. We stopped at Burk’s also. They also had a great selection of produce. They get shipments every other week and so it might depend on when you go. It was a little tricky getting all the bags to stay on the golf cart back to the dinghy.
We quickly discovered the rooms and bathrooms weren’t quite up to par so we spent the next couple hours getting things cleaned and ready.
About 3:30 we were ready to go. We loaded in the dinghy and zipped off to meet the Durgins. Within 3 minutes, the motor died….out of gas. We were so lucky though because after paddling a short distance we got into the current and it made a quick go of the rest of the distance to the gas dock. We were sooo lucky for that current. We stopped and got fuel. There was a huge shark under us. Kelsey tried to catch minnows. We dropped trash and then put a stern anchor on the dinghy in case the tide started coming up. We all loaded in the golf cart and drove by the airport. They weren’t there yet so we went to return the car and while we were there we heard their plane. We ran back over just as they were walking off the tarmac. So glad they made it safe. We had about a 10 minute walk to the docks. We got a table for dinner. We ate at the yacht club again. The kids were even more brave and got in the water and touched the nurse sharks. They were cleaning fish so there were tons of sharks.
We came back to the boat and the kids swam. Cole tried to spear a grouper. It was getting dark and it was sketchy with sharks so Cale jumped in to help him. No fish, but it was a fun adventure. The kids tried to catch minnows and a barracuda swam around the boat.

6-3 I can’t believe tomorrow is Kira’s birthday. I am so proud of the person she is and the person she is becoming. She has been so amazing on this trip. She has taken this different path we are on in stride and grown so much because of it. She is fun, kind, adventurous and constantly challenges herself.
Everyone was up and swimming early. We had breakfast. Cale and Greg went and grabbed some missed essential items. Things like marshmallows and ginger ale.
We all loaded up and went on a painfully long dinghy ride to see the pigs. There were a lot of tour boats there but it was still great. The pigs swam out. We fed them pieces of potato. Riley had one trample her foot.
Eventually, we went to shore and even held one of the tiny ones. They were cute but a little stinky.
Next, we went and snorkeled the outside of the grotto waiting for the tide to settle. About 30 minutes, later we went back around to the entrance and there were about 6 or 7 boats. It was a bit crazy. Going in it was still rough current, but doable. It was really busy when we first got there but we had it to ourselves for a small amount of time. The tide also started to calm down. Cale took the kids back to the boat. While we waited I met another boat family called Wayfinder. They are a family of 4 from Tennessee on the same track as us getting ready to sell their boat in St Augustine. Fun to meet them in passing.
While we waited for Cale to come back Brenda and I were snorkeling out of the grotto and all the sudden there was just a huge shark cruising by. It was just so crazy that all of a sudden it was just there. I put my head up to tell Brenda. By the time I looked again it was gone. So crazy! I felt surprisingly calm. I think because it showed no interest in me. It was just going about its way. I was in so much shock I didn’t really pay attention to what kind, but it was with a reef or nurse. I tend to lean towards a reef just because of how it was moving and where I saw it. We then saw a ray buried in the sand and the cutest little turtle. Cale picked us up and we checked out Pirates Beach (where we ran into and talked to Wayfinder more) before going back to the boat for lunch. We tried to pull anchor and realized we were wrapped around a rock. It wasn’t budging when Cale dove down. He got a dive tank on and it took a while, but we got it free. The kids all wanted in the water to help but at a certain point I was like get in the boat now. I was worried once the chain was free we could start dragging and I couldn’t use the motors when they were all in. It was kind of intense for a few minutes, but worked out. It was only about an hour ride. We saw a bunch of birds and fish swarming and went back and forth over the area trying to catch a fish. We didn’t catch anything. We did see a shark in the middle of the frenzy. I wondered if that was why the fish weren’t biting. They weren’t the preying they were the prey. Pretty crazy.

We cut in at Bell Cay. We moored at the Land and Sea Park at O’Brien Cay. It’s pretty strong current but overall a calm spot. Our journey here was probably one of the most smooth we have had. We loaded up and snorkeled at the aquarium. It was awesome! Really amazing coral and so many fish. We dived and swam. It was great! Brenda and I came back to start dinner and the kids tried to go to a beach but it was closed to protect the lizards.
We had a nice dinner and the kids watched a movie.

6-4 Kira’s Birthday! Happy 16th!!! It’s hard to make a birthday special on the boat. We do cool stuff everyday, but what makes this day special is Kira. It has been so much fun to watch her grow and challenge herself through this experience. She has sacrificed a lot to make this happen for our family, but she has taken it in stride and with a great attitude. I’m so thankful and honored to be her mom. She is such a great example to me.

We got up and it was pretty rough. We had pancakes with chocolate chips for breakfast (all the food was Kira’s choice). It was a little overcast but not too bad. The water was rough. We thought about snorkeling the plane wreck, but decided to get going instead. It was a great sail and great wind. It was fun to sail with the Durgins. It was all new to them and they seemed to really enjoy it. It’s fun to share it with others. The water was pretty calm, but strong winds. We were a little overpowered at one point and had to turn into the wind and get sails down.
We came into Wardrick Wells Cut and went to the right and took mooring number 12. There was a very strong current coming into the cut. We had about 2 to 3 knots coming at us. At one point, we were only moving forward about 2.5 knots. Sadly, Riley had a hat fly off and we weren’t at a place to safely go back and get it. Once through the channel we were able to grab the ball pretty easily. It’s a very unique and picturesque spot. We had grilled cheese for lunch. Shortly after we got here a nurse shark greeted us. He swam behind the boat for a long time. I’m not sure if he like swimming behind the current of the boat or was waiting for some scraps because he heard the motors. Many of the sharks that live the marinas are trained to associate motors with food.
We wanted to snorkel, but it was too rough, so we went to the main beach area. Greg, Brenda, Riley, Kira and I hiked to the top of Boo Boo Hill. Kelsey had forgotten her shoes so Cale took her back to the boat to get them, then met us up there. The boys stayed to swim. We couldn’t get a map from Sherry because the office was closed, but we met a nice couple along the way and they gave us their map. They were on the boat Crooked Anchor. At the top, there were amazing views from all sides. We could look down at the boat and the beach and also the coast side. There was a blow hole, but we didn’t see it. There was also a pile of boards with boat names that people had left.
Once we got back to the beach, kids played on the floating dock. Cale and Greg and I took a load of stuff to the boat and went to check out a snorkel spot. It was too rough, but we found a sand bar to go back to. On our way back, we saw some people struggling with their mooring ball and their boat hook was floating in the water. We retrieved the boat hook, which was bent, and then helped them get their lines set. We got the kids and went to the sandbar and hung out. The current was coming in super strong against the wind.
We had tacos for Kira’s birthday dinner. She opened her presents, which were a watch, cookies, chocolate, stickers, headband and t-shirt.
We sang to her and had cupcakes. I hope she had an amazing birthday.
We watched a crazy lightening storm that was on all sides of us, but thankfully missed us. It was so much lightening! It’s was also really windy tonight.

6-5 The wind died out through the night. When we woke up it was much calmer. We were facing toward the island and it felt super close. The kids and Brenda and Greg snorkeled behind the boat and saw a turtle and a reef shark. It, and a nurse shark, hung around for a while once everyone were out of the water.
Cale and I went to the office and talked to Sherry and paid. We are on mooring ball number 12. We also paid for our mooring at the O’Brien by the Aquarium and at Shroud Cay. We got some maps. We tried to snorkel, but it was too murky. We tried on the Atlantic side, but there wasn’t good access. We swam on the beach there for a while. We then came back to the boat for lunch and went hiking up the Boo Boo hill again, this time with everyone and our boat sign. We dropped off our board and then hiked out to Butterfly Beach. It was hot but I thought worth it. There was a cave just before the beach that had a ladder down into it. The kids each went down, but quickly realized it was infested with mosquitos so came up a lot faster then they went down. It was beautiful and we swam. Kelsey got the weirdest white little fuzzy things in her foot. I pulled them out and they got in my hand. Hurt for a few minutes, but not bad. Still not sure what they were. Super weird!
It was a hot hike and the water felt great. We took a shortcut back to the dinghy through the dry, but muddy, mangrove beds.
We next went snorkeling. We tried the spot recommended on the map first. It was just south. It was pretty good, a little murky but you could tell it was a good spot normally. Things are just stirred up. We had dinner and then a Reef shark came and hung around the boat for a long time. Cale and Cole got in with him. Kelsey and Cade also put their faces in. Kelsey seems to have little fear. Cole has none.

6-6 We left around 7 for Shroud Cay. It was about a 2.5 hour motor. We tried to sail but it just didn’t work. We didn’t catch any fish either but it was a nice calm day. We came in at at Wax Cay Cut. We had to take a wide entrance to get in with depths but we made it no problem. It’s a stunning place. It was cloudy but beautiful. We loaded up to do the mangrove drift dive. We hopped in to snorkel with a huge stingray. It was a bit murky but the biggest I’ve ever seen for sure. We got back in and went around to the corner to where the current was or what they call the washing machine. It was so much fun. You hop in and dive down and fly. It pulls you down then pops you out, then you take the eddie back. It was amazing. We did it several times and then once by swimming across the channel and getting a longer ride. I’m so impressed with Cade and Kelsey, and all of the kids really. They did awesome.
We had to go back out a different way and were racing the tide. We saw several turtles. We saw a shark almost out of water on the sand. He made his way to deeper waters, but we were ready to save him. We saw another small shark as we got close to the exit. We got back in and drifted. I never saw him close. Then, we just drifted with the sand. It was very relaxing. When we got back to the boat Lia was here. We had lunch and then the kids spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, playing with the sea bobs, foiling. Cade accidently got the paddle board leash caught in the sea bobs, so it took a while to fix that.;
I tried to foil and did okay, but have a while to master it. I drove for Kira and Riley. It was fun to see them push and work at it and get better. The boys sailed and then took the dinghy to skim. Kelsey tubed. All in all, such a fun play day.
We had dinner and the kids went to Lia for a movie. Almost got cut short because of lightening but Cale got them home just as the storm showed up and poured. Had lightening, but skirted us.

6-7 It was a super super sloshy night. I didn’t sleep well. We woke up to lots and lots of rain and wind. We had to wait it out. Brenda made banana bread. We finally decided to just go for it because their wasn’t lightening. We went out the cut and attempted to fish. No luck. We went around the tip of Long Cay. It was shallow once we got close to the anchorage but we found a beautiful spot and the skies cleared up almost as soon as we got settled. We dinghied up and did a drift snorkel back to the boat. It was great. We even saw a nurse shark. Once we got closer to the boat the coral was amazing and their were so many fish. It was so good.
The kids played in the water and before we knew it, it was dinner time. I fixed some soup and then we decided to do another drift dive. This time the tide was going the other way so we started at the boat and went out. We saw a reef shark swim by. He wasn’t interested in us at all. It was really good by the rock that sticks up. The corals after that are absolutely amazing. They were about 25 feet down but massive. So grateful to have the Durgins here. It has been a a lot of fun.

6-8 Cale checked weather and sadly we decided we didn’t have time to do a scuba dive. We needed to get through the yellow bank near Nassau in good light. We left around 8 and planned for 6 hours. It was pretty rough at first. It was good wind to sail and calmed down once we got a better wind angle. The yellow bank went well. We were able to find a path. We also saw a dolphin. Just one who swam around for a bit and then swam off.
We anchored but had trouble. Once we put out thr bridal I could tell it was dragging and told Cale he needed to go in. He did and the anchor was on its side. He dove down while I drove and got it settled. The anchor had a lot of mud on it because we moved spots. I think it was that and that we got over it before the chain went all the way down.
We then went to shore. It was a long dinghy ride and we all went together. There were tons of big waves from all the boats. A few of us got soaked. We walked around the shopping area, the air conditioning was divine. We walked around the swim area and thought about the buffet but ended up eating at a restaurant on Bimini road. We got ice cream and came back to the boat in shifts.

6-9
The weather showed rain and storms all day. We debates but decidesd to go ahead and do Atlantis. It ended up being a fun day. The slides are fun and the weather ended up holding out. Mostly cloudy but only rained once for a short time. No lightening closures. There were some rides closed but we still had a lot of fun. I liked seeing the sharks. There were nurse and reef. They had some huge rays. They also had a saw shark/ray that I’d never even heard of before, as well as a hammerhead shark that was really cool. It was great that Kelsey was tall enough for everything. She was scared for the drop rides but went right down them.
We snacked and then at 5 went and ate at the buffet. It was expensive but actually great food. We all overate, but Cade seemed to be hurting the longest and the most. I can’t believe how much he ate. It was a fun day.

6-10 It was a curious morning. First, Brenda opened a bag of wheat flour we have had since Grenada and she said it was like cobwebs, sure enough a moth had been living in it, Greg claimed to clean the bathroom, which turned out not to be that clean, a barracuda was dead on the transom of the boat and a monohull got stuck on a sand bare next to us and had to wait for high tide to get out. The one that needs moat explanation is the barracuda. We couldn’t quite make sense of it but eventually figured out it was a joke from Lia…it was super stinky and full of flies.
It took a while but we eventually got ready and took trash, laundry, and the Durgins bags and everyone and got to the van that the Flanders let us borrow. It ended up being great having a van. We drove to fort Fincastle and the Queens 66 steps. The steps were actually really cool. The wall was etched out of limestone rock and it was an escape path for the people in the fort. There are a lot of people trying to hustle and sell stuff.
Next, we went to the shopping and to the straw village near the cruise terminal. The Durgins got souvenirs. I got a t-shirt and bracelet.
We ate at a Greek restaurant, Athenas. It was good but expensive. The kids all ordered 7 dollar juices because we were at a different table and didn’t realize.
We did some more driving around before dropping off the Durgins. It was sad but not too bad because we will be home soon. It’s starting to get hard to process that we will be going home. It’s sad. I can’t believe our trip is coming to an end.
We picked up another rental car and then dropped off the kids at the boat and also picked up the kids on Quazami (they are a S.African boat by us) to play while we were gone. Cale and I got groceries. We went to super value. It was a decent store. Still expensive but better then Solomons which was really nice but much pricier. We got these vouchers for what we spent and I gave them to a lady and she was so grateful and so happy. She just kept saying ‘God bless you.’ It was a tender moment. We got back and unloaded and put away. Cade is still hurting from the buffet and Cale is also not feeling great. We are all feeling sad about the end approaching.

6-11 Sunday, we woke up to a storm and lots of rain. We went to church at the New Providence branch.

We drove our very squeaky rental van to church. I lost track of time and made us a bit late. We stopped by the south Africans and they had decided to go to a Lutheran church. We made it to the chapel at 10 on the dot. It’s a beautiful building. The kids kids noticed right away several mango trees. We got inside before sacrament. There were a lot of visitors. It was a really nice ward. A missionary spoke and then a former missionary who was visiting and then the branch president. It was really good. We haven’t been in church for quite a while and before that it was non-English speaking. I realized how much I have missed being able to understand. RS was awesome. A girl who spoke creole taught but with the help of a translator. It was a beautiful lesson. The members are strong and faithful. Many are from Haiti.
We found our kids after getting mangos from the trees. We had lunch and then cleaned up the boat. We had the Flanders over to hang out. The kids are sad to say goodbye
At 6, we had Quezami (Ant, Jules, Emma, Beth and John) and Lia over for pasta. I spent the afternoon preparing. It was such a fun evening. We even had a family from Canada stop by. They saw all the dinghies and checked it out. It was a lot of fun visiting. I learned even more about S. Africa. Sadly it’s becoming more and more corrupt. We plan to leave for the Berry Islands tomorrow.