Cambridge Cay, Staniel, Great Guana, etc...

Some pictures and shots from the southern Portion of Exuma Park - Cambridge Cay.  A particular dive site is highlighted here, called "The Aquarium".  We also visited caves (I'll put up some more video and pictures) and saw sharks (a few Bulls!), spotted eagle rays, fish of all shapes and sizes there.  An amazing place - the water is indescribable.  The first day we were there, it was quite hot and there was no wind.  Lex and I left the kids playing with their pals on Dharma and we took a ride looking for some SCUBA sites.  On the way back to Zusammen, with the sun behind us, the dinghy appeared to be floating in the air.  It was incredible.  The water was so still and so clear, that the surface was not distinguishable from the bottom.  It was the most amazing dinghy ride ever.  We flew along over coral, fish and one large spotted eagle ray at 20 plus kts, feeling like the dinghy was flying.

A bit out of chronological order, a quick clip of us sailing North up to the park in a gentle breeze.

Our run back south today to Black Point from Cambridge Cay was fantastic - 20 knts of wind on the stern and we were making over 8 knts at times and sailing with just the genoa!  The cold front that generated this wind, brought some serious cold, however.  We haven't had any temperatures like these since we arrived in the Bahamas, even up north in Grand Bahama.  I dug out a jacket from Forrest that hasn't seen daylight in months...

We don't think much about temperature on a day to day, or have any concern for sun, clouds or rain.  It never rains and the clouds are usually a welcome break from the sun.  We wish it would rain so we could wash the boat and collect rainwater for drinking and showers.  (Water costs $0.40 a gallon here) We haven't seen a real rain since one squall in mid January.  This cloud cover isn't great for us either, as we power the boat's electrical system with two 135 watt solar panels (mounted over the dinghy davits).  We haven't had to run the engine to make power to charge the batteries since we left Padanaram.  That may change in the next couple of days.  The thermometer on the boat says 75, it feels much colder in the wind.  I am sure we won't be getting much sympathy from our pals up north... Not to worry, the cold fronts push through and the temperature will come back up, the wind will settle back to it's 10-15 easterly pattern and all will be well!

Penny and Robert have arrived already and we're hoping we can make the 46 mile run back to Georgetown tomorrow so we can see them - I think we will poke our nose outside Dotham cut, see what the sea state looks like and if the swell is under 8-10 feet, we'll run south.  If it is too sloppy, we may have to run inside to Farmers and wait for a better sea state.  The Barry's arrive on Tuesday evening, we're excited to have everyone coming to visit!  The kids can't wait to see their cousins and grandparents!