After a dinghy trip to explore Sand Dollar Beach, we rented a car to explore Great Exuma Island. The island is only about 50 miles long so we got to see end to end.
Katie and Brian organized a dive trip for us in the George Town area. We went to a spot on Stocking Island called the Blue Hole. The islands of the Bahamas are made of limestone that have been riddled with caves over the eons. Sometimes the caves break out into the surface and result in deep holes in the bottom of the shallow sea that are deep, deep blue in color. In the one we explored, the entrance to was somehow connected under Stocking island to the open sea to the East. When the tide is rising, there is a strong current that comes through the cave system and brings nutrients for the fish.
The next day a boat friend suggested that we might consider heading across to Cat Island. After checking out the weather and course we decided the passage would work and casted off. The crossing involved about 40 miles of open ocean. It was pretty windy and the wavy. Everyone got a good taste of open water sailing.
We had rigged a trolling line and about 1/2 way across Brian hooked a fish. We rounded up the boat to slow down so Brian could haul in the fish. It was a tuna of about 5 lbs and made an excellent dinner for us. We also learned it is a good idea to avoid swimming while cleaning fish since it only took about 30 seconds for a shark to find us.
It really was a joy to make the sheltered waters behind Cat Island after the crossing. We did a little exploring ashore. The high point, literally, is Mt Alvernia where Fr. Jerome built his retirement hermitage.
This is kind of old news, but for any that missed it, here is a link to the update story that Stephen Clark did on our Sandy experience. Thanks Stephen.
