Staniel Cay

Sunday we headed to Staniel Cay and picked up a mooring ball in front of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. There are several new mooring balls that cost us $40/night. And that’s all you get – no shower, restroom or use of the pool. BUT they sell ice! And, at $6 per bag, you can dump trash! We have been collecting trash for almost two weeks and the cockpit was getting a little full. After we checked in at the marina office and filled our cooler with ice, we did a little exploring. There are two stores here: the blue one and the pink one. We bought a loaf of bread and a tomato for a total of $10. The tomato cost $6! Next we went to the Yacht Club and planted ourselves on a bar stool for a couple of hours. It was so nice to get drinks and a meal served!

The 'blue' store

The 'pink' store

Produce section

Monday, Derek and Dianne rejoined us and the six of us went snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto to explore the underwater cave. We timed it at low tide so we could swim into the cave vs dive underwater. That also coincided with slack tide to greatly reduce the current. It was beautiful inside the cave and fish were everywhere. And so were a lot of other people that timed it like we did.

The mooring field was very rolly the night before and I didn’t sleep well, so after the Grotto, took a quick power nap before heading into town. There is a bakery on the island, but they only sell to the stores. Tony and Michelle had tried to get three loaves of coconut bread for the three couples. The bread was due to be delivered between 11-1130. The woman from the Pink Pearl tried calling the ‘baker’. No answer so she headed to her house. Being on island time, the bread wasn’t delivered between 11-1130 but the woman who owns the store set three loaves of bread aside for us. Sharon and I picked them up around 1530 and they were really hidden! Apparently the bread goes quick. After our bread accomplishment, we headed back to the Yacht Club where we were joined by our friends. We had dinner and drinks and spent another small fortune and then headed to Big Dog’s – another bar just down the street. It has no Bahamian charm, but did have air conditioning and Dale, the bartender, made some really strong drinks!

French toast with apples 

Petting nurse sharks

There is also a laundry mat here. Actually a ‘liquormat’ where you can drink while getting your laundry done. What a great idea! We did not partake in the ‘liquormat. 

Besides snorkeling in Thunderball Grotto, tourists come to swim with the world famous pigs 🐖.  The pigs are actually located on Big Major Cay.  We hitched a ride with our friends, because in our dinghy it would have taken all day to get there.  We did not swim with pigs 🐖 🐖, but we did get close enough to see them.  There were several baby pigs walking on the beach.  I don’t know why anyone would want to swim with them.  Apparently, they have become very aggressive and if you don’t feed them they bite you.  At least we can say we have seen them.  From there we headed to Cruisers Beach. It was a nice beach area where all the anchored cruisers go. We know next time to anchor ⚓ in this area versus the mooring balls.

Cruisers Beach

The next day, we rented a golf cart so we could see the entire island. We packed the golf cart with all our snorkel gear, cooler, plus lunch and snacks. Most of the “roads” are really just sand covered with rocks, not roads like we have in the US. There were very little to no street signs on the opposite side of the island.  We came to a crossroad and the street sign told you to go this way (right) or that way (left). We chose to go this way!

We had a six person cart, Rob (driver) and Derrick in the front seat, Dianne and Sharon in the middle seats, and Tony and Michelle in the very back. We were all having a good time until the accident happened (NO alcohol was not involved!).  We were on a piece of property that was having construction work completed.  There was a boulder. I’m exaggerating, it was a large rock. Rob was determined to get over the rock. Well, he made it over the rock, as Tony was catapulted (slid right off) out of the rear seat. More like, ejected! 

It was not good and Tony landed right on his elbow. He did not look good and we were afraid he had also hit his head. We eventually got him upright and got some ice for him to put on his elbow.  As you can imagine, this ruined the rest of the day for Tony and Michelle. We headed back to the marina and passed the clinic. Tony just wanted to go back to his boat 🚢.  While everyone was getting situated Rob and I went back to the clinic so we could see if they had an x-ray machine. No one was there.  After Derrick and Rob assisted Michelle and Tony back to their boat.  We went back to the clinic.  The nurse was walking down the street, we talked to her and she did not have an x-ray machine but, she needed Tony to come in so she could evaluate him and then he would probably need to go to Nassau for an x-ray.  Tony decided he would skip the clinic and self-medicate.  I thought I had a sling on board from Rob’s hand accident, but I did not but did have ace bandages and 800 mg of ibuprofen that I shared with Tony.

Derrick, Dianne, Rob and I went ahead and explored the island the remainder of the day even though we all felt bad.  Rob felt really bad and he felt very responsible. We covered every inch of the island 🏝 including the very ritzy area with the beautiful homes. The best was when we took the “Beach Access” road which was not a road at all. There was so much growth the four of us were getting smacked with all the branches. We finally had to get out and walk the rest of the way to the beach. It was a hike down and the waters were not very calm so we decided not to attempt it. Back through all the brush.

Our best find of the day was Pirate’s beach. It was a beautiful beach and we had it all to ourselves (like most of the beaches we encountered in the Exumas). Dianne and I walked out to where the sea was crashing over the rocks. The water was the perfect temperature. It was a great way to end the afternoon.

As we were heading back to the boat 🚢 our Torqeedo (electric outboard) decided to die.  Of course, this is just another item we had an issue with. Derrick had to use his dinghy to tow us back to our boat. Rob determined the shear pin broke and luckily, he had a spare.

Shear pin spares!!!

We enjoyed Pirate’s beach ⛱ so much all six of us went back by dinghy the next day and spent the afternoon.  Tony had created his own sling and a temporary splint, still wasn’t sure if he was badly bruised or something was broken.  We ended the evening and our stay on Staniel Cay by going back to see Dale at Big Dog’s for cocktails.

We got up bright and early on Friday, April 30^th, so we could be the first boat at the fuel dock.  We were there before the crew arrived.  Lucky for us, by the time the fuel dock opened there was already another boat waiting. It is a very busy fuel dock and takes forever to get fuel, water (which seems to trickle out) and walk to the office to pay. We took on fuel and water 💧 and got underway for our next adventure.