Jan 14 There was no wind so our friends Ray and Susan on No Agenda took us in their big tender (dinghy) for a long ride south all the way past Musha Cay. It was fun to see, up close and personal, all of the rocks and coves that were too shallow for Windermere to get close to along the way. We had been down in that area but not by dinghy. On the way back, Susan led us up a hill on a path to a big underground cavern complete with stalactites and stalagmites and a big pond full of sea water. We could walk down into it and see how clear the water was. Some of the locals have tried to figure out from where the sea water is coming with no luck. We also walked to a small crescent beach on the ocean side of the island but it was covered with all kinds of, mainly plastic, flotsam and jetsam from storms at sea. Once back north, we all went for a late lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

Jan 19 It was Arnie’s 79th birthday so Susan (Exodus) hosted a big pizza birthday party for him at Sampson Cay. There were 16 of us and it was nice enough to sit outside in the shade on their deck. Janie (Pirate) had made a delicious rum cake for him and I found a candle. Everyone enjoyed the whole affair.

Jan 20 We were expecting more guests in the afternoon but John got a call from them in the morning saying they were already in Staniel Cay having breakfast! They had taken the early flight. We both quickly ate our breakfast, finished making sure their room was ready, and John went to pick them up. After lunch, we took them for a dinghy ride to see the area and Jeff and I snorkeled the Fowl Cay cut. As we were coming into the harbor side of the cut, a large spotted eagle ray was coming out of the harbor and towards the cut. When he saw us, he made a u-turn and we followed him till he went into warp speed and disappeared. We also saw a small green turtle who likes to hang out in our area. He and I then swam all the way back to the boat with John and Brenda escorting us in the dinghy.

Jan. 21 This was a busy day. First, we all had a tour of Staniel Cay by Ray’s golf cart. Then John took us down to Bitter Guana island to feed the iguanas some fruit. It was decided that they liked grapes the best followed by cauliflower greens and lastly apples. Next we went back towards Staniel to our new favorite snorkeling spot which Jeff and Brenda really loved. They even saw a shark swimming right towards them which was a bit of a nervous surprise till they realized it was only a harmless nurse shark! Back in the boat and off to SCYC for another late lunch.

Jan. 22 The tide was right to snorkel in Thunderball in the morning so we loaded up our gear and took the dinghy over there. As soon as Jeff got into the water, the little sergeant majors surrounded him begging for food. He distracted them from Brenda which was a good thing as she is a beginner snorkeler and was not thrilled about the idea of being surrounded by all of the little fish. I took them through the grotto and out the other side and back around and they loved seeing all the fish and interesting sea gardens and rock formations. Jeff even dove through both of the small openings through the rock that go from the interior of the grotto to the outside. On our way back, we fed the pigs our scraps. After lunch, we took Jeff on a dinghy ride to see some of the nearby islands to our north.

Jan. 23 We packed a picnic and followed Arnie and Susan from Exodus to Sandy Cay for lunch. Jeff and I kayaked the whole way there (downwind probably 2 miles at least) while Brenda and John were our escort vessel. Once on the small cay, we went shelling and Jeff went snorkeling. Then we all had our picnic lunches. Arnie had to leave early because of battery problems on his boat so we towed the three kayaks back along with Susan.

Jan. 24 Brenda hadn’t snorkeled the Fowl Cay cut so that was our morning mission. Three of us swam from the beach around the coastline to the cut looking at fish along the way and picking up sand dollars and John was once again our escort vessel and was there to accept the precious sand dollars and to keep them safe on the dinghy. She loved “flying” over the cut and we even saw a 3 ft spotted grouper and a 2 ft Nassau grouper. Jeff spied a strange sea egg thing and dove for it. John has found only two of them in all of our years here so it was a great find. After, lunch, Brenda took a nap and the rest of us took a walk on Sampson Cay.