One of the hardest parts of this trip is being away from loved ones. It has been a long time since we have seen many of our nearest and dearest so our chain of visitors this winter has meant alot to us! Our final company this winter was our Aunty Fran and Uncle Tom. They are brother and sister and are very familiar with sailing. Uncle Tom owns a Chrysler 27 and sails it on Lake Winnipeg. Aunt Fran loves any opportunity to get out on the water! We have had wonderful times with her on Starship back home.

When they arrived, we were still at Palm Cay Marina (thanks to the generosity of our friends Jennifer and Dale). Jas had left that same day to fly home to Winnipeg to pick up Dylan. Being at the marina meant we had access to the beautiful pool and beach area. The three of us enjoyed our time catching up and settling in as we waited for Dylan and Jas to return.

Once our crew was all back together it was time to return to the Exumas! First, however, we needed to get some fresh food onto the boat. Leaving the marina, we moved over to anchor back in Nassau channel. We did the walk up to the grocery store and they bought us some fresh food and other items to replenish the fridge and cupboards. I remember it was a Sunday and we also needed propane. The lovely Simone (see previous post!) conveniently took us to the only propane place on the island that was open on a Sunday! This was also the day that Simone graciously cooked us local cousine. It was her goodbye gift as we were leaving Nassau the next day. That night I got a night off from cooking as all five of us enjoyed her homemade ribs, potato salad and rice. It was such a treat and so kind of her to take time out of her busy day to do that!

Our first destination was Allen’s Cay. It was kinda neat that we were already so familiar with many of the anchorages in the Exumas by then. We were so exited to return to some amazing locations. This was also Dylan’s first time to the Exumas. In Allen’s Cay, we hung out with the iguanas for a bit before jumping over to the beautiful beach. Aunty, Uncle and I settled in and spent the afternoon being absolute sloths, chilling and relaxing on the beach while Jas and Dylan set off to hunt for lobster. Their attempt was unsuccessful but it was still a wonderful day!

I love to cook on the boat and I enjoyed making nice dinners each evening. Our guests were so appreciative! They were such troopers too given the lack of extra space on Starship. They were each very content with using the benches in the main salon area as their beds. At times I unfortunately struggled with how small Starship was for having five people on board for two weeks but they were not bothered at all!  They were just so happy to be with us and it was heartwarming and exciting for us to share this life with them for a little while!

We had nice, steady winds for our sail from Allen’s Cay to Norman’s Cay. I was excited to get back to Norman’s. For years we have been telling Dylan how cool snorkeling the sunken plane was and now he can finally experience it with us! Aunt Fran is not keen on snorkelling so she enjoyed hanging out on the boat while the rest of us dinghied over to the plane.

The wind did not cooperate for our next hop on down to Staniel Cay. We did an 8-hour motor that day but happily picked up a mooring ball (treated by our guests) long before sunset. Here it was time to show them an incredible attraction of the Exumas – snorkelling Thunderball Grotto! Thunderball is an impressive cave system and part of a James Bond movie was shot there! It is easy to snorkel and there is tons of marine live inside. This is another spot we had been telling Dylan about for a long time! Again, Aunt Fran enjoyed having Starship all to herself as the rest of us snorkelled into the open cave to admire the surroundings and swim with all the cool fish.

The following day we all went to see the famous Exumas pigs over at Big Major. We were so surprised to see tons and tons of little baby piglets! We had been there the week prior with Dale and Jennifer and there were no baby piggies anywhere but now there were tons. One of the guys who helps take care of the pigs told us that the momma pigs had kept the piglets hidden in the bush area as newborns. Now that they are a bit bigger, the mommas must’ve felt comfortable to bring them onto the beach to show them off. They were still so tiny and adorable! It was so amazing to experience that with Aunt Fran and Uncle Tom but I couldn’t help wishing the piglets had also been there when we had Jennifer and Dale there too. I know Jennifer would’ve just melted give then chance to pick up and cuddle one of the little cuties!

If you have been to Staniel Cay, you know how wonderful the atmosphere and food is at Staniel Cay Yacht Club. During our stay in Staniel, Aunty Fran and Uncle Tom offered to treat us all to supper there. I believe it is the only restaurant around there and that means it is always very busy! The night we headed there for dinner the restaurant was absolutely packed. We could not get a table. No worries! We were able to sit at the bar to enjoy yummy drinks, burgers and pizza! Dylan and I also played a few games of pool. It was a loud, hectic night but very memorable.  

Two weeks went by so fast and before we knew it, they were pulling their bags together in preparation to start their travels back to Winnipeg. After one final stop for fries at the yacht club, we all walked to the airport so they could catch their island hopper to Nassau. It was a bit of a wait for their plane to come in but it was fun hanging out there. Aunt Fran bought herself a nice ring from the little shop. Dylan also picked up a great looking UV shirt for himself. We watched their little plane prepare to depart as we all gave each other big good-bye hugs. It was hard saying good-bye when we really don’t know when we will see them again. With our plans still being to relocate to Victoria, BC at the end of the trip, I just don’t know when I will be in Winnipeg again.

Back on Starship later that afternoon it was just the three of us again. With Dylan’s trip to Winnipeg earlier that month, we realized that it had been a month since it was just the three of us! We started to settle back into our routines as a trio and spent a few more days in Staniel.

We made a very big decision in Staniel! Up to that point we had been following our travel plan exactly as we had laid it out back in Winnipeg. It was at this point that we were supposed to start travelling north to sail to Alex’s graduation from the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Immediately after his grad we were planning to watch for our weather window to do our crossing to the Azores. I feel we had underestimated the great distance we needed to cover to get up the east coast. I also had concerns about Dylan and I not being mentally ready to cross the Atlantic. We also needed to slow down. Since the day we left Thunder Bay, Ontario last summer, we feel we have been travelling constantly on tight timelines. We needed to give ourselves a break. Our plan now is to delightfully have ‘no plan’….well, sorta! We will be staying south now and will be leaving the boat to travel to Alex’s graduation at the end of May. Once back on the boat, we will be focusing on slowly making our way towards Grenada while keeping ahead of any forecasted hurricanes that come up this summer and fall. Crossing from Nova Scotia to the Azores was a big dream of ours for a very long time. As happy as we are to ease up on our travel plans, we are all disappointed that we will not be doing that passage into the Atlantic. We are still planning on continuing towards Panama and into the South Pacific eventually. My hope is that by then we will feel more ready for big ocean passages. For now, we are absolutely loving the people, waters, beaches and islands of the Bahamas! This place is truly a breathtaking paradise and I feel so thankful to wake up here each morning. 🏝️🌞💖

The blog below talks about why we have decided to add the above Coffee button. 😊

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