Saturday

This morning was a COD adventure- COD meaning Crack of Dawn! We are starting the first leg of our journey back to the states today, so everyone had to be up bright and early so that we could get in a nice long day.

We managed to leave the marina right around 6:30.

Highbourne Cay has a very interesting entrance. They put a fish cleaning station right at the point where you enter. And, it attracts lots of interesting wildlife.

If you can't really tell, that dark shadow in the water is a shark. This morning, there was only one shark there in hopeful anticipation of a fisherman who was so successful that he could come back before midday. When the shark saw us leaving, he followed us for a bit hoping we were at least dropping off treats. It took not long for disappointment to set in, and he headed back to the fish cleaning station.

This was a good morning to be up early. The sky was incredible- full of clouds of all textures. 

We'll be moving along for most of the day today. The goal is to get as far north as we can. Once again, the weather is unstable. Yesterday, we had on shorts. Today, four of us have on long pants. Yes, Dear Readers, Mike remains the only one still in shorts. Peggy and Carol have added long sleeve tops, and Terry is back in his fleece jacket. It's often hard to believe that we are in the Bahamas.

Finally, I thought to take some time to give a wildlife update. Traveling in the Exumas has been somewhat akin to traveling on a wet desert. Science often points out that the desert is not devoid of life. But, life is very scarce. During this month, I have felt that way about the Exumas. We would catch mere glimpses of wildlife- a turtle, one osprey, a few fish. These two days at Highbourne Cay have been great for wildlife sightings. The ends of the docks do not go all the way to the land. There are areas of beach that you can see opposite the dockage areas. When the tide is high, water fills in there, and the fish come. The water is so clear here that you don't even need a Looky Bucket. We saw lots of small brightly colored fish, several parrot fish, and even a young barracuda. As the tide ebbed, sandpipers would come out to check the edges of the water for treats. Doves cooed in the nearby trees. And, a local fisherman pulled up to the dock to sell his catch. He had the largest lobsters I have ever seen. Mike offered to but one, but we don't have a pot big enough on board! He also had conch with beautifully dark colored shells, and one big fish he was busy cleaning for a customer. This morning, as we were leaving, don't forget that we saw that shark. And, Peggy sighted a dolphin!