Exuma - Waderick Wells Cays

Our intention is to follow the wind, but sometimes we do have to be flexible, if the wind comes not out of the direction we want to go, we either have to stay longer where we are or we have to motor to the next destination. That's what we did, when we left the Highborne Cays to got 30 miles further to the Waderick Wells Cays. The trip was peaceful and uneventful, but we were blown away by the sight when we moved around the rocks and entered Waderick Wells Cays. The world seems to get more and more beautiful the more we dive into it and emerge on the other side. The colours unbelievable, even if I wanted to I could hardly find any words to describe the colour range of the water, every kind of blue that you can imagine or have ever seen in magazines or colour charts - unreal!

Waderick Wells Cays harbour is offering us our first challenge in anchoring on a mooring. The Captain is approaching the mooring as you as the first mate has to catch the boje and then tie the boat to it. You might have guessed it already, the first time round I missed it, but second time it worked fine and we had a safe anchoring spot for the next few nights. We are sitting in a channel, and to starboard and port side you have got sandbanks. This time we did not wait long and once we checked in with the harbour authority, we put on our swimming gear and jumped right into the inviting water. It was low tide and we were be able to stand next to our boat, it felt like the boat was standing in the backyard, really weird. Our first night here in Waderick Wells Cays we made to a special movie night. I made some popcorn and we watched a funny movie, that I had picked up on the straw market in Nassau " It's not a Diary, its a movie", we all enjoyed it and had a good laugh.

Waderick Wells Cays has lots to offer. Lying on the beach is a humongous blue whale skeleton that got stranded there in 1985. They have got a Nature trial just like the one in Bimini, we explored it right the next day. Here in Waderick Well Cays Julia and Carlos learn lots about the Coral Reefs , Mangrove Ecosystem,the Queen Conch the Bahama parrot, the Bahamian Boa Constrictor. Julia already decided that she would like to become a vet doctor for animals ( these are her own words).

Carlos and Julia have got some new friends. There are these tiny little birds, that love sugar. If you put a little bit of sugar on your hand, they will come and fly onto your hand and eat the sugar out of your hand. The Park ranger here told us about this and the children love it. While snorkeling today, Sven found a little octopus in a conch shell. Sven did hold the conch shell in his hand and we were be able to watch the little octopus for a while moving in and out of his home. There is so much to see and learn, and that does not just apply to the children.

The swimming is fantastic, the snorkeling a la carte, the weather is a dream and the water is amazing, we even got Internet here, very slow, but good enough to emerge out of Paradise for a second to keep family and friends up to date with our adventures. Now I am diving back into Paradise, for some sweet dreams and we will probably catch up with you again in Georgetown or nearby.... good night and love and a big hug to all of you.

In search for Allen Cays Rock Iguanas

The very next morning, we hopped into our dinghy and went to the nearby island, called Allen Cays. There we were suppose to find some very rare Iguanas, and apparently the Island is full of them. We have to see that. As soon as we approach the island, we are spotting a couple of Iguanas. Wow, we are getting really exciting and landing with our Dinghy on the beach. Once we are on the beach, we cannot believe our eyes, they are Iguanas everywhere, small and little, shy and cheeky once. We are on our knees to take a millions pictures, we have never seen anything like that, only on the National Geography program on Saturday night!

Only nine species still exist today, at least two others have been driven extinct by humans. The greatest diversity of rock Iguanas occurs in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The two species of Iguanas inhabitating the Exuma Islands are considered to be among the worlds most endangered lizards and are found nowehere else. Not only the kids were excited to be witness to such rare site, Sven and I could not believe our luck. We spend nearly all day, observing and learning about the behaviour of these Rock Iguanas, the rest of the day we spend snorkeling and swimming again in the crystal, clear, warm water. Julia has got a special memory of this day, as she got bitten by one really cheeky Iguana, that had followed her right to the Dinghy.

Exuma - Highborne Cays

We left Nassau at 2.30 pm in the afternoon. We had 40 miles in front of us and we were looking forward to the things that were to come our way. Everything went smoothly, the weather was good, even though the wind did come out of the direction we were heading, but we were used to using the motor to move forward and reaching our next destination. The ocean was calm and the colour of the water was mesmerizing. At 7 pm we finally reached our destination for the night, Highborne Cays. We looked for a a great spot to anchor and we found one where we could settle for the night. Julia and Carlos wanted to go for a swim, but we decided against it, after we saw a few nursing Sharks circling our boat. We knew that they are harmless, but we did not want to risk anything.

The next morning we could not believe our eyes, where we had landed the night before, the island is soooo beautiful, it is hard to describe in words. The first thing we did, was to jump into our bathing suits and we jumped into the water. Ahhhh it was so refreshing and we did continue to do so, until we had enough of jumping off the side of the boat and we were getting really hungry. so we decided to have a hearty breakfast, omelet with cheese, tomato, bacon and onions.... yummy!

After breakfast we did our schooling before exploring the nearby marina and the white beaches. We went snorkeling, swimming until dark. It was hard to leave the water as the air is so warm and soft and the water so soothing and comfortable..... we all had a great day and enjoyed ourselves.

Atlantis- Paradis Island in the Bahamas

A few days ago we went to Atlantis and we loved it very much. It looks impressive when you are coming into the harbour of Nassau, and it is even more impressive when you are inside of the resort. We mainly went to explore the big Aquarium that someone has told us about. Wow... it is huge, it has got fabulous fish life in there and not just little small colourful fish, I am talking about sharks, manta rays, sword fish, Goliath grouper and green turtles. They even have got jelly fish in a tank with special lightening... Carlos was very impressed by that sight. We some dolphins playing with balls, just like flipper, and Julia and Carlos even managed to have a swim in one of the many pools that are on offer. We were not really allowed to go swimming, but hey they tried it anyway and succeeded. It is very expensive there and some of the prices did blow us away, for shorts US $ 250 , a straw hat US $150, a scoop of ice cream US$4, but it was the yummiest ice cream we ever had!

If you would like to see some more pictures, as they speak for themselves, have a look on our face book side " Gabriele Manschewski" and see for yourself.

Bahamas "second time round"

We are again in Nassau, Bahamas, this time we are exploring more the seaside of Nassau. Last time we rented a car, this time we are moving around with our Dinghy. We have met lots of nice people again and we are enjoying our time here even though we cannot wait to get to the Exumas, but before we can go we have to fix our anchor winch, our toilet, our air condition pumps (blocked with plastic from the water) and our generator is giving us trouble... great... but no worries .... Sven will fix it before we know it was broken :)

We are preparing for our departure tomorrow morning, te boat needs to cleaned, meals prepared, the dinghy needs to be tied down on the deck, we have to do some washing, and checking our emails, because you never know when we will be able to do that again.

Nassau is nice, but very noisy and not really our cup of tea, we are really looking forward to the next stop in the Bahamas, apparently thats were the real Bahamas will start.... lets keep an open mind...

Bimini

We have made it... we have reached Bimini. Sailing over has been easy, as there was no wind we had to motor most of the way. The weather was beautiful and calm and so no one got sick and we all enjoyed the weather, the ocean and the time together.

When we finally reached Bimini, we were blown away by the beauty and colour of the water. We had the feeling we sailed into a huge big swimming pool. The water was so clear and blue that we could see the ground. Beautiful ....... and actually it is very hard to find any other words for the beauty that this part of the world offers......

Bimini is an interesting little island. In the 50 and 60ties it must have been buzzing little place, at present it looks more like everyone left in a hurry and left everything they had started in an instaleaving everything behind.... very interesting and we are curious what has happened here.

We only wanted to stay for a few days, but the wind forces us to stay in the Marina for 10 days. This gave us enough time to explore the island id details. We go snorkeling for Conch, we visit the Dolphin House, the library and the Museum, we ride around the Island with our Dinghy, we explore the beach and discover an old wrack along the beach, we visit South Bimini and follow the Native Trail, we hire a golf cart and ride around North Bimini.... for such a little Island there is much to see and to do.

Carlos Birthday

On the 27th of April we had a reason to celebrate, it was Carlos 7th birthday. Wow, a big number for a big boy. It might have been Carlos 7th birthday, but it was his first one to celebrate on the boat, how exciting. We invited our friends from Daytona to come down to Fort Lauderdale and we were really lucky that they did have time and came for a visit. Julia and Carlos were pretty excited to have Chase and Reese on the boat, they did stay overnight and so we had a real party going on.

When they arrived it was raining and I thought, oh no, I do hope that we can entertain the four children on the boat, but luckily the sky opened up pretty soon and we were able to show them our playground in Fort Lauderdale. The children had fun while Aleatha and I were sitting on the swing and catching up since we had seen each other last. Finally some female company again, we both soaked up each others company and it is just amazing how we always find something to talk about... I love it and very lucky to have found Aleatha!

In the evening we had dinner together and watch a movie later on that night. Once the children were in bed Aleatha and I baked the birthday cake and talked and talked the night away... as usual the night did not have enough hours to give us some decent sleep as well, so we were a bit tired in the morning... but hey ... who knows when we can do that again...it has been very special to have her on the boat.

The next morning, we opened the presents and had a beautiful breakfast, with fresh buns, eggs and lovely company, it reminded me very much of having breakfast back in Germany when I was younger. After breakfast Sven took the children for a Dinghy ride on the new river in Fort Lauderdale and Aleatha and I had some more quiet time, while we were talking she plaided my hair, I very much enjoyed it to be attended to this way. At lunch time we had planned to go to the Museum, I knew that everyone would enjoy this very much. We did have an awesome time in the Museum and there was more to it.... we met in Daytona in the Museum and we spend some more time in the Museum in Fort Lauderdale......wonder which Museum we will visit next....

After our Museum visit we went to the Imax. "How to train your Dragon " was showing and everyone wanted to watch it. What a cute movie, we all enjoyed the story, even though it might have been a bit too scary for Reese (4 years) , but he hung in there and watch it right to the end.... with that he has become a viking himself. Well done! We went home and unfortunately our friends had to leave, very sad, I could not persuade her to stay.....but no matter what day they would have left there would have always been some tears to cry..... All over we had a fabulous time and all I can say thank you sooooo much for coming down and making this a special day for all of us.... I can't wait to see you and spend time with you guys again......