We stayed anchored in Bullock’s Harbor on the west side of Great Harbour Cay for 12 days. Our original plan was to stop there for a few days then head south and start hopping down the islands of the Exuma chain, but this was a good place for us to wait out the rapidly evolving Coronavirus developments.
While at Great Harbour Cay we had the chance to visit an awesome cave located on the northeast side of the island...very cool!
We also spent an afternoon social distancing on a beautiful beach located on the southeast trip of Great Harbour Cay!
On March 23 the Prime Minister issued a 24/7 curfew with no inter-island travel effective on the morning of March 24. We had a weather window that day and decided that it would be best for us to move to an island chain that was uninhabited, to wait out the curfews and restrictions. This is our new home for the foreseeable future. As a child I was enamored with the idea of being stranded on an island. Swiss Family Robinson and Gilligan’s Island were the inspirations for my dreams...oh how a I wished that could be me! I am viewing this adventure as the sequel to Swiss Family Robinson.
There are usually 12-15 boats anchored along the 3 mile stretch of this island chain. Our closest neighbors have the the same plan to stay here and wait it out. It is nice to have another couple to plan with, and depend on, if we should need any support from each other. I have a feeling we will become great friends with Aren & Vicki on ‘No Fixed Address’. Vickie told us that she is viewing this adventure as the new season of Survivor, well, it’s all in how you frame it😁
My major project for the past week was to get our hydroponic garden assembled. I have been germinating seeds in egg cartons for the past two weeks, and my babies were getting big enough for their new home.
Thank goodness my ‘personal’ electrician lives onboard!! He did an amazing job of installing the solar panel that will run the pumps, and designing and constructing the pump systems. You can see the system installed behind him on the deck railing. I was so excited when I flipped the switch and water started trickling through the pipes! My next concern is how to protect the plants from high winds...I’m sure the success of this garden will require constant vigilance.
Wanting to check out the local flora and fauna, we decided to snorkel the grass beds close to our boat. We were hoping to find a few conch. One of our first sighting was this large skate (I believe this is a skate and not a ray, because of the body shape and the tail...but I could be wrong) gliding past.
There were numerous starfish.
Several types of urchins....and then...this...
I always turn around and look behind us while we are snorkeling. Keith was swimming in front of me, and this time when I turned around this shark was swimming directly toward me. I was trying to get his attention to tell him a shark was coming up behind us, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off the shark. I quickly put my head above water and said, “there’s a shark coming straight at me!!!”. He turned around and said, “get a picture!!”. Are you kidding me! My only movement was to make sure the big blue plastic flipper on the end of my foot stayed between the sharks mouth and my body! She came within a foot of me, then made a slight right and glided past...as if she suddenly realized I was in her way. I did get this picture once the mouth was no longer pointing at me. I know people are going to say...”it’s only a nurse shark...they are harmless”. I say, tell that to the thousands of people being bitten in YouTube videos. A few minutes later I looked back and there was another shark in the background...be brave. There was also a very large barracuda that didn’t seem as friendly as the Dry Tortugas barracudas...be brave. Within a few more minutes of forward motion we came upon a nurse shark laying in the grass...enough...I’m done! We were surrounded by things that could inflict a bite that would drastically change our ‘hide out in paradise’ plan. I think it is time to warm up in the sun...I’ll be brave again in a few days!
Keith did go for a swim in a different location and did come up with a conch. Unfortunately, this one is immature so Keith returned him to the bottom.
This ‘social distancing’ lifestyle is right up our alley. I realize that Keith and I have been in ‘training’ for this for the past 9 months. We know how to get along with each other in close quarters, for extended periods of time. We have a lot of practice living in a self-sustaining way, without the ‘services’ of society. I do things like cut our hair and make our bread from scratch. Keith can fix anything, and we are both very good at solving problems with the materials we have on hand. And finally, we know how to entertain ourselves with books, puzzles, and nature. We do not watch television, which is the biggest bonus of this lifestyle. I can easily imagine anyone sitting in front of a TV now should certainly be suffering from depression.
We know this past week has been trying for everyone, and even though we know our situation is good we are still concerned about our family and friends. Please stay safe, complete a cool project, get some exercise, bake some bread, and be brave!
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