Good morning from Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

As of the last post we were waiting to find out if the yacht club would allow boats in with all the high winds expected from the west. They did not!

Darrin and Janet arrived Saturday morning and we were not allowed in. They had to hire a small boat to run them up to where we were anchored, about 18 miles north of Staniel Cay.

After leaving Shroud Cay we traveled south to O’Brien Cay and rafted off two other boats hooked to my anchor for the first night with west winds. We had a great time and Memphis even got to leave a deposit on Johnny Depp’s island!

We also found out that our buddy boater Boris was the Loop Barber for Matt!

This anchorage was well protected except from the northeast. The winds and a couple storms were approaching from the northeast later the next day, so we needed to move to a new anchorage at Bell Island (Cay) for the second night. This was much better protected from the expected winds, but the surge from the cut was not enjoyable.

Darrin and Janet arrived in the small boat just as we were getting our anchor set. Timing could not have been better. We spent the day relaxing and exploring with the dinghy.

A very small rock/island with a sign for photo opportunity!

Janet loved finding all these very small crabs all over the island.

We had a few drinks, some dinner, and enjoyed the full moon over the water.

We did have a lot of surge that night, and I did not sleep well with the other two boats rafted off. The smaller boat decided at 3am to unhook and move because of how rough it was tied together. This worked best for all of us.

That morning, I called Staniel Cay Yacht Club and they said we could come in anytime. We pulled up the anchor around 9:15 and ran the 18 miles south arriving before noon.

Arriving Staniel Cay

All tied up for the week. Nice to be secure and ready to relax and explore.

We spent the day relaxing around the property and pool.

Even Memphis was ready to be off the boat for a little bit. She was not allowed in the pool, as much as she wanted to join us!

We have enjoyed eating here at the bar and restaurant over the last couple of days, as Amy will always accept a break from cooking!

Now for the exploring of the area. Amy and I did snorkel the Aquarium up at Bell Cay before Darrin and Janet arrived, but since then we all have snorkeled the plane wreck just south of the harbor and Thunderball Gratto. We also have been to the famous Pig Beach and also Iguana Beach.

If you ask at the restaurant they will give you leftover food to feed the pigs.

We learned to stay in about 5′ of water so the huge pigs can’t get into the dinghy. That didn’t stop them from trying.

The next day was south to Iguana Beach and the plane wreck. Sorry but I am having trouble getting the GoPro to download to the computer at this time. I will try to post some of those pictures later.

It was another stop at the restaurant for carrots, as those are the preferred food for the Iguanas.

Some of these guys are huge! Amy liked to make sure the little guys got some of the carrots as well!

They would swallow them whole!

There are also high cliffs on this island that we hiked up to get great pictures of the area.

Janet trying her rock-climbing skills, then thought better of it and joined us on the path!

View from the top of the Cay looking out the ocean side!

View from the top looking back north toward Staniel Cay. You can see the tower by the harbor in the background.

Pano of the west side from the top.

Then more running around in the dinghy before getting back to the harbor for more pool time.

We enjoyed a late night at the bar last night for dinner and drinks before coming back to the boat for a couple more.

It has been very relaxing here at Staniel Cay. We are here for another 4 days before we start to head back north.

By the way, all has been good except for our dinghy floating away one morning. Fortunately, I noticed just as it was drifting away!

Probably should not have used the slip knot that time!!

We were still rafted off Saga so Boris ran me out to retrieve it. We were lucky this time.

We will continue to explore the area over the next couple of days with Darrin and Janet before they fly out Saturday afternoon.

Hope you have a great week and I will try to post again before we pull out of Staniel Cay.