A Man, A Plan, A Propellor, Panama (not quite a palindrome)

‘Vroom ‘  is the sounds we expected to hear as we put the engine in reverse to maneuver into the anchorage next to Porvenir in the Kuna Yala (San Blas) Islands of Panama.  Instead the entire boat began to shake with great fury.  Yikes! This does NOT feel right!  We quickly shut down the engine and rolled out a little genoa to get ourselves into a good position to anchor.  Once the hook was down, Seb jumped overboard to investigate and came up with a very long face.   “Half of our propeller is missing.”

And this happened just as we anchored at a group of islands owned by a the very nobly traditional Kuna Indians.  Not a place where we were likely to find a diesel mechanic, let alone parts and definitely not a new propeller.  Luckily, we arrived with the big Pjotters and the s/v R Sea Kat had arrived in the anchorage earlier in the day.  It was not long before Seb, Kees and Mike were in the water with snorkels and weight belts to see if they could find the missing parts.  But, in 15 meters of water in a large anchorage this was a little like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.   But they went to work and, on the advice of a kind Frenchman named Daniel who also offered his help, lowered a weight on a line to give themselves a reference point to begin the search.  After this they snorkeled in formation in widening circles around the weight and suddenly Mike spotted something square in the sandy bottom.  We are extremely lucky to be friends with an incredibly accomplished free diver (10,000 plus diving hours - Mike’s wife Deana calls him a fish).  Mike free dove (i.e. with just a mask and fins) down 15 meters and came up with a big smile holding the missing propeller blade.  Incredible!  ‘Ummmm, but there is also a rather critical pin…measuring about 1cm in diameter, 10 cm long…”  So, with the help this time of Kees’ diving tank with just enough air to allow the maneuver Mike headed down again and doubly incredibly, unbelievably, came up with the pin.  Hooray! 

So, the plan was to tow the Pjotter with the dinghy into shallower water to reinstall the propeller blade.  There is always a risk that you will drop something when working underwater and the shallower water would make the parts easier to find should this occur.  As Mike was towing us to the shore, his dinghy stalled and as the Pjotter was moving rapidly into shallow water he attempted to restart quickly and ended up breaking the tip of his finger.  We finally got the anchor down and the Pjotter temporarily stabilized.  As Deana swam over carrying a bag of ice for Mike’s finger (we have no freezer on board), Seb and Kees donned their masks, weight belts and fins and started the reinstallation of the prop blade.  Fortunately, they managed to execute this with no further issues, losses or injuries.  Needless to say we all turned in rather early after such an alarming and exciting day.  Seb and I were incredibly grateful at our luck in being able to find and reinstall the parts, and hugely grateful to have such supportive, helpful and talented friends to help us in a time of need.

Cartagena

At 0900 in the morning there was a knock on the boat and two young women, Paula and Jessica,  were standing in a dinghy next to our boat offering to act as our agents to check in to Columbia (you need an agent).   We agreed a price with them and after cleaning up the boat and checking into the Club Nautico Marina, we handed our passports and boat documents over to these virtual strangers.  Scary, but all of the other cruisers assured us that this is how it is always done.  All the same, we heaved a small sigh of relief when they were returned two days later.  

Cartagena's colonial charm and the old walled city, the Ciudad Amarullada, with tiled roofs, balconies and flower-filled courtyards  is a joy to wander about and get lost in.  We closed off our first day with an afternoon walk through the beautiful old town, soaking up the vibrancy in the squares and watching some amazing street dancers and musicians.  

On March 5 we boarded a bus at 0800 (with Kees, Martha, Ralph and Suzan) for the 2 hour ride to Barranquilla for the carnival.  This carnival is said to be second biggest in the world, second only to Rio.  The bus dropped us off eight blocks from the parade route.  As we approached the centre the excitement built, starting with a little music, some decorations and a few vendors and culminating in a huge explosion of sound, decorations, crowds and music.  We haggled a little for chairs in one of the shaded stands along the route.  The eight of us appeared to be the only non-Columbians in attendance.  Excitement continued to build during the 1,5 hour wait for the parade to begin.  During this time, our tent became rowdier and more friendly and by the time the parade arrived we were all sharing snacks and laughing when frequent showers of shaving foam  sprayed over us from some of the more boisterous viewers.  The parade was a fantastic mixture of costumes and music ranging from very professional dance groups to single strangely clad exhibitionists.  Good  fun.  After two hours of enjoyment the parade was still in full swing but our bus was waiting. We bid goodbye  (and  exchanged Facebook names) with our new friends and walked up to the bus stop, pausing briefly for an empanada on the way.  

On Ralph and Suzan’s last day in Cartagena, they (and Kees and Martha) kindly invited us along for a day of exploration.  Our first stop was at the impressive Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas.  This fort offers great views from the ramparts and battlements and an exciting underground tunnel system.  We were also given a fascinating explanation of the ingenious development of fortifications built up to protect the city from pirates and other unwanted invaders.  Our second stop was much less enchanting.  Although the Boca Grande beach is surrounded by high rises and hotels it still has the potential to be a beautiful spot for a swim.  Unfortunately garbage lines the shore and aggressive vendors push their wares into your face whenever you stop walking for more than five seconds.  I was actually chased down the beach by a women who smeared a yucky cream on my back and wanted to be paid for a massage.  Needless to say, our stop at the beach was rather short.  At the end of the day, we wandered the lovely cobblestone streets of the old city and happened upon a perfectly lit little courtyard with a lovely garden and eclectic and interesting furnishings.  The food matched the ambiance and we ate interesting and delicious mixtures of seafood.   Slurp!   

In Cartagena we finally met  Jeff and Jose from Stravaig, the sailboat we passed on our way to Cartagena, face to face, and spent a couple of evenings sharing a gezellige borrel.  Sometime you meet up with people that you would like to have time to get to know better.  Sadly, this was not to be but we waved a fond goodbye and a hope to meet again.  

Our departure from Cartagena was followed by a windier than expected but safe and uneventful sail to Porvenir in the Kuna Yala province of Panama.  

Pjotters Away!

The first leg of our voyage from Curacao to Cartagena was in the company of the s/v R Sea Kat, the catamaran with whom we shared the treacherous journey from Samana, DR.  They had decided to send Keiko (their very sweet cat) home for the remainder of their circumnavigation and had arranged for their daughter to pick her up in Aruba.  As such, after a pleasant and uneventful night they headed into the Haven Barcadera, Aruba and handed the baton off to the big Pjotter who were just sailing out of the same bay to continue the journey to Catagena, Columbia with us. Great sight to see the big blue boat sailing out to join us.  For the rest of the journey we remained within sight and frequently maneuvered close enough to chat to each other and take many many pictures.

With the trade winds behind us, this was one of our most pleasant voyages to date,  one that gently put us through our paces.  The first day was lovely light winds and we sped along at an average of seven knots.   The boat was helped along on the second day with 1,5-2 knots of current. Hurrah.  Surfing over a wave we sometimes sailed up over 9 knots.  Super!  The wind reduced on our third day and both Pjotters hoisted their colourful gennaker for the afternoon.  Superb!  Many photos were made to commemorate this wonderful event.  Fortunately, another boat sailing along the coast hailed us (s/v Straivaig, containing Jeff and Jose whom we would later learn are really lovely people) and kindly agreed to make some photos of the two boats speeding along together.   

The wind picked up again on our final day and we reduced sail significantly to keep moving smoothly along.   As we approached the mouth of the huge Rio Magdalena, by the Cabo Augusta of Colombia, the 100m deep water turned abruptly to brown.  An amazing sight to see seven nautical miles from land.  

 

We pitched and rolled relatively comfortably,  with double reefed main and genoa, through this and approached the Boca Chica entrance to the Bahia Cartagena at 2200 on the March 3rd.  The waves were large and the wind steadily  above 25 knots as we approached the entrance.  The harbor patrol was professional and instructed us to remain close to the green buoys as we entered the narrow channel.  We carefully followed these instructions and watched in awe as several enormous ships sped past us in the darkness. The bay of Cartagena emerged in the form of the New York skyline as huge brightly lit skyscrapers loomed up all around us.  Unexpected.  We finally approached the Isla Manga  and dropped our anchors with a grateful sigh at 0030 on March 4rth.  This was a passage that we had been dreading , the Tangaroa and the Elena were beaten severely by it and there are frequently extremely high winds and waves peaking as you approach Cartagena.  Whew!

Curacao Family Visit

Seb’s Dad, his wife Rena, sisters Linda and Caroleijne and Linda’s boyfriend Rudolf picked us up on February 12 at the Kima Kalki marina in Spaanse Water in Curacao. We left our Pjotter at anchor before the marina in the excellent company of the Kees and Marta’s big Pjotter. They were off visiting family in the Netherlands while some of ours had come over to see us. 

So we moved from our small and warm boat into a fabulous huge house with air conditioning and with our own swimming pool.  And we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves in luxury and great company for two weeks.  

In between swims we were rather active.  Seb’s Dad and his wife try to visit Curacao once a year and thus consider it something of a second home.  In addition to this, Rena lived in Curacao for four years with her family when she was younger.   It has long been a dream of theirs to bring Seb and his brother and sisters to share this island that has become so special to them.  And now that dream was a reality.  They took us around and showed us some of their favourite places, the wonderful apartments where they usually stay, Rena’s old house and school, the beautiful Christoffel Park at Westpunt, the colourful Punda area, the Queen Emma floating bridge,  and they shared some of their favourite restaurants.   In addition to this, Seb and I (along with Caroleijne and Rudolf) finally earned our NAUI  certification and can now start to hone our diving capabilities.  And most amazing of all, Emma learned to snorkel and swim without her water wings!!!  A very special visit and very sad to see them heading off to the airport and back to Schiphol.  

 The next few days were spent enjoying the Dutchness of Curacao, shopping in the Albert Heijn, chatting with the locals (in Dutch), having dinner with Mike and Deana and Brakkeput Mei Mei (one of Seb’s Dad and Rena’s favourite restaurants) and joining Kees and Marta at Marta’s brother’s school for their annual festival.  This was a great event with many many kids and games to play.  An absolute paradise for Emma and Macsen and a great place for us to have a beer with Kees and Marta and meet Rolf and Suzanne who would be joining them onboard for the passage to Cartagena. 

DR to Curacao or The Rubber Ducky Route

On February 8th we waved goodbye to Samana, DR and headed out for a 490 nautical mile passage to Curacao.  This route would take us 80 nautical miles straight into the 20 knot trade winds (unpleasant), through the Mona Passage (scary) and south in the Caribbean sea (windy and wavy).  

Seb and I still argue about the intensity level of this particular trip.  I think it was the harshest to date but he holds that our trip from Vila Real de San Antonio, Portugal to Rabat, Morocco still tops the list.  Either way, this one was a doozy.   Fortunately, we had the company of s/v R Sea Kat with Mike, Deana and Keiko (their cat) on board to commiserate over the radio along the way.  Keiko, in particular, had a very difficult voyage.  

Our departure from Puerto Bahia, Samana in the early evening forced us to head immediately out into the trade winds.  Uncomfortable and slow, 3,5 knot speed over ground with the motor at 2000 revs.  And we were worried that we wouldn’t make it through the Mona Passage by 0800 to take advantage of the relatively lighter night winds.  Tedious and stressful.  

The Mona Passage has the reputation for being one of the most treacherous routes in the Caribbean, especially for small watercraft. The eighty mile section of sea separating the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico is prone to unusual and unpredictable currents created by sandbanks stretching out from both islands.  In this short stretch the water depth changes rapidly from >100 meters to over 5000 meters and the water pushing between the islands is put under incredible pressure.  These effects contribute notoriously dangerous waves and the coastline of Puerto Rico is known for sudden and heavy thunderstorms.  We only needed to cross halfway into the Mona and then head south but we still approached her with some trepidation and several double checks of our weather window.  

We held our breath (figuratively of course) as we turned southwards into the notorious Mona.  The waves were slightly higher than in the Bahia Samana but our wind angle was much better so we picked up speed and rather enjoyed this bit of the trip.  Mona spit us out into the Caribbean sea with slightly less sympathy however.   Winds banged us straight on our beam and kept the boat at an angle that made even the smallest tasks a huge challenge.   And so we spent the next three days crossing the Caribbean sea with many squalls, sustained 30+ knot winds and average 4 meter seas (meaning that there were several even bigger waves that looked liked walls of water).   In short, we felt like a rubber ducky bobbing about  in the bath with a particularly rambunctious child.  What a relief to round  the Eastern tip of Curacao at dawn on the 12th and coast along the lee of the island. 

Technology is unfortunately not always foolproof and more fool we for thinking that with three communication systems we should always be able to stay in touch.   Spot stopped working just above Curacao, our modem from the SSB refused to connect and the satellite telephone kept losing connection and refused to pick up a connection when it rang.  The result of this was that on the home front it appeared on Spot as though we had stopped suddenly about 50 miles north of Curacao and our usual email and phone connection gave no answer.   From the  perspective of anyone not with us onboard, we had temporarily disappeared.  Not difficult to imagine that this caused panic on the home front, fortunately relatively short lived. 

 

Sailing the coast of Colombia

Oh, Samana

Samana is a 150 nautical mile sail from Luperon (taking upwind tacks into account).  Seems doable but this  trip along a coast with several windy capes and high cliffs sailing directly into the strong and steady trade winds is a task that requires some planning and patience.  Going was slow requiring frequent short tacks along the coast to minimize the currents and play the lees along the shore.   We kept our eyes peeled for whales as we rounded the Cabo Cabron and sailed around into the Bahia Samana and were rewarded by some great breeching action in the distance.  This is their mating ground and apparently they are incredibly active and playful during their visit here.  

Feeling in need of a little extra comfort and some water and provisions we checked into newly opened Puerto Bahia marina with a gentle sigh of relief.   What fabulous luxury!  The marina is part of a huge (but very tasteful) resort with all of the amenities.  Six swimming pools, fast internet and a beautiful lobby with a bar right in front of our boat.   Fortunately the place had only been open for a month and their prices for boats were under  1$US per foot.   

The hotel has a very chic travel agency whom we approached to help us to rent a car.  On the first occasion we were told to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 0900 to pick up the car.  We showed up promptly at 0900 with our hair in a braid (well Emma’s anyway) only to be told that the car was no longer available.  And we had already paid! They offered to compensate us with a chauffeured taxi for the day (a much more expensive option which they offered for the same price) and couldn’t understand that we were not entirely happy.  The taxi chauffeur took us to the major sites in the areas and we found ourselves back on the beaten path.  This path involved (among other things) riding an emaciated donkey for 45 minutes to a beautiful waterfall.  Unfortunately, we were swimming in the waterfall with several hundred cruise ship passengers.  Aaaah, we have become spoiled.  

 

Our second car rental from Samana was also slightly ridiculous.  They brought us an extremely old jeep with no seatbelts in the back and no window coverings.  Fortunately, we had some big adjustable sail ties that we able to rig to fix Emma and Macsen’s car seats safely in place.  Having personal control of the car was more enjoyable as it gave us the opportunity to stop where we wanted and visit small villages along the way.  Once again we were visiting a country with extremely lavish luxurious possibilities on one side of the resort gates and extreme poverty and necessary self sufficiency on the other.  Once again, more than a little disturbing.  

 On February 3^rd we took the boat 12 nautical miles across the bay to anchor in the Park de Los Haitises. Stunning! This park is said to rival Bora Bora in natural beauty and although I cannot tell from experience I can well imagine this to be so.  Gentle hills surround the anchorage and there are beautiful walks through the humid subtropical park  forest.  There is little road access and the number of tourists per year is strictly limited.  The hills are pocketed by caves created by water erosion and there are miles of dinghy exploration possible through the mangroves.  The Native American Taínos adorned several of these caves with pictographs and petro glyphs.  Pelicans, ibis, frigate birds among others are constantly soaring overhead.  And to top it off there is a beautiful ecolodge with a cascade of natural fresh water pools to swim through.  Ahhhh!  

After a few days of pure beautiful nature we returned to the Puerto Bahia resort to watch the US football Super Bowl  2011.  There were six other boats (s/v I Don’t Neaux, s/v Eclipse, s/v R Sea Cat, s/v Yolo, s/v Hajera, s/v At Last) with a lovely group of people and together we made up quite a lively party.  Emma and Macsen still sometimes shout a random “Go Packers!”  for the winning team so they obviously learned something from this experience as well. 

The Experiences of Others

The sail to Luperon, Dominican Republic was as long and unpleasant as expected.  We were motor sailing for 3 days into 15 knot winds with 2 meter seas and a little current against us.  A slow and incredibly frustrating process taking us down to under 4 knots over ground for hours on end at full throttle with the engine gulping through our diesel. Ugh!  

Luperon is a beautiful  harbor surrounded by lush green hills and absolutely full of cruising boats, many with huge beards underwater indicating that they have been sitting there for a while.  We had received many many warnings about the time consuming check-in process in Luperon involving corrupt officials coming on board and asking aggressively for ‘presents’ .  Several people gave us advice on how to protect ourselves from this threat and respond to these horrible and forceful requests.  Upon arrival, we hoisted the quarantine flag and Seb proactively jumped in the dingy to hunt down the numerous  officials that needed to be informed of our arrival.  Within 1 ½ hours (relatively short for this kind of thing) he came back to the dingy with two men, one from agriculture and another from customs.   They opened a couple of cupboards and peeked with a giggle at Emma and Macsen while we chatted in Spanglish to the best of our collective abilities and they left with a smile after about 15 minutes.  Their only request was for a cold drink.  

Sadly our knowledge of Luperon remains  limited to a quick glimpse of the busy village streets as the relatively good weather and our schedule forced us pull up the anchor the following morning.  It looked like a lovely place to explore.  Our plan was to spend a couple of hours in the morning getting diesel and picking up our despacho (departure documents required to for any movement in DR) and then leave around 1000ish.  We were startled awake by loud knocking (rather shocking) on the boat before 0700! Two overzealous but very friendly customs and immigration agents had taken it upon themselves to bring us our despacho in person.  They had ridden out in the dinghy of another departing cruiser and Seb rowed them back to the dock once the document changed hands.   For this special delivery service we thanked them and offered a cold drink.  They gave absolutely no indication that they wanted or expected anything more.      

Georgetown, Williamstown and Barraterre

After a quick provisioning stop in the chic Emerald Bay marina we headed off to Georgetown.  Georgetown in located on Great Exuma Island and is absolutely full of cruising boats.  Georgetown offers everything a cruisers wishes with yoga classes, chart and equipment swaps, beach volleyball tournaments, Trivia nights, poker games,  medical lectures, weather courses and much more all advertised every morning on the VHF net. Many people head to Georgetown at the beginning of the season, drop their anchor, and do not pull it up until the end of the season. Seb and I were both feeling a little wary and planned to stay for just 2 days before sailing south.  Weather prevented us from a timely trip and we ended up staying in Georgetown for 6 days.  And it was fun.  First was the cruisers welcome reception where we met up with (among others) two crews that Seb met during his solo sail in Nova Scotia, then Seb fixed the dinghy propeller with much help from Pat from the S/V The Artful Dodger, we played volleyball games, had good walks, Emma had play dates with a 5 year old girl from Vancouver, and there was a fabulous windy beach and much more to keep us busy.
  

We also spent a day touring Great and Little Exuma with a rental car.  There is one highway that runs up and down the two cays connected by a small bridge.  The narrow roads are flanked by trees and broken only by stunning sea vistas or the occasional small groups of houses in a town. 

As you drive through tiny Williamstown you can’t miss the huge Doric column up on the hill. This column was used to let passing boats know that salt was available for sale on the island.  There is an enormous shallow salt flat where you can see the remains of the sorting walls.  Information boards remind us of the torturous conditions of the slaves working the salt flats to reap 300,000 bushels of salt per year.  Raking salt was terrible work.  It meant standing in brine with the hot sun reflected off the white sand and salt.  The result was often blindness and ulcerated cuts that would not heal.  

Williamstown also has the ruins of the Hermitage plantation.  This site is virtually unmarked and you can wander among the overgrown ruins of the houses and tombs but there is no information to indicate what was where.  I guess that this is something that nobody really wants to remember or glorify in any way. 

From Williamstown we drove up to Barraterre, at the top of the island.  This was the sight of the Barraterre sloop regatta.  This is an incredibly competitive local sailboat race on traditional Bahamian wooden dinghies.  The Barraterrre children’s orchestra came out to cheer the boats on and the entire town had a festive air.  

These small boats generally sail with a skipper and 3 crew members.  The crews’ main role is to balance the tippy boat against its huge sail.  They do this by perching precariously out on shifting 2”x8” boards about 2 metres over the water.  Each race begins rather chaotically with the dinghies starting at anchor and pulling up anchor and hoisting sails simultaneously just after the race boat shoots off a huge rifle. 

Seb was incredibly lucky to be the only non-local to crew on one of the boats for the final race.  His dinghy was skippered by Huey Lloyd, who is over 70 and a legendary wooden sloop builder and racer in the region.   Their boat was named Hog Tusk and while Macsen and I enthusiastically cheered him on to win Emma supported the more elegantly named Golden Girl.  Hog Tusk returned victorious adding the icing to Seb’s already incredible exciting cake.

 

Thunderball Grotto

Staniel Cay is the home of  the Thunderball Grotto.  The James Bond film Thunderball was filmed there in the 70s.  It started as a puddle on a big rock.  Over time the puddle got deeper and deeper and the waves wore out the underside of the rock. They eventually met and formed Thunderball Cave.  Seb and I took turns snorekeling through this incredible cave.  The fish in and around the grotto are abundant, huge and incredibly colourful.  The cave itself is like something out of a movie...yeah, really.  We were hoping to take Emma and Macsen into the cave on our second visit at slack tide but Emma was unwilling.  I took Macsen in swimming with him on my back.  He stayed and looked around for about 10 sconds.  My exclamations of awe were met with a very short “OK, but can we get out now.”

Shroud Cay, Hawksbill Cay and Warderick Wells

Shroud Cay is at the Northern border of the Exuma Land and Seas Park.  We arrived and dropped anchor in the still waters next to Shroud Cay in the late afternoon and settled in for dinner.  Just as it was getting dark a boat rowed by and invited us to a gathering on the beach.  We bundled into the Spikkle and rowed in to the dark beach.  Three boats had gathered on the beach (White Seal who had extended the invitation, Curiosity and Sisu) and had built a nice fire in the pit and were busy toasting marshmallows and making s’mores. Seb, Emma and Macsen ate their first s’mores on that beach at Shroud Cay and thus shared yet another North American family tradition.  Super gezellig.

Meg, Charlie and Mary from the White Seal took us in hand again the next day with an invitation for a dinghy safari through the mangrove creeks on Shroud Cay.   They were rowing and so were we so the crew of the S/V Curiosity kindly towed both boats.  We picked up the crew from Sisu on the way and headed for the mouth of the creek.  Rowing on a tiny creek with crystal clear shallow water over bright white sand was a real treat.  The creek twisted through the mangroves and then came out on the Exuma Sound side of the cays where we found crashing waves, a wonderful beach and some great snorkelling.  The conchs lying on the bottom were the largest I have ever seen.  There were several in the group drooling at the size of the conch and dreaming of conch salad and fritters but we respected the park rules and left them to grow some more. From the beach we walked up to Camp Driftwood and enjoyed the incredible views from this promontory. Amazing.  After a lovely drift/ sail back down the creek we stopped for a swim.  Emma and Macsen had a wonderful time playing with the kids from the other boats.  Their ages ranged from 9 to 16 and they were all really great kids who played rambunctious and creative games with the monkeys who in turn shrieked and laughed and enjoyed all of the big kid attention.

 Hawksbill Cay was a day stop on the way to Warderick Wells.  We were the only boat in the bay and were joined on arrival by a 1,5 meter long barracuda whom we affectionately named Barry.  We decided to admire Barry from afar rather than join him in the water as he was eyeing us with a territorial stare.  The Spikkle was called immediately into action and we dinghied in through tiny channels of mangroves before hiking up the hill to enjoy some stunning Exuma views.  Macsen was the self designated leader of our expedition and ran ahead of us calling out “Here I am!” every few steps to guide us through the dense underbrush. 

Our arrival in Warderick Wells was later than expected due to an uncharted sandbar.  We ran lightly aground and decided to wait until high tide to proceed.  We left our anchorage at 2000 and arrived in the harbour at 2300. The crew of the White Seal had kindly left their VHF on for the night in case we needed assistance.  Fortunately we did not, but it does feel nice to know that people are looking out for you.

Warderick Wells houses the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  The island is covered with rough paths running either through the brush or along the cliffs  offering absolutely stunning views.   We took a long walk from the north mooring field down to the ruins of an old 1700s loyalist plantation.  This took us the better part of the day and the path led us through some tricky wobbly rocky sections with caves.  Emma walked the entire time and Macsen only needed to be carried for a short time.  Super troopers!  In addition to the beautiful scenery, we lost the path at one point and happened upon a family of hutias sleeping in a shady glade.  These animals are round, rabbit sized rodents that are both endangered and nocturnal so we felt pretty lucky to see them in such close quarters.  

Blow holes were the next great attraction of Warderick Wells.  These holes are located at the top of Boo Boo hill  above caves that become almost submerged at high tide. When the swell rushes into the caves the air is pushed up through the holes with tremendous pressure, enough to make your hair stand on end!  

Big Major’ s Spot

Big Major’s spot is an anchorage with another lovely Exuma beach.  This beach has a special and extremely unexpected attraction in the form of...feral pigs.  Nobody seems entirely sure how these pigs came to be on the island. The most common theory is that a farmer from nearby Staniel Cay abandoned them there or left them for tourists to fatten with their treats.  We watched the pigs from the Pjotter for a while and saw them playing with other cruisers.  They were bold enough to climb into one dinghy and to swim out with another. Pigs are actually very good swimmers! We dinghied in to the beach and were having a cosy chat with Jean-Pierre and Michelle from the Bleau Marie II when a lovely brown and black spotted pig wandered up and begged for some vittles.  He hung around with us for a while, much to the delight of Emma and Macsen who took to following him around, and then he wandered back into the palm trees.  Just as we were getting into our dinghies a motor boat roared up with a visibly tipsy group aboard.  They tooted their fog horn and a huge sow came barrelling out of the brush followed by two little ones.  She charged towards us and then ran up to the motor boat and started chomping on the contents of a bag of food that they dumped in the water.  Her rather sudden entrance startled us into slightly more rapid dinghy action.  An extremely large man, who greatly resembled the sow in fact, leered at us from the comfort of his boat.  “Didn’t y’all know there was pigs on this island?” he grunted. We answered in the affirmative.  “Then why y’all haulin’ ass like that?” Unfortunately, we were all too amused by these comments to think of a good comeback in time so we just rowed away chuckling a little.