All Black and White – Exuma Islands, Bahamas, May 1, 2025

It seems the world is full of uncertainty these days.  With the stock markets falling, wars in not only Ukraine but also Gaza embroiled in multi-year conflicts, and the US alienating nearly all the rest of the world.  Here in the Bahamas on Mariposa, it is much more certain.  We have been sitting at our new favorite anchorage between Black Point and White Point.  The water is clear and beautiful blue.  We paddle each day watching the turtles swim by us.  Snorkeling is cold but at least we see some nice coral and fish.  There is only one large barracuda that has been a bit of a nuisance.  There are even sharks that swim by in the evenings during happy hour looking for a snack.  I have to say it is lovely here and we could not be happier we made the jump back to boating life and the Bahamas.

It has been a quiet few weeks and we have had some much-needed time to chill and recover from the big push getting the boat ready to go.  We spent one day in Staniel Cay refueling, grocery shopping, and hob-knobbing with the rich.  You see Staniel Cay is where all the super yachts (50 feet+) live.  Easter week was very busy for them.  At any time, we have between 15-20 of these big guys parked near us.  Just for fun we looked up what it would cost to rent one of these for the week and WOW – it is how the other half live.  It costs approximately $250,000 per week for 12 guests and 11 crew members plus expenses.  These yachts have jet skis, a large dinghy, their own floating dock, completed by a blow-up slide.  It’s incredible!  I realize we are on the brink of a recession but there are still plenty of people out there that have too much money.

Sadly, they all want to go and swim with the pigs at Big Majors Pig Beach.  This I will never understand, but there are boats packed with tourists lined up to drop folks off there.  Average cost for this tour is $150-$250 person.  Then, you get to discover that there is a lot of piggie poop and invasive birds attacking you for their share of the pig food.  No thanks.

As the wind here is about to change, we will make one last stop at Staniel Cay for our last stock up, to take care of our trash, and then plan to move north to Cambridge Cay.  We will have about 6 weeks to make it north and back to the states where we have a spot in Savannah, GA to haul out for hurricane season.  The wind will be shifting from the south and sadly our place here off the coast has little protection for that.  It is time to say goodbye to our lovely anchorage at least until next year.