Big Majors Cay/Staniel Cay

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 We arrived at the anchorage at Big Majors Cay on Tuesday morning after a short 2 hour trip. It is very different from the park with lots of boats, big and small, anchored and small motorboats zooming in and out of the bay.


We are here in front of what is known as pig beach. There are a number of pigs who live on the beach and are a huge tourist attraction. They will swim out to your dingy if you have food scraps for them or you can go on the beach if you dare. Poor Gunter had a pig snatch his bag of scraps right out of his hand.


On the other side of the bay is the settlement of Staniel Cay. Most cruisers stop here to stock up on groceries and fuel but it is nice to walk around the charming town.

At the docks, nurse sharks hang around waiting for fish scraps from those who have caught something.


We walked to the Blue House (they sell groceries) as a shipment of fresh food had just come in. The store is tiny and you have to buy what they have rather than what you need.


We stocked up on fruit and vegetables. You can see by the receipt that it is expensive in the Bahamas - everything has to be shipped in by plane or boat. The only item that was local was the cucumber and cherry tomatoes grown in a greenhouse in Lucaya.

The next morning we dropped off our laundry - to be picked up all clean and folded later in the day. You can also pick up your favourite alcoholic beverage at the same time. A case of beer is $67 - good thing we brought lots!


We intended to make water but when Gunter went to start up the generator, the pull cord disintegrated in his hand. Another job for Super Steve - the two of them had to take the entire generator apart to install a new cord.
In the evening the four of us went out to dinner to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club - a nice treat but we were stuffed afterwards.
Today we got around to making water and Gunter baked some bread - bread seems to be more difficult to find so might as well make it yourself. So good right out of the oven with butter and jam!
No trip here would be complete without snorkelling in Thunderball Grotto.  The James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed here - it’s a cave that you swim into to reach a spectacular dome overhead with sunlight shining through a hole in the top. Underwater there are huge numbers of colourful fish that swim all around you - stunning! Back to the boat and I finally get a picture from the dingy.

Tomorrow we are on the move again to Black Point but until then I leave you with this lovely sunset.







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