Nurse Sharks

We anchored in Compass cay and went to the marina to see whats there. They have 'pet' nurse sharks under the jetty, obviously feed by the staff there. Its a small marina with a $8 landing fee for non marina guests. We admired the sharks and left.

Back at our boat we found a Nurse shark under our boat! No swimming today!

Allans Cay, Iguanas

The first Island we stopped at was Allans Cay, which has a population of Iguanas. They are about 80cm to 1m long. This is the only island that they are on! As we came closer to the beach they all came out waiting to be fed. The signs all say dont feed them, we didn't.

The water is that wonderful blue, but that also means its getting shallow. The other photo shows the route into Compass cay, the slightly darker water to the right of the green marker is the way to go. Either side of that we could get stuck. So we go slowly watching the depth gauge.

Most boats travel at high tide to ensure the deepest possible water. The sea floor is sand and lime stone, this is also why the water is so blue.

30 April 2011

Today our dear friends Lionel and Debby left us to fly home via USA. It has been wonderful having their company on the boat.

Now we head south to the Exuma islands, a chain of small islands, 120 miles long. The Exumas have a shallow bank on the West side and very deep water on the East side. We will travel south on the West side to get protection from the Easterly winds.

Atlantis aquarium

The best thing at the Atlantis Resort is the Aquarium. It is huge and you walk though a series of tunnels to view it from all sides. Then you can go outside and view it from above which was great viewing of the Manta Rays, thats one in the photo, its huge. Don't know what the silver fish are called but they do look serious.

A visit to Atlantis

Thats Atlantis across the bridges, the traffic flow is so heavy they built 2 bridges. We took our dingy into the Atlantis Marina and tied up and walked in. Its very similar to the Lost City in South Africa just larger. Debby and I got to sit in the Big chair! The hotel/casino is very busy and a popular spot for all the cruise ship visitors. It was dark when we returned to our dingy and we cruised around the huge expensive boats in the marina, another world.

Nassau, 'Its a Bahamian Ting'

Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and the most heavily populated island, with 250,000 people. New Providence is 20 x 7 miles and next to it is Paradise island, the home of the Atlantis Resort.

At the base of the bridges that cross over to Atlantis are many stalls all selling Conch salad and conch fritters. This is a real Bahamian traditional food. The empty shells are lying under the table ready for removal. The raw, white flesh of the Conch is diced up and mixed with green peppers, lemon, onions and orange juice. Really tasty!

Florida Pompano

We crossed from Andros Island to New Providence (the island that Nassau is on) and anchored in West Bay. On the way from West Bay to Nassau, Rob caught this 80cm Pompano, gave him a good fight. It had blue lips when it was landed, great eating fish.