Our position is          24:10.53N    76:26.94W

The next day (Ted’s birthday) we moved the yacht round the corner to Staniel Cay. Greg and Christina on Whisper, who we had chatted to on Pig Beach the day before, immediately moved into the space we vacated, so we obviously had made a good choice. Staniel Cay proved slightly more problematic as there is a lot of shallow water and the paper charts did not entirely agree with the chart plotter as to where it was.  Also there was a strong current flowing through from the Sound, which was across the wind direction. We opted to aim down a tongue of deeper water on a sand bank close to Thunderball  grotto but lining the boat up proved quite tricky and our first attempt left us in a vulnerable spot in an opening between two small islets, While we were pondering our next move Dennis and Donna from Texas stopped by to greet a fellow Moody owner. They have a 44 and were anchored further in, so with their encouragement we moved over and anchored beside them. We ended up a bit closer than we really wanted but they seemed happy so we went ashore in search of some lunch.

This proved easily located at the yacht club and was very tasty. We also booked a table there for a birthday dinner for Ted in the evening. Then we set off in search of shops (for re-provisioning), a laundry, the bakery, and the airport (so Peter and Rosemary could confirm their flight for Sunday).The shops proved amazingly elusive and in spite of being given instructions by many people we still walked a lot further than was necessary before finding the one furthest from where we started. We had been warned that the best time to shop was immediately after the supply boat had come in (which it wasn’t) so we were unsurprised by the relatively meagre selection but at least were able to buy stamps for the postcards purchased on the previous island, and tonic and limes for the essential sundowners.  The visit to the airport proved fruitless as the Flamingo Air office was unmanned, apart from when flights are due; but on the walk back we finally located the bakery and the blue and pink shops. Laundry seemed to be a case of someone doing it in their own home and the lady in the blue shop offered her assistant’s services in this respect so this may be the solution next week. We needed to pick up a couple of cans of water back at the yacht club but this was easier said than done. In the end we were helped by a guy from the dive shop who said the yacht club was completely disorganised and he was having to pick up the pieces. He also said that the mains water was generally only  switched on for a couple of hour’s morning and evening, presumably because the desalination plant was struggling to cope with the demand. Then it was back to the boat to prepare for going ashore for the birthday dinner, first helping to recover a stray (large) rib leaving the dinghy harbour on its own. Its paid crew were both ungrateful and ungracious, making us wish we hadn’t bothered.

When we returned to the Yacht Club, all eager anticipation, it was only to have our hopes dashed. The Yacht Club was a seething mass of rowdy Americans who seemed to have taken over the bar and our dinner booking had not been taken properly so there was no dinner. What’s more they really didn’t seem to care much. Because of the noise levels we weren’t 100% disappointed at this and headed down the road in search of an alternative ending up at Taste of the Sea, where Peter and Rosemary were able to experience conch before they went home and we received excellent service from Karen – a pleasant contrast from our earlier experience.

The next morning saw the baking of (belated) birthday chocolate brownies and yet another fruitless trip to the airport and various other spots in search of the elusive Samantha – the only one it seemed in a position to confirm the flight – and then a light lunch before the highlight of the day –snorkelling in Thunderball grotto. The cave is famous for being the one used in the film Thunderball.  I suspect in the film it probably looked bigger than it actually is but swimming in it was an amazing experience. Someone likened it to swimming in an aquarium, and if we’d had something appropriate apparently the fish would have fed out of our hands. Holes in the roof illuminate the water below and the shoals of brightly coloured fish. We entered at low tide – recommended for children and weaker swimmers – as the current is nil to minimal and there is a reasonable gap between the water and the rock at the entrance. There was a slight fracas at the start when the mooring warp of the buoy we had tied the dinghy up to, got round the prop of a largish motor boat attempting to tie up to the adjoining buoy. This was freed by someone from the (small) rubber dinghy sharing our buoy and we were able to get swimming and photographing. When we’d had enough it was back to the boat for tea and chocolate brownie – voted delicious in spite of being out of a packet – and showers. We had managed to make another booking for dinner at the yacht club for Peter and Rosemary’s last night on the boat. When we arrived both electricity and water were suffering a cut but power soon came back on and this time proved rather more successful than our previous attempt and we enjoyed a good meal in a much quieter atmosphere.

The dinghy harbour well protected from the currents                                        The houses are colourful

The church seen from the sea                                                               unusual arrangement for the bell

One option for getting about                                                                 the other option

Big ray by the dock   (somthings had its tail)                                       nurse sharks attracted by fish gutting

Waiting to be served at taste of the sea.                                                 Tea and home baked brownies after swimming

Entrance to Thunderball cave seen from the surface                             and looking in  from under the water

Looking out of the north entrance                                                     Kay swimming to the south entrance

Lots of pretty fish  and spectacular lighting                                                                      

back in the dinghy after some brilliant snorkeling and a few bumps on the head  (you don't see the rock hanging down while snorkeling)