Highborne Cay and the Big Majors

We left Nassau and sailed Southeast to a cool spot in the Bahamas called Highborne Cay, where we anchored on the lee side of the island.

It was a good day of motorsailing pretty much into the normal Bahama breeze, which typically comes from the same direction we were going. Go figure.

The first thing we do is check the anchor, a quick snorkel showed it was buried in sand, the perfect situation. So, down came the dingy, and we hit the beach so that Guincha could do her thing and also harrass any local wildlife. Nice beach, very tranquil and pretty.

The next order of business, was to dingy around the corner and check out the marina and restaurant. We pulled up to the dock, and found ourselves surrounded by huge yachts, and we found well groomed paths through the manicured grounds. The marina office was closed, but the dockhand was still there, waiting for a hundred foot yacht to come in and tie up, and he helped us out by getting us some ice. Cool!

There is a restaurant there, Xuma, that is supposed to be good, and there was some traffic heading that way. There were evening dresses and blue blazers. There were collagen injected lips, and eyebrows that were way too close to the hairline. They all loved Guincha though, but nobody actually wanted to touch her! That is when we realized that Highborne Cay is for those that were born higher up the income scale than us. That is how it got it's name. A nice place, bring your plastic surgeon and join in the fun.

The next day, we were up early, and headed out toward Staniel Cay. It was a nice sail, and we made good time. We decided to anchor just North of Staniel Cay, and hit the beach. When we got there, we saw another boat feeding the pigs. THE PIGS? We knew that there were a few places that there were pigs that lived, and visited with the boaters when they came to the beach. We were suprised to see them, as we just picked an anchorage, and it was the one with the pigs on it! The power boat that was already at the beach, was busy feeding them, and spraying them with fresh water.

While the pigs were nice to people, there was a big spotted sow that hated Guincha. It had some babies, that were much bigger than Guincha, but no matter, she charged Guincha and tried to nip her on the rear. I say on the rear, because Guincha saw her coming and took off fast. It's good to be quick, when a four hundred pound pig charges you. Eat sand sow, not fast enough!

The next day, we went over to Staniel Cay. It is a pretty nice spot, a marina, liquor store and groceries too. We don't need any groceries, we are still sinking from all the stuff we brought. We had a ride around the harbor, there is a popular spot here to snorkel called Thunderball Grotto, they filmed a scene in the old James Bond movie Thunderball here. The tide was wrong though, at low slack tide, you swim underwater for about twenty feet into a grotto, and open roof cave. We will hit this spot again on the way back. Grabbed a case of beer at the store, 64 bucks. And we grabbed a cold one at the Staniel Cay Marina, two beers for ten bucks.