James Bond and the swimming pigs

It had been several days since leaving Nassau and our veggies were running low. We needed to find somewhere to restock, get ice and do laundry...next stop Staniel Cay, home of Thunderball Grotto and swimming pigs. After a good nights sleep at WWC, we motor sailed to Staniel Cay on the leeward side of the Exumas Islands, back to following the magenta lines because we were on the inside in 15' of water and watching out for coral heads.

We anchored in 6 feet of water just south of Big Major Island for protection from the expected North wind and then we head into town. Staniel Cay is not a big town; quite small. There are a few 5 foot sharks swimming around the dock as we pull up in our dinghy...waiting for fishermen to clean their catch. The roads are narrow and most people use golf carts instead of cars. Most homes are unfinished with little attention to yard maintenance. A few local bars are more like a garage with a counter and booze...we're loving their way of life! A short walk to the one grocery store that has little food on their shelves. We buy some fruits and veggies and kibitz with the owner. We stop at Big Dogs Bar for a drink. This 10' x 10' room is currently expanding but for now drinks are still $7 each. We stay for one, then scope out the laundry facilities where they also sell booze by the bottle.

Today we will move half a mile to the West side of Big Major Island, but first we dinghy over to the Thunderball Grotto that was part of the James Bond 007 movie called 'Thunderball'. You must visit the grotto at slack tide (between tides) otherwise the current would be too great in the cave. If you enter the Grotto at high tide, you need to swim 12 feet to enter the cave; at low tide, you can swim in with your head out of the water but close to the rock ceiling.

Swiming with the fish

Inside the Thunderball Grotto

Once you battle the slight current at slack tide, you enter a cavern about 50 feet round, 20 feet high with an opening in the center to allow sunlight in. There are plenty of fish and it is suggested to bring food to have the fish swarm you as you release the food.

Welcoming of the pigs

Talking the talk

After visiting the Grotto, we picked up anchor and went around the bend to anchor as close to shore as possible. Immediately, we spot kids on the beach with pigs chasing them...we have to check it out. By the time we're settled and get in the dinghy the beach is empty, but as we approach the beach, the pigs appear from the bush and run up to the dinghy...these are big pigs; their noses are 3" wide. We have heard that they some times jump on the dinghy so we need to exit the dinghy but a little apprehensive to leave the dinghy as they seem quite aggressive. They see that we don't have any food so they turn around and head back to shore. We went ashore, sat on some rocks and sipped our rum and cokes. The pigs came over to sit with us and Wally lifted his drink as if to pour it into the pigs mouth and the pig followed by lifting his head and opening his mouth wide...Wally poured and the pig drank licking his lips after each drink...it was the funniest thing. Julie was next and her pig must have really liked her as he ended up almost straddling her. When I tried to chase it away from Julie, it snorted with disapproval.

Also settled here in the anchorage was Southern Flight (they almost bounced into us in Normans Cay). We invited Ian and Michelle for happy hour on BoomDeYada and quickly became friends. One of the other common practices we have added to our day to day life is keeping the VHF on channel 68 as its the cruisers way of communicating socially but also in the case of an emergency. FYI...We are running the water maker every other day (what a noise maker) and monitoring our usage as part of our water management aboard BoomDeYada. The water maker needs to be run every 2-3 days at least or microscopic life will grow plugging the filter. Otherwise, we have to pickle the water maker if its not going to be used frequently. We plan to pickle it when we leave the boat for hurricane season at the end of June.