MOVING ON – Ok, so before we headed back to Emerald Bay for our little emergency, we had one more visit with the pigs at Staniel Cay. This time we had Big Run with us and we learned since here last, that the pigs really like bread. Unfortunately, for us, they smelled the bread before we were even close to the shore and one of them tried to swamp our dinghy. This should have been a clue not to mess with them on land – but, we did. After Sharon ran out of bread – things got down right ugly, forcing her to flee into the water with pigs in chase. One of them managed to step on her foot in the process and at this point we decided we probably have had enough fun with the pigs.

Bread, Bread, Bread - I smell Bread!

GIVE ME THE BREAD!!!!! ( we threw the whole bag in the water - just to get it off our dinghy)

Sharon with the pigs before the stampede.

Rick Smith "The Pig Whisperer"

Hey buddy, thanks for the bread!

Our original plans were to cover the islands between Great Guana Cay and Rat Cay, but Nurse Karen at Staniel Cay, decided that Deb’s wound on her leg needed doctor’s attention and suggested the Steventon Clinic near Emerald Bay (which we could make in a day).  After leaving Emerald Bay we motored back up the bank side of the islands thru some very skinny water ,  do-able only on high tide.  We eventually met up with Big Run – holed out in their favorite spot between White Point and Black Point. The following pics are from some interesting rock formations and scenery along the way.

Three Sisters Rock (Hey Joni & Gail we have rocks named after us - since I am the oldest I want to be the big rock on the left.)

This one is also for my sisters - I call this the Sleeping Giant - Bahamian style (you have to be a northerner to understand this). 

Correction to a previous posting - This is not a cave on Cave Cay - this is a cave on Rudder Cay - after awhile the caves and Cays become somewhat confusing.

One of the beach houses on Musha Cay

Oven Rock at Little Farmer's Cay..

Morning sunrise on shoreline at Hetties Land, Great Guana Cay

We made our way into the Compass Cay area following a serpentine route thru shallow waters and hap-hazardly spaced markers/bouys.  Coming thru one area we must have veered a bit of course as the chartered 8 ft depths quickly became 5 ft.  A slight heading change, corrected that.  We set anchor on the west side of Pipe Cay where the tidal current ran close to 2 MPH.  This is an area we would love to come back to and explore in great detail – time is running short and we have the barn door in our sights.

We stopped briefly at Warderick Wells to do what we had promised ourselves we would accomplish - this is the master carver at work.

A Dremel drill, sharpie pen, glue, shells and rope - I think we are good to go - LET'S ROLL!

A baby conch on the beach distracted us for a minute on our mission to conquer - "Boo Boo Hill"

The treacherous trekk to Boo Boo Hill - whatever were we thinking. NO TURNING BACK!

Mission Accomplished!

Nestled in with Front Page and Dee Light 

Bob on Big Run, digging deep into his boy scoute roots, opted for the old magnifying glass, wood burning method. Way to go Bob!

Ok then, I think we are done here.

Next moving north to Nassau - thru the mine fields of coral heads (we are the little green boat).

 and this is what we are trying to avoid - thank goodness for good light.

Our mission before we return to the states has been accomplished, the making and placing of our boat name plaque on Boo Boo Hill. With our adventure soon coming to an end, we can now go home with our head held high (weather permitting) and know that we have conquered some challenging situations and overcame them. As you can see the cruising life is not all “rum and cokes” on the aftdeck, but it is a huge amount of fun. It is one of the last great freedoms, where you are entirely in an adventure of your own making. You can’t avoid all the problems but you can have the wherewithal to fix most of them. It’s been an amazing journey, we’ve met lots of great people, found some really good friends, enoyed the culture, the food, the music and the all around beauty of the area – we will be back.