Motored from Green Turle Cay through “The Whale” then to Treasure Cay.  Arrived 4:20pm  Anchored in Marina Basin.  

Today we went to Manjack Cay. After anchoring we took our dingy to shore. Mom took our lunch to a picnic table down the beach. Once I started eating I saw a dive boat come to the dock. Tessa and I ran to meet the boat. When we got there, two Southern Stingrays were swimming in the water near the dive boat. Southern Stingrays can grow to 2 to 4 foot wingspan. Their mouths are on the underside of their bodies. The dive boat operator, Brendal, asked us if we wanted to feed them. Yes we said!

Brendal cut up some fish and told us to put it between our toes. When we did that, the rays would cover our feet with their bodies and gently eat the fish from between our toes. It was freaky! The rays liked to be touched: we only had to be careful of the sharp barb under their long tails. The rays were beautiful. The biggest one was named Sandy. Brendal had been feeding Sandy for the last 18 years. Sandy had a wingspan of about 4 feet. Though she was the biggest, she was the most gentle.

After about 30 minutes of petting the rays, two sharks swam close to shore. They were hungry too. The rays kept them from getting too close to us. Brendal threw out some fish for them to eat. We watched them for a long time, until the sharks and rays swam back out into the ocean. It was our best day in the Abacos so far.

We had two long sails when we left Grand Bahamas. It was about 43 miles from West End to Great Sail Cay where we anchored for the night. Then it was about 56 miles from Great Sail to Green Turtle. It was a great trip. The water became clearer and shallower the whole way. It was so clear that even in 10 feet of water you could easily see the bottom. Everyone tells you this but until you see it for yourself you have no idea. You can’t stop watching. It was fascinating, bizarre, and a little scary.

After a long day we anchored outside of Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay. A quick dingy tour led us to a wonderful little bar called Pineapples. It was nestled in Palm Trees on the edge of the water. As we chilled in the hammock next to the pool we had a great view of the sun setting on Alegria in the harbor. We were finally beginning to relax and get the Bahamian experience we had been looking for all this time. But as everything so far on this trip, that would soon change.

Dan always has this fear (unfounded!) that our anchor is going to drag (come up from the bottom causing us to drift). This is a sore point with me as I am the one that does the anchoring. For some reason at 3:00am that night, we both woke up. We talked for a few minutes and then heard a signal horn from one of the boats in the harbor. It sounded like a distress call. Dan looked out the hatch above our bed and saw a flare light up the sky. He looked at me and said “We must be dragging.”

Here we go I thought. Dan went outside to the cockpit and called for me to come up. Another flare lit up the sky. As I came out into the cockpit Dan again said, “Our anchor must be dragging.”

The next thing we see is a dingy coming from a boat behind us and speeding towards a boat that is two boats away from our boat. We turn on our VHF radio to see what is going on. Dan still thinks we are dragging and the boats are getting together to talk about us.
The first words we hear (on the VHF) are apparently from the guy in the dingy who has now boarded the sailboat in distress. In a calm, British accent he says “There seems to be a lot of blood.”

Pause as someone on the receiving end of the VHF talks and we can’t hear them. We lean toward the radio. “It is a head wound.”
Pause as someone asks a question. “Yes the firearm is secure. Her husband had her get on the radio to confirm he did not shoot her.”

Dan and I sit back, eyes wide. This time we could hear the other boat he was talking to. What we could put together was that this woman had been shot in the head. The husband put out a distress call and Frank, the gentleman with the British accent was now on their boat trying to help them. The other boat he was talking to on the radio was trying to get hold of Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue to come to their aid. We leaned in again as Frank gave more details.

“She is calm now. She is lying down. It is a head wound.” We are on the edge of our seats.

“I can’t really tell how bad it is. She has a lot of hair and it is all matted with blood.” EEWW!! We sit back. Frank is amazingly calm for coming to a stranger’s boat and discovering a shooting. He continues in a bit lower voice.
“I think there was a bit of alcohol involved.”

Where the husband is in all this we don’t know. Frank later announces the gun was a 38 with hollow point bullets. Why would you possibly need that in the Bahamas? Frank keeps everyone posted for another 20 minutes and finally the rescue team arrives and takes her and her husband to a hospital. We were too wired to go back to sleep. For the next few days their boat sat ominously alone.