soldier cay, the berry islands

We followed our track (a good idea when you didn't find the bottom on your way in) out of Great Harbour Cay Marina, turned north around Little and Great Stirrup Cays, then southeast toward Market Fish and Soldier Cays.  The wind was perfect for sailing north, but after we turned the corner it was pretty much on our nose, which meant that today the sails came down and the engines came on.  It also meant (at least on this particular day) that the combination of the wind and waves coming straight at us made us wish we had given the kids Dramamine before we left the harbor.  They cope in different ways: Marin usually sleeps in the cockpit, while Isla and Eoin like to eat Saltines and come up to the helm for fresh air and to watch the horizon.  Sometimes it can get quite crowded up there!  

Fortunately, it wasn't a long trip, and we had our anchor down at Soldier Cay just after 3PM.  Soldier Cay is a small uninhabited island at the edge of the Great Bahama Bank.  It is very narrow, and the crashing waves of the Atlantic shore are less than 50 yards away from the beach on the bank side.  We immediately launched the dinghy and went to shore to explore.  Between the beach and the ocean side it is rocky with many small pools.  The kids thought this was a perfect place to build sand villages and got busy with their buckets and shovels.  Later, we put our shoes on (reluctantly) to walk across the sharp rocks to see more of the island.  Then it was back to the boat where we enjoyed a particularly dramatic sunset before having dinner and 'bedtime story'.  Kendall has been reading aloud after dinner some nights and we just finished The Ice Whale by Jean Craighead George (she also wrote My Side of the Mountain).  We all highly recommend the book.  The next book is going to be The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer.  We'd love to hear your suggestions for nonfiction and/or environmental-themed fiction.

The next morning before school, we went to shore to play and 'get our energy out.'  At the same time, dinghies were launched from the other two boats in the anchorage (our buddy boat, Alkemi, and Panamax, with a French Canadian family aboard) and we had 7  adults and 8 kids on the beach, playing and talking and comparing experiences.  Just before we headed back to the boats to start school, one of the crew from Panamax flew his drone over the island and took the aerial photos included in this post.  After school was out, we went to the beach for the sunset, then headed back for dinner, reading, and preparations to move to a new anchorage at Hoffman Cay for one more night before heading to New Providence Island to wait out some weather and get some groceries.

Marin at sunset on the second evening