Sailing Ohana

We landed in Jamaica Bay on the Southern tip of Acklins where we anchored in a totally peaceful bay, all by ourselves. Acklins and Crooked are not well-known, probably because they are a bit out of the way, and have very few amenities. My book describes these islands (and Inagua) like the Outback of the Bahamas. We spent a couple of very calm days there, snorkeling and wakeboarding, and did not see another boat or human for days. The snorkeling was among the best we’ve seen, maybe the best for me, because of all the different coral and fish species, in water that is less than 20 feet deep. Jackson found the biggest lobster we have ever seen, but since it’s no longer lobster season, we left him alone, hoping he makes thousands of super big, strong baby lobsters for future generations.

We moved up to Delectable Bay, which was gorgeous, but didn’t have anything much to offer us except a lovely view. Tommy and I snorkeled a bit because we anchored right near some coral patches. It was not amazing, although Tommy did stalk a couple of big groupers until they disappeared, which grouper are really good at. We were hoping the gas station that was listed near there would sell us gas for the dinghy, but when Tommy and Jackson walked there, it was closed with a sign that said, “out of gas”. We decided to move on, so we motored across the Bight of Acklins with almost no wind, and anchored for the night on the East side of Long Cay. It was one of those rare and magical days in the Bahamas with no wind, water like glass, and we were the only boat for miles around.

It was our 15th wedding anniversary, and we celebrated by making pizzas on the boat with the boys, and drinking some special wine I bought in Puerto Rico for the occasion. From the catamaran in Hawaii where we were married, to our own catamaran in the Bahamas with our precious kids, it’s been a wild and wonderful 15 years.