A Tale of Two Chemists: Pigs Might Fly

Pigs Might Fly … Tuesday 26th March 2013

I'm not expecting to see a flying pig any time soon, but today we did see pigs swimming in the sea. They live on an uninhabited island called Big Major and they have learned to swim out from the shore and beg for scraps of food from passing boats. When we landed on the beach the first pig came right up to us - and I mean close enough to bang it's snout on my camera lens! We fed them some left over vegetable scraps and took our photos like everyone else.

We started the day up at Cambridge Cay but decided along with our friends Lynn and Lee on "Serendipity" to head south for a couple of days and visit Staniel Cay. The anchorage at Cambridge Cays has many sand bars to the west so we needed to go back out into Exuma Sound and travel a couple of miles south to a deeper cut onto the bank side. A cold front moved through the central Bahamas last night and the forecast is for northerly winds for several days. If we didn't leave this morning there was a fair chance the building waves would make the exit channel impassable and we would be locked in until the weekend. We got up early and together with Serendipity , Lee and Lynn's boat, we headed out. The wind was blowing 20 knots in the cut as we left and it was very bumpy for a while, but things settled down and once we were back on the bank side we had a fabulous sail for the next couple of hours. We anchored off the Island of Big Major, just north of the town of Staniel Cay. There are several highlights in this area including the aforementioned pigs, but also some great in Thunderball grotto. This was the cave that was used in the James Bond film "Thunderball" and you can enter at low tide by swimming under a low arch. Inside shafts of light radiate from holes in the ceiling and the colors and variety of fish are amazing. Many of the fish seemed really large compared to others we have seen previously, which we attribute to the extra food that the visiting swimmers bring to attract the fish. Lynn brought a jar of sweetcorn and when scattered in the water the fish swarm around you just inches away. We were amused to see some people had brought an aerosol can of "Cheese Whiz" which the fish seemed to like. SOunds like the best use of a can of "Cheese Whiz" to me!

Later in the afternoon we took our dinghies over to the Staniel Cay Yacht club for a drink and some dinner. We also hoped to be able to get wifi but that turned out to be more difficult than we envisaged and we put that off for another day. Unfortunately, as we sat in the bar we could see the sky darkening and a secondary cold front approaching. By the time we had finished eating it was getting dark, blowing strongly and very choppy out on the water. It was a struggle just to get back into the dinghies and off the dock. The ride back from the Yacht club was a bit of a nightmare. It is generally comforting to have two dinghies out there (ours and Lee and Lynn's), but it was difficult in the bouncy seas and failing light to judge distances and stay close to each to other. We made it back OK, albeit very wet, and Gloria and I are now sitting on Cotinga, listening to the wind howl as she rock and rolls in the waves. We've both taken sea sick pills and hope to pass out fairly soon!

Mike

24 11.043 N, 76 27.551 W