Holed up in Staniel Cay

24.17°N —76.44°W

We stayed in Staniel Cay for longer than anticipated while Joy recovered from a nasty ear infection. After tying up at the Yacht Club, we were able to hail St. James Clinic on our VHF radio and schedule an appointment. There, Joy underwent medical treatment from “Nurse Gray,” the only medical practitioner on the island. In actuality, the clinic consisted of this kindly older nurse operating out of her home, located a short walk from the marina, with modest medical supplies.

By this point, Joy’s ear had swollen shut and one of Gray’s first questions upon examination was whether we had access to a fast boat to Nassau. As the OG maxes-out at 7knts., we surely did not. Antibiotic ear drops were flown in the following day. And, a few days after that, Joy was on the mend. At the time of writing this post, she had completely recovered and was looking forward to leaving the island.

An extended stay on Staniel also gave us the opportunity to order a bilge pump repair kit and have some prescription meds delivered from the US. Shipping products to a sailboat in the Bahamas is not as simple as utilizing Fed-ex back home. We had to ship these items to “Makers-Air,” a freight forwarding service in Fort Lauderdale, which handles import and customs requirements. After import clearance, Makers then shipped our parts and meds to us at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

While shore-bound, we took advantage of everything that Staniel could offer. We ate more meals than we care to admit at the Yacht Club, the only restaurant on the island. We hiked, did lots of laundry, played lots of Rummikub and caught up on schoolwork, the bane of our collective existence.

We try to make a point of underscoring for E & F the differences in daily life here. Grocery shopping, for example, occurs at one of two stores: the “pink store” or the “blue store.” Both are the size of an average bedroom back in Chicago and resemble a sparsely stocked convenient store. Want fresh produce? Good luck with that. Anything “fresh,” was waiting in Miami two weeks ago.

Fresh water is another issue. There are very few natural springs in the Bahamas. More affluent islands, like Staniel and Spanish Wells have pooled resources and constructed reverse osmosis water systems, providing safe fresh water to residents. Less affluent communities—like so many we’ve encountered—are heavily reliant upon the Bahamian government. “No water today? Nope, the ferry broke down.” These disturbances—of which there are many—in the Bahamian supply chain also mean no fuel for fishing vessels and no food delivery. Hopefully the kids will remember these experiences when letting the water run at home, or when shopping at “The Banana Store” (i.e. Harvest Time Foods on Lawrence).

Staniel’s Biggest Attractions: Biting Pigs and the Underwater Grotto

We dinghied ashore at Big Major Cay, to see Staniel’s famous swimming pigs. Quite different than the friendly piglets that liked to be carried around Meeks Patch earlier this month. These pigs were massive and some were aggressive. Carrying a bag of apples to feed them, Joy was bitten twice, even after throwing the bag to the ground in retreat. It’s been a rough leg of the trip for old Joy!

We stayed on Pig Beach for 15 minutes before fleeing from these monsters as they tried to climb into our inflatable.

We also took the opportunity to snorkel “Thunderball Grotto,” where parts of the James Bond movie were filmed. The grotto is rated the #1 activity on TripAdvisor and did not disappoint.

Nights were spent at “Cruisers Beach” on Big Major, just north of the pigs that assaulted Joy. There, cruising sailors met nightly, and shared stories, knowledge and resources. We met other cruisers from Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Boston, to name a few. Kids played in the sand and in the water, only stopping upon the cry of “sting ray!” or “sea turtle!”