Friday, January 31, 2020

Staniel Cay

We arrived into Staniel Cay Yacht Club Marina on Wednesday January 29th.

Coming into Staniel Cay


At the dock in Staniel Cay

It was a pretty day and after some lunch we took off in the dinghy to see pig beach.  This beach is located on Big Major Cay, and yes there are pigs there.  Rumors abound that the pigs are descendent from pirates that left the pigs there back in the day.  The pirates intended to come back for them as needed for food, but never did and some remain.  Although this is a nice story, it is not true.  Apparently, the pigs were put there by some residents at Staniel Cay that wanted them off the main island due to their smell.  Regardless of how they got there, these pigs live along the beach and will even swim out to approaching dinghies looking for a hand-out.

Captain Keith with one of the pigs coming to greet him

If you give a pig alcohol, do you get pickled pigs feet?

This little guy was really "hamming" it up for the camera

These pigs take it for "grunted" that people will bring food for them.

These guys were going "whole hog" for the food bin

This momma and baby piglet found us utterly "boar"ing.  I could do this all day.

So pig beach was fun to see, but it was time to move on.  We rode around in the dinghy a bit, past Thunderball Grotto.  This is a cave similar to the ones we saw at the Rocky Dundas.  It is supposed to be very pretty, and there were several movies made at this location, most notably the James Bond movie of the same name.  We did not get to see this cave as the tide was not conducive at the time we were there and the next day the weather did not cooperate.  Maybe some other time.

Our second day in Staniel the wind was blowing out of the west again.  We got our butts beat pretty good at the docks.  We got off the boat during the day and spent time walking the island and did a run into the local convenience store called the Pink Pearl.  It had just gotten some provisions from the supply boat so we were able to get something green, a few cucumbers and a head of broccoli (hooray).

The Pink Pearl Grocery

We also stopped at a local spot for lunch.  It was noon and they had two things left; ham and pastry (like chicken and pastry but with ham and a red sauce) and lamb.  I had the ham and pastry which was quite tasty.  Keith opted to wait and grab a burger at the marina restaurant.  We met some other boaters at the bar in the marina restaurant and chatted for a bit, then took the bikes and rode to the ocean beach on the island.  There were no beach treasures at this beach.  However, I did get several treasures while we were in Compass Cay.

My stash from Compass Cay

I even found a small Scotch Bonnet, (take that Dave Hawley)

The wind finally calmed down in the evening on Thursday, thank goodness.  We are planning to anchor Friday just off Black Point on Great Guana Cay.  The wind is to be moderate, but from the east/southeast so we are hoping to be fairly well protected in this anchorage.  Everyone cross your fingers for a quiet anchorage for us.


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