Coco Cay, Berry Islands

Cinco de Mayo

Dear Family & Friends:

We were underway at 6:45am on May 3, leaving Little Harbour Cays, bound for Great Harbor Cays in the Berry Islands.

Our first stop was the “Blue Hole, which is located at Hoffmann’s Cay in the southern Berry Islands. The Blue Hole is about 600 feet deep and has a ledge 25 feet above the water. Those who jump off the ledge into the Blue Hole experience an adrenaline rush as they plunge into the deep and mysterious depths of the dark blue water below. As I sat on the ledge contemplating my options, “livelikedan” came to mind and I accepted the challenge. The water was clear, cool and refreshing. We all enjoyed swimming in the Blue Hole. From the Blue Hole, we motored and sailed to Great Harbour Cay, arriving at 7:30 pm. The total distance traveled  was 28 miles.

May 4. In the morning, we motored in the dinghy to Bullock’s Harbour to resupply. In the afternoon, we took the dinghy into the Great Harbour Marina where we ran into Aren and Vicki, who were there with fellow boaters Bob and Kim. In the evening, we enjoyed bbq shrimp, salad and wine.

May 5-Cinco de Mayo. This morning, we visited the mysterious, alluring and abandoned Ghost Island of Cistern Cay. Cistern Cay was once a hub for drug smuggling in the Bahamas. On the island, there are remnants of a seaplane launch, two homes and a maintenance depot used by the drug-runners before they were run off the island by the DEA. In the waters just off the island, there are also remnants of a DC3 aircraft that crashed while hauling a load of marijuana to the drug dealers. We motored over to the island in the dinghy. As we splashed around in the shallow water making our way to the beach, right on cue, four large Lemon sharks showed up, hungry for a meal. They swam in circles near us and then disappeared into deeper waters. We were relieved at their departure, but the unwelcome event dampened our enthusiasm to snorkel near the beach in search of the DC3 wreckage. We found a trail through the thick brush on the island and followed it for a several hundred yards, hoping to find signs of the former drug operation. Although the air felt thick with history, we discovered nothing of interest. The structures are undoubtedly on the other side of the island. Eventually, we were overcome by the heat and humidity and returned to the beach and boarded the dinghy. On the way back to Living Right, from the safety of our watercraft, we observed a portion of the DC3 protruding from the water. Most of the aircraft is now buried in the sand.

In the afternoon, we pulled anchor and moved to Coco Cay, the island owned by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. I was tempted to swim to the island, enjoy the huge waterpark and board the enormous cruise ship as a stowaway.

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with burritos, a bean salad and strawberry margaritas.

Tomorrow, we head for Bimini Islands, the last group of islands on our cruise. Bimini Islands is 70 nautical miles from here.This will be a long day on the water.