Jolene and Mike Take a Trip

On one of our days in TCI (Turks and Caicos Islands - British West Indies) Mike and I took off on our own. We took a shuttle ferry, at this time of year we THE ONLY white people in site. We were handed the keys to a small rental car and given instructions to leave it unlocked with the keys under the mat when we left the island.
Our first stop was these really awesome plantation ruins. Many American loyalists left with their slaves when the American Revolution began. This is what's left of one of those plantations. This island (as well as many others) boasts being the landing point of Christopher Columbus.
We drove down this small dirt road for a very long time in a very small car, then walked up a very long rock-walled entrance to come to a locked gate. There was NO WAY that I got up at 5 am to photograph ruins in the morning light for no reason. Fortunately, the gate was sturdy.





One of the coolest places we went was Dragon Cay - Google image has some way cool pics of this amazing spot. The "resort" here is really great and the spot was just amazing. The ocean is roaring on both sides and it's shallow enough to walk out to dragon cay.


After Dragon Cay we went to the bat caves. Huge limestone caves. There's this older guy who sits outside of the caves with a book and a radio - he was really nice and gave us a great tour. And yes, there were bats but the pics aren't great.




This last spot in Sapodilla Bay. There's a lot for sale here. If I had 250,000, it would be mine. You can see Moonshadow anchored out in the bay.


On the hill where Mike and I are standing are these carvings in the rocks. Many were done in the mid 1700's by sailors who were stranded, boat names, dates and where the ship wrecked are written down. People came later - 1800s to put their marks on the rocks, the first leader of the TCI as well as some other prominent figures. It was fascinating.

Pet the Pet Sharks

I have to say, the sharks were definitely high on the list of favorites. I have LOADS of pics of us petting the sharks. They were awesome. Mike, my mom and I all went snorkeling there, it was amazing to be in the water with them like that, but also a little scary. They're big and move way faster than us when they're not even trying, they're wicked fast when they want to be.


Don't pull the tails?? Are they just TRYING to ruin Jack's fun??








At high tide, the lazy beasts would lounge on the dock. Just before we left, I walked out there with them. Really cool.

Ariel's Grotto

This is apparently NOT Thunderball Cave.  It was NOT used in a James Bond movie starring Sean Connery.  It is most definitely Ariel's grotto, just ask Emma.
You go in at slack tide or close to it, otherwise there's quite a current that runs through the cave.  You see this little sign and you look all around trying to figure out how to get in.  It's one of those cool things where you just keep swimming toward the sign until you see the way in.  At high tide, you have to swim underwater to get through the openings, at low tide, you don't have to swim down to get in, it's still a little tight but it's easily doable.  Once you're inside, it opens up really high.  There are small holes in the cave where you can go in and out in several different places, some are tighter squeezes than other places.  This is when it's REALLY nice to have flippers.  That added strength is really nice.  I could have spent hours in here, the fish were amazing, all sorts.  there was some incredible coral formations both inside and outside the cave.  There were several nurse sharks hanging out outside the cave.
Jack was NOT persuaded to come swimming, he and Gramma sat in the dinghy with our clear bottomed bucket looking at fish.  Apparently that was a lot of fun too.  And don't worry about Gramma, when Granddad was done, she got her turn too.  Emma was NOT sure about going in, but once her dad was inside, she followed.

This looks a little scarier and lower than it actually was.

                                               This is where you come into the cave.

Emma was NOT persuaded to wear a mask, even for a minute but she played with all of her imaginary friends and had a blast.  It's SO nice to not worry about towels, it's so warm outside, that being wet doesn't matter.  Awesome.

The Vessel Moonshadow

Have had a few requests for more pics of the boat. As in all smaller spaces, it's really hard to get far enough away from things for a good view.


To give an idea of height, the top of each pontoon is well over 6 ft above the water line. Just ask Mike who jumped off the front several times.


The Galley (boats do not have kitchens, they have galleys, if I had taken a pic of the head, you would also know that boats do not have bathrooms, they have "heads")


Mike and Jolene's room


We ate most of our meals out here, you can kind of see the inside of the boat.


The "Captain's Chair" all the lines for the boat come to here, this way, if you're going solo, you should be able to control everything from here. George (otherwise known as autopilot) drives the boat nearly all the time, we just trim sails.


The stern of the boat.


The kids on the trampoline.


I'll let you try and figure this one out.

Our Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was spent in Lady Slipper Cay (key) next to a 4 million dollar yacht who had driven over some coral and were patching the underside of the boat with tar and plywood.
A young guy came over to our boat to ask about travel routes and we were trying to figure out what this young guy did for a living that put him in a 4 million dollar boat. Turns out, he's a delivery captain. Bummer.



This very large Barracuda was our "pet" for the two nights we were here. He greatly enjoyed our Turkey carcass.



The yacht

More Trip

All of these were taken in the Exumas with the exception of the beach picture which was taken on North Caicos in the BWI.

Under Way

A favorite spot while under way.

Do You Ever Feel Like You're Being Watched?

This is just a few hours sail outside of Nassau. Our first stop. In the chart book it said that the iguanas will come down to the beach after you land there. We all rolled our eyes at that. Turns out, they're right. After nearly an hour there, I'm sure there were more than 20. Really fun. It's the only island that houses this particular type of iguana.


(Emma is watching a small hermit crab)


Jack learned right away how to chase them. We came back with treats as an apology.



BTW - In case you couldn't already tell, this is a GREAT kid vacation.

MJ - Some Favs

I think these were taken on Thanksgiving.  Was hard to keep track of the days when they didn't matter.

Home

No sane person would be thrilled to be home after this: