Dolphin Tales

Conception Island to New Bight, Cat Island |  6.1 Hours  |  41 Miles  

The West Bay anchorage off Conception Island was a bit rolly last night. Low ocean swells were rapping around the island causing all the small boats to bob and weave. I doubt Skat, which arrived overnight, was affected by the swell. We were underway before 7:00 and almost immediately picked up a dolphin escort. The cloud cover was thick and we spent the first hours of the day in the pilothouse.

I finished Book 7, another one that had been sitting on the shelf at home since our printing days. I could find many similarities (on a much smaller scale) in the growth of Kinko's and our Insty-Prints/Allegra. Two quotes that stuck with me were, "Sometimes in life, you have to forget who you were, and learn to be happy with who you are." and "It's not the things you do, but the things you don't do, that drive you crazy." Once again, it was interesting to read another interpretation of life, leadership, and business. At 10:30 we heard some loud splashing outside. I poked my head out the door and spotted a pod of eight dolphin gliding through our bow wave. They stayed with us for 15 minutes before peeling off and going wherever dolphin go.

The clouds were moving out and the sky took on a more familiar look as we rounded the tip of Cat Island and turned north toward our anchorage. As the water shallowed, more dolphin came to visit just after 11:00. This time there were over a dozen that put on a show in front of us. I was on the bow and Barry even came out of the pilothouse to take a closer look. This was by far the largest single dolphin gathering we had ever seen. A few even jumped out of the water in acrobatic fashion during their half hour performance.

Soon we were pulling into New Bight at the southern tip of Cat Island. We dropped anchor in direct line with The Hermitage, which we visited last year and hope to do so again during this stay. We took the dinghy down and came ashore to stretch our legs with a quick walk around the area. As the sun began to set we stopped by the Fish Fry to get some dinner. The owner thankfully advised us against sitting outside for dinner to watch the sun set. She said the mosquitoes would carry us away. Instead we opted for Take-Away and waited inside her restaurant as she prepared our meals. Barry chatted with a local man and I made friends with Maya, the owner's daughter. The soon to be five-year-old is a budding artist (who loves to draw turtles) and singer. We played together and I even agreed to let her try on my sunglasses. We carried our meals to the dinghy just as the sun dropped below the horizon. True to the warning, the mosquitoes descended upon us and chased us into the water. We were very happy to eat onboard Crossroads. A shout-out is deserved for the packaging used for our meals. Our sandwiches came in pressed paper containers and were placed in a biodegradable and compostable bag. It is refreshing to see Bahamians working to Keep Bahamas Green.