Bahama Mama
Anchored up near Pablo Escobar’s plane wreck
After finals and graduation, a diving trip was much needed. Bahamas was my destination, so I messaged a few people about recommendations on where to go, what to see, and where to stay. Matt Grondin suggested to visit Staniel Cay, Bahamas and then asked if I would like to live aboard his sailboat for a week with a friend. I messaged another lady diver I knew, Carly, “Hey want to go live on a sailboat and dive for a week?” We both booked our tickets and arranged transportation. We didn’t have a set plan. All we knew was that we wanted to sail, dive, and see the crystal clear waters of the Bahama islands.
Day 1- May 13th
Carly and I boarded our Jetblue flight from Fort Lauderdale at 6:30 a.m. We landed in Nassau, Bahamas and were transported by Prestigious Transport. Our driver was very friendly and told us about many of the local places to checkout in Nassau. Matt was arriving later that evening and gave us instructions on how to unlock the doors to the cabin of his sailboat. We familiarized ourselves with the boat, threw on some bikinis, and went exploring.
The marina pool
Carly and I visited John Watling’s distillery and took a free rum tour around the property near downtown Nassau. The tour ended in their bar area and we ordered a few Bahama Mama’s. I was surprised to see that the bar offered paper straws. The bartender was very proud of their reduced plastic footprint. It’s inspiring to see local restaurants changing their ways to help reduce plastic pollution.
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
On our way home, we stopped at the grocery store to stock up on supplies for the sail south to the Exumas.
Matt was at the sailboat when we returned back and we introduced ourselves. At dinner that night, we went over the plan of action for our sail and bonded over a few drinks. A lady walking by asked us what was in the water nearby. We ran over to see two eagle rays circling around in the marina. I took it as a good omen for the start of our trip. Little did we know, it wasn’t quite a lucky sign.
Day 2- May 14th
The next morning, Matt picked his dog, Lulu, up from daycare. She would be accompanying us on on our sailing journey. After filling up the tanks with gas and water, we threw off the lines and set sail on our 38’ Beneteau sailboat, home for the next week.
The wind was flying through my hair, the sunshine warming my skin, the sound of the boat slicing through the water as we cruised along.
The breeze of the winds brought the sails alive.
It felt like the rest of the world melted away.
Instead of flying on a plane through the clouds, I was flying on a boat through the sea.
Matt anchored the sailboat for our first dive along the way. A few Nassau grouper and hogfish were hiding in coral heads, but they were too small to spear. We freedove for about an hour looking for dinner, but nothing was worth the shot.
Back on board, we picked up anchor and continued our sail. Matt, Carly, and I took turns DJ’ing. I’m pretty sure Matt was over the song “Old Town Road” by the fifth time we played it.
28 nautical miles later, our first night anchorage was Allen Cay, a small island in the chain of Exumas known for rock iguanas. We anchored between two cays, Allen and Leaf Cay, which offered us protection from weather conditions.
There were a few other boats in the anchorage with us. We boarded the dinghy and headed towards Allen Cay. Allen Cay rock iguanas are endangered in the Bahamas, due to hunting, and are a protected species. Matt, Carly, Lulu, and I checked out the iguanas roaming around the rocks near the beach. We also took the chance to call our family about our whereabouts before losing cell service.
A small storm was approaching and Carly and I wanted to get another dive in before the end of the day. Once back on the sailboat, we gathered our freediving gear and jumped into the brisk water with scattered clouds hovering above us.
Hovering in the water at 20 feet deep and watching the rain patter against the surface of the ocean is one of my favorite sights to see. You can’t hear a thing besides the slight sound of small rain droplets as you wait to ascend.
Carly making us our favorite meal of the trip, mac n cheese and hot dogs
Day 3- May 15th
Because we didn’t have air conditioning on the sailboat, we slept outside under the stars.
Rain started to drizzle around 2 a.m. and we all moved inside for shelter. Throughout the early morning, the boat swayed side to side at an incredible force.
Around 4 a.m., I heard a ship blow its horn. I peaked my head out through the downpour of rain to see a man standing outside.
He yelled “You’re going to run aground!” I ran back inside the cabin and yelled for everyone to wake up. Matt, Carly, and I put our rain jackets on and sprinted outside. Rain was coming from all directions with lightning strikes coming down right next to us. It was pitch black outside and we couldn’t see a thing.
Matt said the first thing we need to do is pull up the anchor. I shined the spotlight in front of him, but as he continued to pull on the anchor line, he felt no weight. It was completely slack. The anchor line snapped in the early morning! I flashed the spotlight around us and I couldn’t see a thing. We were in shallow waters, 5 feet deep. Matt looked at the navigation and saw that we had drifted to the complete other side of the channel. Matt started the motor and we all helped to navigate to a safe anchorage spot. The entire bimini was shredded and we were an anchor short. Luckily, Matt had a second anchor.
After we anchored, we all went down below and reflected on our experience. My eyes were basically glued to the navigation. The next morning, Matt found out that we had experienced winds of 50-60 knots and 3-4 foot seas. It was a miracle we did not hit any of the other boats in the anchorage area.
Around 8 a.m., our neighbor, Tom, boated over in his dinghy. Tom and his wife were originally from Guam, currently sailing the world. He said that he kept watch all night, looking at our boat for a reference point during the storm. He went below deck for a few minutes, came back out, and we had vanished.
Tom towed Matt behind his dinghy with a rope to find our lost anchor, which they found. In exchange for helping us find the anchor, Matt showed Tom some good diving spots in the Exumas.
As scared as I was to go through that- bad experiences make great stories. I’m glad we all went through it and now we have the knowledge to know what to do next time.
“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”
Lesson learned: check the radar a lot, keep the radio on, take turns on watch, and don’t underestimate mother nature.
We continued our sailing journey south to Norman’s Cay where Pablo Escobar’s plane remains slightly below water level. Pablo Escobar’s plane was used to transport cocaine to the United States in the 1970’s.
The sunshine was out, but storms were rolling in soon. We anchored our sailboat close by the plane wreck and Matt drove us closer to the wreck in the dinghy. Carly and I hopped in with our underwater camera setups and swam around the plane wreck.
The current was ripping. It wasn’t the right tide to go diving, but we had no other choice with the current weather conditions approaching. I stayed outside of the plane wreck to watch the small reef fish surrounding the area. Sergeant major’s (a type of reef fish) came up close to my camera and to my face. If I stayed still long enough, they would come right up to my mask.
I swam into the plane wreck to photograph the wreckage pieces that still remained. I wonder what it looked like before it crashed. Carly came into the plane soon after and we took photos of each other. This proved to be really difficult because the strong current was pushing us towards the sharp, rusty sides of the plane wreck.
While we continued to explore the plane wreck below the surface, Matt explored the skies with his drone hovering above us.
As another storm approached, we went back to the sailboat for cover. Lulu took shelter in her storm bin and we sat on the couch editing photos for the remainder of the night. I woke up throughout each of the following nights to check the navigation.
Day 4- May 16th
We sailed through a rainstorm to O’Brien’s Cay and dove a place called the Aquarium. We anchored up next to millionaire yachts and took the dinghy to the Aquarium to dive. The sun wasn’t shining and the water was murky. A few families showed up and it became too crowded for us, so we headed back to our boat.
Our crew continued sailing south. Matt brought us to two caves hidden along some cliffs. They were called Rocky Dundas and they were truly magical. Carly and I moored the dinghy and jumped into the water. The current was ripping and we had to use our arms to pull ourselves through the water. To enter the caves, we had to freedive below the cliffs. It reminded me of the scene from the H2O Mermaid TV series when they had to dive below the cliffs to enter the moon pool. Inside the Rocky Dundas caves were tons of stalactite and stalagmite formations.
There is something special about exploring a new site you have never seen before, with your dive buddy.
Next stop was Staniel Cay. Upon arrival, we anchored up right next to Thunderball Grotto.
Our neighbors welcomed our first sunset by blowing conch horns as the sun disappeared past the horizon. Apparently, it’s a tradition to celebrate sunset with a conch blow.
Staniel Cay Yacht Club was the civilization that we were looking for after almost running aground, losing an anchor, having our bimini ripped, and experiencing some crazy storms. We were ready for a little land life.
Carly, Matt, and I ate dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. We walked around the beaches, watched the nurse sharks swim, and talked to some of the other sailors. Carly introduced me to vodka pineapples that night and warned me that they could be dangerous. She also didn’t tell me that she switched to beer half way through the night. Someone from across the bar ordered us tequila shots, which made for a long night and we somehow found our way back to the sailboat.
Day 5- May 17th
Carly and I rested the whole morning and afternoon. I felt nauseous just from sitting up. I could barely muster through breakfast. I hit my head on the inside of our room and it left a giant knot on my forehead. Nothing felt right. A single nurse shark circled our sailboat during the afternoon and motivated me to jump in. As soon as I jumped in the ocean, everything felt so much better. Salt water does wonders. It was time to check out Thunderball Grotto.
Matt, Carly, and I drove off in the dinghy, leaving Lulu in the distance. Thunderball Grotto appeared to have an entrance like Rocky Dundas. Inside the grotto, there was a ceiling hole, allowing the sun to create a shine down effect, like from heaven.
I was surprised to see so many fish in the grotto itself. There were tiny fish trying to bite my feet and legs, like the fish they use at some nail salons to exfoliate dead skin; except these actually hurt. I kept myself moving the rest of the time so they wouldn’t bite me.
We introduced ourselves to a group of people that entered the grotto. They said they would see us at the yacht club that night. Thousands of photos later, we headed back to the sailboat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the water, listening to the conch horns blow from our neighboring sailboats.
That night, Carly, and I drove the dinghy to shore and pulled it up on the sand during high tide, without a worry in the world. This was probably one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had. We met so many new people with different stories about where they came from and what they were doing in the Bahamas. Some travelers were from California on a reunion sailing trip, others had been living on their boats for the past 8 months, taking a break from life. We danced in the bar, played ring toss, and took more shots. After hours of partying, we went back down to the dinghy in the early morning and found ourselves stuck in dead low tide. I really wish someone was video taping us trying to drag a dinghy from high tide shore line to the ocean during low tide. It was quite a sight to see. Plus, we were having engine problems and it took us about 5 minutes to jump start the motor. We ended up brushing some rocks on the way out (sorry Matt), but navigated pretty well after we were in the channel.
Day 6- May 18th
The next day, we took the dinghy, packed with apples, to Big Major Cay to see the swimming pigs. I immediately walked to the tent that shaded a big group of pigs, including little piglets. They were so adorable, completely in a sleep coma, enjoying their sweet, lazy time. Matt reached for an apple out of the dinghy and a giant few-hundred-pound pig rushed at him. I have never seen such a thing. A few other jumbo pigs rushed at him, all demanding the apple. Matt said, once the pigs know you have food, they stampede towards you with mouths wide open. Matt handed me the remainder of the apple and I nervously fed the giant mouths. I tried to feed the smaller pigs, but the larger pigs bit them if they got close to me.
A few of the pigs swam into the water following a dinghy coming ashore. The visitors started feeding the pigs food in 15 feet of water. I finally got to see swimming pigs.
The whole week living on the sailboat, we had been taking sailing showers, aka, using the least amount of running water possible. The process starts out by running the engine to warm up the water in the water tanks. We would stand on the stern and take turns rinsing.
Rinse, shampoo and soap, rinse, conditioner, rinse. Fastest shower I’ve ever taken.
The last day, I decided to take my first shower inside the sailboat head, instead of on the stern. In the middle of scrubbing shampoo into my hair, the water wouldn’t turn on. I ran outside to see if the stern hose would work, but nothing happened. Carly tried switching to the other water tank, to find out that we ran out of water. Shampoo was running into my eyes and I jumped into the ocean to rinse off. That was the last shower I took on the boat.
Day 7- May 19th
At the small airport hanger, Carly and I checked in at a small counter with no security lines and stood outside waiting for our plane to arrive. Our pilot arrived and escorted us to the plane that only seated about 7-8 people. We made a stop in Grand Bahama to pick up other passengers traveling to Fort Lauderdale.
