Big Majors

Big Majors
1/1/12
24 11.01 N 76 27.60 W

The places I really wanted to see were Sampson Cay, Big Majors and Staniel Cay - all very close together.   Another front was due and we needed a protected anchorage to hide in - we anchored in Big Majors and although not particularly protected it was known to have good hold so we felt it was the best in the surrounding area - the front was due to hit the following day so we spent a day in the dinghy checking out the bay and the swimming pigs - yes - they really do swim out to your dinghy expecting to be fed for their trouble.  We managed to beach our dinghy and were disappointed to find no pigs - I walked along the beach with my camera in a zip lock bag - after some time the pigs arrived and presumed the crackling of the zip lock bag was food and chased me down the beach - now these pigs are enormous and have teeth - I tried to be brave and backed away slowly whilst yelling at Don to "do something" - which he did - he backed away also !!!  He was laughing at me and I was so mad - I thought I was going to be bitten at any moment - I tried to go into the water but these smart pigs just following until their little legs were doing doggy paddle.  I jumped in the dinghy and felt safe once afloat and out from shore - the pigs were cute from this distance !!!

Early the next morning and before the storm hit we took the dinghy around the corner to Staniel Cay where you can swim into a grotto - the same one used in the James Bond movie "Thunderball".  Don and I motored around likely spots for this grotto and had almost given up when a fast boat pulled up alongside us, the occupants bailed out and swam under a ledge - humm - local knowledge !!!  The grotto was amazing, lots of fish and of course the big blue hole feature in the movie.


The storm hit and I am sure you don't want to know about our suffering for the next 2 days .......

 We spent a night at Bitter Guana Island where "good mannered" iguanas live.  We had the anchorage to ourselves and made a small fire on the beach and heated up canned soup for dinner - very romantic :-).   Rubbish is difficult to deal with on low lying islands and the locals simply burn it.  I decided to take our bags of rubbish to the beach for the fire - our rubbish only contains dry stuff - all vege scraps etc are held in a container until we are off shore then thrown overboard.  Don was out trolling for dinner (I knew to bring the canned soup and raviolli) whilst I built the fire - I had almost finished burning our cardboard packaging when I emptied the very last bag on the sand to sift for paper and noticed the netting from our Christmas dinner turkey was crawling with maggots - I was horrified and immediately begun itching and scratching - yuk !!!  Without thought I picked up the small garbage bag and threw it on the fire.  Sometime later Don and I were cuddled up mesmerised by the flames when a loud explosion deafened us and black stuff spat at us - we later realised that Don had put some dead batteries in the rubbish and that is what it must have been - they really do explode - we spent the next hour or so blocking the fire from us whilst it burnt down enough to leave and go back to the boat - a lesson learned the hard way !!!  My jacket has burn splatter marks on it - just as well I was wearing it !



We called into the village of Black Point for lunch. This is at the northern end of Great Iguana Cay. Lorraine's Cafe advertise on the cruisers net (VHF radio).  We were amused by the confused and startled look when we tried to order conch from their menu at 11.30 - it simply wasn't time for lunch but our order was taken and we were assured that they would cook the meal for us - hours later we finally got served.  Meanwhile the State Funeral for the Governor General was being played on the television and locals called in for a while to watch it - they sung along to the songs and mourned the man.  I felt we were intruding a little.  The conch was terrible.  I think Lorraine  took tiny pieces and smothered them in thick batter then put them in tepid oil - horrible !!! Conch (pronounced konk) is like abalone - you have to bash it to tenderise the meat then cook quickly.   After that heavy lunch we brought the anchor up and continued down the track a little.  We anchored off White Point for the night, once again all on our own - Don tried his luck at trolling again - I cooked dinner while he was gone.