More Barracuda, not so Barren Bottoms, Bahamian Blue Cocktails and a Bilge Dinner

Waking up in Calabash Bay on Long Cay, there was no wind at all and at 7:30 am, we were topsides peering down 10 feet in crystal clear waters watching the wave patterns made by the sunlight on the sandy bottom below. It really looked like we were anchored in a vast swimming pool. But then, contrary to yesterday’s blog, there is life on the sandy bottom if one is patient enough to observe.  In fact we saw a barracuda swim out from under the shadow of our boat as well as a smattering of 4-inch starfish on the sandy bottom below. Interestingly, the starfish seemed to bury themselves in the sand within the hour hiding from sight.  We spent the morning doing boat chores then dinghied to "our" private beach before showing up at the Cape Santa Maria resort for the happy hour drink special and conch fritters.  While we missed the name of the happy hour drink special we enjoyed, it was turquoise blue (tasted like a margarita) and served with conch fritters with calypso sauce, as the sun set over a cloudless horizon.  

Back aboard Juno, we made some tasty crab cakes for dinner - about the first bilge dinner of the voyage. What's a bilge dinner? First, what's a bilge? The bilge is the area of a boat beneath the cabin floor.  Before leaving Florida for the Bahamas, Sarah filled much of Juno's bilge with cans of food - from canned crab and pasta sauce, to asparagus.  She also packed as much frozen and refrigerated food as Juno could manage.  The fresh food is running out, and very expensive to replenish, so "bilge" food is making up more and more of our meals.