Reunited with friends in Big Major

We have stayed in touch with our friends the Burkes on their catamaran Dawn Treader since we met in Annapolis last fall. They took a bit longer to make the journey from the US to the Bahamas, as they had boat work to be finished in the fall and winter. But! They made it over in late February, and we realized while we were in Black Point that they were actually just a stone’s throw away from us in Big Major. They would be heading south while we headed north…so we decided to meet them in Big Major for a day on the 8th of March, lest we miss them entirely down here in the Bahamas!

We left Black Point in the morning and motorsailed up to Big Major (it’s only a few miles). The plan was to meet Dawn Treader at the Thunderball Grotto just before low tide, for some group snorkeling. But we spotted their boat as we went to drop our anchor, and they were close enough to us that Cecelia wanted to swim over and say hi.

Patrick followed her with the dinghy, and they chatted with Jason and Ashley and their two girls for a bit, then came back to pick me up and head to the Grotto.

We remembered the GoPro this time, so we took a few pictures while we snorkeled inside and outside the cave. Cecelia had the camera most of the time, and she got some good shots!

After you swim out of the backside of the cave, you can snorkel around the outside. There are all kinds of fish and corals along the outer wall. Cecelia focused on the coral, I think.

After a good snorkel, it was time to head to shore for lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

Back at the boats after our jaunt in town, we decided the girls would all go to the beach for a bit, and Patrick and Jason headed off for some spearfishing. I managed to take no photos at the beach, and we started getting chewed up by no-see-ums as the day waned, so we dinghied back to Dawn Treader to wait for the guys.

The girls swam off the back of the boat in this cool ring pool thingy…until a local came by to tell us he had seen a big bull shark swimming around. Yup, time to get out of the water.

Eventually the boys made it back to the boat, just as we were starting to think about worrying. And they weren’t empty handed!

We stayed for a few more minutes and then sadly had to say goodbye and head back to Oestara for the night. It was so great to see you, Burkes! Fair winds as you journey south for a while longer, and we hope to see you in the northeast this summer!

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