"Make Fast" to Ocean Reef

We left Sampson Cay, Tuesday, and made the journey back to Ocean Reef.  Tom keeps saying we "made fast" to Ocean Reef, but I don't know if that is a nautical term or a Tomism.  It didn't feel that fast to me!!
We arrived yesterday afternoon in Ocean Reef and had to report to customs in Miami.  It was a busy few days.  We are headed back to Michigan Sunday evening.  It is a bittersweet departure, as we all had an amazing journey- but we are excited to return home to see friends and family.

It is with unbelievable gratefulness that we conclude this journey.  We are so thankful for safety, and for these memories we have been able to create.  They will be treasures in my mind to savor and reflect upon for the remainder of my life!!!

Fishing!!!

Today we went fishing!!  Despite the periodic rainshowers, 4 ft waves, 20 knot winds,  in a small boat, we had a great time!  Photography was the farthest thing from my mind...but I did manage to grab a snapshot of my son catching a grouper.  He was sooo thrilled to have caught dinner.  We caught quite a few snapper, too. We had a feast for dinner and it was fantastic! What an amazing day.

Water, water everywhere

I know this is my second posting today, but this truly warrants its own space.  I was busy in the kitchen preparing Easter dinner, the girls were in their rooms getting a head start on their schoolwork for the week, and Thomas was out helping Tom with some boat maintenance ... i.e- boy work.  Tom comes down below to check all the guages and pumps, etc while Thomas was outside filling the water tank.  Water costs 50 cents a gallon here, because of the cost of desalination and purification.  Thomas was making sure not to overflow the tank and waste any costly water.  We have all become experts at conserving water!!   Tom comes down below and says, "I think my water guage and waste guage are confused.  I know the waste tank was not full and Thomas just filled the water tank and the guages are reversed." So Tom goes in and out several times, checking different things....  And then," OH SH(oot)!  Thomas just filled the waste tank with water!!!!! He topped that baby right off!!!"
Oh dear, to me that means no using the bathroom until we can empty the waste tank-sometime tomorrow.   It is a good thing it is a short walk down the dock to the restroom. It looks like we will be taking Cookie, the kids and ourselves out to the end of the dock tonight before bed.
All part of this grand adventure!!!

Happy Easter!!

We had a great easter.  The marina had an easter egg hunt and games for the kids, and we had our own "boat hunt" as well.  We are most thankful to celebrate His resurrection in a place of His beautiful design.

Thunderball grotto

We were excited to snorkel another cave today.  Thunderball grotto was featured in the James Bond movie, Thunderball.  It was exquisite.  You had to swim in at low tide through a narrow channel into this vast cave with a hole in the top.  It was phenomenal.  We might have to do this one again!!

We want to wish you all a Happy Easter weekend.  We are all overwhelmed with His grace and provision for us in this life.  He gives us the privledge of enjoying His creation, while sacrificing Himself so that we can have eternity with Him..  Our God is truly an AWESOME God!!

Sampson Cay

We moved the boat yesterday to Sampson Cay, as our new home base. From here we have explored Big Majors Spot, which is home to wild swimming pigs- yes , wild swimming pigs.  It is a really interesting sight to see these huge pigs swimming out to your boat to greet you.  Emily, Anna and Thomas swam to shore to feed them some leftovers!!  It was wild.

I got a great shot of Thomas pulling his boat along shore.  Tom and I will always remember Emily shelling, Anna digging in the sand, and Thomas pulling his boat along shore at top speed.  What great memories to cherish for a lifetime.

We also went into Staniel Cay today to the grocery store. Even grocery shopping is a whole new experience. There is no Forest Hills Foods, Whole Foods or even a Piggly Wiggly. The grocery stores are TINY, approximately the size of a SMALL gas station convenient store.  Finding fresh produce is scarce.   The bread store was a Bahamian woman's kitchen!!  What a great education for us all.

Cool Caves

Yes,  we Vredevelts have become avid speelunkers.  We hiked to the "bat cave" on Comapass Cay.
There were spectacular views.  Notice the "bat" hanging from the top of the cave.  The kids were excited to check that out.  They did their own impressions of bats before arriving. Anna, the girl that kisses frogs and snakes, was certain that she would wait outside.....because bats freak her out.  There is something like that for us all, huh?!!

We then went to Rocky Dundas and snorkelled into a cave, at low tide of course!!  Look at the patch of sunlight underneath the rock.  There was a natural skylight, created by God.  That was truly one of the most amazing things I have seen!!

We had to take a moment to hunt sanddollars and starfish along the way!! Thomas doesn't care much for shelling, he just pulls his toy boat along the shore and is content! Since he is in CONSTANT motion, I did not capture the perfect image.  That will give me something to work for, right?

Compass Cay

April 14-16

We docked at Compass Cay, and in the marina , they have "pet " nurse sharks. Every high tide the dock is  underwater and the sharks come up to rest and to be petted. It is wild. Even I touched one!! They feel like sandpaper.  The kids snorkel  off the swim platform of our boat and there is a beautiful coral head right there!!  Anna was checking out the nurse sharks, too.

Also on Compass Cay is Anna beach, and Rachel's bubble bath.  This is a tidal pool that is a blast to swim in. Thomas swam against the current until I thought he would pass out!!

We took the tender, inflatable boat, to Joe's Cay and Thomas Cay.  Emily said, " I would like my house right here- on Joe's Cay"

Warderick Wells Cay

April 13, 2011
This is the Bahamas Land and Sea National Park headquarters. They have the bones of a sperm whale that had been beached.  The kids were fascinated by this!! They fit inside!

We hiked to Boo Boo Hill for breathtaking views of the beautiful Carribean Sea.

Shroud Cay

April 11-14
Tom and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this week- what a place to do that!!

We snorkeled a sunken airplane crash off Norman Cay .  Wow , it was fascinating. There were tons of yellow fish with black stripes that came out to say hello. It felt like swimming in an aquarium. Tom was particularly fascinated with the sunken DC 3!!

We then rode the inflatable boat through the mangroves of Shroud Cay and ran aground in the sandbar!!
The kids jumped off and pushed us off the sandbar-they thought that was a great adventure.

We anchored off Shroud Cay for 3 nights and we are all amazed how clear and blue the water is!!
We are thankful for the gift of this time together and the beauty of the world God created!!

We saw Emerald Rock with its mushroom shape and cave underneath , and Ahhhhh the sunrise!!

Highbourne Cay

We love it here as well. Just when you think it can't get any more beautiful, it does!
We anchored out near this island, saw a beautiful sunset, went snorkling, and saw tons of nurse sharks being fed by the fishermen in the marina.  We also went to a different island, Allans Cay to see all the iguanas.  It was a blast!!!

Chub Cay, Bahamas

We tried fishing....no luck catching anything, but we sure had fun!!
We found tons of starfish,  it is amazing how abundant they are.

We will be moving on again tomorrow- a whole new experience awaits us!

Cat Cay, Bahamas

April 2 - 7, 2011

We love it here.  We have stayed quite a few days and have loved every minute.-The weather forced us to stay longer than we planned, but "oh well" -we found  lots to do!!  We found starfish in a tidal pool, had stingray swim among us, found lots of nice shells, went for awesome walks and found coconuts that we broke into for the sweet "milk".  What a great experience for us all!!!

Something to ponder..... isn't it amazing how 10 feet of space can feel as vast as an ocean one day, and as small as 10 millimeters the next?  The "space" hasn't changed, only my perception and/or gratefulness for it has changed.