The Exumas and Abacos, Bahamas - April, 2006

Hawksbill Cay, Exumas.  Amazing.

Natasha and Ramin Rezvani, on their first night aboard ZIA.

Leila and Hope Rezvani.  Leila shared her birthday with us on April 9th.

The coming storm, our worst yet.  Gusts up to 50 knots.  Scary.

Clouds and wind stayed with us for several days after the passing of the cold front pictured above.  The Rezvanis made the most of it, however, and left with good suntans, one and all.

Too cold to lie on the beach with the sand whipping hard against our skin, we played in the waves for a bit instead. 

Sushi was Leila's choice for her birthday dinner.

Hope, always a big help in the galley.

What a treat it was for our girls to have the big girls with us for 8 days....

Leila and Natasha, ravishing as always.

We spied our old companion JAIMIE tied up at the Moorings docks in Marsh Harbor, looking very lonely without our friends the Martins on board.

Easter Monday in Marsh Harbor.  The girls found a group of local boys that had a blast playing with them.

The two little girls are Emma and Allie Snead, our new friends on Miakoda.  We passed them entering Marsh Harbor before we picked up the Rezvanis.  They called after us and hailed us on the radio, having recognized our boat name.  We had met them in Annapolis in October and they are new to cruising. 

Golf carts are the only way to see these little islands.  This is on Green Turtle Cay.

We wound up at Pineapples on Green Turtle where the girls were supremely happy and the blackened fish fingers were awesome!

Jennie Snead and a local friend.

I get a group hug from the little girls. 

Brian Snead with Juliana, Emma, and Cassie.

Taking advantage of low tide, I could stand on the bottom to scrub the exhaust marks off the sides of the boat.

There was a school of ten dolphin that hung with us for ten minutes or so on our way out of Manjack
Cay.  It is always such a treat to see these creatures up close.

Dress up time on ZIA.

A little BnB at the entrance to Hope Town on Elbow Cay.  I believe it is for sale!

Golf cartin' on the way to our art lesson with Ann Corbitt.

The lighthouse in Hope Town.

A view of the crowded harbor from the top of the lighthouse.

Little Harbor is the home of Peter Johnston, a local artist.

We waited out the windy and rough weather in Little Harbor before making our way south to Harbour Island.  We checked out the windward side of the island.

A great illustration of how the rocky land of the Bahamas was formed over thousands of years.

Peter Johnston himself, cutting coconuts for the kids.

Cassie and Juliana had the great idea of preparing little coconut appetizers for the crowd at Pete's pub.  They found and big leaf to use as a serving tray and shaped little sticks into "toothpicks."  The patrons loved it.

Playing wheelbarrow with the MIAKODAs.