Sand Cay to Great Sale Cay

This was supposed to be Sand Cay to Marsh Harbor, but we know better than anyone, you can’t plan too much on a boat. We left Sand/Double Breasted Cay on Monday March 7th as the winds were continuing to rock us more than we like. We knew that the winds would last for a few days and after Sunday, with 20-30 mph sustained winds, we thought we’d try for a long run to Marsh Harbor. There were a couple items we wanted to pick up before we got too far into the trip. Marsh is about 70 miles, or about 9 hours of cruising. Not bad if the weather cooperates but not fun if it doesn’t. After about 2 hours of washing machine waves, even my iron stomach was crying for relief. Captain rerouted us to a nearby secure harbor in Sale Cay. Once securely anchored, a quick dinghy ride to shore for a dog walk and we all crashed. One of the great things about this lifestyle, if you need a nap, take one.

We headed out later to explore the island a bit. Word is, there is an abandoned missile tracking station on the island and as much as the Captain loves history, we were going to have to find it! No luck on day 1 but day 2 was another story. Steve and I went out to explore the western shore of the island which had a mile or so of empty beach. About halfway through our walk, success! We had found the station ruins. Not much left but broken concrete that has been overtaken by sand, sea and nature. It was still amazing to walk along the floor that still had tile on it and wonder what it looked like in its glory days. What it must be like to be out here so isolated. We left the the beach and headed across the harbor to the Atlantic side to walk the ocean shore. There we discovered a 10’ tall giant navigation buoy that had broken loose and washed away, only to run aground on this deserted island. We walked about a mile down the coast, finding treasures galore. Washed up milk crates, beautiful crab pot floats of varying colors, sea glass of blues and purple and even an old bottle that I’m convinced Capt. Jack Sparrow must have used to hold his rum.

When we returned to the boat, we donned our snorkel gear and with Jake in tow, Steve and I headed to a sunken boat for adventure. Thankfully, Steve brought along his spear and after 20 minutes, we had our bag full of lobster tails. I don’t even think the 5’ nurse shark minded one bit. We also saw a small lionfish that Steve tried to shoot, but missed three times. The lionfish, sneaky little fellow that he is, disappeared after that!


Day 3 of Sale cay was a relaxed day on the boat….for most of us. The Captain never seems to take a day off so for him it was spent fixing leaks, wiring, and salvaging the $100.00  worth of stainless bolts from a washed up wooden platform. For the kids, it was school and for Grandma and myself it was reading and writing for me. It’s been 5 days with no internet. No TV. No contact with the world. Most importantly, no campaign news. Do I miss it? I miss only the opportunity to speak with Brandon, but since he was going to be at sea for about 5 days, I’m probably not missing anything. The quiet is amazing. The stars are amazing. Showing the kids the Milky Way is amazing. Walking the deserted beaches with my love is amazing. No, I’d say I don’t miss a thing. Did I mention this is amazing?

Day 4, we ran out to take some pictures in the morning and heading out for our next destination about 10:00 am. This amazing journey continues!

~Mimzie