Post #69: Staniel Cay and the Thunderball Grotto

Friday, February 19 to Tuesday, February 23, 2021

I’d heard about Staniel Cay some 38 years ago from my friend Leah although, honestly, I never realized where it was exactly until about a year ago! We were young mothers back in the early ’80s each with a 2-year old and each expecting our second child. We both lived in antique farmhouses in the rural town of Bolton, MA, joined the Garden Club, the babysitting-coop, helped out with the Bolton Agricultural Fair and spent our days as fairly traditional mothers and wives. 

Leah’s brother-in-law, Jack and his wife, Gail, on the other hand, had taken their 67’ motor yacht, Sumaria, from Westport, ME to Staniel Cay with their two children. Neither of us could fathom living aboard with 2 little kids, let alone home-schooling and entertaining them while our husbands worked on the same boat. (Sounds like 2020 during Covid.) I remember we waffled between head-shaking incredulity, self-righteous dismay and, well, outright jealousy (especially when Leah would share photos they’d sent of the beautiful aquamarine water and warm sunny days; sigh). Anyway, now that I’m here, I get why Jack and Gail chose this bit of paradise to call home.

Staniel Cay has been described as “interesting.” It has “an airstrip, 3 tiny grocery stores (the Blue Store (that’s it at the top of the street), the Pink Store and the Yellow bakery):

a large funky bar and restaurant,

and an amazing array of characters. The folks you see there seem to me to fall into three groups: the native Bahamians (which appear to be in the minority), the cruisers who are passing through,... and an odd assortment of people who seem to have come for a visit and never left.” 

We were thrilled to be able to properly dispose of our trash, purchase fuel, stock up on groceries, and we all really enjoyed being served beverages and snacks on the outdoor porch of the Yacht Club, especially as we were the only customers at the time.  It felt so normal to actually sit outside at a restaurant and be waited on!  I have to say, though, it was a bit unsettling to be around so many people again after almost a month of just being in our pod. It still feels safer to be back in our boat “cocoon.”  

A couple of the guys in our group walked to the Staniel Cay Laundromat and Island Bibben Liquor Store (or Suds & Buds, as it’s usually called) to restock their beer supply.  It’s a good thing only one of us likes it, as beer sells for over $60/case!!

Saturday morning most of us rose early to take advantage of low tide and dinghied to explore the Thunderball Grotto, so named as it was showcased in the 1965 James Bond movie, “Thunderball.”  Can’t say I’ve seen the movie but the Grotto was incredible!  You actually swim through one of the three entrances to the cave which is lit by a large opening at the top of the dome, like the oculus in Rome’s Pantheon. Dramatic shafts of sunlight pierce the darkness and slice down into the water, illuminating the thousands of fish who congregate there. Another astonishing natural setting that is absolutely breathtaking. (These are photos off the web, not mine.)

Nature also made good on her predicted “Norther.”  I’m writing this about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night.  The wind has been howling from the north since about 4 p.m. on Saturday.  We’re secure on our anchor and surrounded by dozens of boats in the same situation.  But when the gusts go over 30 knots, Onward groans and creaks and lists a bit before righting herself again. 

I’ll be glad when this front passes through.