All good things must come to an end, so Friday is the last day in Staniel. The day was well spent -- we checked e-mail, updated the blog, hung a Concord Yacht Club burgee inside the Yacht Club, and were forced to consume many, many Kaliks while we waited for blog photos to upload and a part to arrive for someone who'd already left Staniel (torture, pure torture).
We brought 6 cases of schoolbooks from Florida to deliver to Staniel Cay All-Age School. The books were donated from Florida schools, and the effort was organized and implemented by the Seven Seas Cruising Association. Volunteers who are visiting the Bahamas pick up books at SSCA functions and deliver them to either Staniel Cay, Blackpoint Cay, or Little Farmer's Cay. Since we didn't know exactly how far south we'd make it this year, we chose Staniel. The Principal of the school is Mr. Denny, and he and his wife live in a small cottage beside the school and teach all ages from K-8 (high-school-age children typically go to Nassau to finish school). They were happy to receive the books, and hopefully they'll make a difference in the lives of these gorgeous smiling children. Rusty and Nancy helped us dinghy the books in from the anchorage.
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| books in the dink |
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| book delivery crew on the beach in front of principal/teacher's house |
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| the Captain and Mr. Denny |
After the book delivery and blog update, it was time to head for the beach -- to play and also to feed the SWIMMING PIGS!!! My FAVORITE attraction in the Exumas!! These suckers will swim to your dinghy for a snack (and try to get in if you don't comply quickly); they live on the island and come to the beach whenever they see someone arriving. They've been fed well and regularly by people in the anchorage, and have no fear of human interaction....as a matter of fact, they initiate it. Even though pigs don't appear to be aerodynamically designed for swimming, you'd never guess it to see these guys.
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| yay! breakfast is here! |
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| on your mark, get set..... |
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| I think I can, I think I can |
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| lettuce? where's the fruit? |
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| curb service |
The little feller hardly got any food; the big ones yammered at him and would chase him back when the food hit the water. Unfortunately, the Admiral throws like a girl, so most of the things tossed his way fell short and the big ones got them. But he got a few apples and a carrot or two.
