Long Island Interlude II–Magic Morning

Posted by Scot

The trip from White Cay to Long Island is directly east, into the prevailing wind.  With the miracle of modern weather forecasting, we were able to time our passage in a calm between fronts.  This is pretty much the first really calm weather we have had since we have been in the Bahamas.  It made for an incredible motor across the shallow water to the west of Long Island.  The sea was as calm as a pond, and the water was so clear we could easily see the bottom the whole way.  It gave the illusion of flying across a sandy landscape.
Part way across, the temptation to jump into the inviting cool blue became too great.  Out went a line with a few floats attached, and in went the kids, to drag slowly behind our boat as we  meandered on.

Not fast enough to water ski, but still tons of fun.

The next morning, the water in Thompson Bay was even calmer.  There was barely a ripple in sight.  We pulled out the stand up paddle board, and everyone took turns gliding out and around the boat.  The sky blended perfectly with the horizon, making it hard to distinguish where one ended and the other began.

Sitting down on the stand up paddleboard.

Christopher paddling off into the sky.

The ocean ends somewhere out there.

As we watched Sara smoothly paddle off into the distance, Katie and I joked that the only thing that could make the scene more magical was if dolphins started leaping over the paddleboard, leaving rainbows in their wake.

A dolphin joining Sara for her early morning paddle.

Seconds later, Sara whooped, as a dolphin surfaced right next to the paddleboard.  It swam around her for about 10 minutes, then went off in search of other entertainment.  As she came back to the boat, we turned and looked back towards Long Island.  There was our rainbow.  Magical.

Magical morning.