Ryan and I were assigned galley duty for today. We helped Tina and Marion with breakfast and then set up at the stern to do dishes which we felt we did in record time considering the boat was already moving by the time we started. It wasn't too difficult - the worst part was just trying not to fall in as we lifted the water bucket. Yes, dishes were done with salt water and Dawn.

We moved over to an area called Market Fish for our next dive. Again, Linda and Laurel didn't feel like diving so I asked to tag along with Greg and Luke if they didn't mind. This was also our last tank since we never stopped at Chub to refill. Wayne offered to let us borrow some of his if we wanted to.

We jumped in and Luke lead the way. It was maybe a 35 ft. dive and plenty of coral to see - but ironically almost no fish. Luke was pretty much hauling ass through the place probably looking for stuff to see. I was still content seeing just the plant life.

Greg was the first to run low on air so he signaled to let us know he was heading back. Luke and I stayed under and I let him lead the way. We made another run around the coral and found a nice sized grouper hiding in a small opening. I then kept following him as he went under a slow ledge but lost sight of him by the time I got through. I peeked over the coral to look for bubbles and finally saw him coming out of some sort of tunnel. Thrill-seeker, I tell you. By then it was time to surface but when we went back to the spot where we descended, the anchor was no longer there. We surfaced to look for the boat, found it, and swam towards it. Once on board I noticed Luke had a nosebleed - turns out he surfaced too fast when we were looking for the boat and in the process popped a sinus. That was the end of his diving for the week.

Joe started our sail to Ambergais Cay, or Money as it is called by some. This the traditional spot for the trip's crew to hike across the sand during low tide. On most occasions, one can see sand sharks and rays which get stuck in the low waters. What people have done in the past then is to pick them up by the tail and pose for a good picture. If you're lucky, as Greg was a couple of years back, you can also get your arm bitten by the shark as it tries profusely to free itself from your grip. Fortunately for Greg, there were two nurses and a doctor on that trip, so he was living it up.

Ambergais also hosts the Margaritaville of the Bahamas: Margaritaville II, a small collection of, basically, junk left by previous visitors. Wayne had told us of a previous passenger who was tricked into believing there actually was one of Buffett's Margaritaville on the island because he thought he was having a conversation with people at the bar on a cell phone (when, in fact, he was talking to someone else on board). I wish I could have seen the look on his face when he came up to it.

We anchored and people starting jumping in to swim to shore. As a few of us where in the water, we spotted a shark heading out maybe 20 ft. from where we were. Never a dull moment. We did the usual packing of cameras and other non-waterproof items on the dingy and eventually all got over to the beach. We got some snapshots of Margaritaville II, including another group shot, and started our walk towards the west point where we would run into the shallow part of the island. As Wayne had put it, if we were to get there at the right time we could see the water slowly come to a stop and start flowing back in the opposite direction as the tide changed. Unfortunately for us, we must have been some five minutes late.

Laurel and I caught a glimpse of something we thought to be a ray passing by as we started to cross a small stream on the other side of the point. Past it, the water was no more than 4 inches deep. We kept walking further east following Greg and Luke until we found ourselves in an area that seemed more like a desert if it wasn't for the small island formations. It was sort of surreal.

By now Luke and Greg had separated with Luke heading a bit south. We caught up with Greg and watch Luke as he seemed to be chasing something in water not even knee-deep. From the looks of it, Luke was trying to circle the animal to maybe trap it until it somehow outsmarted him as, all of the sudden, Luke ran from it, tripped, and fell in. That gave us a few good laughs.

Laurel and I fell a little behind the others as we started to head back. This time we were walking along the shore and we could definitely tell the tide had changed as the water level was getting higher. By the time we reached the stream where we saw the ray, Greg and Linda where in the water with only their heads sticking out. We thought they were just sitting or kneeling in the water but, no, they were actually standing. I had to look for a shallow spot to cross since I still had my camera pouch.

On the other side we ran into Wayne, Tina, and others laying by the edge of the water. We rested for a bit and then headed back to the boat for lunch after which we set sail for Great Harbour Cay, an island at the north end of the Berrys. The sail took at least a good three hours during which I stood watch for about an hour and a half.

We came up onto a couple of islands with Great Harbour being to the north. The island formed a small bay where we proceeded to anchor. We could see a lighthouse but it looked pretty desolate. Everyone started to jump in as this was supposed to be a great spot for snorkeling. I was about to when Wayne mentioned he and Joe where going on the island to explore the other side. I grabbed my camera and joined them for the ride.

We secured the dingy to a small dock next to which there stood the remains of a boathouse. Wayne explained this used to be a manned lighthouse that had been converted to fully automatic. We walked up a dirt road and then took a small trail leading us to the lighthouse. We were hoping we could get inside but it was locked. Joe looked for a rope that had been there hanging from a window but it was gone. We kept walking and came up to an abandoned house which was extremely run down. There were no doors so we walked through it and noticed the interior had been redone recently - probably to allow visitors to walk through safely.

On the other side there was another small trail that took us to the north shore of the island. We walked down what used to be steps from some sort of walkway that laid on top of the rock and hiked across to the point. Wayne was tracking the hike with the GPS as I took a few snapshots. There was a small beach facing the island to the south as this was the spot we had gone through on the boat just earlier. I noticed a significant amount of the debris, apparently a result of recent storms that had hit the area. And speaking of storms, the sky was indicating rain would be coming soon so we retraced our steps back to the dock.

Once back on the boat we lifted the dingy out of the water and disassembled it since we wouldn't be needing it for the remaining of the trip. Afterwards we had dinner and sailed off for Bimini as Ryan and I did dishes. On the way we passed a few developed portions of the island that looked like tiny resorts - these are owned by cruise lines and it is where passengers are brought during trips. As we sailed on, we left the rain behind and were showered by a bright sunset that made everything (including us) look orange. Once Wayne gave us the watch times for the night we went on about doing our own things and eventually crashed.