Surprise!

Sandy Cay
26 24.05 N 076 59.75 W

Yesterday the wind was almost totally calm. That made perfect conditions for snorkeling and diving. Treasure Cay emptied of almost all boats, among them Tarwathie. We wanted to move in the direction of Little Harbor. Little Harbor is one highlight of the Abacos that we didn't see last year. We got as far as Sandy Cay.

Sandy Cay is supposedly the best snorkeling spot in the Abacos within the sheltered waters. It is also a fine little island to comb the beach in search of shells or other treasures. We stopped for the afternoon. We walked the beaches and this morning I'd like to snorkel (even though the wind is blowing more this morning).

As we pulled up to anchor, Libby remarked, "That boat over there is flying a Swedish flag." We decided to surprise the Swedes. We rowed over to their boat in the dinghy and greeted them in Swedish. They were totally surprised. It was a family with a man, wife and their son, all from Stockholm. They had been cruising in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean for two years, and never once in that time had they met someone who could speak Swedish. They invited us onboard for drinks.

We had a lot of fun, chatting with them in Swedish. You see, it has been 20 years since we left Sweden and we have almost no chance to practice the language either. We worked very hard to learn that language; spending a thousand or more hours in classrooms. After all that work, we can't forget it very fast, but use of the language becomes very rusty without practice.

Poor Libby. She had a harder time than I did. Nevertheless, she did very well. She understood everything, and she managed to find words to express everything she wanted to say. But after some time she said "This is giving me a headache." We called and end to the international diplomacy and rowed on in to the island.

The island was lots of fun. We crossed an isthmus of sand that was submerged only ankle deep under water. The sun warmed that shallow water to bath temperature, making it really fun. We encountered a shark hunting for his supper as we crossed. Since we were only ankle deep you can imagine how small the shark was. Anyhow, all of a sudden he sensed our presence and he took off in the other direction making excellent speed.