This is Hank's video of our recent kayak trip to the Exumas Islands in the Bahamas. Hank, who is an avid sea kayaker, grew up on a sailboat and spent some time in the Bahamas. So he was already familiar with the Cays and the history of the islands. He started organizing the trip late in 2007 and recruiting kayakers. In the end we had eight ... Hank, myself, Sandra, Rick, Steve and Muffy, and Marc and Anna. We rented seven kayaks from Starfish Kayak Tours ... six singles and one double. We also rented a gas stove and a portable toilet. Yes, it was leave no trace camping and we had to take it ALL out.


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As I mentioned in my previous post, I took my Spot Satellite Messenger on the trip so that people back home could monitor our progress. SPOT worked great. The Google Map above shows some of the original SPOT OK landmarks as well as some Cay identifiers. I didn't use the tracking feature. But I kept SPOT on while we were kayaking and sent an OK signal when we landed at each campsite and when we launched from the campsite in the morning. In addition, I sent an OK signal when we were out on the water with the idea that the OK GPS coordinate would show the direction of our route that day. I also used SPOT to mark places of interest like where we snorkeled and the mangroves and the iguana cay. If you'd like to see the original SPOT tracks, before I put those neat colored markers on the map it is still available HERE.



So the total trip was nine days on the water. You would think that one would tire of all those blue skies and turquoise seas. Well ... just for variety Mother Nature sent us rain and powerful winds a few days into the trip.



Hank is in the process of writing his very detailed trip report. You can read it HERE. I put together more of a photo essay. You can see it HERE. Below is a taste of what you might see ...




-Susanita