Bahamas, Exumas, Lee Stocking Island – You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all down

We started the day with my usual walk. While we were out we had another look about a different section of the abandon Marine Research Centre on the island.

Looking from the anchored boat out towards the abandon Caribbean Marine Research Centre

We took the road leading north out-of-town.

Open a door and you have no idea what you will find. If this does not surprise you check out what else we found — Open a door and you have no idea what you will find! If this does not surprise, I suggest you check out what else we found

We also found a grove of young coconut trees short enough for us to harvest some nuts. We decided to return this evening with some buckets to bring them back to the boat.

But no time for that now, slack water (when no tide is running) was approaching and we had our hearts set on a lobster dinner. So off we went in search of sea food.

My guest on the boat Roy is up for adventure

Unfortunately we were unlucky AGAIN and it looked like all the logical places had been cleaned out by fellow cruisers. But we did enjoy the snorkeling and found a few very large conch (sea snails) for dinner instead of lobster.

We finished off the excursion with some high speed snorkeling back to the boat — We finished off the excursion with some high-speed snorkeling back to the boat

A little lunch to get our energy levels back up and off to the island we went to clean the conch and harvest some coconuts.

Conch cleaning on the jetty at the Marine Research Centre

A little easier leaving the mess ashore and the waste does not attract fish to the boat. You can save the coloured gills for bait.

After cleaning conch we headed off to collect some coconuts.

This beats trying to scale a full size tree

With the handy machete we were able to chop off the top of the water nuts (young green coconuts) and get at the coconut water inside for a refreshing drink.

Friends joined in the fun. We ran into friends we made back in Ortega Landing Marina, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Matias, Camila, Ernetso and Natalia from the sailing vessel Taia. — Other cruisers joined in the fun. We ran into friends we made back in Ortega Landing Marina, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Matias, Camila, Ernetso and Natalia from the sailing vessel Taia.

With all the ingredients ready we headed back to the boat for a gourmet meal. Conch salad and crackers starter. Cracked conch with peas and rice (rice and beans cooked in coconut milk) for the main.

We topped it all off with ‘lime in the coconut’.

Rum and lime juice poured into an opened water nut and drank through a straw.