Position: N24 23.070 W076 37.496
With some pretty high winds forecast for the next 3 or 4 days we pore over the charts looking for a safe harbor with plenty of shelter from the north, east, and south. Problem is that everyone else is doing the same thing and good anchorages get full very quickly. There are a lot of good spots from here down, but we don’t want to get too far south too soon or we’ll miss some of the best stuff in the island chain. The Allen’s and Highborne Cay anchorages to the north are already pretty full (we know this from eavesdropping on other people’s conversations on the VHF radio – VHF is like the old “party lines” – everyone in range can listen – noone expects privacy). And our current anchorage, while protected from the east, is exposed to the north and south.
We decide that our first choice is the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park which has several well protected mooring fields. The drill is that you call them on the radio a day ahead and get on the list, then listen at 9am the next morning when they announce who was successful in getting a place.
We spend the morning, starting at 6:30, listening to the weather over ham radio and looking at the charts to figure out where we’ll go if we don’t get a spot. 9am rolls around and we sit glued to the radio listening, hoping, and waiting to hear Rachel’s name. Finally right at the end of the list, almost as an afterthought, we hear “Rachel, we can fit you in at Emerald Rock mooring field, is that OK?” Woohoo, breathing a sigh of relief we respond “Yes, we’ll take it”.
Emerald Rock is on the west side of the island of Warderick Wells and a 20 mile trip from Normans Cay. True to form for us the wind is once again dead on the nose. When we took our swim in this clear water yesterday, we noticed that Rachel’s bottom has a distinct white tinge rather than the expected blue of her bottom paint – barnacles! That probably explains why she’s seemed a bit sluggish since we left Florida. We’ll have to give her bottom a good scraping one day soon. At any rate, we arrive safely, albeit a bit later than expected, and pick up our assigned mooring. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is made up of 15 major cays (islands, pronounced “keys”) and many more minor cays encompassing 176 square miles. There are no commercial developments and it is a designated replenishment area for plant, animal and marine life. As a result it’s relatively unspoiled and absolutely beautiful.
We have spent the last two days enjoying the trails and snorkeling. Some of the visit’s highlights so far are:
Boo Boo Hill, 70ft elevation, where cruisers are allowed to leave a natural memento of their visit, boat and crew names carved into pieces of driftwood, pebbles glued onto palm stalks, even a sailing galleon made from a coconut shell and sticks;The Blow Holes, where we could hear the air making eerie sounds as it whooshes through holes in the limestone rocks, pushed upward by waves flowing into caves at sea level. At high tide water is pushed all the way through and up out of these holes, spraying like a fountain. Boo Boo Hill is named for the sounds made by ghosts of shipwrecked sailors, likely attributable to these blow holes;
Musical rocks that ring as you walk on them. These seemingly semi-hollow rocks each emit a distinct note. By hitting them with a stick you can play a tune, like a prehistoric drum kit, and as you walk you can hear the occasional note as your foot drops onto a stone, tilting it into it’s neighbor;
Feeding the bananaquits. These cute little birds with a bright yellow chest similar to a hummingbird are so tame they’ll land right on your hand to feast on sugar you hold out to them.Snorkeling! We’ve already managed to snorkel several reefs in the area. In this beautiful crystal clear water, we’ve looked down upon many species of fish ranging in size and color, colonies of coral that have taken years to form (also many varieties and colors), and loads of different underwater landscapes.
We’re expecting to spend the next couple of days aboard Rachel on the mooring as the winds will be around 30 knots and it won’t be very easy to get ashore. This enforced downtime will give us a chance to finally finish up a couple of Khronicles we’ve been working on and get them out via a day’s worth of the “pay-per-day” Internet access available here. Of course, if the wind is a bit weaker than predicted, we’ll head in to the beach just east of the mooring field and check out more of the trails.
See Rachel’s blog for a few new pictures.
Mark & Julie
s/v Rachel
