Nassau to Warderick Wells

On our last day in Palm Cay, we borrowed the courtesy car and shopped for fresh produce to bring to John and Cherre in Highbourne. You probably can't appreciate this photo as it looks like any normal grocery store in the states, but over here in the Bahamas you're lucky if you can find a couple of good tomatoes or some celery.... This Solomons Fresh Market in Nassau was a pleasant surprise!

Once loaded up we said our good byes to Palm Cay, Demaro and Ulen (dockmasters). We’ll see you in a couple of weeks when we return to pick up our friends Blaine and Sharon from Maine and introduce them to the Exumas. We left the dock at 10:15 and after leaving the channel where a dog was paddling around, we were tied up in our slip at 2:40 after a flat calm motor.

This guy was about 50 yards offshore with his master standing on the rocks watching him

We passed a few boats along the way... No sails, and a calm day for fishing.

As we neared Highbourne Cay Marina we saw the Let it Go approaching and learned they had been out fishing and had two mahi and a wahoo to clean. We met John and Cherre at the cleaning station and helped with the “haul”. The nurse sharks hanging out were most appreciative of their fish rack meals. We enjoyed a delicious fresh wahoo dinner on Let it Go that evening. The next few days consisted of the usual…. beach lunches, alternating dinners aboard and this trip we taught John and Cherre how to play cribbage! Final score: girls 1, guys 1.  We’ll save the tiebreaker for the next time we meet.

Let it Go coming back in from a day of fishing

The breakwater protecting the marina

Secure in our slip

John and Jeff cleaning the catch

Nurse sharks awaiting fish racks

Anything for me?

After cleaning the fish we decided it was time for a "dinghy drift" to watch the sunset. No green flash this time.

Some of the yachts that frequent Highbourne Cay Marina are huge as you can see by the shots from our stern below.

Not everyone arrives by boat....

Or leaves by boat...

The four of us headed out for one last picnic on the beach before our anticipated departure from Highbourne Cay and as usual enjoyed the sun, sand and stories.  Friends Mike and Di aboard Yamacraw, a delivery boat here in the Exumas delivered a tasty piece of carrot cake fresh out of the oven once we all returned from the beach. Wow – was it good!  Mike and Di have a new potcake puppy named Batman because of his characteristic marking on his chest. Cutest little guy still in the throes of potty training.  The Yamacraw is a 100 year old oyster buying boat from the Chesapeake Bay. Mike has owned it for 40 years and done everything from lobstering to towing and transporting “freight” of all kinds. He said if the boat could talk it would be an interesting story – in fact, he’s looking for a writer to put it all together.  Dinner onboard the Let it Go was delicious as usual; conch cevice, cracked conch, fish sliders and hash browns. Thanks guys!

The Yamacraw

On Sunday morning we left Highbourne Cay at 11:20 and sailed to Shroud Cay, a short hop away. We passed Pigeon Island - locally known for all the "coconut trees".

We were on a mooring ball by 2:10, quickly lowered the dinghy so we could explore the beaches. Shroud Cay has a creek that runs through the middle of the island but the tide was low and we weren’t able to navigate it as in years past. There’s a place called Driftwood Camp near the end of the creek that we have yet to see. Perhaps next time. Check out the boat behind us in the mooring field!

We left Shroud Cay and sailed to Hawksbill Cay, an hour away. As usual we lowered the dinghy to head to the island and follow the paths to the ruins and the beach on the opposite side. One of the things we enjoy most about these uninhabited islands are the many small paths that have been cleared by curious visitors. We enjoyed chatting with the occupants of a couple of other boats in the mooring field on the beach over cocktails – a young couple from New Orleans and a couple from Perth, Australia. Meeting new people and listening to their tales is always a treat.

Yes Jean - he's wearing sunscreen every day!

Back to the boat for dinner and a game of Cribbage. I’ve lost track of how many games each of us has won, but I think it’s probably close.

After feeding the Ramoras who camp out under the boat enjoying the shade while waiting for our leftovers and watching the beautiful tropicbirds doing their air acrobatics prior to nesting season (March & April) it was time to move on.  We were  on the list for a mooring ball in the north field of Warderick Wells Cay awaiting us, we left the Hawksbill mooring at 9:30. Interesting thing about the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is that every morning at 9:00 on VHF 09 the park ranger (Cherry, this year) will ask which boats will be departing. Once that is done she’ll take names of boats that wish to have a mooring ball for that day and evening. If you’re lucky, you will be guaranteed a mooring somewhere among the 22 in the north field or if desired, near Emerald Rock.  We were assigned #18 in the north field, and were secure at 12:25.

We spent four nights in Warderick Wells knowing that we might be able to leave on Friday the 26th after the front and associated strong, cool North winds blew by, we took advantage of the calm days before and walked beaches looking for shells and sea glass. We found a few of each but the biggest find was a huge lobster that had washed up on one of the beaches – body intact but apparently dead of natural causes. There was no sign of having taken a spear and the body and tail meat was intact.

I think this lobster had a long life based on its size.

Jeff, painting T/T EXILE on our dinghy

Such a beautiful evening moon

A large ray swimming by

Boo Boo Hill on Warderick Wells Cay. Memoirs left by boaters after climbing to the top
We left ours a couple of years ago and it has since been covered up by many more

North mooring field with the office in the background

Oh the colors!

In the small world department, there are 3 sailboats from Bucks Harbor, Maine here in the mooring field. And for all my hometown buddies, how about this?

Stay tuned for another adventure coming soon. We'll be sailing further south tomorrow. Bye for now!