We spent a wonderful day sailing across from West Bay to Highbourne Cay. It took about 9 hours (again..) but sailing it was great. Prior to our crossing the bank to the Exumas, we saw virtually no other boats. Now we are among 13 anchored here at Highbourne Cay. Highbourne Cay is a privately owned cay with one little expensive marina (1 bag of lettuce - $9!!!). But, we need diesel and water and trash disposal, so we’ll stop in at the marina tomorrow. Trash is $5 for one bag, $10 for a second bag,$25 for a third bag. Needless to say, we’ve got one small bag…..
Smokey made the trip well, alternating between staying in the cockpit with us and sleeping down below. Much better than howling the whole time and hiding behind the toilet.
One “small” boat in particular was anchored when we arrived here. She needed a 150 ft dock all to herself when she went into Highbourne Marina for the night. Can you imagine…. She is “Pure One”, a charter luxury superyacht.... no kidding!!
Sunday, Jan. 30 – this is the day Luke has been waiting for. Perfect sailing(near beam reach, 11 to 14 kts) for 2 hours (12 miles) and the true beauty of the Bahamas. We are at a mooring at Shroud Cay, the first cay of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. All creatures, land and water, are protected.
Smokey helped me enjoy the view after “we” set anchor. She’s such a help! I can’t go on the deck, anywhere, without her assistance. A really mommy’s girl.
After lunch, we launched the dinghy and zipped off to Sanctuary Creek, a little mangrove creed that runs from the mooring field at Shroud to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful (but sometimes shallow) ride.
Here is a mangrove “nursery” where the young roots are sprouting up, showing at low tide
The sand is so white – I look tan!!
Monday, to Warderick Wells. Again, we sailed the whole way – beam reach, close reach, close hauled, finally tacking the last few miles to Warderick. This is motivated in part by a desire to sail (after all Latitudes is a sail boat), and in part by the realization that we went through about 240 gallons of diesel, since Norfolk. But, about Warderick Wells - we forget, every time, how beautiful this land and sea park really is.
It’s nice to be here again. This morning we walked up to Booboo hill. From there you get a really good idea of the water and the various depths here in the park. The boats (that first one on the left is Latitudes) are in the deep, 12 foot water. The water behind us is only about 1 ½ ft deep. The water in front of us is even shallower, becoming exposed land at low tide.
The snorkeling is great here, as all wildlife is protected. Such as this 4-6 ft Lemon Shark, beside our boat. Apparently it went under there for midday shade, as we didn’t see it come back out after it went under. We did NOT stick our toes in the water…
It’s about 80, sunny, and perfect. We are so grateful to be here. Our view from Latitudes….
This evening we’ll join 2 other boats for “sundowners” at the hut on the beach. Tomorrow we plan to do more exploring and hiking, probably early in the morning while it’s still cooler.
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