A quick blog - we made it uneventfully to Highborne Cay, our first stop in the Exumas. Lettuce at $8', bread for $7.50, Diesel $5.76/gal, water $.50/gal...this is is the Bahamas we came to visit. Relatively quiet, not crowded, and beautiful beaches. The pink glow of evening was falling when Luke snapped this shot of the beach.
From Highborne, we SAILED
We sailed the short 10-ish miles to our next anchorage,
Norman’s Cay. Norman’s Cay was once
under the unfriendly control of drug lord Carlos Lehder. Today, it is still a privately owned island,
with only a few homes. The old drug
plane runway, patched patches, still serves as fly-in for owners and guests. Straight out to the sea --- you don’t want to
overrun the runway here!
We anchored, along with about 15 other cruising boats, on
the western side of the island, to wait out an endless, strong east wind. This side of the island is great for landing
our dinghy and walking. The beach is
partially rocky
And partially sandy.
Ever wonder how coconut palm trees start? With one little, bright green, frond sprout
from a buried coconut!
Stone cairns mark old trails across the island, to the
eastern side. Unfortunately, these
trails are overgrown and end too soon.
A walk along old, partially paved roads leads to eventually
to the eastern windward side. It’s quite
beautiful, with this pond buffered by large rocks against the Atlantic.
Luke wanted to check the prop and undersides of Latitudes,
so he took a dip in the 78 degree water.
Despite our best efforts and having 2 divers check the
bottom of the boat before we left the States, the bottom is covered with a
thick slim that cuts down on our speed through the water. We’ll need to clean it later.
A cruiser party on the beach filled with folks from about 15
boats. We met some really nice
people. I forgot to take my camera…
Even though the wind was still picked up on Thursday, we
pulled anchor and sailed to Shroud Cay, the first of the cays in the Bahamas
National Land and Sea Park. New friends
Martha and Bill sailed over, too. After
getting settled in our new anchorage, we both set off in our dinghies to
explore one of the shallow mangrove creeks that runs from the sound side of the
island to the ocean side.
creek
And full of
mangroves, it was!
And SHALLOW it was!
As we approached the cut into the ocean, we could see the
deeper water turn darker blue and the waves breaking on the sand bars outside
of the creek.
The dinghies were tied tightly to trees on the little beach
on the creek side and we walked to the larger oceanside beach. It’s so beautiful! Just what we love to see each day.
BUT! There was more
for us on the beach! A Bahama Mama,
getting a smooch by Bill and a pat from Luke.
Not to be left out, there was also a Bahama Man for Maratha
and me! Nothing else need be said….
After Shroud, we set sail (yes, sailed again!) about 20 miles to Warderick Wells, the primary and largest park of the Land and Sea park
system. We (and all sailors) love
Warderick.
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