|
Part 4
Allen Cay to
Highborne to Norman:
Given the expression,
we don’t want to grow barnacles under our hull,
after a few days of snorkeling and feeding the
iguanas, it was time to move on to the next spot
along the Exuma chain. This time we went out
through the Exuma Sound and tried our hand at
fishing. Surprisingly, we got a hit, but whatever
it was, it took a bite of the lure, but not the
hook, and got away. Captain Jim wants revenge for
the fish that ruined his favorite lure which cost
him $10.. The Highborne anchorage was strewn with
mega-power yachts over 100’. One even had a private
helicopter on top. There is a little store on the
cay and when you call them on channel 16 they come
down to the anchorage and pick you up in a golf
cart. We went into the little store on the cay and
got our first loaf of homemade Bahamian bread. Many
were to follow over the course of the trip.
The girls outside the little store waiting to be
taken back to the anchorage
Tonight was a beautiful starlight night, but we are
anxious to move on.
In the morning we hoisted the anchor and headed on
to Norman Cay, fishing along the way. Norman is the
Cay which drug runners made famous by their shoot
out with authorities. The result is a sunken plane
that makes for great snorkeling. We went snorkeling
and took about 6 conch. We came back to the boat,
put on some Caribbean music and cleaned the conch.
Tomorrow or the next day we will make our first
conch chowder.
Norman Cay is also famous for “MacDuffs”, home of
the best burgers in the Exumas. MacDuffs is nothing
more than a small restaurant, bar and a few small
cottages on the beach for rent. However, since
there is a small airstrip, it has become quite the
thing to fly in for lunch or dinner. On any given
day there will be 2 or 3 planes sitting next to the
airstrip with the pilot and his guests enjoying a
good burger. It is a must to visit and you must
order the burger, we did both.
The authors walking MacDuffs beach after lunch.
What makes a special day? Good weather, beautiful
scenery and a wonderful spouse. Another starlit
night, Jim is playing his guitar and all is well.
Shroud Cay and
Warwick Wells:
Our first morning in
Shroud Cay we awoke to something new, humidity--both
inside and outside. We were hoping for rain because
Nilaya needs a good cleaning from all the salt on
her deck and rigging. Rain not forthcoming, we
headed off with a picnic lunch to explore by dingy.
Taking the mangrove canals across the island, we
came upon a beautiful beach. Cruisers have devised
a unique way of keeping this particular beach
beautiful. On top of the sand dunes is a place the
cruising guide calls “Camp Driftwood.” The idea is to
walk the beach and clean it of anything that has
washed up on shore, whether man made or natural.
The items are then taken to “Camp Driftwood” and
assembled into items that would make up someones
“camp site”. The items you create generally have
the name of the boat whose crew made that particular
item. There is a house, swing, people, chairs, etc.
all made out of things washed up on the beach,
including lots of driftwood. Thus the name “Camp Driftwood”. Jim carried up a
big piece of a palm tree we found on the beach which
served as the body of one of the camps occupants,
(the head was a coconut) but unfortunately, we
didn’t have any way of leaving our name (next time,
bring a marker), otherwise we would have named our
tree person “JR“ (short for James Richard).
On the way back, we stopped at a cenote to collect
water. Captain Jim carried back 2 five gallon
containers (a hard walk down a stone walkway to the
dingy). Although the water is said to be good to
drink, our plan was to use it in a sun shower so we
could preserve our fresh water in our holding tank.
In the afternoon, Mary made our first of many conch
chowders.
The next few days we spent on a mooring ball in
Warwick Wells, a marine park.
NILAYA is the second boat from the right on a
mooring at Wardwick Wells.
The day we arrived was Easter. The Park was
planning a potluck late afternoon brunch. They
provided the ham and all the cruisers brought dishes
to pass. Mary’s contribution was chicken rice
pilaff. It was a wonderful afternoon of meeting new
people and swapping stories.
The following day (day 30 of the cruise), we stayed
busy with many projects. The wind was once again
howling and although there were other cruisers
anchored out by Emerald Rock waiting to come in for
a mooring, no one was leaving. The park has no
restriction on how long you can stay as long as
you’re willing to pay the mooring fee. The fee
will be waived if you donate your time or talents to
working at the park One day’s work is good for one
day of mooring. Thus the park has been built from
the ground up by volunteers working for their
moorings. We elected to pay instead of work since
Jim’s shoulder was still giving him problems.
Jim attempted to improve on the performance of the
dingy outboard (unsuccessfully), trace the short in
the running lights (unsuccessfully) while Mary
attempted to polish the stainless which repeatedly
continues to rust--she’s finally caught on that it’s
stain less not stain free. Jim dreams
about all the things that would make life on board
better: a bigger engine on the dingy, engine hoist,
dinghy davits, all chain rode, windless and that’s
just the start of his wish list. But making do and
being self-reliant is a reward onto itself.
We did something very special on our third evening
at Wardwick. We borrowed a DVD from the park ranger
and brought it back to the boat “for a night at the
movies.” Jim hooked up his laptop while Mary
readied a homemade pizza. We snuggled in the cabin
that night to a movie and pizza. What a treat.
Being a marine sanctuary (no fishing allowed),
Warwick provided us with the best snorkeling we have
experienced so far on this trip. Just a short dingy
ride from our mooring brought us to a spot with huge
lobsters, nurse sharks, barracuda, and groupers.
As nice as Warwick Wells is, we are anxious to move
on. The 28-30 knot winds out of the north and
northwest, is keeping us here as we await a better
weather window to move on to Staniel Cay.  |
