Looking Back: The Exuma Land and Sea Park

Put sugar in your hand and the birds will come for a snack.

Last Tuesday, when we were going into the "North Anchorage" at Warderick Wells, the tide was falling but still high enough that sandbars weren't peeking above the water. Judy, the park coordinator, had instructed us to follow the line of moorings, go between the red and green markers at the turn, keep the yellow buoys at the end to port, and stay in the blue water. (It took some repetitions - listening to the same instructions for other boats - to get the instructions sorted out.) Ours was the 2nd last in a U shaped string of white mooring balls. As we maneuvered into place to pick up the mooring, we had our head phones on and I was at the wheel. With each turn we made, Bob instructed - hard over - gun it! I'm not going to tell you that there was some disaster - I got the boat in place and then Bob picked up the loop attached to the mooring ball and ran a line from each side of the bow through it as the Park advises --- but if I had seen the U shaped blue ribbon of water with white sand rising on each side as it looked at low tide and realized how narrow a space we actually had to turn --- well it would have been a heart stopper. But once secured, part of the charm of the place is in fact the very white sand that pokes out of the water on each side of the boat. On Wednesday, when the tide dropped again, we took the dinghy over to the sandbar emerging beside the boat and then got out to walk through the warm clear water rushing over the sand. You could scarcely tell where fine white sand ended and glistening white water began - it was entrancing.

We had especially looked forward to staying at Warderick Wells. I had read and heard of people sitting on a mooring ball there for a week, sometimes more - they felt lucky to secure a mooring in the North Anchorage and made it sound a rare privilege. In addition to the beauty of the place, there are well marked hiking paths on nearby cays, wonderful snorkeling available throughout the park and if you are there at the right time, cruisers' gatherings arranged on the beach. On Wednesday morning, we hiked across the cay through a water filled a mangrove low area to the top of Boo Boo hill where visitors leave signed driftwood with boat names and year as a remembrance of their stop there - then we went down from the hill to BooBoo beach and finally back to the blow holes near the ocean where waves rushing in force air and sometimes water (we guess) up through the hole - no water appeared, but when Bob leaned over to have a look, a rumbling gust of air blew his hat some distance away. In the afternoon, we snorkeled at a coral head not more than a hundred yards from our boat and then at another, a 5 minute dinghy ride away. The snorkeling is especially good within the Park because the waters are managed carefully. Moorings are provided to prevent boaters dropping anchor and damaging fragile coral, and specific anchor areas are designated while others are listed as off limits. We have since snorkeled outside the park and although there were fish and other sea life, the difference was noticeable.

When we were at Cambridge Cay (also part of the park), a small trawler came in and headed to a no anchor zone. Eliena (the mooring coordinator) called the boat and told the captain that he would not be able to anchor there - but, he had anchored there in years past and even though the current Navigator Chart shows that part of the bay as off limits and he was being asked to move, the captain seemed sure that he was entitled to do as he pleased. I was embarrassed by his attitude and his angry rude reply - he was flying a Canadian flag. He did eventually move, but not before he dropped anchor in an area that the park was trying to protect.

On the afternoon we arrived at Warderick Wells, we dinghied over to the park office to sign in and passed Barb and Ken from Plumpuppet - they were sitting on their dinghy and had just been snorkeling over the coral head near our boat. Their mooring ball was in the adjacent mooring field at Emerald Rock. Then, as we pulled up to the dinghy dock - we were surprised to see Micheal and Gail Dixon from our club at home standing on the dock and waving. They bring their boat Southern Spirit, from Florida to the Bahamas every year - so have a lots of Bahamas cruising experience. We had a visit with them and on Wednesday evening we went to their boat for drinks along with their friends, Mark and Karen. It was wonderful to be able to see them "in the south".

Gail and Michael Dixon

 

Since time is marching on, we only stayed for 2 nights - just long enough to get a taste of Warderick Wells. There are other cays within the park that we would love to see as well, but if we are going to be back in Florida sometime near the beginning of April as planned - we have to move on.

On Thursday morning we left Warderick Wells and made a stop at Allens Cay to see the iguanas. We were passing by and ---- one can't not stop to see the iguanas. We went ashore on a small beach and saw one gigantic iguana sitting in the grass. It was kind of a shock - he was so big. Two sailors, also on the beach assured us that on the cay across the way, there were many more iguanas who would come out of the bush the minute we arrived. We dinghied over to Leaf Cay and saw several already sitting on the beach - they were much smaller than the granddad we'd seen on the first beach - and also much more active as they were plainly looking for food - and it's no wonder. While I was standing by our dinghy snapping pictures, a Powerboat Adventures boat full of tours its from Nassau pulled up on the beach. As the tourists filed off the boat, one of the crew gave each a handful of grapes. More iguanas came running out of the bush. The visitors seemed kind of wary - not sure how to dispense the grapes as they circled around and stepped away from the approaching reptiles. Finally someone threw one and a short fight broke out as a couple of iguanas went after it. We'd seen enough and I'd taken my pictures so we left in the dinghy and looked back to see a big group of people on the beach with grapes in their hands and lots of little iguanas waiting expectantly. 

After our iguana visit, we pulled anchor and moved on to anchor at Ship Channel Cay for the night. This would be our jumping off place for the sail to Royal Island at the northern tip of Eleuthera. The guide book said that there were several snorkeling spots around the cay so we put on our bathing suits, collected our gear and set out to have a look. At the end of the cay the Powerboat Adventures group own some land with a few small buildings and a dock. As we rounded the corner of the cay, we saw the boat at the dock and a group of people in bathing suits standing on a small beach. The beach looks out on a pretty bay and the water was sparkling and clear but I thought to myself - ugh. This is the Exuma experience for these people vacationing in Nassau - they get packed into a fast boat for a long, long ride, herded onto a beach with a bunch of iguanas and then brought to this little beach for a dip in the water and maybe some snorkeling (for those who pay extra). How different for us - 5 weeks of all day every day Exuma experiences. How lucky we are.

After passing those "poor tourists", we stopped to talk to a couple whose boat was anchored in the bay - more people from Canada - this time from Ottawa. They came for a one time trip12 years ago and they're still coming. They told us that there was snorkeling to be had at the nearby cut - and that they had just been there and the current wasn't bad just then - so off we went for one last snorkel. I must tell you that I am now getting into the dinghy on my own steam. I've perfected getting both feet positioned on the small fender tied horizontally on the side of the boat and then I can pull on whatever handhold I can manage to grasp and straighten my legs by pushing them out from the dinghy at which point I go shooting through the air onto the dinghy floor. The first part goes well - but I'm going to have to work on the landing - I end up heaped in the bottom of the dinghy and have great difficulty straightening myself out and sitting up. Oh well, it's coming....

We left Ship Channel Cay at 7:15 this morning and sailed most of the way, arriving in Royal Harbor at about 3:00. We had taken a different route than we did coming south when we went through Current Cut. (The passage through the cut has to be timed so that you are going with the current - and then instead of fighting it - impossible, we were told, for a "slow boat" like ours - the current virtually shoots your boat through the cut) - This time we chose to go north to Eleuthera through the Fleeming Channel. The difficult part of this passage is a shallow area where there are lots of coral heads - but many people go that way - so why not us? 

As with many feared passages - the anticipation was much worse than the event. The water was shallow - yes (about 10 feet below the keel) and there were dark patches that appeared close to the surface (the coral heads) but the sun was high enough in a bright sky to let us clearly see the patches and they were far apart and easily avoided. We arrived feeling surprised at how easy it had all been. Tomorrow we cross the New Providence Northeast Channel to the Abacos. It's 50 miles and that's a fairly long way in the sailboat world - but the seas are pretty calm and our worst problem will be light winds (so not much sailing) and also the passing through one of the cuts from the sound to the Bahama bank. Cuts can be tricky. However - I'm looking forward to being back in the Abacos.

Tuesday, March 17th: Buckaroon Bay, Abacos

Our day going across the Northeast Providence Channel seemed very long although we arrived at Lynard Cay in the Abacos without incident and we were anchored by 4 p.m. We sailed for the first 3 hours with light winds behind us. Bob took the opportunity to put out the genaker (colourful head sail like a spinnaker) and we made good speed for a while - but eventually the winds died with just enough to keep up the main and jib - and we motor sailed through rolling swells for the rest of the way. After reading in the Mursells' blog about their scary trip through Perry Point Cut, we were worried about our own transit through, but when Bob put out a call on the VHF, 2 boats replied that the cut had been no problem for them. We had been warned by the Dixons that if we saw water breaking through the cut, to move on and try the next one - but the large swells we had been riding through most of the day had not translated into breaking waves at Perry Point.

This morning, we walked across to the ocean side of Lynyard Cay. When anchored at the cay five weeks ago - the night before we went south to Eleuthera - we met Vic on the beach. He pegged as newbies so lead us through the path to the other side of the cay and then gave us a lesson on sea glass - what it should look like and the kinds of beaches where it can best be collected - beaches like the one at Lynard Cay. Sea glass are pieces of broken glass whose edges have been rounded and surfaces roughened to give the glass an opaque look. Some people collect the glass just for fun - some, for crafts. This morning there was a man standing in the water and watching the sand after each wave crashed in and receded. He was collecting glass for his wife. She makes jewelery with it and gives it away as gifts. Bob and I watched the sand as we walked along and picked up some white, green, brown and aqua pieces - but no blue - the most highly prized and hardest to find.

We are anchoring again tonight at another place not far from our first spot - Buckaroon Bay. Our traveling partners for the last couple of days were headed here yesterday so we decided to try it out and then - for the next 2 nights - we have a mooring ball booked at Hope Town - another must see place that we missed when we first traveled through the Abacos.

Pictures of Cambridge Cay Plus

Tonight, I feel quite decadent. In the last month, other than the few days we spent at Staniel Cay Club when we had visitors, we have been at anchor every day. Tonight, we are spending the night at Highborne Cay Marina - one of the few marinas in the Exmuas. We're here for the cell phone coverage and the Web access - and it's a bit of a change of pace - tomorrow, we'll move a little north and anchor once again in preparation for 2 long days of travel.

We spent the last 2 nights at Warderick Wells - and I have some great pictures of the "Northern Anchorage" where we were on a park mooring and also of our hike there - but I'll write about our stay there and upload those pictures the next time I have Web access - likely not for several days. On Sunday, we're headed north to the tip of Eleuthera, and then on Monday we hope to cross the Northeast Providence Channel back to the Abacos. So it's good-bye to the Exumas - we really would like to come back some day....

Hiking Cambridge Cay: View of the Exuma Sound

Looking down at our boat anchored on a Cambridge Cay mooring (Sea Change is the middle boat)

That's Bob at the bottom of the hill, a beach along the ocean side of the cay, and boats, including ours, in the anchorage/mooring field on the other side of the cay.

Looking toward the north end of Cambridge Cay

Since Cambridge Cay is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a concerted effort is made to keep the beaches clear of the plastics, rubber, nylon rope, odd shoes, etc. that wash up on the beaches. During our hike, Bob did his part and picked up pieces of plastic. Here he's depositing garbage collected in bins provided by the park.

I didn't have time to post a the last couple of pictures of our visit with the kids. So - here we are on our last night on the porch of Thunderball Club where we went for Friday Night Ribs and Chicken.

Just before leaving for Nassau on Flamingo Air

Another Sunset!

After the Visit

Using our directional antennae on the boat, I have a fairly good connection - but pictures are impossible to upload - so maybe next time.

We've rested up now after our busy week with the kids. We loved being able to show Krista, Sean and Michelle some of this beautiful area. Our first day at Rachel's Bubble bath and at Compass Cay Club feeding the sharks was almost perfect - and since Richard and Carole (Klarissa) and Joe and Carole (Just Ducky) had so generously showed us the trails on Thomas Cay - later in the week, we were able to play trail guides for our guests taking them to beaches and view points that many people never see.

Our fast boat ride to Black Point and Oven Rock Cave was a bit of a test of endurance for all of us - it was a bumpy day and would you believe it, in spite of the fact that Bob had brought an extra jerry can of gas and emptied it into the engine tank just before we left Black Point, we ran out of gas when we were almost within spitting distance of Sea Change at anchor near Staniel Cay. Thankfully, we were also close enough to another anchored boat for Bob to yell a request for a short dinghy tow. That was a bit more adventure than we had planned! The fast boat turned out to be a gas guzzler extraordinaire. While it was a God send early in the week for getting us to and from Pipe Creek (while we hid from the blow) and also to the sights at Compass Cay, Thomas Cay and Oven Rock - we were all glad to see the end of it when we passed it back to Richard "Breadboy" Andrews.

We have missed the kids and it was lovely to spend time with them. They are one of the reasons that we are feeling ready to begin the long journey home.

The day that the kids left, we came back to the boat to stash the goodies they had brought: into our little freezer went the last of the steaks and chicken breasts - the rest had provided dinners and lunches cooked on the barbecue at their cottage - into our lockers went all of the pasta (whole wheat spaghetti, macaroni, egg noodles), nuts (peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans), and gummy candies (lots of gummy bears and gummy worms!). Then we pulled away from the dock at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club where we had stayed for the last 3 nights of "the visit" and sailed the short distance to Black Point to do laundry and buy lunch at the all age school fund raiser for Black Point - the week before we had lunched at a similar fund raiser for the school at Staniel Cay and had a burger and fries - this time, we had Snapper - a whole fish deep fried - head and all - moist and tasty under the crisp skin.

At Black Point, we met most of the people that we have come to know in the last few weeks. Everyone was there to support the fund raiser. Carolyn and Keith from Whim were doing laundry and then checking email at Lorraine's Cafe as we were and we joined them later for drinks on their boat. In the days to come, they were heading south to Georgetown and Long Island. (Should we do this trip again, we would try to get to Long Island - all cruisers who have gone there sing it's praises.) Our farthest point south has been Little Farmer's Cay and from here on in, we will move north, visiting some of the cays in the Exuma chain until our inclination and the winds prompt us to cross back to Eleuthera in preparation for crossing the Northeast Providence Chanel to the Abacos Islands.

For a little down time and an opportunity to use the Web and upload my last post, we sailed to Sampson Cay (still not far from Staniel Cay) and spent a night anchored there. We had arrived just a little too late to visit the store (it was Sunday), so before leaving Monday morning, we dinghied in to fill our water jerry cans with water (last chance!) and to do a little shopping. Oh my - of all the stores in the area, that has to be one of the most expensive - and they all seem expensive to us - but I did find a few needed items which I bought anyway. For most of the coming week we will be in the Exuma Land and Sea Park where there are no services: no water, no oil or gas, and no stores. We'll also be storing all our garbage on board - what you bring in, you take out.

We spent our first 2 nights in the Park on a mooring ball at Cambridge Cay and what a lovely place it is. We arrived on a day when Rick and Eliena (Moving On), the Cambridge Cay coordinators, arranged a late afternoon get-together on a sandy little slip of land in the bay. Drat - I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture of the dinghies pulled up on the beach and the rough table set up for everyone's party nibbles. It was quite wonderful to be visiting with other cruisers in the middle of such a unique place and even here, there were cruisers we had met earlier: Barb and Ken from Plumpuppet were there - we have run into them several times during the last month. I first met Barb in the laundry room at the St. Augustine Marina. (You meet the nicest people in laundry rooms.) Carol and Dave from Passport were also there. The day the kids left, Carole and Dave were waiting at the airstrip for a guest to arrive on the incoming plane and they stopped and chatted with all of us. It was fun to be able to talk with Carol again. We are most of us at the same place in our lives - with work behind us and our children grown, we're considering what to do with the rest of our lives.

Now that we are heading north as are many people that we meet. Along with talking about our lives as cruisers and where the great places are to visit, we also talk about whether we will be back - especially if we are "first timers". For many that we meet, cruising the Bahamas every winter is a way of life - and if their homes are very far north - they leave their boats further south to avoid a long trek every spring. We've met several Canadians who leave their boats for the summer in Florida or even in the northern Bahamas and then there are the cruisers, an amazing number of them, who have sold their homes and moved onto their boat. They may come back to the Bahamas every year - or more likely - it's just one of many destinations they visit as they move around the Caribbean and US or even Canadian waterways.

Will we come back? We talk about it - but when - is another question. Certainly not next year or probably not even the year after - but yes - we would do this again.

Back to Cambridge Cay - the afternoon that we arrived, we snorkeled over some coral reefs near the boat. We were able to beach the dinghy on a little sandy area and walk and then swim into deeper water to get to the reef. Dee - lighful!

We snorkeled again yesterday when we took the dinghy to a coral area called the Sea Aquarium - and tied the dinghy to one of the moorings there. I went into the water wearing a life vest - when we snorkeled in Thailand, I was swimming along a reef, and was carried by current farther than I intended and then turned to discover that I was fighting the current to get back. In the end, I was so tired that I turned on my back and held onto Bob while he pulled me along to shallow water - so now I wear a vest where there might be current.

The Sea Aquarium was exactly as billed - spectacular - lots of colourful fish and sea life growing over the coral. When I got back to the dinghy, rather than waiting for me to attempt getting a foot up on the little fender he had strung horizontally on the side of the dinghy, Bob grabbed the shoulders of my life vest and hauled me halfway into the boat - I was taken by surprise and giggling as I lay sprawled across the dinghy trying to right myself and sit up. Whatever works, I guess. All that stuff Bob bought for Sea Change for this trip, and it never occurred to either of us to buy a ladder for the dinghy. And there is one more sea life viewing aid we had never even heard about. The day that we took Sean and Michelle to snorkel at Thunderball Grotto, I borrowed a "looky bucket" for Krista from Carolyn and Keith. It's a bucket with a see through plastic bottom - when you push the bucket down into the water, you can see as clearly as if you were using a snorkel mask. We wish that we had one of those also!

Yesterday morning, we hiked Cambridge Cay. There's a well marked path from the mooring field side of the Cay to the Exuma Sound side - and then you can follow a trail up along higher points of land for majestic views of the water and Cay below. I must say that I sleep very well at night after these days spent hiking the cays and snorkeling over coral.

Today, we're on our way to Warderick Wells in the heart of the Land and Sea Park. We've been able to get a mooring in the North Mooring field and that's a very good thing: it's something that we've been looking forward to for a long time.