We are in the middle of two weather systems that are making life very unpredictable - one is a low pressure system and the other is a surface trough (yes I actually know what those are now - weather is something you take really seriously when you live on a boat since you are so at the mercy of Mother Nature!) - together they spell incredibly unsettled weather and neither seems to want to move. So for now, we're just dealing with what Mother Nature is dishing out and making the best of it - where it looks like we have several hours without showers, we make hay and hop in Hobos (our dinghy or as Norm and Vicki on Tide Hiker call it, the family car) and go exploring or we go for a hike or to the beach - until the rain comes again and we head back to the mother ship for time with the boat kitties. Puss and Boots have especially liked this past week!!
Our last couple nights at Warderick Wells were a ball - we had dinner on September Song with Mike and Harriet who are on Dual Dreams, are friends of Life's2Short and who we all met at the cruisers beach party. We only had the one night to get to know them but we laughed lots and told tons of great cruisers stories (lots of them about Todd who wasn't there to defend himself....) over a wonderful meal (thanks Stephanie!), wine and rumballs!! Hopefully we see them on the waters again somewhere!! It would be fun to have Harriet, Brenda and I drinking beers together - I don't say this lightly, but I think I'd come in third in that contest!!!
Sunset at Warderick WellsAfter a short afternoon on Lucky Spot Beach (cut short by impending rain) and a beautiful sunset, the next morning we decided it was time to change the scenery.
Lucky Spot Beach
They were so cute - and very unafraid of us - luckily I quickly closed our hatch so they couldn't get below - that would have been an unwelcome surprise to both them and the boat kitties!!
As soon as we pulled into Hawksbill and got settled it was off to the beach and the hiking trails!!! Hobos joined Half Note (September Song's dinghy) on the beach and off we went.
Hobos and Half Note at Hawksbill
One trail went off to the north - we had unbelievable views back to the Banks at one of the hill crests and got some great photos of Gypsies and September Song!
The other side of the trail opened onto a beautiful beach on the Sound - rough and rocky and wild!!
The wildlife was also wild - geckos of various hues, lots of hermit crabs and birds calling out to us from the trees feeding on seven year apple (none of us has had the guts to try it yet and see if the myth is true - it tastes so bad that if you try it, you won't again for 7 years...why would you???)
We doubled back to take the southern trail over to another beach on the Sound - we suspected that was the trail September Song took since they had the dogs and it was supposedly a little easier.
It still had sections of marl and what we've come to call moon rock (really jagged black rocks with sink holes and spikey prongs that just have a way of jumping up and biting you!) so we weren't sure if they had turned back or not until we got to the beach on the other side and saw tons of excited paw prints up and down the beach (obviously Cassie exploring and Godiva chasing her ball!!!) The southern beach was gorgeous - one of the longest we have seen here in the Exumas and not nearly as rocky as the other beaches on the Sound that we have seen, although the waves were pounding so swimming would have been a challenge. We added our footprints in the sand and then headed back to the beach on the Banks for some serious relaxation and a cold beer!! For some reason beer just tastes better down here on a beautiful sandy beach - especially after a long hot hike!!!"
An afternoon limin' on the beach was just what the doctor ordered - the sand felt like silk and the water was turquoise and warm and luxurious - all in all a great day!! Especially given that the next day rained like something from biblical times - at any minute I expected to see an ark float by!! We have not had this kind of rain since we've been in the Bahamas - in fact for the first 6-7 weeks over here we didn't see a drop of rain!! It's making up for it now - but we all hunkered down and had a great day cooking, reading and watching movies!! Luckily the rain stopped long enough for Bob and Stephanie to head over in Half Note for dinner on Gypsies that night.
The next day we decided to do some serious exploring in Half Note and Hobos...it was just great to get off the boat again!! We wound up finding the coolest sand bar on the planet - now I'm not just talking about a little sand bar that you can set a couple chairs on if you're lucky, I'm talking about a series of sand bars that stretched for miles with little pools of crystal clear water running between them. Snow white sand with a tinge of pink in places rolling out before us with water so clear and in multi shades of blue that you wanted to drink it or take the Nestea plunge in it or just stare at it as if mesmerized!! But it wasn't just us humans that were spellbound - we had found doggie heaven - at least Cassie and Godiva thought so!! Cassie immediately was off fishing and actually found a big one in the nearest tidal pool and Godiva was gladly romping after her ball!! As I stood there in awe just trying to take in such beauty, I told Doug that no matter how the 50 million pictures I took came out (I tend to take a lot of pictures - thank god for digital or we'd be broke!), they could never even begin to do the place justice!!!
We walked the tidal pools for hours finding conch, starfish, sand dollars and even a stingray caught in a tidal pool (Cassie found that especially interesting!) - we were dying that there were so many empty conch shells that would have made an amazing horn (to make a horn you need a conch shell that doesn't have a hole in it which most usually do since that is how the local fisherman get the conch meat out) - but we were still in the Park which is a serious "no take zone." UGH - guess we'll have to find our conch horn shell once we leave the Park!! We never did find out what made those sand piles on the beach despite Bob's relentless digging down to find the creature that lived below...although it may have been those sea slugs we saw (actually they were five toothed sea cucumbers (I looked it up when we got back to the boat) - truly yucky looking things!) We walked the sand bars all the way up to where they met the Sound - there we found this little rocky island (at high tide) with a tree on it!!
It seemed so out of place among the virtual sand desert on the Banks side but I guess that's what makes this place so interesting - the scenery is constantly changing!!! As we headed back, we realized we might be high and dry given that the tide had gone out even further when we were exploring - what was there to do but crack open a beer and hang out for a little while? We checked out more tidal pools and the mangroves whose roots were growing in patterns like something from the Da Vinci Code!!
Soon enough we decided to brave it and with Bob leading (he has a depth sounder on his dinghy!!!), we were able to weave our way out and made it back to the boats before another passing rain shower.
Click here to see our location in Hawksbill Cay
The following day we weighed anchor again and steamed all of four miles to Shroud Cay (still part of the Park although at the northernmost tip - can you tell we really don't want to head north so we're taking our time!!) - after sitting out some biblical rain (my poor herb garden got caught out in the deluge so we'll see if it can recover), we headed out in Hobos to explore. Yet again we found a cool sand bar, anchored the dinghy and went walking through the tidal pools to several beaches, rocky outcrops and even into the mangrove swamps!
We were joined by Half Note after the dogs had played on the beach for awhile and we were back in the dinghies for more exploring. We found this great cave carved out of the moon rock which lines the shore of Shroud Cay - it is amazing to see the jagged rocky coast and the effects of the wind and waves!
We used our "looky bucket" to scope out some cool coral heads and reefs just off the coast as well - it's a great way to see the marine life when you don't want to don snorkels!
We even got to see several white tailed tropical birds flying over the hills (on Warderick Wells the outer part of the island was closed because it is their nesting season) - very majestic birds.
It was several hours before high tide, but we decided to hit the cut that goes through the mangrove swamps from one side of Shroud to the other.
We hit it about mid-tide so on the way in we had several knots of current against us - made for an interesting dinghy ride since we also had some shallow water and at times couldn't have the whole engine in the water!! But the trip was well worth it - we snaked through the island on a water trail that switched back on itself with red and black mangroves lining the waterway.
After avoiding the numerous sand bars and mangrove roots sticking out into the water, we came to a little beach over on the Sound where after braving the cut and the associated ripping current we beached the dinghies. There is a sand bar that fronts the cut so the water whips around it and into the cut causing the amazing current!
We walked the length of the beach on the Sound - Bob even found an Easter egg on the beach that still had candy in it!! We hiked up a little hill to Camp Driftwood and were treated to amazing views of the waterways cutting through the island!!
Reluctantly we headed back to the dinghies for the return trip which seemed like it only took a minute since the current was with us the whole way - we could have just killed the engine and used a paddle to steer! Very, very kewl!!!
Click here to see the cut we dinghied through
That next morning we had planned to kayak through a different mangrove cut but the weather doesn't seem to be very cooperative - it was windy with lots of waves and some storm clouds on the horizon. No worries - we made a big Sunday breakfast and we are just hanging out waiting for the front to move through. Then we headed off again up to Norman's Cay (all of five miles this time) for an afternoon of internet access and cold Kaliks at McDuffs!! There are plenty of worse ways to spend an afternoon I'm thinking (and few that sound much better)!!
Click here to see our location at Shroud Cay
Well just as we were dropping our mooring lines to set out for Norman's Cay, it started to rain - great timing, NOT!! But no worries - we have radar and it was moving pretty fast so we figured what the heh. Actually we just wanted to get a jump on the really heavy stuff...which came down pretty much as soon as we got in - we're starting to get sick of this weather Mother Nature if you can hear us (or read I guess)!!! We just got the anchors down off McDuff's Beach Bar on Norman's Cay and the windows opened (part of our arrival ritual - that and popping a cold beer) when the skies really opened up and the thunder and lightning started to rumble and flash. Unfortunately we're anchored with a couple other power boats - where's a sailboat with a good tall mast when you need one (their mast is taller than us so is a good lightning rod...)?? But all was not lost (of course) - once the rain died a little, we headed in to McDuffs for lunch with September Song and Karen and Chuck from Turtle II (who we had last seen back in December in Stuart, FL at a party at their house when Di and Steve on Aurora were staying there!! (small world!!) and their friends Barbara and Dick aboard Patriot - to our surprise and pleasure, both boats where anchored at Normans when we pulled in!! It's a great part of this life to continually be bumping into friends along the way!
Usually you can get internet access at McDuffs so we had brought in our computers (in waterproof bags of course) and after a wonderful lunch catching up with Turtle II and Patriot, we tried to get access to post blogs and get email - but the weather gods or goddesses were conspiring against us. As we were told, sometimes the clouds wreak havoc on the internet down here in the islands..... So it was and we decided to bag it after about 15 minutes and wait for another day. You really just need to learn to go with the flow if you want to live this life, especially if you are out of the US!!! But then again, that's half the fun of it anyways!!!
Click here to see our location at Norman's Cay
So yesterday morning after hearing a pretty good weather forecast (although we have come to take them with a grain of salt - pretty much like in the US), we set out for Rose Island which is up around Nassau. The current rips into Nassau harbor pretty good so you really want to hit it at either high or low tide when the current is slack - that and the fact it was a 40 mile trip wouldn't have gotten us into Nassau until about 3:30 pm so we decided to anchor out off one of the close islands for the night and then head into Nassau this morning so we would have the whole day to get stuff done at the marina. We haven't been at a marina since the last time we were in Nassau over 7 weeks ago!!! Of course just as we started to head into our anchorage off Rose Island, the thunder and lightning started to rip through the skies all around us. Now I never used to think twice about thunderstorms (in fact I kind of used to like them) but on a boat, they send shivers up your spine - when you are in a boat made of fiberglass and steel you are fully exposed to the elements and usually are the tallest thing on the open water - can you say lightning rod!! With the lightning crackling all around us yesterday, there was one good bellowing rumble of thunder that nearly sent us jumping overboard (OK not really but it sure did make my neck hairs tingle - maybe that was the electricity in the air!) Anyways, we got our anchors down and secure and retreated from our open flybridge to the relative "safety" of our enclosed salon for lunch and movies where we got to watch two shows - one outside and one inside! Sitting inside all snug with the boat kitties, we passed another biblical storm in the comfort of Gypsies - makes you really appreciate this boat!!!!
Click here to see our location at Rose Island
Anyways we woke to a sunny morning for a change (although that doesn't mean too much since the weather can change in a heartbeat down here) - we will head into Nassau Harbor around 9:00 this morning. Today will be a busy day of taking on fuel and water, provisioning and doing last minute errands to get our boats ready for the next several weeks over here in the Bahamas and then the trip across the Gulf Stream back to the States!! I'm sure we'll have a little time to play though - maybe even for some fresh cracked conch down at Tall Boy's stand in Potter's Cay!!! What can I say - I'm addicted and who knows when I'll be able to get fresh conch again once we leave the Bahamas????
Click here to see our location at the Nassau Harbor Club.
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