April 19 Highbourne Cay, Bahamas

On April 19th we sailed over to Highbourne Cay as a stopover. We went into the marina to offload trash and onload gasoline for the dinghy. Might as well be called High Town Cay. Expensive!!
After a bank loan and a quick trip to the small market for bread, diet coke and a few bits, we settled in for a quiet night. We pulled out the spinning rods that evening and were quickly rewarded with a large snapper and a small grouper. The following AM, during morning coffee with which Ken has spoiled me rotten by making before I get up ( a real treat, I must say!!), we caught another grouper. A fish medley dinner is on the horizon, as is Allen’s Cay.












Game on!!

April 18 Warderick Wells, Exumas, Bahamas

We spent the next day continuing our exploration of Warderick Wells. We dinghied over to the end of the cay and hiked the Davis plantation, circa 1700. We could only imagine traveling across an ocean back in the day and then arriving to this arid and rocky coast, without water, power, housing or soil. We never did find out what they came here to plant. For the record, these Davis’ are of no relation. My fams went to North Carolina to plant tobacco. In the afternoon, we snorkeled some of the surrounding reefs.
Things of note. The stone wall surrounding the plantation was an enigma. A lot of work to cut and hand carry each rock. What might they be keeping out? Ken also spotted a hootia, an endangered and nocturnal furry varmint. And a floating "house".
When we reached the end of the wall, which came down to the beach, instead of going back the same way, Craig led us on a journey around the rocky coast and back to our dinghy. It was a challenging hike but with all skin, 6 wrists and 6 ankles intact at the end of it, everyone was happy.

April 17 Warderick Wells

We are spending the weekend at Warderick Wells. Ken is touching up some woodwork on the louvered cabinet doors he made for us, using wood clamps and gorilla glue that he toted down to the Bahamas.

It's not all work for him, though. Although the weather has been up and down with high winds and cold fronts, today was a spetacularly beautiful day and we spent it exploring Warderick Wells by land and sea. In the morning, we hiked up to Boo Boo Hill. We did not hear or see any of the resident ghosts but with the high winds and seas, the blow holes were very active. If you stood over them, they blew your hat off. At the top of the hill is a pile of signed and dedicated driftwood, left by cruisers who have passed through this beautiful park.

We snorkeled in the afternoon. It was very cold...a veritable ice bath to me. I have to wonder if my snorkeling days are over in this cold water. We were amazed at the size of snappers.

More exploration tomorrow...

April 16 Warderick Wells, Exuma Park, Bahamas

We left Staniel Cay and came over to Exuma Park today, arriving around 1230 in the afternoon. Winds had subsided briefly during our trip but cranked back up to 25knots just in time to catch a park mooring ball. This horseshoe-shaped field is very narrow and barely has enough room to turn the boat around. We reversed our usual mooring roles and Craig drove while I caught the ball. Thankfully, Ken was on the bow with me to help. Whew!

The front continued to build, so we had lunch and decided to just check into the park and otherwise have a relaxed afternoon on the boat.

Banana quits. Cute little birds. One in my galley. How bold is that? It flew right down the campanionway to check for crumbs and sugar on my countertops. Pristine housekeeper that I am, it found none and flew on through the boat, exiting through the forward hatch. We played with a pack of them up at the marine park office.