Catching up

We stayed anchored on the south end of Norman's Cay Sunday-Tuesday nights. Norman's Cay is best known for its history as the base of a major drug smuggling operation, although the only evidence that remains today are bullet holes in buildings and a smuggling plane resting in the shallow anchorage near us.

There is so much beauty around the anchorage to enjoy and so many areas to explore, it quickly became one of our favorite anchorages in the Exumas. As in the rest of the Exumas, you can't imagine more beautiful water - one can sit for hours and just gaze in awe at God's amazing creation.

We wandered the sand flats at low tide in search of shells and explored to our hearts' content. Several 4-5' rays spent the afternoon lying in the sand next to our boat, occasionally swimming off gracefully to return later. We enjoyed conversation with other boaters and invited Ed and Ann on Windswept Dreams over for drinks and appetizers.

Wednesday at Shroud Cay brought rain - a much needed shower for Lena Bea and the perfect opportunity for her captain and admiral to get caught up on indoor chores. I made yogurt, baked bread and granola bars, cleaned out and reorganized the frig, etc. It cleared up in time for Chris and Candace (on Juniper) to come over for attitude adjustment hour at 5:00. Thursday afternoon as the tide was rising we took the dinghy up a windy, shallow creek to a beach on the east side of the island. We climbed up to Camp Driftwood for a lovely panoramic view of the area.


Shroud Cay is on the northern end of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, where we like to spend a lot of time hiking, snorkeling, and enjoying the pristine, unspoiled beauty of the place. There are strict regulations to ensure that it stays that way, and hunting and fishing are prohibited. We had planned to slowly mosey our way through the Park and down south, then blast up north at the end of our stay in the Bahamas, but the Exuma Park will have to wait due to a change of plans...

We've kept in touch with Bruce and Marilyn Conklin aboard Reflection since leaving home; they are also in the Exumas and live in Punta Gorda as well. They've been awaiting a weather window to head down to the Ragged Islands. The night before last they sent us an email from Black Point saying the weather wasn't cooperating yet (Marilyn likes it really calm), so Wayne and I decided to skip on down to visit them today. We are en route as I write this. It's about a 36 mile trip and we're making good time in very favorable winds. We'll probably spend a few days in Blackpoint, which is the second largest settlement in the Exumas (after Georgetown), then continue further south for awhile before heading north to catch what we skipped over on our way down.

Bruce and Marilyn coordinate Operation Bahamas Project - they collect books and school supplies and recruit boaters to deliver them to schools in the Bahamas. This year's efforts resulted in over 700 boxes of books and supplies being delivered by 50+ boats. We have 17 boxes aboard Lena Bea for delivery to the school in Black Point.

Another reason it might be a good idea to head south now is the hope of warmer temperatures for snorkeling. We've had gorgeous weather, but the temperature has been in the 70's - not warm enough to inspire us to go in the water. Of course, we wouldn't have missed snorkeling in the Exuma Park, regardless of temperature, but two weeks later into spring might make a difference.