Thursday 7th December
Warderick Wells Cay
(Exuma land and sea park)
24 24.10 N
76 38.30W
After another rain filled night we woke early, well earlyish we feasted on a Mc’Donalds breakfast – Sausage & biscuit, which was a real treat for us both as we usually only do the toast or cereal bar thing in the morning. It was then time to set out for our next destination – The Exuma land and sea park – a short hop of 30 nautical miles. The anchor came up (eventually – Gerry had put out 100 foot of chain to make sure we didn’t drag in the night winds). We negotiated our way through a few coral heads to the first way point and then let the auto pilot take command. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the water was like a pond without a single ripple on it. We hoped that as the day progressed there might be a bit of wind and we could put up the sails – this wasn’t to be and we ended up motoring all the way – 5hrs worth of engine running. We were again surprised by the lack of other craft , it was almost as if we had the sea to ourselves – with the exception of a couple of very large stink boats that hurtled past us and disappeared off the horizon. The water was an astounding pale aqua colour
and so clear that we could see the bottom at all times. With the sun out it also created a mirror effect and we could see our anchor reflected in the water – not just a shadow but the whole perspective – it was awesome and Gerry tried to get a picture of it, it didn’t turn out too well but if you look closely you can make out the reflection in the water.
One small problem we noticed on the way was that our wind indicator wasn’t turning at all, now I know I said there was no wind but even a light puff should turn it marginally. Gerry is most concerned about this and I’m dreading that he wants to go up the mast to see if it’s working properly – hauling him up our 64’9” mast is more than I think I should have to do.
A little after 13.00hrs we called the park ranger and arranged a mooring buoy for the night as you aren’t allowed to anchor in the park, once assigned a buoy we headed into the mooring field, picked up a very clearly marked buoy and settled ourselves in. There were only 3 other boats in the park –where is everyone? We launched the dink and headed into the ranger’s office where we paid our fee - $20 per night plus $10 for wireless internet use for 24hrs, picked up some information sheets and maps and then we headed back out to the boat to see if we could get on the internet – Yes! We could pick it up from the mooring so we caught up with emails and I wrote the blog notes.
The wind indicator is turning again now that we are actually having a bit of wind – hopefully I’ll get a reprieve on the hauling Gerry up the mast stuff!
Dinner, showers and bed completed the day. We decided that we would probably spend 2 days here as there is a front coming through which is meant to have 35knot wind
s and we don’t need to be out in that. Picture right - us at anchor.
(Exuma land and sea park)
24 24.10 N
76 38.30W
After another rain filled night we woke early, well earlyish we feasted on a Mc’Donalds breakfast – Sausage & biscuit, which was a real treat for us both as we usually only do the toast or cereal bar thing in the morning. It was then time to set out for our next destination – The Exuma land and sea park – a short hop of 30 nautical miles. The anchor came up (eventually – Gerry had put out 100 foot of chain to make sure we didn’t drag in the night winds). We negotiated our way through a few coral heads to the first way point and then let the auto pilot take command. There wasn’t a breath of wind and the water was like a pond without a single ripple on it. We hoped that as the day progressed there might be a bit of wind and we could put up the sails – this wasn’t to be and we ended up motoring all the way – 5hrs worth of engine running. We were again surprised by the lack of other craft , it was almost as if we had the sea to ourselves – with the exception of a couple of very large stink boats that hurtled past us and disappeared off the horizon. The water was an astounding pale aqua colour
and so clear that we could see the bottom at all times. With the sun out it also created a mirror effect and we could see our anchor reflected in the water – not just a shadow but the whole perspective – it was awesome and Gerry tried to get a picture of it, it didn’t turn out too well but if you look closely you can make out the reflection in the water.One small problem we noticed on the way was that our wind indicator wasn’t turning at all, now I know I said there was no wind but even a light puff should turn it marginally. Gerry is most concerned about this and I’m dreading that he wants to go up the mast to see if it’s working properly – hauling him up our 64’9” mast is more than I think I should have to do.
A little after 13.00hrs we called the park ranger and arranged a mooring buoy for the night as you aren’t allowed to anchor in the park, once assigned a buoy we headed into the mooring field, picked up a very clearly marked buoy and settled ourselves in. There were only 3 other boats in the park –where is everyone? We launched the dink and headed into the ranger’s office where we paid our fee - $20 per night plus $10 for wireless internet use for 24hrs, picked up some information sheets and maps and then we headed back out to the boat to see if we could get on the internet – Yes! We could pick it up from the mooring so we caught up with emails and I wrote the blog notes.
The wind indicator is turning again now that we are actually having a bit of wind – hopefully I’ll get a reprieve on the hauling Gerry up the mast stuff!
Dinner, showers and bed completed the day. We decided that we would probably spend 2 days here as there is a front coming through which is meant to have 35knot wind
s and we don’t need to be out in that. Picture right - us at anchor.Labels: Bahamas
posted by SV Orpailleur at 1:41 p.m.
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