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A brief rain shower went thru the anchorage just before dawn. The weather
forecast calls for SE 10-15 Kt but is seems to be blowing 20. At least the
direction is correct. I dingy in to the office to settle our bill and Jill asks
for a photo of the lady from Holland who is assisting there. They are from the
boat D’room and will be there for another year! We have brunch of oatmeal and
tropical fruit and then leave the mooring just before noon. We have a good sail
N to Hawksbill Cay, a few power boats pass us also headed N. We watch a rain
cloud build SE of us and sweep over the islands. It moves quickly and when it
hits us it is all over in 10 minutes. We anchor off the long beach to the N of
the off lying rocks and put down 2 anchors. A guy in a large inflatable comes by
and stops. He wants to know which island this is, he did not bring his guide.
His boat broke down at Shroud Cay and he dropped some passengers off at
Warderick
Wells and is checking out the coast on his way back to Shroud. After relaxing
for a while we dingy in to the beach where there is a park sign and a mailbox.
In the mailbox people have left notebooks with messages about their time in the
anchorage. Jill writes a message for us and we walk up and down the beach but
there is not path from here. We get in the dingy and head for the next beach N
and check out a few coral heads on the way. At this beach a path leads up to
some ruins of the original settlers. We find the remains of several of the
houses, stone walls 4’ hi, with some of the original plastering remaining. The
houses are about 10’ by 15’, very basic accommodations. There are more
mosquitoes on this island than at Warderick Wells and we hope the wind will keep
them in the bush tonight and not in our boat. We return to the boat and watch 2
other sailboats coming in from the sound and sailing N. We swim and shower and
then have happy hour. Jill beats me disastrously at spite and malice. At dusk a
line of clouds it to the W of us and we can see lightning but everything looks
good to the E and the sky seems to be clearing. We may be able to see a lot of
stars tonight.
It was very clear and we stayed out till 11:30 and saw several shooting stars.
Thurs? This is Friday according to Rush. :) We had a little rain coming in to Hawksbill Cay. There is a broad "hurt your eyes" white sandy beach. Rather flat. We dingied in and looked for a path : None. Sand flats and high rocks. It's very hot. We wrote in a note book in a mailbox near the Exuma Park sign. It said: "S/V Phoenix Smooth Sailing 6+ mo. in Caribbean. Jill + Rich '98". There is suntan lotion and Park info along with these little note books. We dingied around a rock point and into the next cove to see "the ruins". There are Gumbo-Limbo trees and many cacti (one poked my foot) and air plants and sisal and what looks like pineapple - maybe an air plant thought. It is so beautiful. You can see the sea from the top where the houses were. It looks like the old settlers brought these plants here. The old walls are made of shells and cement from conchs. It was late in the day and some mosquitoes came out. We have seen surprisingly few bugs but there has been scattered showers and sprinkles this month. We returned to the boat and swam. Clear bottom with some holes for a mile. White sand - clear water.
The wind continued but no storms. It was quite cool in the night and early
morning. We saw several boats going by in the morning and we pulled up our
anchor at 10 and headed N to Shroud Cay. The wind was strong, 20 Kt from the SSE
and we had a fast sail. The sky was filled with small cumulus clouds with rain
falling from a few. We anchored just after noon, it was a little rough but
livable. A powerboat was in the anchorage N of our anchorage. A little later 2
large yachts anchored just S of us and several small powerboats went past loaded
with sightseers. We thought we would check out the well here and then move a
little N to a more protected anchorage. After lunch and resting and listening to
Rush we dingied over to the small beach where there is a park sign and a
mailbox. This mailbox had several survey forms about park facilities. We carried
a water jug, bucket and rope to get water from the well. The path lead up the
steep rocks behind the small beach. Small steps had been cut in the rocks in
places to assist in the climb but it was still a struggle. At the top a wide
path thru the brush lead inland to a flat rocky area with many large ‘banana
holes’, 3-10’ holes in the ground 4-10’ deep. A little further on was the well,
just another hole a little larger than the others with a concrete rim around it.
We found a rope and bucket already there. There were a few tadpoles in the water
and it was a little brown but it tasted fresh and we filled our empty jug for
use in the sun shower. From a high point we could see a large lake in the middle
of the island and a dingy motoring thru it. We lugged our water back to the
beach and headed S to the inlet of a creek. Between several off lying rocks we
could see an area of beach behind. Entering between the rocks we found a large
pond that stretched NE into a tidal creek and mangrove area. We followed the
creek until it started getting too shallow. At one point we disturbed a large
bird sitting in a tree on a small island. I was expecting a narrow creek but the
area was open and all the vegetation was low mangroves. We could see the
powerboats and our mast from anywhere inside and also the high ridge of the
island to the E and NW. The water was crystal clear but we did not see any fish.
It was high tide and they may have been further back in the mangroves. We
returned to the boat for swimming. I scrubbed most of the growth off the bottom
of the boat, it was getting quite thick in places although other places remained
clear from the last scrubbing in the Abacos. The yachts left and we had the
anchorage to ourselves for happy hour. We split 2 games of RummyCub. The wind
decreased in the evening and the sky cleared up a lot although we could still
see rain clouds to the W and another line of clouds to the E.
I woke up at 0900. Rich was reading Shipping News. We have come to the Cistern. Right after lunch we are going to see the cistern and hike around. It is hot and breezy. The cistern path is straight up from the water. Steps are carved in the rock. Rich brought our bucket and one H2) container too (2.5 gal). The path was flat rock and nice and wide. Then we came to a banana hole or two and then there it was! A huge deep banana hole. With a smooth concrete lib - it said May 1927 in the concrete. There was already a bucker there. We can see small fish in it too - minnows. Rich tasted it - no salt! We filled up our container and walked around a bit. No more paths.
The wind came back during the night and it got a little rough. At 10 we had
the boat ready and pulled up the anchor. The wind was about 20 Kt from the SE
and we had a short fast sail to Norman’s Cay. We got there just after low tide
and crept in past a large yacht to anchor in the middle of a long beach on the W
side of the island. The yacht was anchored off a development of 3 or 4 new
houses. A small sailboat came by from the N and anchored off the houses a little
later. We listened to the NWS weather broadcast at noon and then read and napped
until 4 and then dingied in to shore. We landed next to a windsock which marked
the N end of the N runway. Roads ran down both sides of the runway and we took
the E road because it was marked on our map and also paved, the W road was just
a gravel 2 track. We walked down a lane shaded by pine trees. One side road lead
to a beach on the E side of the island. From there we could see a large white
object in the distance but could not make out what it was. At the S end of the
runway we came on 2 abandon buildings, one was for bathrooms and showers and the
other was an airport lounge. The new development was just W of this. We
continued on he E road heading S and checked out an abandoned house on the E
shore. A little further down were a group of 4 or 5 houses built on stilts, also
abandoned and gutted. Just beyond this was a pier with a large motor yacht. One
sailboat was anchored out. From here we could get a better view of the white
object we had seen earlier and it was the tail of the DC-3 that had crashed in
the lagoon. A set of stairs lead up the hill to the clubhouse, cruisers had
written their names all over. A cistern was in one corner of the patio with a
cover. Signs said that it was drinking water but another posted sign said not to
take water or leave trash but water was available at McDuffs near the airport..
At the bottom of the hill was a small service building with a sign painted on it
pointing to the dump. We continued on the road which curved W around the S end
of the island. We passed a number of wrecked cars in the undergrowth and a
number of shoddy cheap housing units (corrugated iron roof) covered by the
vegetation. and then came to the dump on the SW corner of the island. There were
piles of plastic garbage bags on one side and piles of discarded appliances on
the other side. There was even an airplane motor with a bent propeller. Beyond
the dump was the beach which was rocky but leveled off with a bulldozer to make
a road. It ran around the W side of the island back to the S runway. On this
runway we saw 2 new hangers and a small plane minus its engine. It was a short
walk back to the development where we found the bar McDuffs. It was a small
building on stilts with 3 small tables and a few more on the small patio
outside. We sat down and ordered rum and cokes and cooled off. The lady tending
the bar had lived in Boca and other places in S Florida. After a few drinks we
headed back to the dingy. The path next to the runway was shady and the
mosquitoes were out in force. We ran the last little bit and lost most of them
on the beach. A few showed up at the boat around dusk. A large line of clouds
with thunder and lightning built up to the W but the sky overhead is clear. The
wind decreased slightly in the evening to 10-15 Kt and we should have a pleasant
night.
Off to Norman's Cay. I awoke with a sore throat in the morning. (Red tonsils) ear hurts a little. Started taking ABT 500mg Ampicillin. Later in the afternoon we dingied to shore and walked to the inside bay. There are many abandoned houses and a ruined resort from early 80's. A drug ring was busted up there and there is the top and tail of a DC3 visible in the harbor! The old resort has wide steps and terraces: all overgrown now. Many of the houses and the old resort have all that shiny silver and gold wall paper. Quite a view from the resort - all the harbor and the small isles. Some one is using the dock - a huge motor yacht. Had a wheel chair sitting on the dock. We saw a McDuff's bar and grill sign. We went hunting it. There is one spot near the air strip with new ink houses and there was a tiny screened in bar, all decorated with pennants - nice deck, nice fan. A German lady (from Ft. Lauderdale) and her daughter were running it. Nice large drinks :). The owner brought his plane right to the side! There were about 10 people in that tiny place. A pizza (loaded) was $29. (I saw the sign). After we got back to Phoenix a few mosquitoes bothered us - Pic time :). I fished with sardines after seeing about a 10 - 12" fish chasing minnows - no luck. I went to bed and to sleep about 9 PM... reading Texas.
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