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| Leaving Nassau Harbor on Tuesday morning you can see one of two bridges crossing from Nassau to Paradise Island. Our marina where we cleared Customs was on the left but we spent Monday walking over the bridge to enjoy Paradise Island for the day. |
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| Can you guess what this is? It is a "lookie" bucket view of our Rocna anchor buried in the sandy bottom on the west side of Highborne Cay where we stayed on Tues. night. The lookie bucket is a 4 gal plastic bucket that we cut the bottom out of and caulked in a clear plexiglass bottom. We can hold it under the water's surface and clearly see if our anchor is in a good spot and buried to hold for the night. Our day's route took us south over the White Banks which were more free of coral heads versus the more direct route over the Yellow Banks. We chose that route due to 20kt east winds blowing mostly on our nose and clouds rolling over the sky making it impossible to "read" the water to check if a coral head was in our path. It was a tough travel day but we made it safe and sound. |
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| After some chart and trip planning, we decided we are beginning a new phase of our trip as we explore the Exuma Islands. We decided to move south at our own pace and explore as we go much like we did traveling down the ICW. If we miss a place, we'll have a chance to visit it on the way back north in the spring. So Thursday we traveled on to Norman Cay and anchored on the north west shore by a beautiful beach/inlet and sandbar. All of the colors of the water were spectacular as we dinghied around Norman and Saddle Cays. |
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| Friday we anchored all alone off the western shore of Hawksbill Cay. It is part of the Exuma Land & Sea Park so we enjoyed the beautiful beach and explored a lagoon leading us on a trail hike to the Sound (ocean) side of the cay. There's our dinghy and Priority anchored in the background. |
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| Jay led us along the trail on Hawksbill Cay following the cairns, stacked piles of rocks to indicate the correct path, from the Exuma Banks where we were anchored across to the Exuma Sound on the Ocean side of the Island. |
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| Finished our hike and headed back to the boat for showers and dinner before dark. It was the darkest night we have seen so far with no moon, no shore lights, no other boats in sight but there were millions of stars. Even the little stars looked bright! |
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| Today, Sat., we came to Warderick Wells Cay which is home to the headquarters for the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. It is a large horseshoe shaped anchorage of dark blue deeper water surrounded by the white sand and lighter color blue waters. The Park has mooring balls that you call to reserve ahead of time. There are about 15 or so boats staying here. We snorkeled on the coral reef and hiked over a few trails on the Cay this afternoon. |
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| Priority is the boat on the left mooring ball # 20. The Park warden invited all the boaters to gather for a Christmas Pot Luck Meal tomorrow at his residence, Peggy Hall, on the Cay. It will be a fun opportunity to meet the other cruisers. |
