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| Winds from the SE let us sail from Long Island back to George Town on Feb 5. Monday we filled our water tanks, washed our salty laundry, checked email and grocery shopped for some fruit. The weather forecasted good sailing through the week so we decided to take advantage of it and sail to Conception Island on Tuesday. |
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Lucky us to have SE winds to blow us out of George Town and towards Conception Island, an Exuma sea/land Park where you may take only photos and leave only footprints. Conception is a uninhabited four mile wide island a day’s sail east of George Town. It offers a protected anchorage for mild east winds only so boats usually visit during good weather windows. Jay enjoyed the 6kt sail as he peeks up at the wind tells on the genoa to be sure it is trimmed for maximum power. |
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Water swishes by as we sail along. Look at those trimmed sails! There was even a sailboat going our way for us to race. A happy Captain is Jay! |
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Priority joined 5 other boats to anchor on the west side of Conception Island. We carefully avoided the rocky reefs to anchor close to the beautiful white beach. Norma snorkeled to check the anchor and be sure it dug in sand to hold us securely. It did. |
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We dinghied ashore for a walk to feel the white fine sand. There was little debris washed up on the shore since the beach is on the west side of the island. We also snorkeled on the rocky reefs along the shores to find some coral and fishes. |
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Wed. morning we awoke to stormy clouds in the west and southern skies. Although the forecast was a good one, there was a chance of squalls as these past us by to the south. The dark skies and clouds were impressive and a rainbow even appeared among them. |
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The skies cleared and ashore we went to follow trails to a beach cove on the east side of Conception. We found these interesting tree roots as we explored one beach. |
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The several mile long trail along the east side of Conception Island goes high over the rocky cliffs and down on the beaches. The ocean breeze feels cool. |
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An entrance on the south side of the island lets the dinghy into shallow water ways through a large mangrove area. Turtles, rays, small sharks and birds call this area home as the mangroves provide shelter. We quietly rowed to make less noise than using the outboard which scared the creatures away. The mangrove roots grow like limbs reaching out to plant new roots. |
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Walking along a southern beach we found a trail leading to some ruins. Jay is standing by one of five small square stone structures that appear to the remnants of a former settlement. We did not find them mentioned in the guides. |
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| We enjoyed exploring Conception Island. With a weather front forecast for Sat. and Sun. we had a beautiful sail back to George Town on Friday. George Town and Elizabeth Harbor offer more protected anchorages and are good departure points for the outer islands we have been visiting like Long Island, Conception Island and the Jumentos. |
