And another beautiful anchorage...

Ok, so I am writing this post as we lie at anchor between Hog Cay and Warderick Wells in the northern Exumas. It’s not getting posted today because there is no reception up here in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. 

Initially we intended to stay here just one night, but the anchorage is as beautiful, calm, and quiet as any we have seen so far on this voyage. The group of tiny islands that ring the anchorage provide protection from all wind and sea directions except south. In fact, the place looks like I imagine a South Pacific atoll does: palm trees, sun-baked low islands, and a sense that there isn’t really anyone around for miles and miles. Last night the stars were outrageously bright with not much of a moon and no sky glow because there are no nearby settlements.

Moss is cooling her jets on Mr. Flowerpot.

Rather than hustle along (there will be ample opportunity for that in the coming months) we are slowing way, way down. Two nights here was the plan, but the Park wardens came by this morning to tell us anchoring was not allowed in this spot because of the rare stromatolites (a kind of coral) in the area. We know we are anchored in sand, surrounded by sand, and nowhere near stromatolites of any sort, but it’s their park. So we will be moving up to Hawksbill Cay later today.

In the meantime, we have been enjoying our leisurely tour northward. Earlier this week we stayed two nights at The Mice, a skinny slot between Wild Tamarind Cay and three dots of scrub-covered land just to the south and west of Thomas Cay. 

We tried to spear our last lobster in the Bahamas while we were there because the lobster season closes at the end of March. Could not rustle up a lobster, but I did manage to get a lionfish big enough for Ellen to risk the poisonous spines. It was the first fish she filleted and she is not all that eager to do it again. So I’ve hung up my spear – for the rest of the trip I’ll be a tourist, not a hunter under water.

Fearless hunter trying out the trident spear tip.

Getting the lionfish was no easy task. It was hidden in a little cave inside a coral head, and to position myself to spear it, I had to turn my back on the 4’ barracuda that was eyeballing me the whole time. I know they are not supposed to be aggressive, but those barracuda look like they mean business. The lionfish wasn’t all that cooperative either, but in the end I got it. I had switched spear tips after the fiasco trying to get that lobster back at Galliot Cut. This time I used the triple tip and it worked like a charm. Well, it worked out for me. Not so much for the lionfish.

Lionfish. (Pterois volitans). The dorsal, ventral, and anal fin spines are venomous.

We continue to be awed by the colors of the water here. Yesterday we went a few miles offshore to find water deep enough to justify trolling a fishing line. We were rewarded not with a fish (of course) but with the spectacle of the water color changing from the crystal clear turquoise of the shallows on through the spectrum to the sparkling indigo of the deep deep water. Visibility while snorkeling has been fabulous lately…we are able to see at least 200’ under water.

At The Mice, we dinghied up to the beach on Thomas Cay and walked to one of our favorite spots in the Bahamas - Button Beach on the cut between Thomas Cay and Joe Cay. This beach has magnificent views and for some reason is replete with little coral beads that have eroded with holes in them. We’ve seen none of these beads anywhere else, but at Button Beach we find them by the dozens.

This is the thing, each of our anchorages is perfectly gorgeous. This one is Button Beach at Thomas Cay.

Yesterday we explored a little bit of the southern end of Warderick Wells. There was a sign pointing to a “Pirate’s Lair” and it led us to a spot inland where there is a natural freshwater well and a stand of palm trees. The signs there informed us that the anchorage where Cupcake was lying at anchor was used as a hidden retreat for pirate ships because of the same weather protection and seclusion from passing vessels we are enjoying. Additionally, the pirates came ashore for fresh water from the well. The theory is that the pirate sleeping mats brought seeds from foreign plants and that is why the plants in the area around the well are of a sort not typically found in the Bahamas.

Hanging out by the pirate well.

Lately we have been seeing fewer sharks and more green turtles. This change is comforting when we are in the water. 

There is a curious cave/tunnel leading through the cay to the east of us to the Exuma Sound. We thought about swimming through the tunnel but as the swell came through from the Sound it pushed a lot of water with it each time. Seemed like a bad idea to willingly swim into a maelstrom.

Cupcake at anchor at gorgeous Hog Cay.

Shark sucker (Echeneis naucrates). Look how the top of its head looks like a sneaker.