3/8/16 -3/9/16 Shroud Cay 24 32.065N 76 47.926W 16.9NM
With fewer boats at Allans Cays Monday evening, we watched the sun
set, unobstructed, behind the clouds on the Exuma Bank. The wind
continued to whistle in the rigging all night, as we rocked in the
current. It might have been smoother if we'd reanchored on the
other side of the sandbank after some of the boats had departed, but
it was easier to stay put.
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Sunset at Allans Cays |
An 'oh shit' from Leonard as we started to take in the anchor proved
worthy of phrase. The gears on the windlass broke when he stepped
on the up button. No, we don't carry a spare, and we won't be
getting a replacement in the Bahamas. Although the Bahamas have no
income tax, everything imported into the country is taxed (VAT), and
in this case 40%, to say nothing of the paperwork, shipping and
logistics. Luckily the windlass can be used with a winch handle,
not ideal, but considerably easier on an aging back than hauling by
hand (60' 5/16" chain and 35# of anchor). It's less of a problem in
the Bahamas since we usually anchor in fairly shallow water
(10'-12') and we can motor toward the anchor as we pick it up.
We'll need to make sure the anchor is well set to avoid any midnight
Chinese fire drills, at which time it could present a bigger
problem.
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White caps on the bank, looking toward the marina on Highborne Cay as we sailed past |
The wind showed no sign of easing back, blowing steadily around
20kts with a few gusty periods. We ran out a bit of the jib once we
cleared the shoals and had a fast, somewhat salty, sail down to
Shroud Cay. It would be great if we could stay tucked close to the
chain of cays, but the Exuma bank has numerous shoals extending W,
some distance out into the bank, and the cays bend a bit to the SE
toward Georgetown on Great Exuma Cay, the Jumentos and eventually
Cuba. Reaching was great - we were doing between 6-7kts, but after
clearing Norman Cay Spit (2.5NM out), the course to Shroud was more
to windward, and with several miles of fetch and shoal water, we had
short, choppy 2' seas that occasionally splashed on deck. So much
for our salt free decks, a quick rain shower would have been
appreciated, but although there were clouds, no rain appeared.
Wiping helped, but didn't remove all of the salt, and we don't carry
enough fresh water to wash the boat. We joined a fleet of vessels
either on the park moorings or anchored at the deeper of the Shroud
Cay anchorages. Two of the anchorages are charted as shoal with
less than 1.5meters, great for multihulls and trawlers, but a bit
iffier for deeper drafts.
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Panoramic view looking at Shroud Cay and anchorage from a cay by the sand spit (entrance to the creek to beach is upper left) |
After lunch, we headed ashore in the dinghy, hoping to go to the
beach on the sound via one of the creeks that flow through Shroud
Cay. Unfortunately, it was new moon, and we'd arrived at low tide,
we didn't make it past the sand bar close to the entrance. Instead
we walked along a sand spit to several little cays before it
disappeared as the tide rose. By the time we finished our dinghy
ride, we were salty and in need of a quick rinse.
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Lynnea walking on the sand spit - we watched a dinghy motor across at high tide |
The wind clocked another 20 degrees overnight (into the SE) , and
continued to blow, and not forecast to abate until the weekend.
With more fetch, the boat danced and bobbed all night as we listened
to the sound of the trade winds moaning in the rigging. We
considered moving, but opted to wait for a day since we weren't in a
hurry - crossing the Wide Opening would be messy in these
conditions. The wind backed into the E again by evening on
Wednesday and picked up a bit. One monohull ventured into one of
the 'skinny' anchorages during the day to avoid the swell and we
wondered if it would be any calmer.
We've been enjoying the beautiful, clear waters in the Bahamas.
The colors are varied and vivid. Unfortunately photos, ours at
least, don't do them justice. Much of the ICW looks like root
beer due to the amount of tannin in the water, akin to bad
coffee. Here, with some practice, the water depths can be
judged by color and help to avoid grounding on a sand bar or
coral in good light. The darker the blue, the deeper the water,
green usually indicates a grassy bottom, the darker the color,
the deeper - white or brown and you're in trouble, while black
indicates a coral head, best avoided. We listened to a vessel
that misjudged the depths going into the N harbor at Warderick
Wells and stopped short. I suspect they met a lot of new
friends by the time they got to their mooring (sailors are a
helpful bunch). It's a narrow, winding channel into the
moorings, dodging moored boats and the banks that go dry on
either side at low water. When the current's running, it can be
difficult to pick up the mooring lines. We've had problems and
watched others struggle as well over the years.
Looking on the brighter side, with all the wind, bugs aren't an
issue, neither is power. We've had to shut down the wind
generator to keep from over charging the batteries - it's
earning its keep! After shutting the wind generator off much of
the day, we were only down 11 amp hours. Amazing what 20kts of
wind and some sun can do. If we were connected, we could sell
power to the grid. Meanwhile, we'll bob and weave, wishing for
a tad less wind. Leonard commented these conditions are like
what we encountered 2 years ago in Marathon when we missed a
weather window by days. It blew out of the E for over a month,
20 + kts, nonstop, and folks waited in Marathon until April
before crossing the gulf stream. Today, on his weather
broadcast, Chris Parker predicted 8'-9' seas in the gulf stream,
hardly anyone's idea of a good time, no matter which way you're
headed.
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Tropic birds |
It's spring, and we watched as the white-tailed tropic birds
performed their ritual mating flights overhead. We were alerted to
their presence by their calls. They're beautiful, with long tails,
about half their body length (some 30" overall), and their
undersides reflecting the turquoise of the water. They nest on
several of the cays in the park from February thru August and are
considered vulnerable to extinction, 2,000 - 3,000 pair down from
10,000 pair 20 years ago (approximately 500 pair breed in the
Bahamas). Breeding begins at about 4 years, and pairs lay a single
egg in nests in cavities and on the cliffs. They rarely come to land
except to breed and, with legs well back on their bodies, have
trouble walking on land They are members of the pelican family,
diving head first into the water after small fish and squid. Air
sacks in their necks break the impact of the dive. Like pelicans,
they swallow their catch before resuming flight. Getting the camera
to focus on them can be difficult, even on shore, much less from a
constantly moving platform. Leonard did a great job!
3/10/16 24 29.036N 76 46.391W Hawksbill Cay 4.7NM
We headed for the beach a bit before high tide to have enough water
to clear all the sand bars in the creek, crossing the sand spit near
the boat with no problem. We opted to stop by the longer beach, S
of Camp Driftwood, anchoring the dinghy in ankle deep water and
wading ashore behind the beach. The surf was crashing onto the
rocks and beach, and we were glad we wouldn't need to attempt to
beach a dinghy in the surf. With the tide still rising, we had
over an hour before we'd need to think about rescuing the dinghy,
enjoying having the beach to ourselves. Unfortunately, as is
frequently the case, there was more trash than shells on the beach,
and we helped the cause by picking up a bit, adding to the pile
gathered under a tree.
With plenty of water in the creek, we dinghied over to check out
Camp Driftwood, reportedly built a hermit, a bit further N. Our day
could have been a lot more exciting, but thankfully wasn't. The
creek empties into the sound at Camp Driftwood, a narrow cut that
packs a lot of current. As we approached, it wasn't clear which way
the current was flowing, but became very obvious when we slowed to
make a turn onto the beach just up the creek - it was flowing out,
probably over 3kts. Dinghies can be tricky to maneuver, especially
in current, and as we turned, we were carried toward some sharp
rocks and would have been taken out to sea (same waves we'd been
glad we weren't trying to time to land a dinghy). Fortunately the
outboard didn't stall, but it took full throttle to get us headed
back in the right direction. Visiting Camp Driftwood no longer seem
like such a great idea.
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Surf rolling in from the Exuma Sound at Shroud Cay |
Instead, we explored the creek system. The mangrove swamp which
pretty much fills the interior, serves as a nursery for many species
of fish, and over the years, we've seen small sharks swimming
alongside the dinghy. The chart indicated another entrance at the N
end of the furthest anchorage that we've never tried. After a few
'S' curves, with no visual indication as to how the creek would get
past some small bits of higher ground, we exited onto the bank, the
creek much deeper than the one by the boat. We checked out the
other anchorages (calmer than ours) as we tucked in along the lee
shore. By the time we got back, the sand spit was too shallow to
cross, and the more circuitous route around the small cays made for
a longer run into the waves to get back to the boat. I was drenched
by the time we arrived.
Looking at the chart, the deeper anchorage at the S end of Hawksbill
Cay wouldn't offer any more protection than where we were, but it
would be different, and about 5NM closer to Warderick Wells, the
park headquarters. We debated sailing, but since half the distance
would be to windward, we just motored (neither wind generator nor
solar panel makes hot water, running the engine does). We did a
short 180 when the depth by a shoal read less than charted to avoid
'finding the bottom' not a good idea on a falling tide. As we
approached Hawksbill, we noticed a large yacht and numerous sail
boats with drafts comparable to ours, anchored in the more protected
anchorage along the W side of the cay, with a charted approach of
1.4 meters, just under 5', (we never saw less than 7'). We decided
to do a slow approach to see how far in we could get, and were
surprised to find enough depth and slightly deeper water as we
closer to shore, so we joined the fleet, with about a foot of water
under the keel at low tide. The anchorage was closer to a beach and
the trail head to the trail over to the sound, with less fetch and
hopefully less swell.
After lunch we set about removing some of the salt accumulation from
the deck and stanchions, and wiping the hull. With less wind and
wave action it was a bit easier to do. The wind dropped back into
the low teens for part of the afternoon, only to build back up to 20
after dark, giving us the opportunity to see how much protection, if
any, this anchorage provided. It was much better.
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Hawksbill Anchorage |
Friday morning we headed ashore. We've never hiked the trail to the
beach at the N end of the island, so we took a left at the fork. We
still didn't reach the beach. The trail petered out with an
alternative of skirting the cliffs overlooking the sound. With the
waves breaking just below, I wasn't a happy camper, so we headed
back. By the time we got to the trail overlooking the beach to the
S, a dark cloud, threatening rain was approaching from the SE. One
shower had just missed us, but this one wouldn't. We didn't mind
getting wet, but the ports were open on the boat, and, with the
memory of the recent deluge in Nassau, we headed back to the boat,
we could always go back ashore once the weather cleared up. It did
rain, but not much.
We went ashore in the afternoon at low tide, and met Larry and Lynn,
folks who'd been the host boat at the moorings at Cambridge Cay
(another of our favorite stops). I took a long walk on the beach
while Leonard found some shade. He'd stopped to look at a piece of
interesting flostom that had washed ashore well above the high tide
mark. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it might have been
part of a rocket, with a thick layer of aluminum honeycomb material
under a skin of fiberglass. It remains a mystery.
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Not sure what this is - Perhaps parts of a rocket booster |
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Detail of Aluminum honey comb and fiber glass exterior |
We'd just gotten back to the boat when a neighbor dinghied over to
invite us to join a group on the beach to watch the sun set. We
joined them and got to met some of our neighbors. The main topic
was the recent winds, which have been keeping folks at anchor - a
case of too much of a good thing. While many are returning to the
states, we did meet a few that we'll likely see again as we head S.
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