Still in the park
12 February 2008 | Wardrick Wells
Mike
Feb. 11... Still at the park.
Happy Birthday Carter!
Although the water here is amazing, the land is not. There are no stately palm trees that you might see in Florida, or live oaks of South Carolina and Georgia. The vegetation consists mostly of low bushes. It's thick, but nothing more that 12 feet tall. There is no topsoil. Just eroded limestone that would mean stitches if you ever lost your balance, and sand. The wind was out of the north east today at about 20 knots . Sapphire is moored in the perfect spot for anything but a west wind so we went to shore to watch the waves crash on the limestone cliffs of the Exuma Sound side of the island. About half way across the island, we began to feel salt spray in the air... we were at least 200 yards away. The waves were awesome and the blow holes way more impressive than the day before.
Later we visited some ruins of a plantation just above our anchorage... and although the place is billed as a "plantation" the foundations that remain are all about 10 by 14 so the term needs to be used loosely.
The anchorage is almost full here and no one ventured out today, partially because of the wind but the fact that is was mostly cloudy makes piloting visually almost impossible. Visual piloting is very important as there are large coral heads just beneath the surface of the water and the water can change depth very quickly. Both conditions are easier to spot if the sun is high in the sky.