The End of the Line?
19 February 2012 | Hog Cay, Ragged Islands
Jill
Late this morning we motored 10 miles southeast to Hog Cay. We did put out the jib, but only for a mile or so. When we realized we'd have to furl it at the first waypoint which was only about a quarter of a mile away, we started the engine back up and furled it. There are only two cays more in this chain, Ragged Island and Little Ragged Island. If the weather forecast holds, we will stay in this anchorage and visit Ragged Island and the only town in this chain by dinghy.
We're anchored in another beautiful bay, with another beautiful crescent beach. There are two areas along the west side of this island where boats anchor. Just north or where we are is an anchorage called Middle Pen. It's the most popular anchorage here and has some protection from the northwest and west from some shoals. There were already 10 boats anchored there when we arrived. We, and the three boats that traveled down from Raccoon Cay with us, all anchored just south of Lobster Point. We're the only boats in this area, which has a bit of protection from the north, but not much. Since the weather forecast says the wind will stay under 10 knots until it moves east of north, we should be fine here.
The area behind the beach is very pretty and very different. It's flat land with a mix of sand, flat rock just under the surface, and a variety of scattered bushes. The sand and rock form natural paths among the bushes and the whole area gives the impression of a park. I'll add the picture I took of this to this entry when I get Internet again.
We took Fuzzy ashore twice, once not long after we got here, in mid-afternoon, and again after he was fed. We tried to get him to walk around in the hopes that he'll then sleep through the night. He slept for the two hours coming down and another hour while we set the boat back up at anchor. Then he slept again between his afternoon walk and when we gave him supper at five. His days and nights seem to be getting flipped, and we'd like to get him back on schedule. We'll see if the extra walk helps.
This beach has starfish. I don't know why this one does when we haven't seen any on any of the other islands in this chain. I took a picture of one of the small ones that was in about 6 inches of water at the edge of the beach. There are also a few of the large starfish, they are about a foot across and much thicker, but I didn't get a picture. Again, I'll add a couple of more pictures to the gallery when we get back to relative civilization.