We launched the dinghy in 10-12 knots of wind about 0900 this morning. Wendy packed a lunch and some water while Jeff checked and loaded the Hawaiian sling, knife, anchor, and extra gas for the outboard.

Once underway we skirted the western edge of the shallow bay just north of the anchorage. This end of the harbor is mostly surrounded by eroded coral. Sharp and uninviting it looked like it might be a good place to find fish or lobster. No luck there!

We then entered the mangroves at the north end. While in a narrow channel with mangroves all around we came upon a small Loggerhead Turtle, about 1' in diameter. He didn't seem to mind us following him and he actually helped show us the way into a larger and deeper basin which opened into a bright sandy beach.

After a beach walk& picnic lunch on the Exuma Sound side of the island we headed back towards CALYPSO. As we passed over the shallow grassy patch Wendy spotted a conch. We turned around and Jeff jumped out of the dinghy and picked it up. Unfortunately, it was an endangered Queen Conch. We put it back and kept on going.

Then Wendy spotted another conch. This time it wasn't a queen. In the chilly water with his mask, Jeff could see several conchs on the bottom. Some were small with an undeveloped lip, these are called "Rollers". They are too small to harvest. We found about 12 rollers but we also found three nice sized, legal, conch for dinner!

Back aboard CALYPSO we learned we need to develop our skills at cleaning conch. This was more like hammer vs. shell. The real show came when a 5' leopard ray became interested in the bits and pieces tossed back form the cleaning.

More later, US