We said goodbye to Sarah on Thursday, as she flew from Staniel to Nassau (with a few stops along the way) by Flamingo Air. With no set timetable, they just tell you when to be at the airport, not when the plane will be leaving. So we had quite a wait, but interesting.
After that, we did some shopping, first at The Blue Store, then at The Red Store next door. But as "the boat" had not been in on schedule, due to the holidays, there was little fresh produce. We found a cabbage, some carrots (future cole slaw), 2 oranges, 2 green peppers (one a bit soggy), onions, and sweet potatoes. So with that, boxes of UHT milk and some canned goods, we set out. No fish or meat to be found. But we expected this to be the situation, so had stocked up pretty well in Georgetown, where there is a good grocery store. So we have had good eating anyway. Last night was a chicken stir-fry with rice and beans. The wine supply is still good, but the beer inventory is beginning to dwindle.
We left Staniel about noon, and motored out into a short wet and windy squall. Then we headed up the cays. We wanted to get in to an anchorage behind a cay called Little Bell Island, but to get there we needed to cross a bank with no marks. Luckily there is a marina across it, and a large motor yacht was trying to get in, so the marina sent out a boat to show them the route, and we just followed, passing the marina and heading out across Conch Cut, where we were open to the large waves of Exuma Sound, then into the lee of Little Bell Island.
But to get into the anchorage, we had to thread our way between Kiss Rock and a reef. Kiss Rock is so named because you have to come close enough that you can lean out and kiss it. It is actually named that on the charts. With Andrew on the bow watching and giving directions, we slipped past and into the anchorage where two other boats were already anchored.
While I stayed aboard to do a few odd jobs, Andrew, Meghan and Jeannie went ashore and hiked the paths on the island, returning just as I put on the anchor light for the night. Dinner was pork chops in a soy-garlic sauce with sweet potatoes and stir-fried zucchini and onions in a cream sauce. But in the wind, the BBQ took a very long time to cook the pork. The wind here has been consistently 20-25 knots, going down at dusk for an hour or so, the back up for the night.
In the morning we motored north out of the anchorage, across O'Briens Cut and in behind Little Halls Pond Cay where we anchored. Into the dinghy we went and motored over to what is called The Sea Aquarium. Not a real aquarium, it is a small patch of coral with lots of fish, and a mini wall dive, perfect for snorkling. We snorkled for close to an hour, then back to the boat for lunch, then off to Warderick Wells. But to get to Warderick, we had to backtrack and get out onto the bank. This required us to thread our way past another narrow gap between Bell Island and the shoal.
Again with Andrew on the bow, we headed through. We have an electronic charting program that plots the boat's actual position on the charts on the screen. Usually a highly valuable tool, it is less so here, as the charts are not as accurate. So we need to use "eyeball navigation", particularly in narrow areas. And this was one. According to the charts, we needed to go west, closer to the bank, but according to Andrew, turn east. As the keel touched bottom, I threw the wheel over to push us east towards the Island and the deeper water we could clearly see. So we worked our way across to the channel using eyeball navigation. Once safely in the channel, I looked at our track, and, according to the computer, we had just crossed over the tip of the island! Safely in the channel, we hoisted sail and had a nice reach up to Warderick Wells for a couple of nights.
This is the headquarters of Exuma Land and Sea Park, and they have moorings at $20 per night. There are hiking trails ashore, and some nice snorkeling sites close by. At the far end of the island is another anchorage that is reputed to have been a favourite of pirates for hiding. We won't get there this time, perhaps later in the winter. Today we'll begin to head back towards Staniel, where Andrew and Meghan will be leaving us on Wednesday, and our new jib will, hopefully, be arriving shortly after. And if "the boat" comes in, maybe we can buy some fresh food!