Down (or up) the cays
06 January 2007 | Shroud Cay
Sunny, 80F, wind S-E 5-10
Leaving Black Point Settlement with clean laundry, and a few more supplies, we headed up the cays (or is it down??). People in The Exumas don't seem to be able to agree on their orientation. We were heading north-west and so I called it up, but others call it down as it is downwind to the trades, the same way as sailing from Boston to Nova Scotia is going "down-east".
Anyway, we headed back north as we have a few days to wait for the jib that was shipped early in the week.
We set sail out of Black Point and sailed up to Cambridge Cay where we picked up a mooring (its in the Exuma Park) and settled in. There is a highly recommended snorkling site just a short dinghy ride from the anchorage that we decided to explore. Called Rocky Dundas, it is located on the edge of one of two (not surprisingly) rocky islands that lie in the middle of a cut between the banks and the sound. With the strong currents that flow through the cuts, it is best to snorkle at either high or low tide, when the current slows and changes. Fortunately for us, low tide was in late afternoon, so we headed over in the dinghy. But in spite of the slack tide, the wind was still strong enough that it was quite rough at the dive site. We motored around the island and walked on the lee shore for a while hoping for the waves to lessen, then returned.
Although they had gone down a bit, it was still quite rough, so I went in while Jeannie stayed in the dinghy. It is similar to Thunderball, with a cave you can swim into, but more and greater variety of both coral and fish. It was very nice, but as it was rough, I didn't spend much time in the water, so we headed back to the boat for supper.
Next morning we went ashore and went on a long hike on Cambridge Cay. Although it is in the Exuma Park, it is privately owned, as are a number of other cays in the park. Most privately owned ones do not permit landing, and have either homes or resorts on them. But Cambridge is still undeveloped, and landing is permitted. The cay is rugged with trails running along the ridge separating the anchorage from the Exuma Sound, so we had a great view both ways for miles.
By noon we had hoisted the main and, sliding past "Kiss Rock" on our way out, we sailed out into the Bank and headed up to Shroud Cay for the night. Arriving just at dusk, we dropped anchor with four other boats, two Canadian. With supplies running low, dinners are getting more creative. We still have some interesting appetizers (Spiced apple jelly and cream cheese on crackers), and for a main course we pulled out some frozen lamb chops we bought in Staniel. Not exactly top drawer, we turned it into a lamb curry with a nice Turkish couscous (larger than regular couscous) and pear (the last) and cheese for dessert.