We left Nassau on Friday about noon. The winds were still a bit strong and from a bad direction, but we needed to get to a quiet anchorage and on our way south finally. We made it to the Rose Island anchorage and were the only boat there for most of the day. Only one other boat came in the night. We had a very peaceful sleep as the winds clocked from the NNW to the N, and finally around to the NE throughout the night.
We woke up on Saturday and followed the routine of coffee, Parker's weather forecast on the single sideband radio, and then breakfast before motoring out through the coral heads headed south about 9 am. The sail ended up being quite good. The wind was a bit too close to the direction we were headed but it picked up enough to allow us to sail most of the way to Shroud Cay in the Exumas park. We arrived in the Shroud west anchorage about 4:30 pm and settled in for another night at anchor.
Sunday we decided to explore some of the mangrove lined tidal creeks that lace the interior of the cay. The picture included with this update is one of the interior beached just inside one of the creeks. We took the dinghy up to the north end of the island to explore the shallow tidal creek that extends from the banks side to the ocean side of the cay. We ended up making it to the ocean beach on the east side and climbed up to Camp Driftwood. The camp is where the CIA had a covert observation post monitoring the drug running that was going on over at Normans Cay during the 1970's. The camp was originally an encampment setup earlier by a lone sailor who sailed his small boat into the tidal creek and then lived alone on the island for many years.
Monday we decided to head further south and so we made our way to Warderick Wells. Warderick is the main park headquarters cay for the Exumas Land and Sea Park. It is also one of the most sought after cays to visit. It has a couple of very protected mooring fields and the island has several hiking trails. We made it to Warderick fairly early in the morning since we heard on Parker's morning weather update that there was a squall line working east from the Florida straights. So we wanted to be secured in a protected anchorage before they hit. We made it before lunch time and were able to do a short hike before returning to the boat for lunch. After lunch we wanted to hike to the ocean side and were already in the dinghy when some light/moderate rain came thru. Undaunted, we continued anyway and climbed thru the mangroves and up Hutia hill and over to the beach before ascending Boo Boo Hill. And then.....we looked out to the NW. Black clouds and grey sheets of rain lined the horizon. The short way back was to descend and then wade across the tidal creek back to the park headquarters. We made it to te dinghy as heavy rains and wild winds struck. The anchorage was a sea of white water and the rain stung our faces as we motored back to the boat. Needless to say, we were pretty much soaked thru but it was worth the short exploration. The storm lasted about an hour before calming down. Yeah, Parker was correct - the squall line would be coming thru as forecast!