It felt like coming home when we pulled into the mooring field at Emerald Rock, Warderick Wells, in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We stayed here in early Feb of 2008 - in company with Princess (Steve and Sandra) and Sapphire (Cathy and Mike). We miss them this time but were delighted to see Oz (Ken and Connie), Star of the Sea (Peaches and Chris) here, and Katmandu (Stephen and Nathalie with Sabrina, Stephanie and Francis) pulled in on Wednesday. There are only a few boats at Emerald Rock and the wind has been blowing since we got here.

We came in for a couple of days and stayed a couple more. The wind has been blowing non stop and this is as good a place as any to hang out. This park covers 176 square miles and encompasses coral reefs, trails (some of them over rugged rocks), beautiful beaches and vistas beyond compare. It is a no take zone - including both what's in the water and what's on land, so no fishing or shelling, but the sea creatures seem to know they are safe so the snorkelling is great! The headquarters is here at Warderick Wells and there are several mooring fields. Other cays - Shroud, Cambridge particularly - also have moorings and are wonderful to visit.

Jim and I took a walk over to the far side of the island on Thursday where it was much warmer. I remember when we first took that trail in 2008 and were so amazed to see the ruins of houses from the days when the Loyalists tried to set up farms here. There are several small house-shaped foundation walls scattered amongst the rock and scrub foliage. Once again, I cannot imagine the consternation that must have faced settlers trying to move themselves from the fertile lands of the Carolinas to these rocky islands. The view is drop-dead gorgeous, but the idea of raising crops or establishing any kind of fine life is unimaginable.

Happy Hour found us onboard Oz with the Katmandu gang for Dark'n'Stormies and laughs and stories. What great kids those Katmandus are!

The wind dropped on Friday morning and this afternoon we are off to snorkel and swim and do all those things we like to do here. Lots of boats left - and at noon, Madcap was the only boat at Emerald Rock. I doubt that will last! We'll head to Staniel Cay tomorrow I believe. We have company coming on Tuesday, and we'll bring them back up here.