Saturday-Tuesday, April 23-26, 2016 – Mooring Drills

The Bahamians commitment to preserving their natural paradise is epitomized by the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. It begins at Wax Cay, the island south of Highborne, and incorporates the next 22 miles of Exuma Islands. The park stretches for 4 miles on either side of the cays and is a “no take” zone. There is no fishing, conching, shelling, lobstering, or any other harvesting permitted within these boundaries.

We departed Highborne at 10:30 with Shroud Cay as our destination – 12 miles south inside the Exuma Park. 30 minutes into our cruise, we were surprised to be hailed on the VHF – “Lady J” . . . this is the “Pegasus”. We responded to learn that the sailors we met at Highborne (Tom Decker and Nancy Wong and crew from Washington and Portland) were also at Shroud and were going to spend another night. They confirmed that moorings were available and they would save us one.

We attempted to sail but found the winds from the SE and resigned ourselves to once again motor sail. We arrived at the Shroud Cay mooring field at 2:00 and made a circus of what should have been a normal mooring pickup. However, we had no idea what type of mooring this would be. So we set up to do our standard procedure – me at the helm and Judy with the boat hook to grab the mooring. WELL – she was successful at catching the short line attached to the mooring buoy BUT the helmsman was not being helpful – resulting in Judy sacrificing the boat hook that became attached to the mooring line – rather than sacrificing her recent right shoulder surgery. So we regrouped and grabbed our 2nd boat hook. I backed the “Lady J” to the mooring and easily grabbed the mooring line – BUT now what do I do as the wind and current carry us away from the mooring – WELL I do not think I can adequately describe the ensuing process. Suffice it to say, we finally were successful at securing the mooring AND not sustaining personal injury – certainly a BOZO moment! Fortunately, the crew of the Pegasus was off exploring the beauty of Shroud Cay and did not witness our embarrassing arrival – though we were very descriptive to them during the happy hour invite to their boat (non stop gin and tonics from the galley).

Judy and I explored the fascinating shallow and colorful bay across from our mooring, marveling at the beauty of just one more of nature’s gems.

At 9:00 on Sunday morning, we listened to the Exuma Park service VHF broadcast and were pleasantly surprised to learn we could get a mooring at Warderwick Wells later that day. So we decided to defer our Shroud Cay exploration until our return and set sail for Warderwick – about 15 miles south.

We had a great one hour sail on our way and arrived at Warderwick around 1:00 to pick up mooring #7, right next to “Pegasus”. Now that we understand the mooring system, Judy and I decided SHE should be at the helm and I was assigned to the bow with the boat hook.

WELL - we executed THE perfect mooring pickup in front of the entire “Pegasus” crew. . . . BUT as I was attaching the mooring line – being very proud of our accomplishment, the crew of “Pegasus” shouted that our boat hook was floating away from us???? I really thought they were joking until I looked around and the boat hook was nowhere to be found???? The event was aptly described over drinks later that evening – I was grabbing a mooring line with one hand and simultaneously fish spearing behind me with the boat hook in the other!

Our friends quickly launched their dinghy and retrieved our floating boat hook. So we invited their entire crew of six to Happy Hour on the “Lady J” at 6:00 for those bottomless gin and tonics.

A major component of cruising is the very fascinating people you meet on your adventure – and those that are sailing seem to have some of the most interesting tales. The crew of “Pegasus” included Tom – a former aid to Senator Mark Hatfield from Oregon, Paul, the owner of a successful retail business in Portland, Oregon, and Dave, a geriatric physician for Kaiser Permenante, who had some interesting thoughts about ObamaCare.

Warderwick Wells – I remember it from our family trip to the Exumas on “TopTimes” some 12 years ago – it is the “Emerald Jewel of the Exumas”

Sunday afternoon we hiked around Warderwick and climbed to the top of Boo Boo Hill to view the MOST incredible water colors in the harbor. There is a narrow deep water “J” shaped channel produced and maintained by the natural tidal flow through the harbor. A shallow sand bottom surrounds both sides of the channel. A late afternoon low tide produces a wide range of colorful turquoise waters, ranging from nearly white to deep blue – making this harbor a true Emerald Jewel.

Monday was spent further exploring the offerings of Warderick Wells, visiting the park office, and preparing our contribution to the driftwood memories atop Boo Boo Hill. We also began researching the Cays south for some preliminary trip planning.

These Exuma mornings seem to awaken with cloudy skies and windy conditions, not so inviting for the enjoyment of a quiet early morning coffee in the cockpit. Tuesday morning was accompanied with a brief shower always welcomed to clean the salty residue from the boat. But by 10:00, most of the clouds pass by and the sunny Bahama skies return for the day.

We continued our exploration of the Warderwick Wells area. This took us to some good snorkeling reefs just off of the small Emerald Cay. I snorkeled on two reefs and practiced my first underwater photography with the little Olympus “Tough”. What a wonderful surprise to see the quality of images captured with this camera. We selected Butterfly Beach as one of several beautiful private white sand beaches on the island to spend a quiet and relaxing afternoon.

We plan to depart Wednesday morning for Big Majors Spot and experience the “swimming pigs”, followed by a few welcomed days at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club – where we will look forward to reconnecting with our world.