North to Bell Island
Amberisle2
Valt & Sandy
Tue 7 May 2013 11:42
May 4, 2013
Nature is so well equipped to care for the Earth. Winds and rain keep the air clean, tides continuously clean the sea. The sun and moon rise and set providing light and darkness. And Nature is powerful and tireless in her duties. Winds can howl at 30k for two weeks with nary a gasp. Waves can churn to 10' for days. Tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, storms of all descriptions show her fury. Last night we had another wonder. Although rain was forecast, the sky gave a clear view of million of stars. There was, however, a big dark cloud on the distant north horizon, maybe 60 miles away. A flash erupted from this cloud formation. Somewhat like heat lightening, but more intense. Flash, flash, flash! Like a giant's flash bulb. Smile! Lasting a second, the lights backlit the clouds. No thunder! No lightning bolts. This light show continued nonstop for three hours, sometimes north, then switching between northwest and northeast. It stopped as abruptly as it began. There was no rain all night. What a magnificent display.
We passed an anchorage at Cambridge Cay and dropped the hook on the west side of Bell Island. A sheik is building a complex there, moving mountains of dirt, building endless houses. Right now it appears a scarred mess, but hopefully it will be good when completed. Friends at Cambridge Cay saw us and hailed us on the VHF. Of course, whenever two or more sailors are gathered........a beach party is sure to pop up. So they invited us to happy hour today, bring your own drink and a snack to share.
But as we scouted out another anchorage on that side, we noticed Exuma Sound through the cut was very calm. Hmmmm. If we exited the cut we could fish the deep waters. So we decided to skip the party. Heading to our friends' boat to give our regrets, we saw a Tollycraft, El Sea, from Hickory TN. and stopped to say hi. Turns out they'd met our pals Dana and Mike board Journey in Carrabelle, FL. this winter.
Back aboard Amber Isle, we raised the dinghy, weighed anchor and were soon steaming out the cut and into the sea. We had to go out 5 miles from shore to stay out of the Exuma Land and Sea Park which prohibits fishing. With 1-2' waves the sea was pretty smooth. The winds had increased to 18k out of the WNW but were ok too. In four hours we'd make Norman's Cay where we would anchor for the night. Will try to send pictures next time.