Wadderick Wells Cay
Ananda
Ron Welch
Mon 28 Mar 2011 13:59
March 23, 2011
Fifteen miles is a short trip by land, however, traveling over sea, if the winds are coming from the east of your heading at ten to twelve knots, this becomes an exhilarating at times, and incredibly peaceful at times sail that takes about three hours......this is the good fortune that took us to Wadderick Wells Cay.....we were moored on E14 in the Emerald Rock Mooring field in time for sundowners.......a mooring can contribute to a good nights rest........provided your neighbors are also planning a good nights rest.........this was not in the cards for our neighbors at Wadderick......a cat from Anguilla with a captain and six or seven French women.......women on vacation!. ........in this transient life style......ones neighbors are often the evening entertainment,....... and luckily not necessarily, a long term fixture....sleep or no sleep, there was exploring to be had on this the main island of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.....so we were off......that is Roger and I......we took the dink and did a little snorkeling by Emerald Rock......always an amazing experience "going beneath the surface".........it's another world down there.....silent and flowing......functioning quite nicely on this part of the planet....all those black spots we avoided coming over the yellow bank....they're alive.....each one a small living "sub-surface sea village"........small schools of brightly colored tropical fish of varying sizes....all types of coral for them to hide beneath and behind should a hungry shark or barracuda come along....on this occasion......Roger tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention......and "check out that fellow over there".......turns out those hiding places are not necessarily for the little fish to hide...sometimes the dark spaces are inhabited by ........barracudas...."wow that's nice.....I don't like them.....I am outta here" ......came my silent, action full, response .......next thing Roger saw was the tips of my fins headed for the dingy......it,s a magnificent experience snorkeling around these parts......minus the hunters.....even though everyone around here says they won't bother you..........after a quick lunch we dingyed in to the park office and complex.......the bones of a 52 foot whale are displayed as a sad reminder of what plastics discarded in the ocean can do.....the creatures of the ocean think they are jelly fish.....and just like all of nature...their systems cannot break them down, and as a result they die.......the park is a "no take" zone and ten largest preserve on the Caribbean basin.....they are extremely strick
And the royal Bahamas navy does not hesitate to respond if anyone is caught fishing, sore taking anything......we heard they will not stop short of taking possession of your boat.......We happily honored their efforts and simply walked and enjoyed the scenery and natural wonders to be experienced.......all the "B's".........we first wadded across Banshee creek and came upon the Blow holes......then over to Booboo hill, a shrine of painted and offered to the island gods boat signs, and ended up at BooBoo beach......quite a walk back over the "moon scape"......the path ways are made of extremely pores vocalic rock.......lots! of holes!.......some very big holes! .....these couple of days were the calm before the front.....wins shifted to the south east and even the security of a mooring becomes not worth it when the boat feels like a bucking bronco....not quite....but not pleasant at all.....however, as fate and much discussion would have it we realized what the problem with the new auto pilot was and whilst we had the innovative knowledge of Roger on board we were able to refurbish and reconnect the rudder sensor arm to the rudder from the auto helm.........although it was not the optimal way to do this....Roger's ingenuity and skill allowed us to get "hands free steering" back on line......what a difference this makes........passage making without a auto pilot is grueling.....and island hopping with out one takes a lot of the relaxation out of things.......it was a wonderful hop over the Fowl Cay for the night with Ananda and her equipment synchronized......