Our departure from Highbourne Cay was delayed by needing to contact the Exuma Park wardens to arrange our mooring for the following day and by Peter and Rosemary needing to book their flights back from Staniel Cay to Nassau, a process delayed by running out of credit on the phone, but eventually we were able to leave and enjoyed a very pleasant sail to uninhabited Hawksbill Cay.  Upon arriving Peter and Rosemary hurried ashore to walk and swim, and to investigate a photo shoot taking place on the beach. This proved to be a bit of an anti-climax and their offers of acting as extras were quickly rebuffed, but they walked on and were treated to the sight of a seaplane taking off. They were in search of the path up to some reputed ruins, but this proved elusive, so instead they went back to the beach and swam.

Ted and I stayed on board to prepare our evening meal and were soon dinghying ashore, laden down with all the food and drink, to a deserted beach, where we were able to set up the barbecue. Even though it was the last of the disposable barbeques purchased in the UK in 2010, it still lit with a little encouragement and we supplemented it with additional charcoal to replace what had fallen out in the locker. There was a moment when we thought we had misjudged the tide and would have to move everything up the beach but our fears proved groundless and our feet stayed dry – just!  The combination of the isolated bay, the high water ledge providing a comfortable “bench” to sit on and the two bottles of wine, made for an extremely enjoyable evening but all too soon the sun had set and with darkness arriving it was time to go back to the boat for a digestif and an opportunity for Pater to gain his revenge in another round of “Oh Hell!”