24:18.25 N
76:32.3 W
We sailed north from Staniel yesterday, and it bears mentioning that it was a perfectly lovely sail -- gentle winds from
the NE, small waves, bright sun. We were in no particular hurry and savored the experience. We do have days like that
every now and then!
Before we left the Staniel area we visited Piggy Beach on Big Major's Spot one last time. We fed the pigs, and after we
had given them some bread we were amused to watch one large pig climb fully into Amazon in search of our now-empty food
bag. This time we also got to see about a half dozen piglets roaming the beach. Yes -- totally adorable, and we wanted
to bring one home with us.
We seem to be in megayacht central. We've seen over a dozen of those fiberglass behemoths, and we think it has something
to do with school break -- maybe wealthy families all charter them out for a week in the Exmuas around this time. We met
one such family from Colorado with two girls the same ages as Isabel & Rose, on Piggy Beach, and had a great horsey
conversation.
We anchored last night in a little cove at Cambridge Cay. There, Sea Fever sat in the midst of a great sand flat. The
girls and Lilly walked across the flats to swim in an unusual feature--a giant pool about 20 feet deep and 100 feet
long, clear like a swimming pool, carved into the middle of the sand flat. No fish, but lots of giant worm hills and
fileclams and what might be upsidedown jellyfish. Isabel has become a very strong swimmer. Rose has made great strides
in that direction, too.
This morning we motored over to the Rocky Dundas -- some nearby islands with good snorkeling and caves. But the swell
running in from the nearby Conch Cut broke against the rocky shore of the Dundas, and made conditions too rough for our
crew. We passed on the Rocky Dundas, sadly.
We returned to Cambridge to hike a little trail from the Banks side over to the Sound side. We didn't really expect
much, but upon arrival on the far side we were amazed. Bell Rock, a huge 60'-high bolder, sits just offshore in the
breaking surf, with a hole through one side of it allowing you to look straight through to the horizon beyond. Then we
discovered trails winding up the cliffs nearby to the top of a high craggy hill with long views to both the Banks side
and the Sound side. We followed more trails along the clifftops. The view over the Sound was magnificent, with
long-tailed white tropicbirds soaring above the blue water and rocks.
It's lunchtime now and we're thinking of moving on to O'Brien's Cay, where there is an "Underwater Aquarium" -- a mini
wall dive with lots of coral and reef life.
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