North To Rose Island
Ambler Isle
V and S
Thu 19 May 2011 02:45
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25.04N
77.13W
We arose early after an extremely rolly night on the
west side of Norman's Cay. Although the winds were light, about 5k out of
the south, there were no islands blocking them. Worse was the SW swells
that rocked us unmercifully. No one slept. Finally at 6am there was
enough daylight to make our move. We sailed through Norman's Cay Cut into
the Exuma Sound. The swell was there, also, but we went with them as we
headed north toward Highbourne Cay. We hoped to snag a mahi. You
know the rule, if you aint fishing, you aint catching? Looking at a new
weather report, we decided to skip some of our favorite sites and go directly to
Rose Island about 40 miles northward. But as we reentered the cut at
Highbourne, we found the weather report wrong. The predicted SE winds was
SW, and would leave the swells on our port beam. I feared we could not
bear the 4 hour trip. But if we stayed and the weather did not improve,
our guests would miss their Thursday flight. So we passed the beautiful
reef at Highbourne Cay, then passed the iguanas at Allen's Cay. We set
down the lamps, secured the galley, and prepared for the trip. About
an hour into the trip the wind direction switched and the waves settled a
bit. Every mile was better, and we were finally able to have lunch.
Since a ship sails on its stomach, this improved morale greatly. At about
3pm we were at the southern anchorage at Rose. A small boat rocked in the
waves there. We continued to the north side of Rose, ending up off small
Green Cay. Several cruisers told us about anchoring here. The beach
is nice, the island is surrounded on several sides with reefs. They
claimed it was very protected. And so it seemed. But when we sat
down to supper at about 7pm, the swell had returned, rocking the boat.
Valt and David took a second anchor to the stern and launched it from the
dinghy. Instantly we were in calm. The second anchor held us so the
bow was into the wind, and the rolling ceased. Blessed, blessed
calm. We were tired from the past 24 hours and fell into bed soon
after. We hoped to tour the island and find a nice reef to snorkel on
Tuesday.
Tuesday after breakfast we saw a familiar looking
catamaran entering our anchorage area. Dances with Dolphins
slowly circled the water and came to rest about 200 yards away. Wes and
Janice were aboard, with toy poodle Bailey. We waited til they were
secured, then went over to say hi. We'd last seen them about 5 years
ago. They stay in the Rose Island area as a home base. Pals with
many local people, they are at home here. Better yet, they own rights to a
boat dock inside Rose Island in the "Donut Hole". The hole is a natural
pond on the island and years ago a entry was dredged to admit boats.
Completely protected from all wind directions, it is a haven in storms, even
hurricanes. When they go back to their native Canada for a visit, they
leave the boat inside the hole for protection. They live off the sea,
snorkeling and hunting everyday. They enjoy the freedom of being on the
hook most of the time. When they don't like their neighbors, they pull
anchor and move. Ditto if the seas kick up or the swell comes
rocking. Janice fed us cherry- pomegranate juice with fresh baked banana
bread. Then we shoved off and went to explore Green Cay. It
was too overgrown to get to the interior, so we walked the beach, finding
snails, whelks, chitons, assorted shells, and small fish caught in tidal pools
awaiting high tide. An old ruined house stood roofless. The walls
were 1' thick and the house looked like it could be inhabited if someone put on
a new roof. But it was still remote. A boat was needed to go
anywhere, and there was no good place to build a dock that would withstand
storms. Several miles to Rose Island, 10 miles to Nassau. No
stores. The soil too poor to grow a garden.
Whoever had lived here had a hard life, just
surviving. No wonder it was abandoned.
Wednesday morning, it was overcast. The wind had
increased to bout 15 k. Wes had told us of a nice reef near the north
shore of Rose Island, so we lifted anchor and moved. We were out of the
wind, but the reef nearby was too high for us to stay through the low tied
phase. The dinghy was launched to explore nearer the shore and we found it
was 12' at mid high tide almost to the beach. So we again hoisted the
anchor and moved closer to both the beach and the reefs. There was almost
no wind and no waves at this distance to land. It was the most dense
concentration of coral reefs we'd seen. Amazing to find such a treasure so
close to Nassau. We snorkeled for hours enjoying the dense coral
garden. We moved to a second snorkel spot, then went to anchor for the
night. The winds kept switching on us, different directions, setting us
sideways to our persistent swell. The swell also switched
directions. So although we set out a second anchor, we still rocked.
We tried letting out some line on the second anchor, then pulling more
in, trying to find the perfect direction. But then the wind turned on us
again, and we started all over again. I think it may be a long
night.
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