5th Mar - 8th Mar 2013 Warderick Wells, The Exumas, Bahamas Part 1
Nimue
Fri 8 Mar 2013 02:35
From Allen’s Cay we were able to sail partway to Warderick Wells, but ended
up motor sailing the rest of the 39nm. In a determined effort to try and
catch some fish, the trolling line was cast and ended up catching my first fish
of the season – a small amberjack, which I “sushi’d” and handed out as an
appetiser.
Preparing to leave, the now calm waters
of the Allen’s Cay anchorage
Nimue departing Allen’s Cay and Lisa on
Rising Star ensures their nice AB dinghy is securely
tied!
No shouting on Narsilion, as Cherie
calmly lifts up the anchor and Joe appears to be taking a very relaxed approach
to it all!.
Look carefully at Joe’s ears and you can
see “the Marriage Savers” (a two way communication system).
Nimue sailing along beautifully and
Michael putting away the kedge anchor used in Allen’s Cay
Amberjack caught en-route to Warderick
Well and yes, I filleted it standing on the stern!
Warderick Wells is located within the Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park the first
land and sea part in the world and covers 176 square miles. It is a
no-take zone by both land and sea – nothing living or dead, can be removed from
the park, but more on this later. The beautiful natural J shaped harbour
serves as the North Mooring field and has 22 mooring balls. During the
cruising season they get very busy, so we reserved a mooring (aka buoy) No.
9.
Warderick Wells
Relaxing in Warderick Wells on
Narsilion
ABSOLUTELY
PERFECTION:-
The North Mooring Field in Warderick
Wells taken from Boo Boo Hill. Nimue is anchored left in all the
pictures.
You can just see how shallow the water
is and we were actually on one of the deep water mooring
balls?
The Park Office/headquarters of the
Exuma Land and Sea Park is located in Warderick Wells
Very close to our mooring was the hull of a sunken vessel, which is marked
on the guide as a snorkel area, but with strong tidal currents and boat
traffic. Not high on our list, we decided instead, to snorkel a couple of
the other recommended sights, but waited until slack water, so we didn’t have to
fin too much! The first ‘The Rangers Garden’, which is a coral reef and
was stunning, more so when we noticed a number of large lobsters lurking beneath
the rocks – alas they must just love living here, knowing they can’t be
taken! Never mind, so off to the next site “Judy’s Reef”, which is a small
cay where we could see schools of fish along the cut. Lisa also saw a
shark, but luckily kept it quiet until she reached Val!
Beautifully coloured
fish.
These lobsters ‘out in the open’ have no fear of being
taken
A
Lionfish
A rather large ‘sponge’
Took a short dinghy trip to a quiet cove
in Warderick Wells and found a lovely conch shell and some sand dollars....but
not allowed to take anything???
Next, a walk around the Park....................??
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