Exuma Land and Sea Park

Exuma Land and Sea Park - March 9 to 25, 2010

Mooring balls in the Exuma Land and Sea Park are available on a first come, first served basis. Anchoring is allowed outside of the mooring fields, unless otherwise posted, but it can be difficult to find a spot with adequate protection from the wind, waves and currents which can come at you from different directions at the same time and make it feel like you are in a giant washing machine. In the three mooring fields near the park headquarters you can ask to be put on a waiting list one day in advance by contacting Darcy by VHF radio. As a full time volunteer Darcy does an amazing job coordinating the requests from boats jostling for a chance at the choice spots. Not all patches of that absolutely beautiful water are equal and she has to match the boats to the depth of the water and the available swing room.

Some boats will fit better than others

When we crossed Exuma Sound from Powell Point on Eleuthra we expected that there would be a wait to get into the park so we set a course to Norman’s Cay which would then be a close hop for us when a spot became available. When we were close enough to contact Darcy by radio we were surprised to learn that she had a mooring ball for us. We made a sharp left turn towards the south mooring field between Warderick Wells Cay and Hog’s Cay. We also put our name on the wish list to be moved to the north mooring field near the park headquarters. For several years Tom has had a picture of the north mooring field as the background on his laptop and he really wanted to spend some time there. It only took a few days for an opening to come up.

Exuma Park, north mooring field

It was soon obvious that we were in a protected wildlife habitat. Just off our stern we had a school of yellow jacks looking for hand outs and when we went out in the dinghy with our looky bucket (glass bottom pail) to drift over the rare live stromatolite reefs (They are only known to exist in a few locations in the Bahamas and in Shark Bay in Australia) or snorkel around the coral reefs we saw colorful fish, spotted eagle rays and a southern sting ray that did not seem to be concerned by our presence.

A spotted eagle ray off Polar Pacer’s bow

After a beach party the hutias (rodents about the size of a Canadian muskrat but with a shorter tail) hover in the nearby bushes waiting to gather up any crumbs left behind. They are doing a good job cleaning up after the tourists.

Hutias hoover the sand after the party’s over

There is a feeding station at the park office for banana quits. They love white sugar.

Warderick Wells Cay is crisscrossed with rugged walking trails that take you from beach to beach and up to the top of Boo Boo hill where the view is amazing and boaters leave signs with their boat name as an offering to the ghosts that frequent the island and gave the hill its name.

The marked trail to Boo Boo Hill

Polar Pacer was here

Signs of those who came before us

Causeway Trail

We saw a couple of these guys swimming at the causeway and were told that this kind of ray is called a skate.

New mangrove shoots taking over the beach. They will provide habitat for small fish.

The park relies heavily on volunteers for making improvements to the facilities and Tom decided to offer his services. When they heard that he was able to make furniture they immediately came up with a list of things they needed for the houseboat, The Owl, that had been donated to the park and would be used to accommodate researchers. After six days, a coffee table, two desks, a bench, a picnic table and a boat seat had been completed but they kept adding things to the list and wanted to know if we would stop again on our way back north. They even made a special trip to one of the other islands to pick up more wood.

Tom's latest workshop. What would WSIB have to say about the bare feet?

A new coffee table for The Owl

This sling bench really is comfortable. Tom did the woodwork, I did the sewing.

I celebrated my birthday on the beach with a bonfire and a wide selection of appetizers. We had several kinds of pizza, fresh veggies with smoked salmon and garlic mayo dips, cream cheese with red pepper jelly topping, hummus, freshly baked focaccia bread and many more inventive creations.

These are the new friends who sang happy birthday to me

Two apples, two onions, a few black bananas, some oranges and half a cabbage; after two weeks in the Exuma Land and Sea Park that’s all that was left of our fresh produce and one freezer was almost empty. Time to get creative with cans! There are no supplies or services available in the park. No food, no water, no fuel. Boaters are also required to take all of their garbage out with them and we had accumulated quite a bag full. It was time to go.

We left Warderick Wells with Sea Walk and made one last stop before we left the park. Osprey Cay (aka Sandy Cay) is one of several privately owned islands within the park boundary and is uninhabited except for conch, hermit crabs, curly tail lizards and some nesting osprey. The owner does not have a problem with boaters visiting the island as long as you let the park rangers know before you go. The island is about 100 yards across at high tide and consists of some rocky formations at one end, a few casuarina pines and scrubby mangroves and lots and lots of beach.

Osprey nest on Osprey Cay

When we arrived there were two small groups on shore who had come from the mega yachts in nearby Cambridge Cay but once they left we had the whole island to ourselves. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and with the shallow beach the water was warm enough to go swimming without wetsuits!

Beach fun

The beach is littered with live conch when the tide goes out.

Relevant Reading – Life on a Rock by Kate Albury

This book describes the experiences of a Bahamian couple who decided to leave their busy lives behind in the city of Nassau in the ‘90’s and move to the private island of Highbourne Cay which they had been hired to manage for the absentee American owner. For five years they were totally responsible for everything that happened on the island and the people who lived on it. This often put them in situations far beyond the comfort zone that most of us would recognize from dealing with dead bodies to being confronted with a boatload of Haitian refugees whose disabled vessel had to be abandoned. As we sailed from Eleuthra to the Exuma Land and Sea Park we picked up the weather broadcast from Highbourne Cay. This early morning transmission was just one of Kate’s many daily chores on the island. There are many lessons in self sufficiency to be learned from this recounting of her experiences. In her book Kate talks about a whale that was beached on Ship Channel Cay. It is possible that this skeleton at the park headquarters is that same whale.

Whale remains from 1995

Spanish Wells and Eleuthra

Spanish Wells and Eleuthra – February 26 to March 9

The alarm went off at 5:00AM.Time to get up, have some coffee and make our final preparations to cross the North East Providence Channel to Spanish Wells and Eleuthra as soon as there is enough light to navigate the narrow channel out of Little Harbour. As forecast, the wind died down overnight to about 15 knots from the west. The previous day we had seen winds between 25 and 30 knots with some higher gusts. It was a cool morning with the temperature around 60^oF.Dressed in my new, authentic Vancouver 2010 Olympic sweatshirt (thanks again to Chi Chi Maru) I was cozy warm. By 6:00AM the sky was turning pink and there was enough win to put up the sails. Another offshore passage was about to begin.

Somewhere out there is Eleuthra.

We made the passage with three other boats; Worthless Wench (American), Knot in Vein (Canadians from Edmonton) and Oz (from Stockholm and Estonia). At the beginning of the passage we had waves less than a foot on top of ocean rollers of about three feet. When we reached the Atlantic shipping channel the rollers built to around five or six feet and the waves were unchanged. Three large ships crossed in front of us; westbound tanker Zhongji No. 2 with a destination of Houston Texas, an eastbound Greek vessel and another eastbound boat for which our AIS system did not give any details.

As we headed south we were hailed on the VHF radio by friends on Canadian boat Chris Pam Mel that we had met a few months earlier as we travelled down the east coast of the US. They called because they had heard us on the radio. They were on their way to Little Harbour where we had just left from. We missed each other by a few hours.

Sunrise en route to Spanish Wells

The island of Spanish Wells has a good fishing industry and is quite prosperous. The settlement is very clean and the houses and yards are well maintained. The north and west sides of the island have a beautiful, clean white sand beach.

On Da Beach

We drove around the entire island in a rental golf cart in about 20 minutes then crossed the little bridge to Russel Island. Most of Russel Island is rural and we were able to do a little hunting and gathering for provisions. We returned to the marina with sour orange, sweet bananas and coconuts and a papaya on the back of the golf cart.

Picking sour oranges

Provisions

Russel Island residents

A termite mound on Russel Island

As with all of the other islands we have visited so far there is no shortage of property for sale in almost any price range.

Waterfront with potential

We had our first manatee sighting in Spanish Wells. Manatees are endangered with a population of only about 3000 in the Florida area. Rita has been hanging around the harbour at Spanish Wells. She was being fed lettuce by a group of kids on the dock who told us that this was the first manatee seen in the area since about 1996. Wildlife experts from Nassau and Florida have advised that she is due to calve in three to four months and identified her by the scars on her back.

This is Rita

I like to pick up the local newspapers when we come across them and read them cover to cover. I find it a good way to familiarize myself a little bit with the community and get a feel for what is important to the people who live there. The papers are always full of articles that highlight the accomplishments of local students. When was the last time that someone you know participated in a spelling bee? Spelling bees are big events. The Eleuthran recently reported that a 10 year old grade six girl defeated 24 fellow competitors to become the 2010 Eleuthra Spelling Bee Champion. Her name is Ledeswanique Nixon. No wonder she can spell!

The route from Spanish Wells to Hatchet Bay took us through Current Cut, a narrow passage between Current Island and the island of Eleuthra. The guide books warn you to check the tide tables before going through the cut as the tidal currents can push you onto the rocks if you are not careful or do not have enough engine power. We had a strong current against us (about 3 knots) but made it through safely.

We could have taken a direct path from Current Cut to Hatchet Bay but since it was early in the day we opted for the scenic route that took us to the Glass Window and down the west side of the island. The Glass Window is a bridge that connects the north and south sections of the island. The land in that spot is not much wider than the bridge itself and is so low that you can see the waves from the Atlantic breaking on the other side. The water was so clear and calm over the white sand bottom that we dropped anchor for a while next to the Glass Window. Tom put his wetsuit and snorkel gear on and got in the water with a brush so he could clean the crud off the bottom of the boat. The water was not warm enough for my taste. The rocky western shore of Eleuthra is very scenic with high cliffs and caves at water level and well worth the detour.

The Glass Window

Eleuthran cliffs

I have seen Hatchet Bay described as the safest harbour in the Bahamas with poor conditions for anchoring. Sounds like an oxymoron to me. We were expecting another cold front with strong winds in a couple of days and had by now developed a lot of faith in our Delta anchor. We have not dragged once except for the time on the ICW when we snagged a crab pot with it. There was also a possibility of finding an open mooring ball. The sight of two sailboats washed ashore when we entered the harbour was not very encouraging. There was one mooring ball available but still having complete faith in our anchor we told the other boat travelling with us to take the mooring. We would be just fine. After three unsuccessful attempts to get the anchor to set and being told by another boater that the two boats aground had broken free from their moorings in a blow just a couple of days earlier we were getting a little concerned. Then our new friends on Knot in Vein came to our rescue. Nick had dived into the water and wrapped enough heavy chain around the mooring tackle to hold his boat and Polar Pacer too! We rafted comfortably on the mooring for three days through a thunder storm and winds between 35 and 45 knots with gusts over 50 knots. Thanks Nick!

The entrance to Hatchet Bay Pond. Note the two beached boats in the background.

In contrast to Spanish Wells, the settlement at Hatchet Bay is not a picture of prosperity. The homes are much smaller and mostly in need of repairs and fresh paint. Some yards had less trash strewn about than others despite evidence of a garbage collection system. The town however, does have a fairly well stocked grocery store and a good internet café that serves delicious hamburgers.

A new meaning to the term green grocer

We have seen several of these beehive ovens. None of them seemed to be in use.

Water’s Edge Internet Café

The dinghy dock in Rock Sound is available at Dingle Motors. So is the laundry drop off, the book exchange, internet access, mail pickup, tour guides, bottled water and many other services for visiting boaters. We initially thought that ‘Dingle’ must be the owner’s family name. As it turns out, dingle is an old English alternative for the word gully and there is a gully or ‘dingle’ that runs past the building, hence the name.

A dingle runs through it.

At Dingle Motors we were given a plastic bag containing a stale hot dog bun and directions to get to the Ocean Hole, a small but very deep saltwater lake.

The Ocean Hole in Rock Sound

These tropical fish love white bread.

An improvised basketball court in Rock Sound

We headed for the beach without really knowing how far away it was. A local lady was very kind and gave us a ride in her back of her pickup truck. From her place it was just a short walk through some scrubby shrubs and over a sand dune.

Almost there!

Yes!

The beach was beautiful but no one was too eager to go for a swim after we saw a large shark swimming less than twenty feet from the shore.

We saw this vegetable patch next to the road when we walked back to Rock Sound. I am amazed that there is enough soil in between the rocks for these tomato plants to grow. Tidy, straight rows are not typical garden design.

Gardening in the Bahamas is a challenge.

Powell Pointe Marina was our staging point to leave Eleuthra and cross Exuma Sound. As we approached the marina Tom brought in the fishing lines that he had been trailing behind the boat Cuban yo-yo style. There was no indication that anything was on the line until it was almost all reeled in. That’s when the four foot barracuda saw the boat and splashed around a bit. He did not put up much of a struggle and Tom got him on the back deck quite easily.

Catch of the day.

We were not crazy about eating barracuda so the fish was passed on to a local Bahamian who quite successfully used it as bait that afternoon.

003 A couple of crawfish, a queen triggerfish, some red snapper, two lionfish, two yellowtail snappers and a few others that I could not identify.

When the fish were being cleaned eight nurse sharks arrived dockside for dinner. The smaller fish attached to their backs are called remoras. They have suction cups on the backs of their heads to help them hang on. They hang around larger fish and feed on their scraps.

Don’t anyone fall in!

We said goodbye to our new friends Nick and Wendy from Knot in Vein at Powell Pointe as they prepared to leave their boat and go back to work (there’s that “w” word again) for a short period of time. We would be on our way to the Exumas in the morning. Thanks guys for a wonderful dinner with wonderful people and a wonderful view. We hope to meet up with you again when you come back this way.