Allen's Cay to Warderick Wells

Time to travel again!  Up early in morning to peruse the weather and the maps for where to go next.  Carefully planned out our next stop, a little anchorage just south of Highborne Cay after a stop at the fuel dock.  Pulled up the anchorage and left the very lovely Allen's Cay anchorage and the funny iguanas behind.  

(Met some very nice folks from Montreal, Merrill and Cindy of S/V Ambition on the beach the day before while we were snorkeling and had sundowner drinks with them yesterday.)

Our carefully crafted plan was in tatters as soon as we left the shelter of Allen's Cay and put the sails up - wait a minute, that's a south west wind, we can SAIL on that!  We can also make good time SAILING on that!  So, to heck with the plan and we headed south!  

This is following one of the rules (yes, it takes us a while, but we are starting to get it!), 'when the wind allows you to move, GO!'  

Rather than Highborne Cay, we headed for Warderick Wells - after selecting a variety of drop out points should the wind decide to disappear along the way.  It was a beautiful sail in emerald green water, so clear that at 20 feet you could still see the bottom!  

Managed to keep the sails up until mid afternoon when the wind died down and it got hot, hot, HOT!   Luckily, we weren't far from Warderick Wells.  This is one of the Bahamian National Parks, a group of cays clustered together surrounded by light azure water and white sandy beaches - no fishing or shellfishing allowed.  It is absolutely pristine.  We picked up a mooring ball on the west side of the island.  The water was so inviting that we jumped in as soon as we could get the dingy away from the swim ladder.  Snorkels on and we just drifted about in the cool water.  

Watched the boats come and go, had dinner after the sun went down and it started to cool off just a bit.  By about 8:00 it was dark, but still very warm - too warm to sleep in the back cabin.  The moon was out and when I had a wander around the deck, I could see right to the bottom - in the moonlight!  I watched a 2 foot long fish swim by.  

A high point of the trip here!  Still too hot to sleep down below so we took the cushions out of the cockpit and put them up front on the deck - right underneath the half moon and all the stars.  The sea was so still there wasn't even ripples, just gentle rocking from some residual waves.  We laid out on the deck in the cool air and gentle breeze, looked up and our view was the starlit sky from one end of the horizon to the other.  

Today was to be hot again so we got out the awnings to drape over the back cabin and cover up the cockpit enclosure - what a difference a little shade makes!  There's slight breeze and that and the shade keep it nice and cool inside the enclosure and the interior of the boat is cooler than yesterday too.  Won't help much when there's a lot more wind, but then it would be cooler anyhow.
 Went to Exuma Park Headquarters to check in.  There's another beautiful anchorage in front of it, water all shades of blue graduating up to white (where you will run aground as we did with the dingy this morning - have to keep in practice, I guess!) and it is filled with sailboats, just about every mooring taken.  We walked up to Boo Boo Hill where the sailors put their boat names on driftwood and leave them at the top of the hill to ask for good luck from the weather gods (we need to find some driftwood!), the view from up there was amazing.  Steve said this was the most beautiful place we'd ever been and I have to agree with him.

Back to the boat for a little swim, siesta and snorkel!  I think we might stay here for a while!