Today is Easter and we had our own cottonball adventure. No, the Easter Bunny did not visit Seas the Day. However, while making water last night, Mark was filling jerry jugs for our friends on Ultra and after his timer went off, indicating one jug was filled, the jug was empty. The small hose connection to the watermaker had come loose and five gallons of water had flowed into the aft head. Luckily, the water ran into the shower and out the drain. We use this head for storage and on the floor, among other wet things, was a bag of cottonballs we use for cleaning Daisy’s ears. It is our only bag, and even if we can find more here, they’ll probably cost five times what we pay for them in the States. Therefore, as “penance” Mark offered to hang them out, individually, on the clothes line. Yes, this is yet another example of our new frugal lifestyle.
Yesterday we left our anchorage between Ray Cay and the Mice and motorsailed to Cambridge Cay. The sail over here was beautiful - sunny sky and as always, breathtaking water. I took the photo at the left to show how you can tell the difference in depth in clear water like this.
Ultra was ahead of us and she was in deep water, a dark turquoise. To her left is a lighter aqua which is shallower water. Sometimes one of us, i.e. me, has to watch for coral and that is easily seen as very dark, almost black, areas in the water.
We are now in Exuma Park so no more conching, shelling, or looking for lobster. In fact, we put away all the conch shells we had in the cockpit. When we were here before we were visited by the park police several times telling us to put them away so there was no question that we might have gotten them on park grounds.
After we anchored in Cambridge Cay, we got our snorkeling gear and headed out to a very large coral head area we saw near Rocky Dundas. It was probably the most phenomenal area we have come across. I know I keep saying that, but they are all unique. The water was a bit rough and the current was strong, so we got out of the dinghy and held on to it with ropes. Then we just floated with the current through the coral bed. One neat surprise was a huge lobster. It was about three feet long!! Since lobster can’t be caught in the park, this guy has probably been around a long time. Along with lots of beautiful coral and fish, we saw our first elkhorn coral. This is a large orangish piece of coral which resembles horns on a elk. This particular piece was perhaps five or six feet long. We found more when we got to Rocky Dundas. For more photos of what we saw while snorkeling,
click here.
Rocky Dundas is a large partially underwater cave. (photo on right) We remembered it as quite dramatic, but on our second visit yesterday, we weren’t quite as impressed as there is no plant or marine life inside. It doesn’t compare to Thunderball Cave underwater, but is more dramatic above water.
On Sunday, we went snorkeling at the same large coral area. It was rough again so we didn’t stay too long. Then, we went in search of Johnny Depp’s house. Even though we are inside a park, individuals are still allowed to buy islands and keep them private. We figure the park doesn’t care as there are so many islands and the government, or maybe the park, gets the money.
Throughout the Exumas, we’ve seen many privately owned islands. If it’s owned by a celebrity, it’s usually written in one of the guides. We heard Johnny Depp had decorated his island with pirate gear. The name of his island is Little Hall’s Pond Cay. We found that on the charts and headed the short distance in our dinghy along with
Ultra on theirs. We passed another island with three large glass walled houses and a luxuriously appointed beach. This is supposedly owned by a sheik. After we passed, an airplane with pontoons landed next to the beach dropping off passengers.
Then we came to Little Hall’s Pond Cay. A beach had a HUGE hammock, beach umbrellas shielding lounge chairs from the sun and a crew of young girls wearing pink shirts and shorts who were sweeping the area. It is a large island, but rocky on most parts with a few small beaches. There are some quaint bridges, but nothing that remotely resembles pirates.
The water was getting a little rough, so we returned to the boat without doing any more snorkeling. There is an area nearby called “The Aquarium” which we did snorkel at during our visit here in January. Today, conditions weren’t right to go underwater there.