Holed up in the rain!

I am at Staniel Cay Yacht Club at the moment, holed up and waiting out the rain.  Unfortunately, Marquesa is a 30 minute dinghy ride away, and all her hatches and windows are open.  We will have a soaked bed, a soaked everything.  Can't worry about it now, I've got a rum punch in hand, and a cheeseburger on the way. I will go back days and days to get you caught up....

Monday, April 8th

Had our first really decent night’s sleep on the mooring ball at Shroud Cay.  A good night’s rest will do a person wonders J  After pancakes and sausage for breakfast, we each hopped in our dinks to go exploring.   

We found our way through some creeks in an attempt to get to the other side of the island. It was different than Whiskey Creek back in Marathon.  First of all, the water was crystal clear.  And though there were mangroves, there were also coral ledges, scrub trees, and palms.

 We found the beach where we discovered that plastic is the enemy.
We were in search of a board for BooBoo Hill, to be used at our next stop,
further in the Exumas. You are to write your boat name on it and leave it atop the hill.

We each picked up a board to write our boat name on to leave at BooBoo Hill, further down the Exumas.  Our board looked a little more like a petrified bone, so we sang the theme song to the Flintstones. 
Do you know how it goes?!  

...and Cap’n played baseball with it, too. 

There were so many ribbons of different shades of blue. 
The picture does not do the colors justice. 

On the way back, we watched these tropical birds (I’ll find out their name when
 we get to the Park Headquarters) do acrobatics in the sky.  I had about a dozen
 pics of blue sky before I captured one in a photo. They’re fast!

 It was about noon, so we decided to weigh anchor and head further south.  Next stop was Warderick Cay where the Park Headquarters is for the Exumas Land and Sea Park.  It’s 175 square miles of protected islands and waters.  Put the fishing rods and pole spears away- it’ll cost you $500 for just picking up a shell!

Here’s our buddy boat, Plan Sea (Matt and Karie) on the seventeen mile

 run today.  It was a beautiful sail. 

Unfortunately, the roller furling on Marquesa is still giving us fits.  We seriously want to chuck it into the ocean.  We need a day with the wind to lie down so we can take down the jib sail to figure out how it’s getting into a bind on the furler- or whatever it’s problem is.  We have names for the roller furling that cannot be published here!

We lucked out and got the last two mooring balls of the day at Wardericks.

Donnie was so happy to be assured of another good night’s sleep that

he did a back flip off of the bow pulpit railing- and he nailed it!  

 

Doesn’t the water look like he landed in a swimming pool? 

This is a view of the Park Headquarters and beach in front of our mooring ball. 

The bones you see are from a 52 foot sperm whale that died after injesting

plastic.  I told you plastic is the enemy. 

We walked up to the Park Office to check in, but it was about twenty minutes

after closing time.  This was the view of the harbor from their deck.  Can you find Marquesa? 

Donnie and I took a brief walk about to stretch our legs, but we really needed a trail map.  We dinked over to Matt and Karie’s and made plans for them to join us for dinner and dominoes.  I made chicken burritos, Spanish rice, apple salad, and sangria to drink.  I used the last of my green pepper, and I only have one apple left.  The plan tomorrow is to check in, pay our mooring ball fee ($15/night) and get a trail map, dive map, and bird guide.  It looks like we may stay put for a few days, there’s lots to explore.  They also will refill your dive tanks and we can buy ice here.  I think tomorrow, first on the list is to locate a dive site….more adventures to come! G’nite y’all!