Compass Cay, Weds., 4/11

Weds. 4/11  Compass Cay

We left Waderick Wells at 9am this morning, bound for
Compass Cay.  There's Plan Sea (Matt & Karie) in front of us.

How many shades of blue do you see?  Incredible.

We made it...safely anchored to the right of the marina.  We dinghied in to
have a look-see...

...and what we saw were lots of BIG boats.  No wonder they didn't have
room for us.  Yeah, right.  Snubbed again by the filthy rich.

Even our neighbor at anchor couldn't get in, and she was about 80' long.

We both decided to go exploring, but we quickly lost sight of Matt and Karie
in their 'go fast' dinghy.  Remember, we only travel slightly faster than the speed
of smell.  Rather than play "Where's Waldo" with them, we took off for our
own adventure.  Donnie found a nice spot to snorkel.

After the snorkel, we returned to the Marina to park the dinghy to have
a walk about.  This local was cracking and cleaning conch.

I'd say he had a successful day of gathering.  A few of the buggars
were trying to make a great escape from the boat.  They knew the end was near.

The nurse sharks and bone fish were begging for scraps.

This guy was cleaning a HUGE hogfish that he speared.  We was at least 30' long.
We thought of you, Frannie!

We left the marina to walk around the island.  People have left their 'mark'
along the walkway from the marina.  There are no roads, no cars on this
island.  Only sand pathways marked by hand painted signs.

We saw lots of Bahama's mockingbirds.  They have such a pretty song.
I even saw a tiny hummingbird!

We hiked to a place called the Ruins, which were two former homes that we
think were taken out by Hurricane Floyd some years ago.

What a view they had- a pristine beach all to themselves.

Only the fireplace remained standing, and the studs
from a few interior walls.

Some family from a boat called "Living Large" made a
workout room in the former bedroom- pretty ingenious.
Naturally, Cap'n had to do a few reps!

And this was the view from that bedroom.  Another pristine beach.
Donnie had to climb the rocks, he said.

So he did.

Our footprints were the only ones on the beach.  What a perfect day.  We
must have walked at least five miles or more. It was so much fun exploring-
and I found a few treasures of shells and sea glass to add to my collection.

When we returned to collect our dinghy, we were ‘reminded’ that there was an $8/person charge for coming aboard their marina docks. We said we just wanted to have a drink.  We asked if we could use their radio to hail our friends for a cocktail- that was another charge. So, we said we’d go pick up our friends and come back for a happy hour cocktail…to which we didn’t!  It seem the further south we go, the more wealth we are exposed to.  There are a lot of people in this world with lots and lots of money.  It’s crazy to see all of the opulence.  Oh well, we are having just as much fun, if not more, on our 28 year old sailboat that is smaller than most of their ‘dinghies’ for going ashore.  Unreal.  We obviously will never run in these social circles.  Looking forward to Staniel Cay tomorrow, after a stop at Sampson to get some fuel for the dinks. G’nite y’all.