Thursday we sailed north to Shroud Cay and picked up a mooring ball. The wind was still strong, but from the east, so the sail was fast and fun. Shroud is really cool with all sorts of creeks running through the middle of the island. In spite of the windy conditions we all took a dinghy ride up to the northernmost creek which goes all the way through the island. The scenery on the trip was fascinating and we saw a shark swimming through the creek in about three feet of water or less! We were a little bit early (you are only supposed to be able to make it through at high tide) and had to all get out and walk a few times while Sam dragged the dinghy over a sand bar. The windward side was dramatically windier. We climbed the hill to "Camp Driftwood" the site where a solitary cruiser built several things out of driftwood at the top of the highest spot on the island. The termites got all the driftwood, but the site remains.
We headed for Norman Cay on Friday and that took us out of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Norman was the site a large drug ring in the '80s and there is a wrecked plane in the shallows to attest to the method they used to move the drugs. We motored through the cut to see the wreck and then anchored around on the west side of the island. Sam and Jess left Grand Mar and Popov to sit and went ashore for dinner at Macduff's which was not as good as it's reputation (although maybe just because they were out of conch)! They had a good time anyway.
Finally on Saturday the winds died a bit and we headed off for our return trip to Nassau. We had a great sail until about 3 when the wind died even more and we had to motorsail to get back to our slip in time to head ashore for our crew dinner. We went to the Poop Deck which has been there forever, and Jess finally got her Conch Fritters! We sat next to a large party (who were definitely partying) and Ben flirted with all the girls who thought he was the cutest ever. We tend to agree! We will miss them as they fly home today. We certainly enjoyed the whole adventure. We will stay here through Tuesday to let another cold front pass through then we'll head south again back to the Exumas and particularly the Land and Sea Park where we barely scratched the surface. We also are looking forward to meeting up with Robby and Carol again around the 12th when their daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Ray are joining them for a week. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
Google Earth track file for 2/26
Google Earth track file for 2/27
Google Earth track file for 2/28
Ben tried to eat the candle and cried when he tasted the lemonfrosting, but his party was a great success.
Robby & Carol gave Ben a Bahamian carving of Roci the parrot for his birthday.
We took a dinghy ride through Sanctuary Creek (including a few portages over sandbars) and made it to the windward side of Shroud Cay.
Here we are at Camp Driftwood on the windward side of Shroud.
We all took turns pedalling our Mirage kayaks around Shroud Cay.
Sam couldn't resist submerging the underwater camera to get a picture of the pedal "fins" of the kayak.
We rigged the bosun's chair for Ben's meals.
It is amazing how a few "floaties" could keep Ben occupied for hours.
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