Continuing southward in Exumas

May 18, 2009

Saturday, May 16, 2009, we had a short but delightful sail from Highborne Cay to Norman's Cay. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there going at or over 6 knots. We had started out almost at noon because we went into the Highborne Cay Marina for ice and water, etc. Once we got to Norman's Cay we called for dinner reservations at the Norman's Cay Beach Club or McDuffs. There were only three boats anchored off Norman's. We dighnied ashore for a delicious dinner among the locals. It was quite busy from construction crews doing some building on the Cay.

Sunday, May 17, 2009: We had another wonderful day of sailing in 15-20 knots of wind to Hawksbill Cay which is the upper border for the Exumas Land and Sea Park. After lunch we went ashore to explore. The sand here was very fine and off white almost more fine than sugar. I climbed up a hill to a pyramid made of loose stones. It gave me a beautiful view of most of this Cay. All of us climbed up over a smaller hill to see the inland pond caused by a creek from the Bahama Bank. There are some ruins of a Loyalist Plantation but we couldn't find them near where we were. We had dinner on the boat as the Cay is uninhabited. There have been scattered showers the last few days and we have been caught in a few.

Monday, May 18, 2009: We got an earlier start today as we sailed to Warderick Wells which is the headquarters for the Land and Sea Park. We picked up a mooring in the northern mooring field near the Park Rangers office. Just as we were leaving the Ranger's office to go back to the boat, the sky opened up and we were drenched by the time we arrived back at the boat by dighny. At least it cleaned some of the salt off the boat. We plan to go snorkling tomorrow and to do some of the hiking trails on this cay.

I may not be able to add as many pictures as we have been due to AT&T sending us a message that we are exceeding our usage of the computer aircard. We also won't be able to open those lovely attachments you all send us. We will have to share all the pictures when we return.