Sunday, May 10, 2009
10 May - Day 68. If this is the Abaconian summer pattern I like it: winds are 10kts from the SE; air temps hover in the 80s; and, the sea temp is now 79 (a long cry from the 36F water we had in the Chesapeake on 4 March ;-). With the marine park at Sandy Cay only an hours' cruise south we cast off our Hope Town mooring and get underway. The huge ocean swell which kept us clear of the dive site last week is down to 3'--better but still uncomfortable. We drop the hook in the very rolly day anchorage and dink 1/4 mile to the dive site. This reef is much bigger and the water deeper than at Fowl Cay. The stag horn coral is magnificent and the largest we've seen. Timing is everything. As we're getting back into the dink a large tour boat arrives with more people aboard than we'd seen in one place since our arrival in the Bahamas. About 5nm to the west is our next stop, Snake Cay. We anchor behind a small bight of land which is just barely being held in place by a decaying seawall. The land is littered with old train cars, rusted fuel tanks, and collapsed buildings--a lot of capital gone to seed. Behind the spit is a narrow entrance to a vast labyrinth of shallow waterways. The rough seas instantly calm once we're inside. If the ocean has a nursery this is it. We see baby corals, fish, stingrays, and ferns. We penetrate in about a mile and then drift back to the entrance with the rapidly ebbing tide. The peace and quiet and all the new life around us makes it a magical place. We weigh anchor knowing that we've crossed a milestone. While there's a lot of cruising and exploring to go, Nellie's nose is now pointed generally north. On the hook in Treasure Cay, Great Abaco Island. 44nm today: 1552nm total. DBH
