Crew Log for January 21st, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Shroud Cay to Hawksbill Cay
• Trip Distance of 6.2 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,810.9 NM
• Departed at 08h00, arrived at 09h30
We woke to a beautiful sunrise feeling rested and relaxed. Shroud Cay turned out to be a wonderful place to explore and the anchorage was well protected. Sometimes, when we have nights like last night, it is easy to forget we are on a boat. Everything is so still and quiet. Our destination today was Hawksbill Cay, just south of Shroud Cay.
Hawksbill Cay is a beautiful, uninhabited island in the Exuma Park. Given it was only 6 nautical miles away we pulled out the jib and made our way slowly to the mooring field. As everyday it seems, it was a beautiful day in the Bahamas. We were surprised to see just one other boat on the moorings, but happy to have this place mostly to ourselves. We were joined by our friends on Anodyne a short while later.
The first thing you notice is an amazingly long sandy beach on the Exuma Bank side, right in front of the mooring field. We had also heard that there is a beach across the island on the ocean side, which was reported to be, the “most beautiful, desolate beach of the entire region”.
Judy paddle boarded into the beach and came back a little while later sporting designer flip flops that someone, with the same shoe size, had left behind. There is something about designer flip flops that looks a little out of place here. However, in the words of Judy’s Dad, it had been a “paying trip” to the beach.
The island is also the site of the best preserved loyalist ruins in the Bahamas. After the American War of Independence ended in 1783, people wanting to remain loyal to Britain, left North America and settled in the Bahamas, which was a British Colony. These loyalists were granted land in the Bahamas where they hoped to cultivate large cotton plantations, which is incomprehensible to me, given the landscape and conditions. Loyalists also brought their slaves with them, who were largely left to fend for themselves when the Loyalists’ attempts to cultivate cotton failed.
One of the best preserved loyalist ruins in the Bahamas is on Hawksbill Cay, which belonged to the Russell Family from 1785 - 1830. The ruins includes the remains of 10 houses and numerous outbuildings and a beehive oven used for cooking and incinerating conch shells, used for making the mortar to line the walls of the homes. There are still piles of conch next to the oven. There is also evidence of what appeared to be a natural cistern, but it is mostly dry.
I had read somewhere that Hawksbill Cay was occupied until 1900 when the last resident, the husband of a granddaughter of the original Russell family, perished on the island. For 115 years the Russell family and their descendants, farmed this Cay and eventually every Cay within a day’s sail.
While it might come as a bit of surprise to the casual weekend sailor, being on a boat for long periods of times can be physically demanding. Nothing is level and rarely still. And, when you are moving around, you are generally stooped over in an awkward position. One thing we do miss however, is the opportunity to go for a walk and stretch our legs.
Unfortunately, the opportunities are rare, particularly on these remote islands. The terrain is harsh and rocky with low-lying scraggly bushes and trees. You really had to watch where you stepped, since it would be easy to twist an ankle, or worse, fall in a hole. Both Judy and I opted to wear flip flops, albeit non designer flip flops, but none the less, they added to the challenge of navigating the terrain.
We decided to bushwack our way to the ocean side of the island to check out the beach. The path was uniquely marked with bits of rope, buoys and other pieces of sea debris. While the beach was very beautiful, I am not ready to accept that it is “the most beautiful, and desolate of the entire region”. It was however, a very relaxing place to sit and chat with good friends.
At the top of the trail on Hawksbill Cay I noticed a massive sandbar to the north that seemed to stretch for miles, so we headed that way after leaving the beach at the trail head. We motored for what seemed to be 15 – 20 minutes but didn’t seem to be getting any closer to dry land so we aborted the mission. Looking at the charts afterwards, it truly was a massively large sand bar that is exposed at low tide and seems to extend to the southern end of Shroud Cay. On the way back we did spot a tiny little beach that had it’s own cave that we stopped to check out.
My knowledge of American history is very limited, but I have become fascinated with the details since we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, so many months ago. Our plan was to play cards that evening on Anodyne. However, we found out earlier in the day that Alex had just finished writing and publishing a family history, that included a wealth of information on the history of the south. It was really interesting to hear about his ancestor’s first hand experience pre and post civil war. Not only did we expand our understanding of American history, I avoided the embarrassment of losing at cards.
The Exuma land and Sea Park is often referred to as the Warderick Wells Park, since that is where the Park Administration Offices are located. We decided to head that way in the morning and visit the famous Boo-Boo Hill.
But more about that, next time.
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