Crew Log for January 22nd – 23rd, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Hawksbill Cay to Warderick Wells
• Trip Distance of 20.2 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,831.1 NM
• Departed at 10h00, arrived at 13h50
One of the most difficult things about a trip like this, is being away from family and friends. A lot has happened since we left last August. It is safe to say that our family are constantly on our minds and that we are grateful for the times when we have adequate cell coverage to have a video chat or exchange emails. Unfortunately, there is no cell coverage in most of the Exuma Land and Sea Park and so we couldn’t wish our oldest son a Happy Birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Daniel!
Hawksbill was a beautiful stop and a very comfortable anchorage. Since we fall asleep at “sailors’ midnight” (20h00), I am usually awake shortly after 05h00. While we waited for the sun to rise, I decided to use the time productively and make bread and catch up on the Crew Log Reports.
Warderick Wells is the headquarters for the Exuma Land and Sea Park and the only location that requires a reservation for the main mooring field in front of the park offices. You can only put your request in the day before using the VHF and getting a spot depends on availability. If on one leaves, no one gets in.
Each morning at 09h00, Park staff broadcast on VHF channel 09. In addition to providing a reminder of Park rules and regulations, they also provide weather updates and take mooring reservations. As a result, every morning starts with a flurry of calls asking for a reservation or looking for confirmation of a reservation. In the middle of all these calls, one of the boats on already on mooring, breaks in and announces plans, in great detail, for a sundowner gathering on the beach that evening. It analogous to someone publicly making plans for an afterparty before the rest of us even secured our event tickets.
Warderick has three separate mooring fields: the picturesque natural J shaped harbor; the Emerald Rock Mooring Field, which has less current and excellent protection from east and northeast winds, which makes it very popular with visitors with young children on board; and, the Pirates’ Hangout at the southwest mooring field between Warderick Wells and Hog Cay. In addition to the Park Offices, Warderick has a number of hiking trails and is the site of the famous Boo-Boo Hill and Blow Hole
It turned out to be a beautiful sailboat day and so we turned down the volume on the VHF and sailed peacefully along towards Warderick Wells. A short while into the trip we received radio confirmation from mv Anodyne that there wasn’t a mooring for us in the main mooring field so we adjusted course to Emerald Rock, which is a short, but wet, dinghy ride to the main beach. The winds were out of the south which meant the anchorage was a little rolly, but it was beautiful none the less. We secured a mooring and dinghied around to the main beach and walked up to Boo Boo Hill.
Boo Boo Hill is a popular attraction with cruising boaters. It’s the tallest hill on the cay, surrounded by mangrove nurseries and close to the blowholes that are also on the island and provides stunning views of the surrounding waters. Legend has it that it’s named because it’s haunted by souls of a ship that went missing in the surrounding reefs. Some say the ship sank with all passengers on board, and other’s say the bodies are buried under the hill. On moonlit nights, some people claim you can hear their spirits singing in the howling wind. It is now a tradition for visiting boaters to leave a piece of driftwood behind with the name of their boat painted on it, as an offering to the God Neptune and the other sea gods for good sailing and safe passage.
Boo Boo Hill is one of the only places we could get cell service, which meant Nanny and Grampy could video chat with our family in British Columbia. I guess Neptune was looking out for us after all.
As we made our way back to our dinghy, the party planner who was interrupting everyone’s attempts to secure a mooring earlier in the day, was recruiting people on the beach. We “tried” to explain to him that we were moored in Emerald Rock, so dinghying out to the boat and dinghying back, wasn’t practical. True to form, our explanation fell on “your not listening” ears. However, we did notice Jay from NoMastE, taping a note to the side of our dinghy.
They were planning to get together on the trawler Nomad from Wrightsville Beach, NC with the crew from Anodyne. Jay notes said that they recognized that we had a wet ride back to the boat, so they were happy to provide our share of the food and drinks for the potluck and could provide a flashlight for the trip back, if we wanted to join them. The thoughtfulness and kindness of fellow boaters continues to amaze us. It had been a long day and so we declined Jay’s offer and headed back to Elizabeth M. It was a bumpy, wet ride and we were happy we decided to do it in the daylight. Judy spent the rest of the evening making our sign to leave on Boo Boo Hill the next day.
The following day, we decided to pack a picnic lunch and head to the main beach to meet up with the crew from Anodyne, before heading back up Boo Boo Hill. It was another beautiful day, but very hot, which made me question our decision to hike up the hill in the afternoon heat. Right on cue, at the top of the hill, Neptune was back at it again. This time with a video call from a friend of ours back home who had just bought her first home, after almost 40 years of renting. She was pretty excited to share the news with Judy.
To ensure Neptune continued to look out for us, we added our Elizabeth M sign to the pile. It was fun looking through the giant pile of signs and seeing boat names that we recognized and others from YouTubers that we watched. Judy did a great job on Elizabeth M’s sign. Hopefully Neptune was impressed.
We made our way back down to the main beach to cool off. On the beach there is a reconstructed skeleton of a sperm whale that died after ingesting plastic, which serves as an reminder to the issue with ocean plastics. It is sad to see the unbelievable amount of plastic waste on these beautiful beaches. There is evidence of a modest, well intentioned effort to gather some of it up, but I am afraid a more effective strategy is required.
Later that evening, the wind shifted back around to the north east, which meant our anchorage was flat calm and made for a very quiet night. The bad news was, our friends that were moored in the main mooring field decided to head out the next morning since things had gotten very rough on that side. The good news was, we decided to leave our comfortable anchorage and follow them down to Cambridge Cay, which is adjacent to where we spent several days waiting out the westerly. Little did we know, we would be invited to hors d’oeuvres and drinks on a 150 foot super yacht.
But, more about that, next time.
Additional Photos:
You guys are looking fantastic! Great info and great photos, as usual. There is something about that pink shell that reminds me of a little old lady that I know - complete with false teeth, 😜🤪❤️