WalderickWells, Exumas

Relaxing with my blue pedicure to match the sky.

We had just about a 2 hour sail to Walderick Wells and took a mooring ball for $20/night.  This is in the Exuma Cay Land andSea national Park system so there is nothing ashore but the ranger station, where we pay our bill, rent DVD's, exchange books, etc.  The park Ranger there is Darcy, who lives with her husband on their boat year round and has done this for EIGHT years.  Don't think I could do it.  Very scrubby vegetation on all of these islands, and the land is a kind of craggy limestone with holes all over it.  We did take a hike one day but some places could be dangerous if you don't watch your footing.  Basically a pretty barren landscape with few birds, but the water is beautiful.  I neglected to take pictures our first day and now the weather is not so good so hope another opportunity comes along for that before we leave.

Ray on our hike - is this Bahama weather?

The weather we are getting may be tied in to the horrible weather in parts of the US, where 30 some people have died in tornados.  Ours is not that bad, but we just don't go out into rough, high seas with possible squalls creating winds up to 30-40 its.  So, I have been cleaning (no cell phone), cooking (no restaurants), reading (Glass Castle), DVD's (Season 2 of Boston Legal, Big Fish), and best of all getting together with fellow cruisers.  Last night we went to the beach and had a "Blowin' Like Stink" happy hour party with Jesse & Ginny from Wind Dust, Jack and Shaun from Pattycakes, and Ward & Richard from Begheera.  It was also Jack's birthday so Shaun had made a delicious apple cake, her first attempt to bake on their boat and it was a big success.  We all agree the answer to the question we are asked and sometimes ask ourselves - "Why do we do this?" - the answer is meeting incredible people who you instantly have something in common with.  It just doesn't happen on land.

Enjoying the beach before the bad weather but still so windy ray had to hold the umbrella. The only visitor we had that day was a curly tailed lizard who kept creeping up on us - I think he thought we had some food for him.

I was so proud of my pasta I took a picture - it was delicious, just zucchini, garlic, olives, bits of turkey pepperoni and Parmesan with olive oil and lemon juice as sauce.  Add a glass of red wine and lunch on the boat!  Good thing I provisioned well in Miami.  And Ray is always super appreciative of my cooking.

On our hike to Boo Boo Hill we did find blow holes, which during high tide blow up spumes of water but we just felt the hot air coming up.  The island used to have forest on it but excessive logging over 200 years ago left it a barren landscape vulnerable to hurricanes, and will never be able to recover from that.  There is only one mammal in the Exumas, called  Hutia, a small rodent that comes out at night only.

All boaters are encouraged to hike Boo Boo and leave piece of driftwood with their names on it.  Seems there is not enough driftwood so e

Carcass of a whale washed up on the beach here a few years ago.  An autopsy showed it died from ingesting plastic bags, wrappers, etc.  The park here is dedicated to conservation and preservation.  They say "Leave only footprints in the sand".

Jesse (Wind Dust) and Shaun (Pattycakes) on our boat for happy hr.

Jack (Pattycakes) and Ginny (Wind Dust)

Us (duh).  The galley is behind me and guest cabin behind steps on other side.

Chart view of typical cay in Exumas.  Surrounded by reefs and sand bars, navigation can be tricky.

Men of the Sea - Ray, Jesse, Richard, Ward, Jack

Forgot to say, the winds were so strong yesterday, Jesse called over and said "I think your ananometer (or however you spell it and it sure is hard to say but he does it well) is gone.  This is a thing on the top of our mast that spins around and tells us how fast the wind is blowing and from what direction.  Actually, it stopped working a month ago and we weren't going up the mast to fix it. Anyway, when we got in our dinghy we found one half of it and could see the other half at the bottom of the ocean in 10 feet of water.  Rest in peace.