Feb 11-12, 2023 Warderwick Wells to Little Cistern Cay

By






Waderwick Wells is a gorgeous place.  We spent two nights there and then departed to find a less peopled place.  Originally we thought of casually sailing south, upwind it would be so tacking back and forth to slowly climb to windward. Then inspiration struck!  Down wind just a dozen miles is a place we passed earlier thinking it would be good to try when the weather is right.  Today could not be a more perfect day for Little Cistern Cay. 

We were off the mooring at Waderwick Wells mid morning. The channel here is narrow and our way out would pass within 20 feet of boats riding on their mooring ball. After checking carefully for no inbound traffic we wound our way out and turned for the deep waters of the sound.  Moment later the sails were full and Second Star was moving easily  north and east up the Exuma Island chain in very deep water. 

Little Cistern Cay is not a big place.  Coming off the sound through a narrow but sufficient channel gave us a look at the ocean facing side which is rugged worn rock. Coming around to the north east side delivered us into a modest bay with a very fine beach and 100 mile views. This place is not on the public list of anchorages and we had it completely to ourselves.

This is a lovely deserted tropical island a la Gilligan's Island. There's large beaches to run on & pick up small shells. The clear water is every color of blue. Not much for snorkelling, but we saw a few turtles pocking their heads above the surface to check us out. At night there are no artificial lights, so the stars are brilliant.


Walking to the end of one beach and over the craggy headland delivered us at another beach.  At the far end of the second beach was another headland and the rough rock facing the deep water.  

We felt a sense of having arrived in yet another wonderful secluded Bahamas anchorage.   

We are continually trying new things on board Second Star.  We have found methods that work but also ways to improve.  Here in recent weeks we have been doing a bit of stove top baking.  The idea is that the oven uses much more propane, which is one of our limited resources.  We have become progressively more crafty at cooking our bread in a cast iron pan over a burner!  Here Brent takes on cherry pie, cooked over sea stones from the beach.  No sea stones were harmed and all were returned to the wild.


However, no pie survived to be photographed after dinner. Sorry not sorry.

Another feature of Little Cistern Cay is being far beyond the reach of internet.  At Waderwick Wells internet was available by climbing a  hill.  While not convenient this got us at least a current weather forecast.  At Little Cistern Cay there is not even a hint of signal.  It was refreshing to be so disconnected.  But sorry no blogging was published there.   


Lacking internet, our two day old weather forecast gave no warning of the strong north east wind which would rock the boat all night long and put the beach immediately behind us.  We slept in the salon with immediate access to the helm and took turns checking the instruments for any sign of the anchor slipping, which would quickly put Second Star on the beach.  The sun rose with all well  and the strong winds abated into delighful going south weather, which is exactly what we did.



Comments

Lynn and Ed said…
What beautiful secluded spot! Anchoring in a rocking anchorage in the Bahamas is like running aground in the bay. Everyone will do it sooner or later.
February 17, 2023 at 8:34 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 2-4, 2023 Myrtle Beach to Cape Lookout

By
Image
 We slipped away from our place on the dock after three nights at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club and turned into the ICW heading north. An hour later we turned into Little River Inlet to pass into the open Atlantic Ocean.   We sailed north about 30 miles before returning to the ICW via Cape Fear River.  The Cape Fear River was in flood tide, which was very helpful making 15 miles north to Carolina Beach.  We took a mooring provided by the city of Carolina Beach after talking on the phone with Larry the Dockmaster who is just about the friendliest guy you ever met. He was very welcoming.  Sam was anxious for some shore time, so we dinghy-ed to the town dock and walked 1 block to the ocean beach. She seemed happy to ve back near the surf. On our last visit Larry told us the best burger in town could be found at the gas station next to the dinghy dock. We enjoyed it last time & it seemed like a good way to shortcut dinner while also filling our fuel jugs. ...
Read more

Fri Sept 11 Patuxtent River to Little Choptank

By
Image
We woke up to a ruckus.  These two were being quite chatty and apparently we were anchored near their tree.  They would jabber to each other, fly off to do some fishing, then come back to the tree to brag about their catch and, undoubtedly, the one that got away. We had some nice sailing leaving the Patuxent River, light rain with the sun peaking through now & then.  The skies began to darken and the wind picked up about 3 hours into the sail.  We ended up skating though 4-6 foot seas with 17-20 kt windsfor the rest of the day.  Lots of waves over the bow, a few crashing up over the cockpit windows.  We received a text message from friends Ed & Lynn that they were anchored in the Little Choptank River.  We were not far (as the crow flies) from there, and decided to join them. A few more hours of navigating the rough water and we dropped our anchor 100 feet away from them just at dusk.  They kindly invited us over for snacks ...
Read more

Day 22 & 23 Glouster, Mass- A Brief Intermission....

By
Image
When we arrived in Gloucester, MA Sunday afternoon it was incredibly hot, part of a heat wave involving most of the nation.  We turned on air conditioning; it was lovely. Monday we had planned to relax and not move the boat, waiting for more favorable winds to allow us to move north.  That turned out to be a good call, because I was feeling under the weather and slept most of the day.  Brent made me some pizza for dinner and we played a couple rounds of cribbage. (He won as usual.)  Sometime in the evening it started to rain, and continued to pour down all night. We needed to pull out a quilt to sleep under. Tuesday morning the rain had washed the boat thoroughly, and instead of being unbearably hot we were digging into our cooler weather clothes for sweaters and wool socks. What a change! We grabbed a lull in the rain to take Shelby ashore and explore.  We walked for a couple hours in a mostly light rain.  We toured downtown Glouchester, enjoying th...
Read more