Feb 7-8, 2023 Nassau to Shroud Cay

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Athol Island gave us a nice view of the lights of Nassau but there was a very rolly swell that pitched & rolled us allll night, making it hard to sleep soundly.  We noticed some folks we met in West End were anchored not far from us. We have been crossing paths on a regular basis. 

Athol Island was a good staging point to jump onto the yellow bank to head south.  We wanted to get an early start to take advantage of the favorable winds, since they were forecast to change direction later in the day and make it a more difficult sail.  Leaving right after coffee/tea, we were reminded that we were sailing eastward by the morning sun glaring in our eyes, and making it difficult to pick out the large rocks that dot the Yellow Bank. We were glad to have markings on the chartplotter from our previous trips to follow.

It was a good sailing day, and after a few hours we could see the chain of tropical islands that are the northern Exumas. Now we just had to pick which one to stop at first!  The wind forecast usually has the last word on that subject, so we chose Shroud Cay.

On our last visit 2 years ago it was overrun with boats and teens on jetskis, but now it was quiet & serene with only a few charter boats anchored.  Because we only need 3+ feet of water to anchor in we could choose a place away from the pack and closer to the beach (still a half mile away).  Over the next two days we enjoyed walking the beach and taking the dinghy through the mangrove lined creek that leads to the ocean facing side of the island.
Mangroves under water
The pass to the Atlantic side

We got to play in the surf

We didn't see the same abundance of wildlife as last time, just a few choice specimens, but we are attributing that to it being much earlier in the year. 
Ray:
Turtle  (very camera shy):
A different variety of starfish (Armored Sea Star)

Other sources of entertainment: we did laundry

Lois tried to make blueberry scones. They had a unique smokey flavor....

Brent went for a swim and Sam was lifeguard

Internet service is nonexistant in most of these areas, please forgive the delays in posting.

Comments

Lynn and Ed said…
Glad you got to have the quiet and serene experience that we have had there. It’s a special place.
February 17, 2023 at 8:02 AM
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