Exumas Land and Sea Park

Monday, March 12

Weighed anchor at 9:20 am, heading north to the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  We have reservations for a mooring ball at Emerald Rock which is right round the corner from the ranger station /Park headquarters on the island of Warderick Wells. 

The Park is a 20 mile long section of the Exuma Island chain that has been set aside as a 'no take' zone.  No fishing, conching, shelling or hunting of any kind is allowed in the cays and reefs of the Park.  The motto is "Take only pictures, leave only bubbles".

We arrived at 12:35pm after a nice cruise of 18.6 nautical miles.  Linda and Chris went to the office to check in and see if we could hook up to the internet...checking in went fine but the internet was finicky.


There are several nature trails on the island  of Warderick Wells including one to Boo Boo Hill that offers a spectacular view of the island, anchorage and Exuma Sound.  The cruiser's tradition is to carve you boat's name onto a piece of wood and to leave it at the top of Boo Boo Hill. That's the plan for tomorrow.

Goodnight from Emerald Rock

Tuesday, March 13 

Getting ready for our hike up Boo Boo Hill, I was trying to find my shoes...Linda had dressed already and I discovered she had put on one of her shoes and one of mine...kind of looks like one of those puzzles...can you see the differences in the picture below.   Great way to start out the day, with a good laugh.

Kerm inspecting a whale skeleton

Hiking Boo Boo Hill

Curly Tailed Iguana

Kerm communing with Curly Tailed Iguana

Collection of boat names at the top of Boo Boo Hill

Ready to add Southern Belle to the pile

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We carved our name into a palm frond

 

The view from the top of the hill is amazing.  Exuma Sound is on one side, very deep and very dark ble.  The Exuma Bank is on the other side shallow water, colors range from champagne to turquoise to

sky blue.

Linda looking out to the Sound

Looking out to the Exuma Bank

 

Look at this amazing anchorage...I will come back here one day and anchor here

Another fun thing...there are blow holes that create tremendous rushes of wind generated by wave action.  This one blew my hat right off.

Blow Holes

After hiking Boo Boo Hill we went back to the boat for a little lunch.  Linda and Chris then took the dinghy out for another adventure.  We anchored next to a coral head and let the dinghy drift over the coral off of Beryl Beach..  We snorkeled and saw blue tangs, schools of large and small fish, sea anemones and coral formations. It was wonderful.

We walked along Beryl Beach and observed the sunken research houseboat, "Owl", destroyed by Hurricane Irene.  Also, went to Rendezvous Beach.  Explored the ruins of an old plantation, Davis Plantation.  Saw several iguanas and a hutia, which is the only mammal indigenous to the Bahamas. On the way back to Southern Belle, Chris' life jacket deployed with a big rush...very exciting!!  We thought the dinghy was sinking.  But Kerm re-armed it when we got back so don't worry, Dan.

This was a great day.  Exuma Land and Sea Park is a wonderful place.  There are miles and miles reefs and shoreline to explore.  You could spend a whole month here are still want to stay longer.  I shall return!

Tomorrow we are headed back to Norman's Cay in the north.

 Christie