Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is a 176 square mile area that was set aside by the Bahamian Parliament in 1958 to protect both the land and sea. It's approximately 22 miles long and extends out 4 nautical miles from the cays in either direction. It includes 15 large islands and many more tiny ones. Its purpose is to provide a safe haven and replenishment area for the wildlife native to the Bahamas and educate the public in saving the beautiful environment for future generations. The motto for this park is "take pictures and memories, leave only footprints" as there is no fishing, conching, shelling, lobstering, no where to leave garbage, no provisions and no bathrooms. Much of the work in the park is done by volunteers for a month at a time, although there are some paid positions. At Warderick Wells Cay they have a house that the workers reside in next to the park office. It is the oldest land and sea park in the world.

We had the pleasure of staying 3 nights at Cambridge Cay at the south end and 3 nights at Warderick Wells, towards the middle of the park and home to the park headquarters. This was an excellent location to cut through to the sound and head to Eleuthera when the winds died down.
These islands separate the Exuma Sound (deep blue water) from the Exuma Bank (much shallower body of water) and due to the easterly trade winds the islands provide ample protection in east winds. Our problem is the normal easterlies have been southerly 18-25 mph which makes the sound side very rough and the bank side more tolerable but still waves of 3-5'. After spending 3 nights at Cambridge and doing as much exploring as we could with the winds being so strong, we headed out Thursday morning (winds diminished a little), 21 miles north to Warderick Wells Cay. Luckily we had decided to go to our southern most point first and that way if the winds were still brisk as we headed north the waves would be to our stern (back) and give us a more comfortable ride.
We stopped at Emerald Rock and took a mooring ball and after we were hooked up we both shook our heads and said "this won't work". The surge is terrible and with the winds we were already rocking and rolling. We needed to go check into the office at Warderick Wells where they also have mooring balls but you normally have to get on the waiting list a day ahead of time. We listened to the radio announcements this morning and it sounded like a lot of people left, when we got to the office we asked if there was any way we could get one of the mooring balls out front - we could see it was much calmer. Lucky again, she had a couple balls open so we took the dinghy back to the boat, hiked the dinghy and headed to the mooring ball assignment.
Now normally when you approach a mooring ball there is a pendent on it that floats and then I grab it with a boat hook from the bow of the boat, put our lines through the eye and secure the lines back to the boat. As we approached I told Mark - "there isn't a pendant but it looks like its under water and I might be able to grab it". We tried several times, no luck...suddenly a boater from the sailboat in front comes rowing over (his dinghy motor wasn't working). The current was strong and I was a little nervous this gentlemen was going to float right by, he actually did on his first attempt, but he rowed and rowed back to our boat where I threw him a line. Now Mark is trying to keep us close to the mooring ball, fighting the current, making sure we stay in the channel and also watching where the gentlemen in the dinghy is....if anyone had been watching they were probably getting a good laugh, we were the entertainment for the day, but between all of us we finally got moored to the ball. We were just thankful for the help and as he rowed back to his boat we commented that his exercise for the day was done! I guess the previous boaters broke the pendant's float off and didn't notify the office, once we were secured Mark headed to the office and got a pendant float and attached it so the next boat doesn't have the same issue as us.

The islands we have been visiting are on the fringe of what is called "out islands", they are scarcely populated islands and cays that offer deserted beaches and natural wonders. There are no cruise ships, no high-rise hotels or crowds. Outside the Land and Sea Park, some of the private islands are owned by famous and not so famous well to do people. We cruised by Johnny Depp's island, but didn't see a pirate out on the beach. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw also own an Island here but we didn't venture down quite that far to check it out.

The ever changing weather forecast had us leave the Exumas a day early. Initially Sunday's winds were to die down to less than 10 mph which would calm the sound for our crossing on Monday to Eleuthera. Mark went up to the office to see if he could grab some Wi-Fi, it's been terrible in Warderick Wells, and saw that the weather forecast was very sketchy so he decided we needed to make our trek over to Cape Eleuthera Sunday afternoon. We traveled 37 miles to the marina, the swells were on the beam, not my favorite but doable. We plan on being here a couple of nights so we can get some laundry done and enjoy the beach and pool and decent Wi-Fi.

This is a picture of plastic that has washed ashore.

It's heartbreaking to see how it effects the environment

and the wildlife.

 

Mark found the perfect place to relax on our walk.

Hammock made from fishing net and ropes that

washed ashore.

 

So funny how we both looked at this rock

and commented how it looked like an iguana

 

Beautiful scenery on the east side of Cambridge Cay

 

The sound side was roaring as we walked along the beach

 

A piece of brain corral that washed ashore

 

What the heck?

This is what happens when you land the dinghy and

the tide goes out when you are out exploring the island

 

Mark had an easy time changing the anodes

in the clear water

 

At "the aquarium", Mark was giving

the fish a cracker

 

The "looky bucket" is the best for seeing the beautiful fish

Mark snorkeling and towing the dinghy

to different areas for me to get a better view

 

We moored in Warderick Wells and this nurse shark

was the first to welcome us. He hung around a lot.

Mark went in the water once and the shark was sleeping

on the bottom right under our boat in the shade.

Both were a little startled by each other, but after a few minutes

"Ratchet" as we named it, went right back to sleeping while Mark

changed the trim tab anodes, inspected the boat bottom and just

swam around to stay cool.

 

The Lore of Boo Boo Hill

We hiked to the top not only for the view but hopeful

for Wi-Fi...the view was wonderful, Wi-Fi not so much

 

We had heard about the poison wood tree but had no

idea what it looked like until we saw this sign

 

Beautiful scenery at the top of Boo Boo Hill

 

 

The park headquarters is to the right and the residence

is to the left. We had to walk across the creek to

start climbing up Boo Boo Hill

Plaque on the bench at the top of Boo Boo Hill

This may look like a bunch of garbage but in fact boaters

leave a tribute to the people who perished in

the shipwreck and it is suppose to bring good weather to those

that leave something (wood and rocks found on the shore only)

 

You can see the anchorage and the color of the water.

When your in the Bahamas it is important to watch the

color as it is a visual on water depths. When navigating

shallower banks, one doesn't really use the chart plotter,

you "read the water" It is called VPR, "visual piloting rules"

apply. Above is a great picture showing different colors for

water depth. The dark blue is at least 10' deep in a semi-circle

around the anchorage, 20' behind our boat at low tide it was 2' deep

That's Captain's Choice in the middle.

 

The terrain is so interesting as we made our way over

to the blow holes on the hill

 

 

This is a Bahamian Hutia that we found hiding from us.

It is an endangered species and is a member of the rodent family

 

The curly tailed lizard

 

Saturday nights at Warderick Wells they have "beach tails"

at 4:30. There was a large crowd at the Tiki Hut

 

"Sun, Surf and Turquoise Waters"