Shroud Cay, Exumas

                   

Brrrrrrr!  It was cold last night!  We have been sleeping in the pilot house with both doors open and the wind was whipping through the cabin.  Peggy was covered in two quilts and a polar fleece throw which kept blowing off.  Finally Bob closed one door which made the temperature much more comfortable. By morning the wind had moved to the east and as this anchorage is well protected from that direction it was much less bumpy than yesterday.  The morning air temperature was 75^oF with 58% humidity so don’t ask why it felt so cold last night! Bob worked on the generator and battery system as the generator starting battery is not charging.  

Crepes topped with canned peaches were for breakfast!  Peggy reviewed charts and read about the nearest Cays and soon it was time for an adventure.  We packed up the dinghy essentials and headed out to the northernmost cut through the mangroves.  What a rough thirty minute ride into the waves and wind but this time Peggy wore a foul weather jacket. Bob was soon drenched with spray but grinning all the same. 

We found the cut entrance and motored upstream. 

Eastern outlet

Though it was not long after low tide the current was still flowing against us from Exuma Sound to the Banks.   As the channel wound around we were constantly searching for the deeper green water passages with Bob pulling the dinghy when it became too shallow to motor.  After many twists, a large horseshoe turn, and a quick sneak of a passing turtle, we arrived at the other side of the cay to cross a narrow channel with a lively inflowing current.  Rewarded by spectacular beaches, a wall of breaking surf and sandblasting wind, we climbing a small bluff for photo opportunities.  While we were lingering for views, photos and wading in the surf, four other dinghys of people from our anchorage boats arrived and left.  One group was a couple from Montreal with 4 children, one of which was 2 ½ months old.  Chartering a catamaran, they must really have wanted to evade the Canadian winter.  

East side of Shroud Key   

On the return trip we took the left fork instead of the right, meandering through a different passage which spit us out much closer to the anchorage with a lot less open water to bounce through for the return trip.  A fellow boater had told us about it.  Otherwise we would not have gone that way as the channel did not show on our Garmin charts.  Bob took his usual fresh water shower on the swim platform using sun warmed water from the hand pressurized garden sprayer while Peggy chose the more formal head shower.  With the wind howling through the superstructure we were happy that there is land between us and the boisterous east wind.  Dinner, dish washing and a sip or two or three of Vanilla liqueur filled our evening and another day in the Bahamas has come to an end.

Overview of Mangrove Swamp