St. Patrick’s Day ... Sunday 17th March, 2013
Banana pancakes were on the breakfast menu, mostly because
we are out of bread! While eating our
breakfast we were treated to the sight of the float-plane taking off from
Children’s Bay Cay. After breakfast we tried to land on the beach near the
southern tip of Lee Stocking Island.
Sadly, the beach that we had seen yesterday from the boat was now
underwater, even though high tide was still some two hours away, so we ended up anchoring just off the rocks, wading ashore and getting fairly wet. Our shorts may have been dampened but our
spirits weren’t. We set off to explore
the island. The rock was incredibly
sharp and spiky. After crossing an
extensive area of what we assumed to have been coral (some time ago), we
finally came to easier ground. A large
cliff of eroded limestone gave views out to Exuma Sound. Many boats were spotted heading
northward. One was even flying a
spinnaker. This is not the typical sail
plan for cruisers… After crossing a remote beach that was littered with pieces
of plastic we found an unpaved road and walked along for a while. The dense vegetation and lack of views soon
persuaded us to turn back. The dinghy
was now in even deeper water. Wading
was again required to regain the ‘dumb dog’. Skillful piloting by Mike allowed us to return
to Cotinga without getting any more wet.
In the afternoon Mike and Rod tackled the saltwater foot
pump. This had ceased working a few days
earlier. After much disconnection of
hoses and blowing through tubing, they discovered that some “marine debris” had
been sucked into the pump. Some of this
material had lodged in the pump itself and some was clogging the tap. The pump and tap were cleared out and the
foot pump is working beautifully once again.
Late in the afternoon, Sue remembered that it was St. Patrick’s
Day. We were all forced to have a drink
in celebration.
We are planning an early departure in the morning, heading
to Emerald Bay marina.
Gloria
The limestone cliffs on the southern end of Lee Stocking Island (n.b. not Stocking Island)
Exuma Sound from the top of the cliffs - the green water = reefs, the blue water = the drop off to deeper water. We were stunned on the way in to Rat Cay cut to be able to see lighter and darker patches of ocean floor in depths of 60 feet! (Photo shot with polarizing filter)
Palm - Abstract 1
Palm Abstract - 2
Encroaching leaf mold - Abstract
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