We set off from Big Majors Spot around 8.30am for our 20 mile sail up the Exuma chain to the Exuma Land and Sea Park our next destination. The Exuma Park, set up in 1958, a world first in marine conservation covers 176 square miles of cays, rock and reefs. Warderick Wells is the site of the Park Headquarters and where moorings are provided.
We listened in on the daily 9am VHF radio broadcast allocation of moorings to reserve ours for arrival. This must be a popular spot though as they were fully booked but said we should make our way anyway as check out was not until lunch and they were sure we’d get a mooring at that point. We were not expecting to be there until lunchtime anyway because there was only light winds so carried on as suggested. There were a few more boats around travelling bankside. This time we were able to get straight out into the deeper water (well 4-5m) and so it was fairly relaxed sail in minimal swell despite the S-SE winds. The light breeze and building summer temperature meant that it was sweltering all the way as we struggled to get some shade and breeze.
Exuma and Sea Land Park, Warderick Wells
We arrived to the park just before it closed for lunch and we were given a mooring and good instructions to find it. The boats are all moored in a crescent shape around a central sand bank of bright white sand with a deep blue channel round the outside which makes a spectacular scene when you arrive. Nearly all of the moorings were full and I think we were one of only two boats not registered in Florida. I went to check us in with the Park HQ as I’d heard they had a book swap and our supplies are getting dangerously low with all this wet weather! Unfortunately we had missed slack water to do any snorkelling this afternoon and there seemed to be a wind over tide / wind tunnelling affect on the anchorage as there was quite a blow and chop not really suitable for swimming. Luckily they had DVDs for hire for only $2 each and after watching the same set that we had already watched before we left for the last year I could not resist!
Arriving into Warderick Wells North Anchorage
We had dinner in the cockpit, it was still really warm at 6.30pm as the wind had really died down now. We sat on the side deck in the shade and were amazed to see three very large eagle rays about to glide past the boat. I dashed up to get the camera (ever eager to record all for the blog!) which caused them to divert their course away but I just managed to get a shot of their shadows on the surface as they departed. Whilst I was fetching the camera, Kevin saw a small nurse shark as well! We are looking forward to some snorkelling tomorrow and a walk up Boo Hill to leave our boat name according to tradition.
Three very large eagle rays glide past the boat
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