Day 80 - 81 (Wed, Feb 1 – Thurs, Feb 2 , 2012): Cambridge. Getting to this beautiful anchorage is (let’s just say) the most exhilarating spot yet in the Exumas. Very narrow channel and you must “thread the needle.” The passage narrows to about 20 feet between a sandbar and a rocky shoal. Very exciting! Bert went first. “Not So Interim” made it with the lowest water at about 12 ft. We followed. The plan was that if he got hung up, we would anchor further out and take our dinghy in to help him. Luckily or I should say, with skill and a bit of daring, we made it through. It was worth it. What a beautiful place. Breathtaking water, quiet and very secure. We pulled up to a mooring (still in the Exumas Park). There were a few other boats when we arrived but they soon departed at high tide. A few went back out the Northern route like we came in. A couple of boats departed the southern route. Way too shallow for Gaia. But the plus... the entire area was ours. Just, "Not So Interim" and "Gaia."
We took a short nap and then headed out in the Dingy to explore one of the many little islands and do some beach combing. We found numerous small conchs lining the beach. They were empty and I also spotted a ton of conchs on the bottom that were completely crushed. This is the park still, so hunting or fishing is off limits. Besides, the conch fishermen only make a small hit in the upper spirals of the conch to remove the critter. The ones we are seeing here are seriously smashed. Mystery.
Maria and Bert have invited us over to have dinner with them. I promised to make a desert. I found a package of flan in the cupboard. Left over from an excursion to Still Pond this past summer. Perfect. The only problem was that I waited a bit too long for it to cool down before we had to head over to "Not So Interim." What a meal! Maria once again amazed us with her cooking prowess. We had a meat pie and an unusual bread roll with pepperoni, raisins and cinnamon. Everything was perfectly prepared. During and after the meal we listened to Bert’s Latin and Jazz collection. He has more music than anyone I have ever seen! Incredible taste in tunes. The evening was perfect. Tomorrow snorkeling and we promised to repay the dinner favor. So we departed and headed back to the blue light of Gaia. (OK, we get more comments on Patrick’s blue lights in the cockpit than any other feature on Gaia short of the davits. It must be the alien glow.)
Snorkeling paradise!!!! I got up early and started the meal for tonight. I baked bread, cut up the veggies and defrosted the turkey breast. Also made some very yummy carrot cake muffins. Then off in the Craken to explore. Maria and Bert came with us. First we headed to the caves. Far to rough to explore! Then, we headed to the other end of Cambridge to check out a reef called the “Aquarium.” Very nice. Fish were everywhere and quite tame. This was not their first human snorkel rodeo. They have obviously been fed quite a bit. The reef was in pretty good shape. Some bleaching but not too bad. I swam out around the point and found a Hawksbill Turtle. He didn’t really want to be messed with so I headed back to the main site. Patrick was snorkeling so we used the photo opp to get some fun shots.
After the Aquarium, we headed to the wrecked plane. Too much current to enjoy, so we headed back to the boats. I started dinner in earnest and cleaned up Gaia. Dinner was a success. The movie for the evening, in honor of Groundhogs day was…. Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Nice evening, too much food and great conversation with friends. “If I was going to pick a day to live over and over this would be the one. Margaritas at sunset and something about sea otters…(quote from the movie).
I did not have a very restful night. Worry again… this time going over and over in my head the best way to get out of here without having to “thread the needle.” Thinking at this point that maybe...outside then back in the cut at the bottom of Cambridge. Morning and Chris’s weather report will help determine. Yawn.
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