currently in:  Warderick Wells, Exumas, Bahamas

When we were just starting out cruising, we met lots of cruisers who had been out for years, either full or part time, who spent every winter cruising the Bahamas. Sometimes we asked why they never went farther afield, and the response was usually along the lines of:  "Oh, we went to the Caribbean once. But the Bahamas are better."  Of course we privately imagined there must be some other reason, that perhaps they didn't like going offshore, or so far, or to countries where they used different currency or maybe spoke different languages, because of course the far-away Caribbean seemed more exotic and interesting. But you know what?  We went to the Caribbean once - and the Bahamas are better!

It's our third visit to the Exumas, but it never palls. Sailing on the lee side of the Exumas is the most perfect sailing imaginable, as the islands block the waves but allow the wind unfettered passage. The water shades from deepest blue to pale turquoise over pure white sand, a palette unique to this place. We can look down from our boat through the lightly rippled water, and clearly see our anchor chain 25 feet below. The water could be a bit warmer, and there are sometimes too many boats in an anchorage for our liking (what, FOUR other boats? Horrors!), but so what? 

Part of our enjoyment comes from being with people to whom this is all new. We love it when Douglas looks around and says, "This is the most beautiful anchorage I've ever been in," (which he's said every time, I think!), or when Bernadette exclaims over the amazing colors of the water, because it makes us look at these things afresh. We're doing the same things we did on our first trip here - we visited the iguanas at Allan's Cay, we dinghied up the tidal creeks of Shroud Cay, and we snorkeled Jeep Reef and the Sea Aquarium. But they are all still as beautiful as they were four years ago. (You can read our old logs via the archive page.)

We lucked out and had some perfectly calm weather to go snorkeling in, allowing us to dink several miles to the really great stuff some distance away. The Sea Aquarium is a marked site with easy snorkeling and the tamest fish I've ever seen - I've never before gotten close enough to a yellowtail snapper to spear it. (Which I can't do, of course, since this is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Smart fish!) At Jeep Reef, which we did on our first visit as a tank dive with our friends on Odyssey, I dove down to peer under a ledge and found a huge turtle, apparently fast asleep. In between dives, we stopped to walk along the sugary sand beach of Osprey Cay, avoiding the bluff at the end guarded by a nesting pair, and marveled at the large numbers of juvenile conch sitting on the seagrass, barely underwater, just below the low-tide line.

Yesterday a front blew in, so we hiked instead on the trails of Warderick Wells. We're anchored in the south anchorage, which we had admired from the shore on a previous visit but never been to by boat, and it's incredibly beautiful and well-protected - and far less crowded than the mooring field on the north end, or the Emerald Rock area on the lee side.

But we'll be getting into the crowd soon enough, as we're heading to Staniel Cay. On the weather net we heard that there are 66 boats anchored at Big Major's, a good anchorage near Staniel, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are close to a hundred altogether in that area. But it's time to visit civilization, if only to buy a few more groceries, do laundry, and see if we can find an internet connect. And then we'll be off again, to find more of the beauties of the Bahamas.