More Bahamas Sailing - Norman's Cay to Warderick Wells

Just another day in paradise!  We were still in search of some better snorkeling.  The guide book said that the "bank" side (west side, shallow water)  of Highbourne Cay had good snorkeling...so, we lifted anchor and were on our way.

This side of the island is apparently for the well-to-do folks!  We saw several of these mansions-on-the-water....

OOHHH, I just love that clear blue water! The snorkeling actually was really not that great.  Plus, there was a HUGE current.  We jumped off and let the current carry us - then we were picked up in the dinghy.

Since the snorkeling was disappointing, we headed south!  Next stop, Norman Cay.

Yeah, it's a rough life, Lindy!!

Approaching the anchorage at Norman's Cay

The history of Norman's Cay is filled with drug smuggling - the airstrip is left-over from the 1980's now-defunct illegal operation.

A nice runway, currently used by legitimate visitors.

There is only one establishment on the island - MacDuff's. 

We had a nice dinner there - Lindy and Carolyn got some up-close time with the local "welcome" skeleton.

I think this is our only group photo!! 

The lovely couple!

The next morning, the winds had virtually come to a stand-still....Carolyn testing the water.  we motored to the southern tip of Norman's Cay to snorkel around the (in)famous airplane wreck.

The airplane wreckage is a DC-3 that crashed after an ill-fated run to the island carrying drugs in the 1980's.  It is about a 1/2 mile from the runway in about 20' of water.  The wreckage is deteriorating - the top of the cabin can be seen from a distance.

Underwater, parts of the plane are in good shape.

Another load of snorkelers!  There was a good current in a perfect direction - so we dropped the snorkelers off at the wreckage - and the current brought us back directly to the back of the sailboat!

Ready to head further south!

Back out into the Exuma Sound (the east side of the Exuma chain).  Dick is so nice to help Lindy with her sunscreen.  I loved getting these "sneaky" shots!

Capt'n Richard for a while!

Carolyn getting ready to fix the evening meal - pulled pork from home and some very yummy coleslaw!

Most of the time that we were moving, we were fishing!!

Hahaha - this time it was just some seaweed!

But very soon, the pole was bent again.....

Another Mahi-Mahi!

And this one had a beautiful sac of roe!  We put this in the freezer - I have it at home now and will let you know how it is (after I figure out what to do with it, that is!!) 

Cleaned and ready for the freezer.

Capt'n Karen for a while!

This may not be of interest to you, but it fascinated me....this is our chartplotter.  The position of the sailboat is depicted as the little black dot. The water depth this depicted as the little numbers.    Out in the Exuma Sound, the depths were at times over 2000 ft!  What was fascinating was how quickly the depths changed.  You go from 1000 feet to 60 feet to 20 feet almost instantly.

It's a little hard to make out, but in the distance you can see where the water changes colors.  The boat is currently in the deep-indigo-blue of 1000 ft depths.  Just ahead, you can see a line where the water changes color to the lovely aqua-marine.

Approaching our next stop - Warderwick Wells Nature Preserve.

Cecil and Carolyn getting ready to do a little snorkeling and beachcombing on their own.

Sharks!!  They are just "lemon" sharks - apparently fairly "harmless"....haha.  No one swam off the back of the boat here!!

Warderwick Wells was a popular place.  This is the most sailboats we've seen on this trip.

A fabulous dinner - fresh corn-on-the cob, wonderful coleslaw, everyone else had pork bbq and bragged on it. 

And soon, another lovely sunset!!!