March 26, 2008

We were up and underway at 0800 for a quick 15 mile day to Pipe Creek. Pipe Creek is popular for having 360 degree protection from the elements. Some boats that travel to the Bahamas don’t go any farther than Pipe Creek. Its offers great protection, good spear fishing and is big enough to allow spending a lot of time shelling and exploring.

The approach looks a little iffy so far as depth goes so we decided to skip it on the way south. Now we’re a little more Bahamas savvy and are also traveling with the Packet Inns who’ve been here before so we’re a little more confident in our approach.

We plan to arrive an hour and a half before high tide on a rising tide and are rewarded with plenty of water depth. We can plainly see the location of the deeper water by its deep blue color. We follow our planned route only to come to an apparent dead end. We’ve got the shore to the starboard side and an obvious reef to port. As soon as we were confident that we were past the reef I decided to turn left through some water that looked a foot deep in an effort to get into a pocket of dark blue water that looked suitable for anchoring. We never saw less than 10 feet and were able drop the hook in 8 feet of water and settle back into 15 feet of water.

Immediately to our south is Rat Cay. The shore of Rat Cay is busy with signs denoting the island as being private and the fact that they would appreciate it if you would respect their privacy. The dogs can’t read so there was no guilt and they really seemed to enjoy the pristine beach.




Whoever owns this place has mega bucks. The island had at least 8 huge high dollar homes sprinkled about the island. They’re all unoccupied and closed up with hurricane shutters and are all in the same colors and style. Probably an owners home with guest homes spread all over the island.


Theres an airport, chapel and groundskeepers too. It could be Johnny Depp or the 700 Club, who knows, but somebody’s got some bucks.

This morning when I got up I decided since it was low tide I’d take the dogs over to a spit of sand that only shows itself at low tide. I pulled the dinghy up on the sand and let the dogs run free. The sand bank was criss crossed with little rivulets; some were 3 feet wide and only an inch deep while others were 3 feet wide and a foot deep. The dogs were barreling along and would run through an inch of water and when the got to the next tiny stream would try to run through only to flip ass over head when they assumed this stream was only as deep as the last. They were like a pair of rambunctious children and barely stopped running long enough to take care of business. Molly, who’s been acting her age lately was like a puppy and Tucker, who hates the water, charged through every puddle he could find.

We spent a good bit of time exploring the shorelines of all the other cays. Christy and I did a bit of snorkeling and did manage to harvest another lobster. We were in 15 feet of water and once again Christy spotted the bug nestled in his lair. I dove on him once and came back up and discussed my concerns that he might be a little small. She reminded me that up until now the majority of the lobsters we’ve taken have been freakishly large, so of course this normal sized one looks small. So I returned to the bottom and shot him through the face. Once I had him back at the surface my concerns were validated, he was barely legal, maybe. There’s a size limit on lobsters, they’ve got to have a tail of at least five and a half inches in length. This one barely made six inches, I felt like a baby killer, it was depressing. Christy wasn’t feeling my pain though and had him for lunch. I had baloney sandwiches but at least I felt confident that the baloney had come from a full grown…..whatever, wherever baloney comes from.

After lunch we were underway for Warderick Wells which is in the heart of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. This means that there will be no hunting or gathering until we leave the park. But that’s okay as I’m still feeling a bit like a baby killer.

On our way south we stayed at Warderick Wells but in the Emerald Rock section of the park. It was great in the fact that it offered maximum protection from the cold front that we were hiding from at that time. This time we were able to get into the north anchorage. It also offers great protection but in addition you are surrounded by unbelievable views wherever you look.

We will be here for at least 4 or 5 days as yet once again we are hiding from a front that’s due to roar through in the next few days. So once again things are good, it may get a little breezy but paradise is still paradise.