January 6, 2014.

Yesterday we woke with plans to travel a bit north. There was supposed to be 2 days of light Southeasterlies that would enable us to bop up to Double Breasted Cay for a few nights. I'm not sure but somehow the plan changed....

Instead of leaving Hog Cay we decided to move North along the West side of the cay into unfamiliar territory. The charts show the area we were considering to have no water. We've swam the entire area and know that not the case.

Also, every year a catamaran or two will drop the hook in this anchorage so we decided to give it a go.

So we pulled the hook 2 hours before high tide and cautiously motored north along the cay. After rounding the point we crept in as close to the cay as possible. We're now anchored behind the highest ground in all the Jumentos at 24 meters.

Flat water in spite of 18 knots

We have a shear limestone wall from 0º all the way through the east to 180º. Protection is so complete there’s not even a phone signal. To talk to my Mom last night involved getting in the dink and floating a quarter of a mile to the West so I could use the phone.

We climbed the wall as best we could in an effort to try and capture the scene in pictures.

Veranda in the lee of the hills

Beautiful beaches just to the north

At the masthead we were registering 18 knots of breeze while below there was barely a ripple on the water.

The water along the back of the cay here is shallow and a natural nursery for all kinds of indigenous fish. We decided to take a photo swim and just poke around a bit.

Schools of tiny fish in the shallows

A wee lobster

Typical reef with fish

I always carry a spear when we get in the water in case the family of some dead fish wants revenge. Its a good thing too because as soon as we got into the water a pair of Lemon Sharks appeared and showed an interest in the new kids to the neighborhood.

Lemon Shark

They were harmless enough and ran off when confronted. But it was a little disconcerting as to how quickly they could reappear out of the shadows to make another curious pass. We saw juvenile fish of every kind and a pair of tiny lobsters in the shallow water.

After dinner on the boat we watched the depth sounder while trying to decide what kind of job we had down when we dropped the hook. Whenever we drop the hook we always decide how much the water will recede when the tide ebbs. This enables us to drop the hook as close as we can to the shoreline.

The chartplotters "Log Function" is pretty cool

I was pretty sure we had done a good job as we watched the water below our keel fall to less than half a foot as we swung through low tide. Six inches or six feet, as long as we're floating......

The Sunsets not too shabby either