Dawn found us leaving Rock Sound, Eleuthra, and heading across the deep blue Exuma Sound for the Exumas. Wind was up, which is a good thing for a sailboat. Only issue was the wind direction was not favorable for our plan to head towards Highbourne Cay, so instead, we headed south for Warderick Wells and the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Love that we can change plans on the fly, based on the actual wind direction. Go where the wind takes us.
Warderick Wells was breathtaking, especially the north and south mooring fields. We loved being on the hook, so instead opted for the Emerald Rock anchorage on the west side of the island.
We hiked on the island, snorkeled each day, and toured by dinghy to see local natural sites. We swam with nurse sharks, big and small, and found miniature starfish on a sandy shore.
This was a magical time aboard Mahi, visiting a place that has no restaurants, stores, or civilization. Thankful, our boat is completely self sufficient, when we needed water, we made it using our Rainman R/O watermaker. For power, we charged our batteries using our generator. Cooking food is done using propane.
Shark Encounters: We learned that a local nurse shark fell in love with our Rainman watermaker. Every time we ran it, the 8 foot shark would show up. I was able to snap a picture of this shark.
The first time he showed up, I had just left the water a few minutes before. That caught my attention; in some places you would do a shark scan or watch if there happened to be a higher concentration of sharks. That day, we didn’t. Luckily, nurse sharks are curious and not as prone to being aggressive unless provoked. Still, you are always cognizant that they are bigger than you and come with sharp teeth.
This little nurse shark swam close to shore when we were in the water. I saw him, so we got in the dinghy and grabbed my iPhone to film him. He was only about 4 feet, a young shark.
On another occasion, Joe and I were snorkeling and I was taking pictures of fish among the coral. There was a huge nurse shark (about 8 feet) just sitting on the sea floor nearby. I found photographic proof when I later looked at my footage. Look real close in the background:
Such is the fun of snorkeling with sharks. Never knew that sometimes nurse sharks like to just lay on the bottom. So much for hearing that sharks have to continually move. Not true with nurse sharks. Later on in the Exumas, I had a close encounter with a reef shark off of Cambridge Cay.
From Warderick Wells, we sail to our next spot down the Exuma chain. Stay tuned!
SV Mahi 