These islands are much loved and lightly touched by the hand of man. They are islands that comprise the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. The park is made up of dozens of cays along a 22-mile stretch of the northern Exumas that is just over 8 miles wide. It’s a no-take zone (both land & sea) - nothing living or dead is allowed to be taken from the park.
It was low tide when we entered Warderick Wells, the principle Cay in the Sea Park. It was unnerving to motor up the narrow inlet to our assigned mooring. The water was transparent which made the bottom clearly visible and close – very close! I asked Dan “Are we in the channel, it’s getting quite shallow?” He double-checked the chart and the fathometer verified we were ok. We passed by other vessels tied up to their moorings in the thin strip of darker water that comprised the channel.
We made our way to the office where we secured sketch maps and other necessary info and that’s where we met “the birds” – colorful Bananaquits. The drill is: open the designated container, spread sugar in your hand, extend, and voila! You have become St Francis! These delicate birds scoop the sugar from your hand by turning their heads sideways as they corner the sugar crystals into their long beaks. They’re light, weighing less than an ounce but when you get up to a dozen of them on your hand at once, it adds up!
They made this place just for us! Folks are encouraged to volunteer; one day of work is payment for one night’s mooring. Without hesitating Dan and I decided we would volunteer the next day, while we got the lay of the land so to speak. At 9 AM the next morning we were on the dock awaiting our assignment. Dan and another cruiser were assigned to plumbing detail. I was appointed to do landscaping!
So, for the next 6 hours, I, with the company of curly tailed reptiles and large hermit crabs, crawled through the bushes cutting back the overgrowth and hauled dead fronds and other invasive vegetation to the compost pile. I was thrilled! Not quite getting my hands in the dirt but as close as is possible right now.
The atmosphere of this spot is relaxed and casual. The only organized activity that we became aware of was the bonfire happy hour on Saturday evening. It gave us a chance to hear plans of other cruisers and collectively to marvel at our lives!
We took a long hike to the far end of this island. Our visit coincided with the Spring tide (full moon high tide) and some of the walkways were well under water. On our return trip the same paths were significantly above water.
We were rewarded with incredible vistas as well as many insect bites. For some unknown reason the no-see-ums just love me. They don’t seem to bother Dan. He says they’re not interested in his tough hide.
One of the items we had hoped to bring with us, but didn’t have room for, were kayaks. Warderick Wells took care of that for us! Three sea kayaks are available for visitors to use for free and one morning we hopped in a couple of them and paddled around. We’ve crossed vast patches of the ocean in Gypsy but there is something special and more intimate about being in a kayak. It was nice to get reconnected with the little boats.
We swam with colorful live fish… And we gazed into the water from the deck of Gypsy at the nurse shark that appeared to be hunting for her dinner. Needless to say the yellow tailed tuna and the grouper that we had been watching were no longer in site. Dan is especially good at spotting activity in the water and we were excited to see the heads popping up for air of two young sea turtles.
Life is fragile out here; reef, fish & mammal populations are all held within a delicate balance. We, too, are in a vulnerable situation with only each other to provide and sustain our life balance. We are friend, companion, crew and lover to each other, 24/7 with little contact with outsiders. It’s teaching us to be careful with each other while giving us the gift of each other’s love and support.
