Sailing Onward: Post #64: Lazy River Ride

Thursday, February 11 and Friday, February 12, 2021

You know it’s going to be a good day when you find yourself near the end of a rainbow:

We motored south to the first island in the Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park (ECLSP), Shroud Cay. There were a tense few minutes as we all had to cross a shifting sand bar that was charted in one spot at 1.3 meters. We planned to cross on a rising tide to give us a bit of breathing room but at one point our depth meter read 4’8”— which is impossible since we draw 5’4”. (We need to recalibrate.) The boats ahead of us stopped and discussed dropping the hook rather than risk kissing the sand. A friendly sailor who was already anchored nearer the shore kindly radioed to assure us that there was “plenty of water all the way in.” Miss Adventure, which draws 4’6”, carefully led us all into the anchorage without a hitch. Phew!

I couldn’t help but think of the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria and how they might have looked crossing the North Atlantic (with no one to guide them).

Friday the rallying cry, “Campers, today we’re going on an adventure” was heard by all at 9 a.m. Shroud Cay is basically a 3-mile long island fringed by coral reefs with a heartland of creeks that meander through mangrove swamps and sand bars. In the satellite photo below, we began our dinghy ride at the bottom right and wound our way to the center where Sanctuary Creek empties into Exuma Sound.

We saw dozens of turtles in the creek. One especially friendly fellow zipped (well, as fast as a turtle can zip) from port to starboard and back again in front of our dinghy. He would come up for air and look back at us. At first I thought we might be stressing him but on second thought, perhaps he was just fooling around with us. I could swear that he was smiling a little, beckoning us on to more adventures.

As we rounded the last bend, the creek water picked up speed and our jaws dropped in awe:

It was a truly pristine, spectacular beach that showcased the island’s gorgeous natural beauty—and beckoned us to “shoot the chute” as the creek emptied out into the wide bay. Everyone, from the 13-year old to those of us in our 60s, rode the current as far as we could—it was awesome! David even kept his hat on the whole time! Good thing he didn’t keep going for the next stop was probably somewhere in Africa.