Finally, we’re about 1/4 mile from a cell tower with nothing to do. Evergreen is currently in the Abacos. The weather has been difficult the past few days. Had a salty sail yesterday and pulled into this anchorage at Crab Cay. We were anchored near another Crab Cay yesterday. Wind picked up. Much lightning and rain last night. Getting ahead of myself here and behind on the blog so, back to the Exumas and The Pirate’s Lair.
March 5th- Black Point to Bell Island Exumas, Bahamas
Time to start heading back. We are more than half way through our cruising permit. We have another wind event coming tomorrow and need to hide out from westerlies. This time we went to Bell Island. Other anchorages seemed to be filling up but we were only the 2nd vessel at Bell.
Bell Island is privately owned so we stayed on Evergreen for our time here.
Rocky Dundas.
Saw this launch around sunset.
Didn’t work out apparently. No one was on board.
By the day of the westerly blow we had 25 boats in the anchorage. If someone had asked me before, I’d have estimated that there was room for 10 (maybe). The last boat that came in was practically anchored on top of us. I was aggravated at first but realized the guy was nervous and had a family. He stopped over to ask if it was OK. I told him he was on top of our anchor gear but should stay there if he felt he was securely hooked. We’d work it out if a problem arose (none did).
March 7th- Bell Island to Hog Cay/ Pirate’s Lair Exumas, Bahamas
We missed a lot of the Exumas but I wanted to do something different before heading back to Eleuthera. Hog Cay is an odd anchorage that most cruisers seem to bypass. It’s part of the Exumas Land and Sea park. There is no anchoring allowed but it has two moorings. It is accessible from the ocean side of the Exumas. We radioed the park office at Warderick Wells and got a mooring for a couple of days.
What a perfect spot! 360 degree protection. At least three beaches to choose from. Easy snorkeling spots.
It’s called Pirate’s Lair because pirates used to stop in here to hide and most importantly, there is a natural fresh water well. We hiked on Warderick Wells and saw the well. Apparently there are plants that grow on the island that aren’t native to the Bahamas. This would be from the sailors that camped on the island.
Rough trails in the Pirate’s Lair.
This was a great last stop in the Exumas. We hope to go back someday and explore other anchorages in the park. On our second day we met the park warden who stopped over to the boat. His wife ran the vhf radio announcements at 9:00am each day. This included park rules and mooring assignments. Unique about her delivery, was that she almost sang the park rules.
Some scenes from Hog Cay.
Basking on our own private beach.
We found this fruit. We didn’t have any internet so couldn’t look up what it was. We probably should have tried one anyway. There was a lot.
Lynne at the top of the hill.
View from the top.
We had these large fish swimming off the back of the boat. No fishing in the park. I think they just hang around for scraps of food.
Evergreen moored in The Pirate’s Lair- Hog Cay, Exumas.