Sunday, January 26, 2014 Lynnard Cay to Tilloo Cay

We had a really nice calm night at anchorage on the 

west side of Lynnard Cay!  It would definitely have been roly-poly over near the Little Harbour Inlet at the Bight of Robinson.  Billy from sv/Circe made a wise suggestion!!  When we woke up there was absolutely no winds and the water was breathtaking.  We ate breakfast while listening to the Cruisers’ Net.  I don’t think I mentioned before, but a boater came on the net the other day and wanted to know what happened to the couple and their boat at Great Sale Cay.   Apparently during the high winds on Tuesday, they were anchored in the cove which happened to be the windward side that day.  The winds must have caused their boat to drag anchor and they ended up on shore with a hole in the side of their hull.  It gets even worse!  Various boaters offered to take the couple, who were in their 70’s, to Spanish Cay.  They refused and instead camped out on the beach keeping an eye out on their boat.  They didn’t want it to get ransacked!  We’ll this morning they announced that the man was life flighted to Freeport.  A salvage boat was on its way to try and get the boat.   We’re not sure what that means….poor people.   What started out to be a great trip turned out to be a nightmare for them!

neighbor!

After we heard this disappointing news, we took our dinghy into a

 different  beach than where we went last evening.  Ilene & Bill and Rita & David followed along.  The beach wasn’t very big so once we walked its entire shore line. We then motored around the rock ledge to the bigger beach.  The low tide from early this morning left many starfish stranded on the beach.  I went along and threw these precious creatures back into the water!!  Chuck waded through the crystal clear water and found huge sea biscuits.  Many were living but just as many were already bleached white from the sun….and dead.  We kept the 4 best ones.

 I don’t think any of us wanted to leave this great anchorage.  In fact, we had a choice of staying and having a bonfire on the beach tonight with the other boats or motoring further north to snorkel…..conditions are right today, so snorkel it is!   All three of us hauled our anchors and headed to Sandy Cay to snorkel on the coral gardens….a living reef.  Once we got there, I discovered the reef was on the Sea of Abaco between Sandy Cay and North Bar Cut.  It took us about 1 hour to get there.

Only Billy, Ilene, Chuck, and I ventured out to the dinghy mooring balls along the reef.  Rita and Dave chose to stay back and relax on their boat.  I was a bit hesitant about getting into the water because I didn’t know how I was going to get back into the dinghy!  We motored out and tied both of our dinghies to the same mooring ball.   This reef is part of the Abaco Parks and is protected against  gathering lobsters, conchs, and fish.  I would imagine the mooring balls are there to insure people do not throw their anchors over and onto the reef and break the coral heads.  Chuck was the first in the water…just like in the olden days….waiting for Billy to suit up.  I felt the water and thought it was cold but it was 76 degrees!  Ha Ha!  Ilene and I sat in our dinghies debating whether we really wanted to get wet.  Billy kept popping his head up out of the water telling us how beautiful the reef was.  So, we decided we should jump in and snorkel because we might not ever get the chance again.   It was awesome!  The reef was long and wide.  Tropical fish were everywhere….parrot fish, angle fish, trigerfish…just to mention a few.  Billy called us over to see a huge ray down in the sand between two coral heads.  It had most of its body buried in the sand but its tail was exposed!  He had to be over 4 feet long.  We saw elk horn coral, brain coral, and bits of sea fans…..amazing.  Snorkeling this reef brings back memories of the many dives that Chuck and I have made in the past……….I’m so glad I got wet today!  When we left our anchorage behind Sandy Cay, the wind had picked up just a tad and it was out of the SE.   Because of this, the water was beginning to surge which was causing our boat to rock from side to side.  We were glad that we had gotten our snorkel in early because to the east of the reef are small cuts to the ocean which is only ½ mile away.  It has to be calm to dive here and the surge can’t be too great.

Our next leg of today’s trip is to zig-zag around the Tilloo Sand Bank and then drop anchor along the west side of Tilloo Cay.  Tyler, a young master diver, told Billy a while back that this is a great place to snorkel for lobster and conch. It is another fabulous place to anchor.  Rita, David, Ilene, and Billy, climbed into Billy’s dinghy and we into ours.  Once Chuck jumped into the water, I’m alone in our dinghy with the motor off!  Our motor is hard for Chuck to start…..great Chuck!  I think Billy felt sorry for me and before he got into the water, he threw me a tow rope.  It was hysterical….Ilene towing me  everywhere following our two great white hunters!  They started along the rocky shore and ended up in a cove behind behind a spit of land.  Island houses were tucked up in the palms and tropical plants. Chuck and Billy both came up empty handed but  Chuck did see 3 turtles.

It was nice to have a few hours to relax.  Diner is scheduled for around 6:00.  Circe’s supplying the hotdogs and buns, I’m making cheesy potatoes, and I don’t know what Rita’s bringing.  I put my potatoes in the bake at 5:00. Twenty minutes later when I checked, the oven had shut off…..great!!   I’ve been expecting this to happen right in the middle of baking.  The tank is out of propane.  Oh no!  Luckily we have another 10 lb tank.  Chuck switched over to the second tank but now it won’t stay lit.  I have all the luck.   Circe II and Whisper were waiting for us.  Ilene finished baking my potatoes in her oven.  Eating together in the cockpit of a boat on an anchorage in a quiet patch of water is like eating around a campfire.   Everything tastes exceptionally good!!  Our drinks were poured into coconuts that the 3 guys cracked yesterday down in Little Harbour.  Once dinner and chatting was over, we had movie night.   We sat outside in Circe’s cockpit and it was like being at the drive-in movies….but better….we could hear!  We watched Capt’n Phillips(Tom Hanks) which was a great story.  Now that the movie is over, we have to find our way back to the boat!   It’s pitch black tonight and it’s a good thing we have 2 solar lights on our davits.  It makes it easier to find her!!