Plan A seemed like a go and we got an early start. Winds were predicted to start out light, picking up from the north in the afternoon and overnight. It was a long motoring day but very comfortable in the Sound. Toward the end of our journey, the wind was from the northwest and there was a bit of a westward swell across the Sound. As we approached the island, the boats were all facing out with their sterns to the beach due to the west component. It was a little rocky due to the swell. There were 19 boats in the anchorage.
We anchored with some other monohulls and headed to the beach. I swam to the beach after diving over our anchor which was buried in the soft sand. We went for a walk on the beach. There were some cliffs at the northern end of the beach so we went that way. The beach was about two miles long. It was beautiful except that someone had decided to float their compost and it was washing up on the beautiful beach. They had eaten well with lots of fruit peels and lettuce stems, egg shells and a tomato and even a cupcake. Such a shame to do that.
We looked for birds and saw some small mockingbird type birds that fussed at us from the tree tops. It was nice to hear bird noise. We walked over toward the cliffs where there were nooks and caves where you could imagine larger birds nesting but we did not see any. The water was the clearest we have seen. David called it swimming pool clear.
We decided to save a hiking trip across the island for tomorrow. There are also nearby coral heads to explore as well as a tidal creek where turtles might be spotted. Adjacent Booby Cay also has a lovely beach. We met some really nice people on the way back to the dinghy, Cathy and Perry from s/v Panacea. They are from Buffalo with a home port of Rochester. This is their first trip down and they have stopped a lot of places. They are headed next to Cat Island.
As we returned to the boat. It was rocky and we pulled Fat Tuesday quickly. The wind was picking up more than predicted. Tomorrow’s predictions had increased and Tuesday we are still predicted to have high winds from the East. As much as we would like to explore this area more, we do not have as much protection here. We decided to head back to Cat which is 35 miles to the northwest. We know it offers more protection and gets us a little further north for staging the next leg. It looks like the weather is unpredictable for the next week so our next move after Cat, may be Black Point with a day trip back or a short stop at Galliot if conditions allow.
Sunset was lovely. We watched stars for awhile before bed.
