Day 55. May 16. On to Cambridge Cay. Miles 12.2. total Miles. 769.8
Day 55
We had to time our leaving Pipe Creek with the rising tide, so we completed a few chores before pulling the anchor to leave. It is another sunny day with calm winds and seas.
Will retrace our steps back around Rat Cay and over the sand bar, then out to Rocky Dundas waypoint.
We have to travel a bit farther off shore today to avoid the rocky bars off Pipe Creek. Along the way we pass Compass Cay which has a marina and lots of private homes and rental cottages. And then passed the smaller Fowl Cay which is privately owned.
Traveling with us today were two megayachts, one 125 feet and the other 185 feet in length. These big guys have to anchor way off the cays and use their runabout tender to get them to shore.
Now we turn east to wind our way past Rocky Dundas- two large rock formations with caves which we will explore.
And make our way through the sandbars to Cambridge Cay, the southern most cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We really had to watch the water for rocks and depth as we entered the channel behind Cambridge Cay.
We took a mooring along with two other boats. Have another gorgeous anchorage. Bill's drone shots outclassed mine so here they are.
The rock in the above photo and the one below is a local landmark called Bell Rock, just off the coast of Cambridge Cay in Exuma Sound.
This last photo shows the Cambridge Cay coast looking south and Exuma Sound.
We relaxed waiting for low tide so we could visit the two Rocky Dundas caves. These caves are different from the grotto as you have to swim in water to get into the caves but once inside much of the cave is above the water level. The cathedral ceilings with its holes provided a grand spectacle once inside the cave. One cave even had stalactites and stalagmites!
These are shots from the second cave.
We swam outside the caves and enjoyed the fish - two new ones - Sturgeon and Parrot Fish. Of course we had the angelfish and wrasses and the ever present Sergeant Majors
After swimming back to the dinghy, we dried off and returned to the boat, but then decided that we should do the short hike on Cambridge to view Bell Rock, the most significant landmark in the area. The rock stands 85 feet tall towering above the islands.
We anchored the dinghy quite a ways from shore as it was low tide, so after anchoring the dinghy we waded into shore. Found the trail quite easily as it is lined with conch shells. The path took us across the island to the rocky beach on Exuma Sound and a grand view of Bell Rock.
Bill got artistic with this video!!!
We returned back down the trail and waded out into thigh high water to the dinghy - the tide had come in. Our trusty dinghy got us back to the boat so we could clean up and have a relaxing evening.
Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...
Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...
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