Last night was one of the best star-watching nights we’ve had. The milky way could be seen and Orion and Sirius just popped out of the darkness at you. We each saw a different shooting star. There was no swell and a light E breeze. The water was flat calm before dawn when we awoke. As we ate and had coffee, a group of Tropicbirds appeared and filled the sky with their chittering cries and tandem swoops across the anchorage. Apparently, they spend most of their lives airborne, snatching flying fish from the waves, and lay a single egg on the bare volcanic rocks of the Cays.

We slipped the mooring at about 8:30am and were able to enjoy our 24 mile trip under full sail for most of the way. We chose to request a mooring at the Emerald Rock mooring field at Warderick Wells Cay. This is a beautiful wide-open area with easy in, easy out navigation. The North field, right in front of the Exuma Land and Sea Park office is more popular, but often has a waiting list. We were also warned that the channel into the North field has narrowed quite a bit and has swift currents that make catching the assigned mooring ball for a full keel sailboat (like ours) something of a crap shoot. Today’s featured picture shows the North mooring field.

Entering Emerald Rock, we saw several mega-yachts anchored just outside the mooring field. One had its own sliding board, seemingly fashioned in imitation of airplane escape chutes.

When we radioed the Land and Sea Park office, which administers the mooring fields, they told us to pick any mooring we liked, with the exception of 6 that they named as too shallow for our draft. A huge mushroom-like island, called Radar Rock, is a big feature of the anchorage. Today we had adjusted our method of picking up a mooring ball to accommodate the Bahamian style, and Paula was able to catch the one we selected on the first try.

Next we took the dinghy to the Park office to pay our fee and ask some questions. All the mooring fields are part of the Park and strict rules apply. No fishing, no grilling on the beach (on your boat is fine), and nothing – not a shell, not a bird feather, not a stick-is to be removed from the Park. Violations result in hefty fines and expulsion from the Bahamas within 48 hours.

On the way, we saw a big black ray swimming, apparently fleeing our little boat. We also faced the most taxing nautical challenge of the day! To approach the office from the Emerald Rock mooring field, we had to negotiate a shallow, narrow, passage between two rocks with swift currents that tossed our little craft about. We saw some larger dinghies with a lot more power than ours treat it with respect as they had to lift their engines almost out of the water to make it through.

Once through, we found the dinghy dock, which was tall and made of wood, without any ladders. This required you to either fasten your boat to the dock and climb six feet up the side of the dock, or wade through the water and climb stone stairs carved in the rock. We chose the climb.

While were doing paperwork in the office, which is also a small nature-themed store and display of local flora and fauna, a large live mockingbird trotted in the door, paused, eyeballed us, and trotted back out. We also saw a large painted portrait of Peggy Hall, the first Park Ranger. Returning to the dock, we were made glad that we’d chosen to climb the dock and not to wade to the rock stairs as we saw a large shark swimming under the dock next to Poltergeist.

Back in Poltergeist, we got a great look around at the North mooring field. It is visually stunning. About 20 boats can be moored in a narrow circle of deeper blue water with swift current flowing, while the center of field is a huge shallow bar with clear water over white sand that serves as kind of a “baby pool” where boaters can wade and float. However, any boat larger than a small dinghy would be aground. It appeared pretty intimidating to catch a mooring ball as the moorings were relatively close and the deep channel was narrow. We went into the area with Poltergeist, and guestimated that the current was about 2.5kts, judging from the dinghy’s GPS speed. We also noted a large whale skeleton, one of the famous features of this locale on the shore next to the Park office.

Back in Emerald Rock, we beached Poltergeist on the beach opposite C Ghost (called Rendezvous Beach) and took one of the many beach trails. This one led to the Davis Ruins, the remnants of a stone house on the hill. The elevation gave a great view.

By the time we got back to C Cghost, it was nearly 5pm. Tommy did a few odd jobs, we looked through the pictures we’d taken, and Paula made virgin Pina Coladas for us both, which were very refreshing.

Due to fatigue and a desire to rest and enjoy the cooling temps and nice breeze, Paula is making what she calls a “Weird dinner”. This means that anything to hand that can be easily warmed, or served cool with little preparation is what we’ll eat. Tonight that means left-over pot roast, the last bits of the ham and rice, canned pineapple, kipper snacks (Tommy loves these), and the last of the Johnnycake.