Shroud Cay

   Shroud Cay

We arrived at Shroud Cay around noon, and Alan, Dave & Suzanne took the dinghy and went sightseeing to Allan’s Cay to feed the iguanas, and then on to Highbourne Cay to see the pet sharks and finally to Norman’s Cay to visit the mostly submerged plane wreck from the drug running era of Carlos Leder.

Upon the return of the sightseers, we enjoyed Happy Hour ashore at our private little beach, just north of the moorings on Shroud Cay.

An early morning start was planned for next morning, so we could capitalize on a rising high tide for our planned dinghy trip through the mangrove channels and out to the Sound side of the island. With the approach of a cold front, the wind shifted to the southwest overnight, making our anchorage rolly and uncomfortable. None of us slept well, especially as we encountered an extremely low tide, due to a full moon, causing Kaos to bump the sandy bottom for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Winds continued to build and we continued to roll. Consensus was to abort the dinghy trip and seek a more comfortable anchorage. We ventured a few miles north to the south anchorage on Norman’s Cay, which was already pretty full, and some sailors were less than pleased that we would drop an anchor anywhere close to them. We ventured over to the lonely power boat, but found conditions less than comfortable. We opted to head south on the Exuma Sound side, (hoping to find calmer seas) to Warderick Wells, looking for a mooring ball. As per normal, when a front comes through, the North mooring field was full and Emerald Rock moorings would not be comfortable. We were able to get a mooring ball in Hog Cay, which was reasonably sheltered, but reaching the park office by dinghy was untenable in these breezy conditions.

We hunkered down for a quiet day as the clouds moved in and temperatures dropped.