February-1 2008

February 2008
The southern end of Warderick Wells is best visited by dinghy round the west and usually sheltered side. We walked along all the beaches there and visited the ‘Pirates’ Lair’ where many non-native plants grow. The pirates really did meet there and brought seeds in their bedding from other stops ashore which germinated and grew.
The southern anchorage would have made pirate vessels invisible from the sea and offered good depth and shelter. We have not visited this in Lady as yet but have promised ourselves that we will.
We found many young queen conch near the beaches and at the same place there were fossilised conch in the limestone! Some were deeply embedded and others only slightly, giving the impression that they had turned gray and were not really that old.

Before we could get away from Warderick Wells the skipper found himself drawn into a medical emergency where one of the crew on the boat next door appeared to have a heart attack. A float plane arrived from Nassau in short order and landed next to all the moored boats in the sound. The casualty was ferried off in a rubber dinghy and loaded into the plane which taxied right past us before taking off! We were delighted to here all was well later in the day.
Fresh food was becoming an issue about now and we realised we needed to address this. The best provisions in this area come from Staniel Cay to the south and so we made this our next stop. We anchored at first in Big Majors Spot and then spent two nights in the marina at Staniel Cay Yacht Club while we waited for the mailboat to arrive. All the food runs out on a weekly basis and everyone including the locals has to wait for the next weekly delivery.
The shops are closed when the mailboat arrives and only reopen after the food is on the shelves. By then there is a long line of cruisers waiting to pounce. We have it well organised and each starts at the opposite end of the fresh produce and then meet in the middle to take stock and join the queue for the check-out. The stores are tiny and there is little space for any of this. Shy cruisers could well starve!

Staniel Cay is a good place for accessing the internet - as long as too many cruisers don’t try at the same time - and as long as nobody tries to Skype! The other treat is eating out, although the food is not really at gourmet standard!
Each evening the local fisherman return with their catch for the day. They stand at a table above the shallow water near the dock and fillet them, throwing all the scraps into the water. About 15-20 nurse sharks and several large rays appear for the feast and rub all over each other in a writhing mass. If visitors are brave enough they can stand in the water and ‘pet’ the sharks - we gave that a miss and did not see anyone braver!
Having refilled the cupboards with food we next needed to get rid of that fetid smell hanging round the boat. It is caused, of course, by an excess of dirty laundry. Rumours were rife of an outstanding launderette to the south in Black Point and it was an obvious next stop for us.