January 16th, 2021
(Note that this is an older post that I have just now made public.)
Thursday evening was eventful . . . Megan caught our first fish! After dinner, a little bit of food was
Yesterday, while walking on the path off of Sand Dollar beach, I took the ‘alternate’ path. One went up, one went left. Jinhee and I had gone up previously to look out over the jagged cliff onto The Atlantic Ocean to the east, but we decided that the ‘alternate’ path was a bit too rugged looking.
Jinhee has now started working again, and Megan was doing her own thing, so I decided to venture down the ‘alternate’ looking path to see where it ended. One thing came to mind: I am not using a hatchet, this is not a discovery venture where I am breaking new ground. The path is well worn, so wherever it goes, someone means to go there.
It really wasn’t a long path, but the result was spectacular. Another beach without a soul on it was just on the other side and it rivalled anything we saw at Highbourne Cay.
Megan was scheduled to fly home and Jinhee and I to move further south to Long Island) on Saturday, January 16th. Since Megan was arguably only with us to spend time at the various beaches, this was a beach that she needed to see before departure. My discovery was at the end of the day on Friday, so we were all up very early to see the beach and enjoy the sand.
While I was studying the various flora and fauna trapped in the puddles in the rocky shore, Jinhee and Megan were watching a poor crab trying desperately to make it’s way back out to sea while the waves repeatedly threw it back onto the beach. The crab will make it at the turn of the tide, but the relentlessness of that crab was absorbing (and hilarious).
When you arrive at the beach (any beach really) you are immediately taken by the fine white sand, the vastness and often the emptiness as well. But on the way back, if you are observant, you may notice the garbage, frequently in the form of plastic that litters the high water line. This beach was gorgeous as mentioned, but upon my return, I took a couple of photos of the plastic bits . . . just in case anyone is mistaken in thinking that plastic, and particularly plastic bottles are not a scourge. This photo doesn’t include the ropes, shoes and a variety of boat bits that were washed up, all within 10 feet of this photo. It’s just a small sample of the plastic bits.
After seeing Megan to the cab (US$30 from Georgetown docks to the airport in a massive, very new SUV), Jinhee and I did some final shopping and raced back to the boat to prep for departure and head to Long Island.
We had excellent internet connection for most of the trip, perhaps about 20 minutes just at the southern tip of Little Exuma saw a weak or missing signal, but the water was also smooth (but shallow) and so the focus was elsewhere, at least for me.
One of the most difficult things for me to overcome is my fears of shallow water. The area that we travelled between little Exuma and Salt Pond, Long Island never had water deeper than 17 feet and the average is closer to 12 feet. When travelling at 6.5 knots with an 80,000 lb boat, the idea of bumping into something is frightening. Luckily there are ‘well worn’ paths marked on charts with consistent depths. I am getting used to this concept and relaxing a bit more than last year, but still it can be stressful. The trip to Salt Pond was about 5 hours and we arrived just before dark and put our anchor down in 9 feet of water.
We will stay here for a few days and do some exploring while Jinhee also works. We are right under a cell tower again so it should guarantee us good connectivity.