The big day had come, we were finally going to be sailing Hope to The Exumas to see some of the most beautiful sapphire-blue waters in the world. The Exumas are a Bahamian archipelago consisting of 360 islands, each surrounded by the most crystal clear water — you’d think you were swimming in a pool or in a sea filled with bottled water! In some places, it’s that clear! So, you can see how excited we were to finally be getting to the Exumas after eleven months of sailing.
We left Rock Sound, on the southern tip of Eleuthera, the morning of Dec. 7th, for a seven-hour voyage to Warderick Wells, one of the islands in the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. This park is a 176 square-mile national park created in 1958. It was the first land and sea park in the world, and is one of the most successful marine parks in long-standing existence. It is known for unbelievable snorkeling, pristine beaches, hiking, caves, sea life in abundance, blow holes, ancient ruins, swimming with sharks, and the list goes on. Again, you can see how excited we were to get here. Maybe not the swimming with sharks part though!
The sail from Rock Sound to Warderick Wells was rough. We had wind and waves mostly behind us, so we had to tack back and forth into the waves. After getting jerked around to the point of discomfort, and wind picking up to 25 knots, we decided to furl in the headsail, drop the main, and motor the last third of the trip. It was right around that point that we spotted dolphins swimming off our bow. They were in a playful mood doing tricks in front of the boat.
When we got close to Warderick Wells, we hailed the Park Office on VHF Channel 09 to let them know we were on our way and would like two mooring balls for the night (one for Hope and one for Unfettered). It’s a good thing they had balls available, as the mooring field we wanted was pretty full when we arrived. I highly recommend calling in advance to reserve a ball; we will do so next time. We also placed a “Sécurité” call on VHF Channel 09 and 16 prior to entering the channel to make sure there weren’t any vessels departing, as the mooring field is narrow, with a swift current, and there really isn’t room to turn around.
It was quite windy when we entered, and the sun was about two hours from setting, so it was difficult to see the depth of the water. We were told that we should stay in the dark blue waters only and to pass in front of the bows of the other boats, not the sterns. There are sandbars everywhere in this mooring field, and it is imperative that boats follow the instructions exactly. At one point, we went to the stern of a couple of boats and almost grounded out. We realized our mistake and got back in the deep waters quickly. The folks on Unfettered actually did ground out, but they were able to get off the sandbar before they dug in. Whew!
We had two gentlemen from the catamaran next to our assigned mooring ball who got in their dinghy and help me grab the mooring ball and put my lines through it. That was a huge help as the current was quite strong and the mooring ball had a short line!
Since it was only an hour before sunset, we didn’t go land to start exploring, but we did get in our dinghy and ride over to Unfettered to say hello. Within our first five minutes of being in the dinghy, three Caribbean Reef Sharks started circling around our boats. These aren’t aggressive sharks, but I wouldn’t want to be in the water at this time. Apparently, these sharks come into the mooring field at night. After a quick dinghy ride through the anchorage, we went back to the boat to enjoy the sunset and prepare for explorations to come. We were so excited to finally be in The Exumas!