Land Exploration

Yesterday was a day of land exploration. In the lat 1700's Waderick Wells had a settlement with a hemp plantation. After school we headed down to the other end of the island in the dinghy and anchored on a sand flat. The trails are well marked and we climbed the hill next to an old stone wall to find the remains of two buildings. All that remained were stone foundations and several cisterns in the rock. It is hard to imagine living on this island with limited water supplies that long ago. The settlement was reputed to be wiped out by pirates, so the next stop was to visit the Pirates Lair. Zooming down to the south end of the island, we slowed down for some shallow water and watched rays floating around the sand banks, their wings occasionally flipping out of the water. Rounding the end of the island we met the incoming current as Exuma sound squeezes between Waderick Wells and Hog Cay. This is where Blackbeard would hide his ships and maintain a lookout on the hills to spot likely prizes. Thirty feet of water and we could clearly see the bottom through the look down window. Hog Cay has a tunnel that cuts through to the sound, but the currents were too strong to explore in the water. The navigation aids here are stacks of stone on the island. From here we went back to Powerful Beach to meet the boys from See U Manana so Noah could get some play time in. Three hours of swimming, riding the big water tricycle and a skimboard wore the boys out.  We secured the dinghy on the davits in expectation of leaving tomorrow. While doing that we spotted a couple more rays and our first shark swimming past the boat. Grilled chicken on the BBQ and watched the sunset illuminate the incoming rain clouds. Opened the water inlet hoping we might get some fresh water from above, but the storm only lasted fifteen minutes. After dinner we tried to contact Earl & Jim back in NC via the SSB, but as they say on the radio, no joy. Will try again tonight. Stayed up way too late finishing "Deception Point" by Dan Brown. That is a fiction thriller to read if you want a face paced novel of political intrigue.  We plan to leave here Thursday and go to Sampson or Staniel Cay in search of fresh water and a place to deposit trash.