Exploring with Intuition: Bananaquits

Good morning! What is a bananaquit? They are the resident finch-like bird here at park HQ. A little bit of sugar on your hand and they come and lick out of your palm. We met them first at the park service office and then had one fly down into the cabin. They are cute with a green body and a yellow breast. Almost like a tame hummingbird.

Yesterday we checked in here with Judy, the Ranger's Wife and administrative head of the park. She shared good hiking and snorkling spots while Noah perused the book swap. On the veranda we met the bananaquits. Another couple was feeding them and showed us where to find the sugar. Noah enjoyed having the birds eat out of his hand. After returning to the boat to pack a lunch and gather our gear, we headed out to Emerald Rock to snorkel on some coral heads. There are mooring balls marked "Dinghy Dock" that make it easy to tie up and not worry about damaging coral with an anchor. We spent three hours floating over the coral and circling the island. Lots of fish were in and around the coral. Each head had a resident Nassau Grouper and hundreds of smaller fish. The island was much like a giant mushroom made from coral rock, with the edges undercut by wave action. No access, except by air made for a good bird sanctuary. Underwater there was coral around the edges of the island. Noah chased schools of tiny fish. We noticed fish in a line off the island and when we reached them they moved away together in quick squirts of movement. Squid, about 6 inches long, made up the line of "fish." Near one coral head a stingray was mostly buried under the sand. His tail and eyes were all that really showed. Although we were in sight of several moored boats, we had the reefs all to ourselves. It was a bit different than on the cruise ship last spring where we shared a reef with fifty other swimmers.

We did take underwater pictures for the first time this trip and hoped to be able to share them with you. Internet connections here all share a single satellite link and it is frustratingly slow. Beth did manage to download text email yesterday, but it took over two hours. Looks like we'll have to wait for a better connection before updating the web site.

This is the calmest that the winds have been since arriving in the Exumas. Winds are mostly under ten knots, so the KISS isn't making any power for us. The upside of this is that it was very comfortable on deck last night, making for perfect stargazing. The only lights in the sky are from anchor lights so the Milky Way stands out twinkling above us. There is an obvious planet that rises in the west shortly after sunset. Wish we new more about astronomy.

We plan to stay here at least another day because Noah's friends on See U Manana and Contented Turtle are coming in today, plus there is lots more to see.

We're adding some folks from Qualex to the distribution list today. If you don't want to receive the ramblings from Intuition, just bounce back and let me know. These come via very sloooow ham radio transmissions, so please delete the original message prior to sending a reply. If there is anyone who would like to be added, let me know.