at anchor in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay

photo: another hard day at anchor


[Hilde’s log]

I am about half asleep, sitting at the computer at midnight, on anchor watch. The latest cold front is blustering its way through with winds in the high teens, I’m guessing. Raven is anchored in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, with about 20 other boats. It’s nice to have the company of other cruisers, but neither of us feels secure enough about our anchor set or anyone else’s to sleep during our first blow at this anchorage. We passed a lovely evening with new friends Ken and Maria on Duet and they introduced us to a Cuban rum drink called a Morida (rum, sugar, mint, lime, and soda) which we enjoyed, but which I am now regretting as it is making midnight seem a lot later than it is. David had two, so he has priority sleeping privileges.

We left Crab Cay Saturday morning for a quiet motor trip into light easterly winds, making our way to Green Turtle Cay in about four hours. David negotiated the twisting, narrow, and shallow entrance to the harbor, and after about four tries we managed to anchor in tight quarters next to our friends Dick and Libby on Tarwathie. We were excited to see them and surprised that we managed to be at the same place at the same time. We drowsed in the cockpit awhile and then I went below to make another loaf of bread and also to experiment with making cinnamon rolls using that same bread recipe. It worked like a charm and I was the proud mother of twelve big steaming cinnamon rolls, which I took to Tarwathie as our contribution to the feast Libby prepared for us. We four had a good time catching up on the news and talking about our plans.

Tarwathie and about four other boats pulled out at high tide the next morning around 9:30 on their way north and back to the States. They travelled into some really wicked looking black clouds which rolled over us later in the day and did nothing but soak us with rain. David and I took advantage of the suddenly roomy harbor to reset Raven in a better spot and then we hunkered down in the dismal weather. I felt lower than a snake’s belly, complaining to myself that when the weather is good, we travel, and when the weather is bad, we hole up in the boat, and we don’t get to see the places we work so hard to get to! To avoid doing just that, we’ve decided to stay here at least until the end of the week to take advantage of the nice days to explore the island, walk the beaches, visit the local shops, and unwind. Even after we decided that, I stayed in a rotten mood for the entire day and buried myself in a good potboiler of a book. Although I didn’t feel fear at the time, I had a delayed reaction to our rough day on the banks. My imagination fed off that delayed fear reaction and had a ball presenting me with a string of “what ifs” to worry with, dredging up all sorts of disaster scenarios around our plans to move south for the summer. Finally talking about my fears with David put them to flight – that and finally getting off the boat for a while today.

We dinghied in to shore, tied up, and took a short walk on the island. The islands here look dry and desert-like from the water, but this one is covered with thick, tropical vegetation and smells like a mixture of honeysuckle and freesia. A big gray bird lit on a tree limb about three feet from me and made a funny grating sound. Then he produced an altogether different sound as he called to another of his kind. He was gray on top, with a creamy breast and salmon tummy, a big fellow altogether and not a bit timid. The energy of the island is incredibly calm and quiet and I am looking forward to our exploration tomorrow.

We hurried back to the boat as the black clouds rolled in and then disappeared below for more rain. The good news is that we have trapped about 15 gallons of rainwater in the dingy. We emptied our jerry cans of Florida water into the tanks and then filled the cans with rainwater. This means I can do lots of laundry and avoid the $4 washer and $4 dryer…and we can wash dishes and take guilt free baths. Abundance! The first thing I did was rinse the underwear and washcloths we washed in salt water to get the salt out of them. They are now draped all over the head and in the saloon and on deck, which does nothing for the décor. Tomorrow, I plan on a shampoo and bath first thing. Fresh water is a wonderful thing.

For those of you with a map or Google Earth…here we are --
Latitude: N26° 46.7’ and Longitude: W 77° 20.2’