Nassau to Shroud Cay

After only a one night stop (a record for us), we left Nassau and made it to Shroud Cay mid afternoon and picked up a mooring ball. As the day wore on, the wind picked up until we felt like we were in a washing machine. That lasted all night long. Come morning, we were both ready to look for a better protected anchorage from the wind. We moved around behind a small jut of land protecting us from the Southern wind. It was like moving to a bath tub in comparison to where we were. All the other boats left the mooring field for calmer waters too. The only one left was a large cruiser that was big enough that it wasn’t too affected by the waves and wind.

I was ready to stay put for a few days and get some rest. We had pushed to get to Nassau, get our business done in Nassau, and to our current anchorage. Time to put away our long sleeved shirts and long pants, and Bob’s type A personality for the rest of the winter!

 

Pretty Penny - finally at anchor at Shroud Cay

We enjoyed a couple of days of rest and getting the boat back in order and doing a little reading. We then went off one day and took the dinghy over to Norman’s Cay where My Sharona and Independence were anchored with some of their other boating friends. We explored places to anchor there in case we decided to move their later, measuring water depth with Bob’s new handheld depth sounder. Our anchorage provided protection from the West and South, the location at Norman’s Cay provided protection from the North and East, with some protection from the South and West.

The next day, we took the dinghy to the North cut through the island to the other side through a shallow tidal inlet. It ends on the Sound side of the island where there is a lovely beach and a hill, called, Camp Driftwood. From there, you can take photos back over the island and out to the Sound. Another boat with people were also there. They were more adventurous than us as they swam in the whirlpool that forms at the tidal inlet during higher tides.

 

View of the Sound from the inlet on Shroud Cay

 

View back over the island from Camp Driftwood

 

Camp Driftwook

Camp Driftwood has an interesting past. There was a man that lived on his boat nearby who had built a lot of strange structures out of driftwood that he found on the beach on top of this hill. The structures were eventually removed by the park when it started to deteriorate. This hill was also used as a lookout for watching the drug running activity on Norman's Cay during the years when the Bahamas was used as a major drug stop in moving drugs from Columbia to the US.


We went back to the boat for lunch and then headed to a nearby beach and enjoyed the sun and water for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Bob taking his first swim for the season

After several days of rest from our rushed crossing, we decided to head back North one island to Norman's Cay to visit with our friends on My Sharona and Independence and some of the friends they had met up with there.