January 8 & 9: to the Exumas!

Sunrise - Athol Island

    Friday we took the Wille Dawes back over to Nassau to top off the fuel tanks and pick up the propane tank.  It was a beautiful day - clear blue skies and placid water.  Perfect for our journey to the Northern cays of the Exumas.  I wish I could accurately describe the colors of the water; it just doesn’t come through in the photographs.  It’s so beautiful.    For a little while we were almost completely surrounded by water.   It wasn’t very deep and it was very clear, which gave us some good experience watching for coral heads.  

Exuma Bank horizon.

This is how Dan steers and keeps watch for coral heads.

     We arrived at Allen’s Cays around four in the afternoon, joining a small fleet of boats anchored in one of three spots.  We chose to anchor off the beach in SW Allen’s Cay where we could watch the iguanas come out to greet anyone coming to the beach.  The iguanas have been around long enough to associate the sound of motors with people bringing food for them.  They come right out to wait for it, and we’ve read that some iguanas can get aggressive and bite.  

Iguanas on Allen's Cay

     Saturday we hung out at the same anchorage.  Our 3 hp outboard has been acting up and Dan spent a good part of the day taking it apart and cleaning it up.  After the third carburetor tear-down he decided to find the fuel filter, which was inside the fuel tank, was obviously clogged.  Third time’s the charm.  Now the engine runs just fine.  We took it around the entire anchorage here, meeting people on other boats and checking out the ragged coastline for possible snorkeling sites.  We even spied a Devil Ray, a smaller version of the black Manta Ray.  Dan did go out snorkeling for about an hour and Kathy held down the fort with Tommie, hoping he’d bring home a conch for dinner.  While he saw some, they were too small to harvest.  Maybe next anchorage.

Small engine repair.

Snorkeling off the dinghy.