Thursday April 21st: Shroud Cay
Thursday morning we set off in the dinghy to explore the mangroves. At first we didn’t pay much attention to the tide, but as we got into one of the channels we realized how shallow everything could get. The inland lake on our charts was covered with about two feet of water. Sand bars were emerging. Long extensions of the mangrove’s roots struck out for the deeper water, and small shoots a few inches long were starting to show. We decided to head across the island to the Sound side where waves were crashing magnificently along the beach. A long beach walk while we waited out the tide sounded like a great idea.
What a pretty place! We had the whole beach to ourselves and we took our time exploring it. Being on the Sound side, it was strewn with debris, and Dan had a great time poking through the rubble looking for something worth keeping. He’s found many things on these beaches: useable wood, lengths of plastic for some project or other, old bait bags to use for lures, etc. On this one he found more little treasures, and I found a perfectly good ping pong ball for Tommie. I wish we could do something with all the rest of the junk - it’s sad to have to leave it behind. He did find a piece of Lobster trap from Friendship Trap, Maine. (In the Jumentos we found one from Brooks Trap Mill in Thomaston, Maine.)
When we’d had our fill, we meandered the mangrove passages back the way we came and returned to the Willie. En route we saw several little sharks. We couldn’t get enough of a look to see what kind they were, but we suspect they were sand sharks as they were in very shallow water over the sand bars.
Later in the afternoon we went for another walk in a small pond area adjacent to our anchorage. Dan remarked that the landscape was like something from a science fiction movie: very desert-like despite the standing water around the mangrove shoots, and blackened by oxidization. We aren’t familiar enough with the geology to explain it well, but we have learned that these islands aren’t so much as eroding limestone as they are building it. Sand deposits mix with coral and glue together, forming the jagged, hole-y rock that allows water to percolate through it. (We had thought the limestone was the base layer that was eroding.)
Dan found some interesting driftwood that he will turn into lamps one day. I took apart two fire rings some irresponsible cruisers had been using. I have done this on many a Maine island too. People do love a fire on the beach, but there are better places and more responsible ways to do it.
We didn’t snorkel this area because the water temperature had dropped to the low seventies and we were feeling a bit wimpy. We did meet another cruiser - Jamie, from a nearby catamaran - who said he’d seen some very large groupers and snappers and possibly a spotted drum, which we’ve not seen yet. We debated going in the water after we spoke with him, but opted for rum punches on the Willie instead, and spent a quiet evening watching the sun go down.
We should compare recipes for rum punch! We use one from the book "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" which we just love.
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