Good morning from Norman’s Cay. Since the last post Darrin and Janet had to fly home, we got to enjoy a great meal with friends from DC on their boat, and we started moving north up the Exumas.

After Darrin and Janet flew out Saturday midafternoon, our friends picked us up by tender for dinner on their boat that evening. They were tied up 10 miles north of Staniel Cay at Compass Cay. We had a great time seeing them and had an unbelievable dinner aboard their boat. We also want to thank their captain for running us back down to Staniel Cay that evening in the dark. Not an easy run!

Sunday morning we started our move north up the Exumas. We ran 28 miles north to Warderick Wells. This is in the Bahamas Land and Sea Park. We were able to get a morning ball for two nights so we could explore the island and the area. I have watched so many videos on the area, it was a must see for me.

We are the red arrow in the narrow anchor area.

You have to stay in the dark area or you are in 2-6′ of water.

We spent two nights here on the mooring ball. The weather was great during the day, but we had some heavy rain and storms both nights. It was nice to be set on the mooring ball and not worrying about the anchor slipping in the storm.

Now for the sightseeing part of the island!

This whale supposedly died by digesting garbage in the ocean and washed up here.

There are trails all around the island so we took a two hour hike all around. It is well marked for the different sights to see.

If you look carefully you can see one of our trail guides to help us around the island!

The famous BooBoo Hill. You are supposed to leave something with your boat’s name on it for good luck navigating the area! We found a piece of wood on the shore and there were paint markers for us to put our name and date on the wood.

Another guide helping us along the trail.

Also came across this 6’+ snake. I do not know what kind it was other than the kind I don’t like!

There are a lot of blow holes on the esatern shore, but it was low tide and the waves were not from the right direction for them to be active.

We really enjoyed Warderick Wells, the hiking, and all the sights to see.

We left Tuesday morning from Warderick Wells at 7:20am to take advantage of the tide to get out of the mooring field. Once out, it was only another 28 mile run up to Norman’s Cay.

We had 1-2′ seas from behind us so we were able to run slowly and save some fuel. We are trying to conserve fuel so we might be able to make it back to FL before we have to fuel again. Not sure we will make it, but fuel out here, like everything else, is very expensive.

We arrived at Norman’s Cay just before 10am. The marina here is very well protected and very expensive. So far, this is the most we have paid for a single night on the journey.

This is a private island that the owner started to develop in 2018. They are continuing to develop the area for accommodations and support. The Yacht Club was closed last night, but we were able to have dinner at MacDuff’s. Amy will warn you, if you order the spicy chicken dinner, it is really spicy!

Pulling in the channel at Norman’s Cay.

We are off to the right in this picture. We are the small boat in the harbor!

Dinner at MacDuffs!

Memphis also enjoyed her stay here. She got to run around the trails for a bit and spend some time off the boat on the dock before dinner.

One of the main reasons to come up to Norman’s Cay is for the famous plane wreck. This island was once run by a drug cartel. There is a plane wreck in the ocean close to the harbor that we went out to snorkel. It was supposed to be owned by Pablo Escobar.

It is a pretty good size plane and well preserved being under water.

Don’t miss the little friend still on the plane!

This was fun to snorkel around and get some pictures with the GoPro.

We will move today to our farthest north island in the Exumas. We will pull into Highbourne Cay today before noon, only a 15-mile run.

We plan to spend one night at Highbourne Cay before we leave the Exumas Thursday morning and cross over to Eleuthera Island. We are hoping for calm seas and light winds on Thursday for the crossing. We will then spend about a week in three different ports on the inside (south) of Eleuthera before going to Spanish Wells.

I will post again once we reach Eleuthera. I hope you have a great rest of your week.