A Walk In The Park

Cambridge Cay to Emerald Rock |  1.9 Hours  |  11.1 Miles  

This morning's high tide occurred around 10:00. With the extra water under our keel, we decided to exit the Cambridge Cay mooring field to the south rather than retrace the path we made four days ago. We joked that we completed the Bell Cay Loop. It was a short trip up to the Emerald Rock mooring field off of Warderick Wells Cay. There were only three balls available and we chose the one nearest the namesake rock. I threaded our lines through the pendant, walked them to the bow, and cleated them off. The process went pretty smoothly. The view from the bow was sweet -- a small sandy beach waiting to be explored. We had lunch and waited for the Exuma Park office to reopen at 1:00 before going ashore to check in. A quick circle around Crossroads proved that everything was looking good.

While we waited our turn in the office, we enjoyed the incredible view from the deck. With business taken care of, it was time to walk down the sidewalk pavers to the beach. Before we got too much sand in our shoes, we had to get photos with the sign.

We walked across the beach to the sign marking the trail to Boo Boo Hill. Remembering that the path took us across a long rocky stretch and also through a creek, I wore my water shoes instead of my usual flip flops. Proper footwear makes a huge difference. Along the trail a sign marked an area in the tidal zone full of young mangrove trees. We expected to walk through ankle deep water while crossing Banshee Creek. Low tide had reduced it to a minor trickle and Barry hopped across the creek with one giant leap. A good sized lizard kept an eye on us as we began our ascent of the hill. 

From the top of Boo Boo Hill, the view revealed the light-colored shallows far exceeded the dark deeper water channel. The accumulation of cruiser-placed avatars has sprawled across the ridge. We took a few moments looking for boat names we recognized before Barry pulled out his phone and took advantage of the strongest cell signal reception. I went looking for the avatar that we placed last year to no avail.

The recent strong east winds have whipped up larger waves on Exuma Sound which were crashing onto the rocky shore below. As a large group of folks arrived, we started down to give them more room. When we got down to the Banshee Creek flats, we made a detour and followed the trickle of flow to the deeper water.  

We walked around the rocky ledges at the water's edge on our way back to our starting point. Along the way we saw numerous conch in the tidal pools. One tidal pool had about six inches of water in it and appeared to be a blue hole. Back on Crossroads, I read for a while out on Fiberglass Beach. A large shark cruised by to check us out. Clouds increased as night approached, but left just enough room for a small display of downward rays from the setting sun,