An Afternoon In The Water

Rudder Cut Cay   

We spent the morning waiting for slack current associated with the afternoon low tide. We ate an early lunch, loaded up the dinghy with way too much stuff, and finally departed around noon. Our destination was south of us so we zipped past the rocky point of land with the caves. We'd stop there on the way back. When we reached the spot, we dropped the anchor in about 12 feet of water and put on our snorkel gear. Barry was first into the water to take a look at The Musician, a full-scale sculpture of a mermaid and grand piano placed on the sandy bottom. This piece was installed in 2011 by illusionist David Copperfield, who owns multiple islands in this area. 

We have visited this area before, but never has the water been this clear. After Barry came back, I jumped in and also took a look. Satisfied with the time spent, we relocated to the sandy beach alongside the rocky outcropping of land. The eroded ledges of rock provide a perfect home for aquatic life. I began in the shallows and worked my way to deeper water. Sure enough, a school of fish was treading water in the shade of the rocky overhang. A short distance away, a barracuda kept an eye on me as I kept an eye on him. I continued around the point and was excited to see both healthy coral and seagrass. The strong mid-day sunlight penetrated the clear water to provide perfect viewing conditions. The purple sea fan was swaying gently in the wave action. There were small fish swimming around the numerous coral heads.

I made it down to the first cave, known as Dinghy Garage. At low tide, a small beach appears inside the cave where folks can land their dinghies. I made a U-turn and swam back to Barry, captivated by the larger fish that I saw along the way.

From there we moved the dinghy one final time to the other side of the rock, passing the second cave. This one has a hole in the "ceiling" which allows sunlight to penetrate. 

We anchored a short distance from the rocky ledge and beach. We both dove in and followed the edge of the rock out to the cave. Once again, there were plenty of brightly colored fish and coral that grabbed our attention. 

Bright blue fish, a lobster hiding in a conch shell, thriving reefs, scarlet coral, and more sea fans were some of the highlights. Not pictured is a turtle that swam alongside the dinghy.

Today's conditions were perfect and we stayed in the water for close to four hours just observing the reef. One of the last fish I saw was a large grouper. Ahh ... my favorite fish ... yum. We pulled up anchor then cruised by the cave where the sunlight was streaming through the opening. We washed the salt off all our gear then showered. I read on the upper deck as the wind began to pick up and the cloud cover thickened. By sunset a heavy cloud bank had formed to the west. With a nice breeze blowing through Crossroads combined with hours or snorkeling, I should sleep well tonight.