Rendezvous with ‘Earthwatch’ dolphin/whale research group

We went ashore to Lynard and following the suggestion of one of the partiers at Little Harbor, followed a path to the ocean, where lots of people had done beach art from trash that had washed up onto the beach. One installation was called One Shoe Cay; another: Fisher. Doug left his own mark by putting together an art piece that was really cool and also one that stood out from the rest. This part of Lynard Cay is very beautiful and interesting.

Around 10:30 am, we sailed to Marsh Harbor, picked up a rental car at 3 pm and drove to Sandy Point, after leaving EcoAdventurer anchored out in the harbor with friends – Jack and Judy watching her. We left our dinghy with their boat, Tenex, which was at Harbor View Marina nearby. Jack said he would check our anchor for us twice a day – morning and night to make sure she was okay. We stopped along the way to Sandy Point, looking for the special Bahamian Parrots that nest underground in caves; but didn’t see any.

We got to Oasias (our hotel) and after checking in and carrying our bags to the room; we walked across the street to the dolphin/whale research center, which doubled as accommodations for the EarthWatch participants as well as the researchers. Dr. Diane Claridge and Charlotte Dunn live there full time as it is their home. They welcomed us with open arms and said we could eat all of our meals with them, including dinner tonight, which Charlotte had already invited us to have with them.

There were five participants in the EarthWatch group: Mark, 39, from Holland; Catalin, 26, from Hungary (although she is now a nanny in England); Ruth, about 45, from Kansas; Alie, 19, from Massachusetts; and Don from Texas, who is 85 years old! They are quite a diverse group but also seem to get along well! Besides Diane and Charlotte, Kia and Stephanie (in their twenties) also live at the house and are part of the marine mammal study group. Edward, a high school student, lives nearby, and works part-time for the group.

Dinner was delicious – two of the Earthwatchers had the job of cooking for the night. After dinner, Diane gave a talk about the marine mammal survey with a slide show, which was an introduction to the whole group. She was waiting for us to be there to make the introduction.

Bight of Old Robinson

After watching a small boat with two people use a fishing net to try and catch some fish off Lynard’s shore with no success and another guy snorkeling off of a sailboat anchored near us, trying to spear fish, with no success, we motored to The Bight of Old Robinson, anchored as close as we could to the creeks and crannies of the Bight and took the dinghy in to explore the Bight. We took lunch, snorkel gear, binoculars and cameras.

I snorkeled around first but only saw sand, grass and lots of sea anemones. When I got back into the dinghy for a break, Doug had already had eaten his portion of our picnic lunch!! So, then I had a granola bar and soda and we floated the dinghy into a spot with current between two rocks and found a beautiful coral garden with little fish. We just leaned over the side of the dinghy with our masks on – and me with snorkel and mask and enjoyed the fabulous view. We then took photos, but unfortunately they didn’t do justice to what our eyes had seen. The water was so shallow that the little blue neons were hiding behind coral to keep away from my face!!

After snorkeling we got back into EcoAdventurer and motored to Tom Curry’s Point again; anchored and dinghied into Little Harbor. We went directly to Pete’s Pub, arriving around 2:30. Doug was hoping for more food – lunch or appetizers, but it was more of a drinking place with lots boaters drinking blasters, which were ½ rum and ½ juice. They were part of the Marsh Harbor Yacht Club – only $100 to join it and you get to party a lot!! We met and hung out with them for an hour or so; but we didn’t just want to drink for another 1 ½ hours until dinner, so we left. One of the couples we met owned W.A. Miller real estate and were members of Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase. They had a 70’ power boat anchored at Lynard Cay and had invited us to join them later, but Doug didn’t like them (they bragged a lot) and didn’t want to go, so we just hung out on our boat for the night. I was just curious about the lifestyles of the rich and famous J.

Marsh Harbor to Lynard Cay

Left Marsh Harbor around 11:00 and sailed first to one anchorage at Bridges Cay, which wasn’t protected enough so we tried to anchor outside of Little Harbor at Tom Curry’s Point at low tide, but after almost running aground and then after feeling the ocean swells, decided to go back to Lynard Cay, which was close by, and a much better anchorage, and spent the night there.

Close encounter with a ray

I awoke in Sandy Cay in such beautiful aqua water only 10 feet deep and we could easily see the entire sandy bottom and everything in the water – plants, etc. After breakfast, at 9 am, the water was so still, like glass and it was already 72 degrees and not getting warmer than 75, we took the dinghy around to the other side of Sandy Cay, which is part of the Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park here in the Abacos. We hooked on to a mooring ball, that the Friends of the Environment had placed there, and went snorkeling.

I went into the water first and before I put my head in the water, I could see something brown kind of coming toward me, but wasn’t sure if it was just seaweed floating under the water, but when I got fully in the sea and looked through my mask I realized that it was a ray coming directly toward me!! I yelled and practically jumped back in the dinghy. If it had been a shark, I would have been back in the dinghy but I just hung on with my body flattened against the bottom of the inflatable dinghy!! I don’t know why I was so scared except that it was the only thing in the water and coming directly to me! I was thinking about the Alligator hunter being stabbed in the heart by one of these unusual looking sea creatures. Then Doug got in the water and I looked again and it was gone!! I kind of wanted to see it again – going the other way.

We swam a very short distance to huge coral formations that we had seen under the dinghy as we went over them to the mooring ball. The coral formations and garden was the best we have seen anywhere.

There were huge elkhorn coral formations and many other types of coral, some of which we had never seen before, along with a variety of fish. There was more coral than fish. We went back to the boat for a break and to get the underwater camera so that we could document some of the beauty.

After lunch we went back for a 2nd snorkel. This time we took EcoAdventurer around since it was deep enough but there was a strong current and so we also rode over to another one of the mooring balls in the dinghy. I tried swimming to the mooring ball from the big boat but wasn’t making any progress because of the current and so we got in the dingy and motored over a short way to the mooring ball.

For some reason the current was absent (luckily) and we dropped down in the water to find a completely different coral garden – just as beautiful as the other but less Elhorn and more delicate coral – still rising about 20 feet up from the bottom. There were more fish here too and we took a lot of photos. There were many blue neons – small florescent fish – very cute and lovely to watch darting here and there among the green and yellow coral. We also were swimming with the usual array of yellow fin snapper and parrot fish.

We spent the night on the hook at Lynard Cay with the little boat with red sails and a catch with two children and a dalmation with a red life preserver!! We had sailed to Lynard from Sandy Cay without using the motor, which was nice for a change. We could have gone further south but we didn’t have any protected anchorage to speak of and so since we saw these other sailboats, we decided to join them.

Today we had breakfast, lunch and dinner on board. Doug does almost all of the cooking and I have started doing the dishes. He’s been making me fried egg sandwiches on dense Bahama bread with thin slices of fried turnkey – yummy! I have tea and him coffee. For lunch we usually have turkey sandwiches or cheese and tomato sandwichs with Pringles and pickles. For dinner, he cooks something good!! We have been eating well.