We woke to ~4 foot swells with many white caps … but the sun also greeted us!
The seas and wind both picked up and were at odd angles to one another thus creating a chop similar to a vigorous washing machine. If the sea state and wave height increased a bit, then it would make it unsafe for anyone to exit the water for the boat. Getting in to swim would be no trouble, but tackling the swim step would be another story when the dolphins had moved on. We hauled anchor and headed south. We had a bouncy ride since the wind was from the south southwest. Sandy Cay came into view about three hours later and we dropped anchor just after lunch. **As an aside, I am reading a book by Robert Marx about the search and salvage of the Maravilla. This is the shipwreck that was salvaged in the early 1970's and when the dolphins out here began cavorting with people. In this book there is a figure of an 1800's admiralty chart and Sandy Cay is called Seal Cay. There used to be seals all over the island. ** Now where was I … oh yes, we anchored north of Sandy Cay and took the dinghy over to walk the island for a couple of hours. We were all members of an abbreviated 'Survivors' episode. The island is quite small and protected by protracted sand bars. There is an Haitian wreck about 1/4 mile off the beach. One could say that at Sandy we snorkeled in shark infested waters … of course, these were nurse sharks! But all in all a good day with even two bottlenose dolphins seen in the late afternoon. The seas kept us from heading north and in fact the rough seas prevented much visibility above the water as well as below. Let's hope for calmer seas and lighter winds tomorrow. Cheers Kathleen