Warderick Wells to Compass Cay

 After a stop at Spanish Wells and making our way to Highborne Cay for an overnite at each we pressed on to Warderick Wells which is part of the Bahamas National Trust, or the Exumas Land and Sea Park. The welcoming committee is always on hand looking to make sure you arrived safely and are well situated. If you cruise the Exumas please join and contribute to the Trust. They do a wonderful job of providing moorings as well as other land based facilities people of all ages can enjoy. Many of them are spectacular. Especially if you are willing to put on a mask and fins so you can swim around or you have a good dink for exploration. The membership fees are incidental and any help will provide support for an organization that is doing quite a bit with not so much. This organization goes much farther than those "raising awareness" type shops that in my humble opinion are nothing but sponges.
 Anyway, before moving on I will say the marina at Highbourne Cay offers very good protection and the convenience store usually has fresh produce. The break water here is excellent and when the water is rough the place offers a restful stop and wow did we appreciate it after the run from Spanish Wells. Make sure they have space for your boat before traveling there since this is a popular stop on the way to and from the Exumas from Spanish Wells and Nassau.  We were lucky to get the last available slip after a long day. Anchoring out was certainly an option but with all of the wind and water we put up with it was time for a break.
Having had a restful one night layover at Highbourne we moved on to Warderick Wells which has to be one of the most favorite stops for everyone boating the Exumas because the moorings offer protection from just about every direction and the Cay has many trails for hiking. One can walk up to the top of Boo Boo Hill and check out a 360 view that will challenge just about any other natural setting you could locate. I will warn you that photography has a difficult time capturing the color but you can try. Note the banner page for this blog is a shot of Freedom on mooring ball #9 at Warderick Wells and we both still think that photo while very appealing does not do the place justice. Anyway, we did the hike again, and found our name board contribution on Boo Boo Hill. Name boards placed on the mound are a supplication to the Gods asking for benign weather. While we have had our issues with weather on this trip all in all we cannot complain so perhaps our presence on the mound of boards since 2011 is paying off.
 Saturday nights at Warderick Wells are reserved for a beach front pot luck gathering so we pulled together some bits and went ashore where we made many new friends and enjoyed some tasty treats which were more than enough for a meal. It never ceases to amaze me to see what kind of treats Deb can crank out for one of these gatherings.    
  And now we find ourselves at the Compass Cay Marina in the Exumas. The ride down was less than pleasant with some chop coming right at us all the way. I suppose if I could have throttled up to about 13 knots the ride would have been better but with the dink in tow I took it easy.
 Regardless it was worth the irritation to get here. I have to admit this is one of our favorite stops in the Exumas and it's for a number of reasons. You will not find a more friendly staff, and the location is beyond comparison. When the weather is bad on the bank stopping in here is without question a rare pleasure on this Earth. The water is clear, and remains that way in spite of the mega yachts that come and go. For one reason or another they never stir up the bottom. Some really sweet rides pull in here on charter. If you have the cash, you can have a really good time on one of these boats. But you had better be ready to PAY.
 Perhaps the strong tidal flow through the area has swept the bottom clean enough to prevent the large propellors from stirring it up. With a stout dink, one can make several trips to nearby anchorages and Cays all of which offer scenery that defies description.
  There are two appealing stops one of which is  Staniel Cay Yacht Club. But make sure you call to see if they have gas before you leave nearby facilities or, make sure you have enough fuel to complete the trip in both directions. We made that mistake but fortunately had enough for the return trip. With an out going tide the Exuma Sound is not far away and a tidal ride when out of fuel could get you into a genuine mess. Staniel Cay has a pool and a restaurant in addition to many cottages. It's also a good stop because they will include a skiff to run around in as part of an all inclusive deal.
 The ride over to Staniel included a pass by Big Majors which is a very popular anchorage. Boats of all sizes and type frequent this anchorage and on this day with East to South East wind many boats pulled in and threw the hook up close to shore. I guess the proximity to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club is an attraction to this anchorage but there is one other attraction that draws plenty of people.
 The pigs. And there are a gang of them. All sizes as well but the polka dots seem to dominate the gene pool here. It's quite a bit of fun to pull in here for a few minutes because the more mature pigs will make an effort to swim out to your boat in an effort to garner a treat. Just about anything will do but we try to keep it reasonable with veggies and lightly skinned fruits. We were surprised to see how many people were on the beach with the pigs given they can be aggressive but everything seemed to be working well. It is worthy to note that these are not wild animals to the extent one might expect. They have been planted here and I have to believe people go out there every now and then to thin the herd. There is a fresh batch of piglets on the beach now and I am thinking some ribs are in the offing for someone.
 So after a burger and a beer at the Yacht Club we piled into the dink and headed back to the Compass Cay Marina because the day was wearing on and we had plans to travel the next day. We passed by the failed Samson Cay Marina and development, and Over Yonder Cay. If you have some spare cash, and it might take a fair amount check this place out if you want a special place to hang out. We passed by on the West Shore and noticed the place had all the toys. A yacht, a float plane, several "smaller" boats, and a private golf course.
 In spite of all the opulence around us, and wishing some would rub off on us, we arrived back at Freedom and settled into a great evening meal and sunset from the aft deck facing the West.
 The GPS data is up to date and you might find "flying" a track from Compass Cay to Staniel and back interesting.