The Quest Continued. . . .

 Today the Internet was down so I couldn't make calls or pay the bills. I hate it when that happens. The good weather happened to line up with this grave situation so late in the morning as the wind laid down we took off in the dink to check out some spots I thought might contain a Blue Hole. The tide was right and the wind was down so we headed South and started at Sandy Cay to check out the reef.

 Sandy Cay is part of the Pelican Cays National Park where fishing etc. is not allowed. That means the population of crites beneath the surface can live in their environment without having to contend with us so there are plenty to review. Even if this is done with a look bucket as opposed to snorkeling, it's worth the effort to get down there and look around.

 As illustrated in the first photo the ride down was uneventful and smooth. On many occasions we were treated to crystal clear water with depths exceeding 20 feet. It was really spectacular. All sorts of fish, and rays passed under us as we motored along. But as we approached Channel Cay from the West side the swells from the ocean were pronounced and we had to back off a bit. It wasn't serious, just a good two feet of closely spaced rollers coming in that made for an interesting ride in a dink. By the way it's an Avon 340 RIB with an 18 HP outboard. Anyway the waves were smooth and non-breaking but close together thus pitching the bow up a bit once in a while. But soon enough we were in behind Channel Cay and the surface was quiet again until we cleared Gaulding Cay. At that point we were back around to the East of Sandy and into the area of North Bar. That means we were back into the rollers.

 Note.

 This is the inlet where the ill fated crew of "Rule 62" lost their ride to the sea and Laura Zeekol went missing. When the weather is foul this area is not to be take lightly. I'd go as far as saying don't pass through here if the weather is off at all and the tide is running strong. But all of the inlets on the East Side of the Bahamas are to be treated with respect. Their circumstances were grave that night. They were traveling at night with an exhausted crew battling high seas and that led to the disaster these people had to endure. Perhaps this over simplifies there predicament but the reality of it all is as clear as the water we were traveling in. Bad weather, rough seas, and a notorious inlet.  

 However with the weather we had the situation at Sandy Cay was tolerable and a relatively easy snorkel but we did not have the gear with us. Regardless we tied up at a mooring long enough for Deb to get her fill of fish watching with the look bucket. 

 From here we moved on to the West looking for the Blue Holes. I had mentioned that the tide was with us and this was where that was going to be important. To get all the way back up to the spots I had located on the charts we needed a rising tide and that was what we had. Back in behind Black Point we went, into water that was maybe a foot and a half deep. We were planning on it rising so we could move about and get back out into the Sea of Abaco when we were done.

 Along the way we saw several live tulip shells. All of them were bright orange or yellow which is in stark contrast to their appearance when the animal has gone. Initially the water was very shallow and the going was slow. We bumped and churned several times in the dink in spite of our efforts to keep the prop high. At this point the bottom was uninteresting as it was mostly sparse grass in sand. But we were happy because this meant the prop was not being exposed to rocks or other debris that would damage it. But all of this changed after a while and we were treated to many green turtles darting about in front of us.

  On several occasions along the way we had depths exceeding 20 feet. There was quite a bit of life within these pockets. Barracuda, Snapper, Rays, all sorts of fish and other life like sea fans. It was worth the effort to get down here and back behind the small cays that insulate this area from the Sea of Abaco.

 At the last way point I had programmed into the GPS the bottom opened up and sure enough we found our quest, a Blue Hole. It wasn't the classical version in that it appeared to be "young". Many huge slabs of rock had caved in making convenient hideaways for the  snapper and sea turtles our presence disturbed.

 In spite of the sun lowering in the sky we were lucky to see what we did. We wished we had arrived earlier in the day so the sun would be overhead, but you can't have everything like tide, wind, and sun lining up all the time. With that were happy to have what we did. The sights were special.

 We could have spent another two hours back here but time was running out with the tide. As a result we bailed out of looking for the other Blue Hole in the area and set our course back the way we came in for the Sea of Abaco. Since the tide was high now the trip out was much easier in that we had less concern for the depth. In spite of that Deb sat on the bow of the dink and I stood up in the middle. This way we kept the transom as high as we could and only bumped a couple of times.

 Once back out of this serene environment we found that the wind had picked up as well as shifting so that it would be on our bow all the way back to Elbow Cay which was a distant 7 miles or so. Keep in mind we're in an inflatable ok? It's ok unless you wear a bra. We had a foot of chop all the way up to Tiloo, maybe as far as Lubers. Once in the lee of Lubars the water laid down and we motored along beaten by the chop and sun.

 So we skipped over a stop at Cracker P's and went straight to the boat. All in all a very good day on the Sea of Abaco. The sun was going down, and we were on the Sea of Abaco fully two hours later in the day than we wanted to be. We were shot.

 The GPS tracks are up to date, and I will upload some more photos soon but these are about as good as they get. Maybe the next pas we'll take more time with the camera instead of being spell bound by the sights!