Hawksbill Cay

December 29, 2012

We are currently at the small northern mooring field on Hawksbill Cay within the Exuma Park.

We are moored just off a beautiful beach on the west side of the cay– one of the nicest for swimming that we have seen. We also hiked over to an eastern beach yesterday, again very nice. As previously mentioned, the beaches in the Exumas have noticeably less trash than those in the Abacos, although the eastern beaches still receive their share of flotsam and jetsam. But within the Park, visitors can pick up beach trash and pile it in a designated spot; the park staff then periodically will remove it.

The trail we hiked was well marked and led from the small beach just around the point north of the long beach off the mooring field. It leads to some ruins from a Loyalist settlement abandoned in the mid-19th century and then on to an eastern-side beach. They are very overgrown and thus not that easy to view, but then again they have been abandoned for over 150 years and the tropics do not suffer empty space. Most of the Loyalist agricultural efforts failed due to the poor soil and lack of water.

One surprise in the Exumas has been the number and size of motor yachts that we have seen. Boats of 125' and up are quite common. The park even has moorings for vessels up to 150'. We are not sure if these big boats will decline in number after the holiday season or if they are a permanent feature of these islands.

On the subject of large boat moorings, we are currently on one. You are allowed to take one if no other 'small boat' moorings are available. We have learned that it should be a last resort. Our painter (the line to which you attach the boat to the mooring) is huge (probably 3" in diameter) and heavy. I (Tom) was very impressed that Joyce was able to pick it up after I secured our second line to it.

We plan to stay here through the weekend to weather a moderate cold front coming through, after which we will probably go to Warderick Wells, where the Park headquarters are located.

Tom
Moored at Hawksbill Cay
Exuma, Bahamas
Posted by satellite email
Map Cruise 2012-13