Warderick Well and Staniel Cay

What they say about The Exumas in Wikipeadia:  The Exumas are an archipelago of 365 cays and islands, beginning just 35 miles southeast of Nassau, an exotic collection of tiny jewels set in the most beautiful aquamarine and sapphire water you’ve ever imagined.

I definitely agree with the description of the water.  It's a beautiful sight.  We left Allan's Cay sailing south for six hours to Warderick Well.  This is part of the Exuma National Reserve - so no fishing allowed.  We have a strong wind coming in from the N/NE which made for good sailing, but not so good for mooring.  Our fellow sailors were also looking for spots to get in out of the wind for the night and all the good mooring spots were taken. 

We are the boat on the far right out of the shelter from the wind and the waves.  Rocking and rolling all night long!  Not a fun time at Warderick Wells that night.

We were not so lucky and had a very bouncy night.  So bouncy in fact that none of us slept more than a few hours.  We headed out at daybreak and arrived to Staniel Cay around noon.   Sailing with only the Genoa up we were making 6.5 to 6.9 knots in a wind gusting up to 20 knots.  Staniels is turning out to be a great spot - with a nice marina, friendly staff and a lovely town.  We take the chance here to get some laundry done and do a bit of housekeeping on the boat.

At Wardericks Well, we explored the Island hiking to Barefoot Beach and up to BooBoo Hill where we left a piece of driftwood with our ship's name on it (like thousands of others before us).  We learned how to get the meat out of the Conch shell and tips on how to cook it from a fellow Canadian sailor.  

We will have a nice dinner tonight at the marina, a good sleep in a quiet slip out of the wind and the waves and tomorrow we'll continue on our journey. The cold North wind will be with us for a few more days it seems.  Seems the Captain has prepared the sundowners ---- that's all for today.  Till next time we run into a wifi spot!  Cheers!