As we approached Warderick Wells, one of our most favorite spots in the Exumas, we radioed ahead to get our mooring ball number. The entrance to the “basin” where most of the moorings are is well marked, but after that you have to read the water to make sure you don’t get stuck in the shallow stuff on each side of the narrow channel. All of the boats already moored all swing somewhat differently with the current and wind and they are tightly packed into a narrow channel, so you have to guess whether to go in front of or behind the moored boats to find the deep water by reading the color of the water and often have to make quick decisions to change your course as the boats swing. For this approach, we went behind the first few boats and then had to weave between two boats to then pass in front of the next few on the way to our mooring ball. The current also rips through this deep water channel, so getting the boat stopped and getting the mooring attached must be done at about the same time and very quickly. No matter how many times you’ve picked up a mooring ball with a boat hook, each time seems a little different. It may be current, the design of the mooring ball, or the wind at that moment, but it is a tense few minutes. One other factor, which is one of the reasons to watch others for enjoyment is that the wind is typically blowing and the engine is still running so it is very hard to hear each other because of this and instructions are easily misconstrued. Hand signals help, and we do use them, but when your hands are full of the mooring ball pendant, all you can do is yell and hope the person at the helm understood you were yelling “Forward”!
In a place like Warderick Wells where there are many other boats close to you on their moorings, you have to get your boat secured fast so you don’t drift into another boat. Plus, to be honest, with experienced boaters all around who are now enjoying watching you, there is a bit of peer pressure to do the job quickly and well. Watching new boats come in and pick up their mooring ball pendant is part of the not to be missed free entertainment provided here.
One final complication is that the moorings in Warderick Wells are very, very heavy, so with the current running it is a two person job to hold it and get it cleated to the boat.
Our process has MB on the helm and me on the foredeck at the front of the boat with a boat hook so I can reach down the five feet or so to the water to snag the mooring pendant. The person at the helm can’t see the mooring buoy in the water as they approach so they are essentially coming up to it blindly and rely on the person on the foredeck to tell them if they are too far away or about to run over the mooring! One tricky bit is the person grabbing the mooring has to quickly lift it up to the deck, slip a sturdy line through the mooring pendant loop and then secure both ends of that line to a cleat on the deck before the pendant gets ripped out of their hands. The person on the helm tries to feather the boat by switching from forward to reverse to forward to try to hold the boat in place while this is going on. When you are just using small amounts of throttle and the current is roaring through the channel you don't have much steerage. After the first line is secured, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and the rest can be done a little more leisurely. That involves getting another sturdy line from the other side of the boat through the same pendant and getting that cleated on the other side of the deck. Since the boat is already held in place by the one line, this part is pretty easy.
Considering we had wind, strong tidal current and tight quarters for maneuvering, we did pretty well. It did take two attempts, but we had ourselves secured to our mooring in short order.
As we readied the boat for two days of relaxing and exploring, Mary Beth said something like “oh my”. The underwater greeting party had arrived in the form of a seven or eight foot shark lazily swimming back and forth under our boat! Anybody want to jump in for a swim?
Soon the giant spotted eagle rays appeared. The “wingspan” on these creatures is 6 to 9 feet depending on the breed and age. They are graceful and beautiful as they slowly “flap” their wings and glide silently through the crystal clear water. We were in 22 feet of water and could see every detail on the bottom. We had a fleet of 6 or 7 of the rays moving under and around our boat. The boats here are moored in sort of a U shape and it seems like these rays make slow laps around the mooring field. When you put on a mask and get in the water, a whole new world opens up. The water in the channel, where the boats are moored, varies from about 10 feet to almost 30 feet. Even in the 30 foot depth, you can see the bottom and the plants, fish and turtles swimming there almost as if looking at your yard through a window. Amazing!
We were disappointed to learn that dogs are not allowed on the hiking trails here, but they are allowed on the beaches. There are lots of hiking trails throughout Warderick Wells that we have really enjoyed on previous visits and had looked forward to getting Riggs some much needed exercise. Rats! Luckily when the tide is out the sand in the middle of the u-shaped channel is high and dry, so Riggs got to ramble there as well as on the island beaches and other flats at low tide.
The deep water is where the color of the water is darkest. At low tide the sand becomes visible (palest color on left and white sand on right) and you can walk around on it, finding sand dollars, star fish and shells (but no taking of anything in the park).
We also took our dinghy to a few nearby reefs to do some snorkeling. The coral is not the spectacular stereotypical coral reef as in some places, but it is still well worth the dip in to spend some time viewing it and the fish as we snorkeled over it. We did see another very, very large shark sleeping in a little canyon in one of the coral fields. That is a weird feeling to float over a shark that big and then have to turn your back on it while meandering back toward the dinghy.
We also enjoyed the camaraderie here with other cruisers. There is a nice beach designated as the swimming beach complete with a thatched roof pavilion and some lounge chairs where cruisers gather. There were lots of kids swimming and building sand "things" on the beach here during this visit. We chatted with people here as well as shared small dinghy mooring buoys when snorkeling the coral reefs and stopping by boats we had seen in other places and never met before to chat. At home you would never contemplate just going up to someone’s house and stopping by for a chat unless you knew them. With other cruisers, it is not considered rude or odd to just stop at each other’s boats and chat.
Warderick Wells is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a 176 square mile park that is controlled to prevent development, prohibits fishing and taking of shells, etc. There are some privately owned islands in the park so sometimes you can pick up a weak cell signal, but mostly there is no cell service and no services like marinas, groceries and diesel. Warderick Wells is in the middle of the park and because of that there is almost no development on nearby islands. This makes the star gazing spectacular. It’s almost hard to pick out the typical constellations like Orion because there are just so many stars visible.
Riggs needed a nap after a day of romping on the beach. This dog sleeps in the oddest positions!
Warderick Wells remains on our favorites list. There is something about it that is just good for your soul here! What a special place!
Thanks for reading!
David and Mary Beth
Comments