We awoke on Thursday to the same calm from the night before but with Kaleo pointing the opposite direction, having swung in the night with the tidal current.
In full daylight we were able to take in how far removed we were from civilization in our new little cove of the world at Joe’s Sound. Only one currently uninhabited house and a forgotten fishing boat marked that people might have once been around.
Both boats, ourselves and “MG”, loaded our dinghies with lunches, water and extra fuel for a quest to find the nearest town, some two miles up the creek. After puttering through crystal waters lined with dense mangroves, we came to a small bridge over a narrow whitewater rapid creek. We could see boats on the other side so we said what the heck and went for it. Swoosh! We caught the current and were hurtled under the bridge without scraping the gnarly rock walls. Exiting the other side, we had to turn sharply to avoid getting the motor wrapped in the mangrove trees trying to ambush us.
We laughed and lunched on the dock before walking a mile to Mrs. Pratt’s Convenience Store to enjoy a cold drink. After talking with her for awhile, she invited us to climb the hill on her property behind the store to take in a view of the Atlantic and cool down in the tropical breeze.
The dinghy ride back under the bridge was just as fun as our little motor crawled up the rapids. Like kids wanting to do the Disney World Log Ride over and over, we turned the dinghy around and ran it again.
By afternoon, low tide had come along forcing Matt and Ted to tow the dinghies by foot through the shallow water. They plodded along, pulling us grateful gals in our chariots, and at times sinking up to their knees in sloshy sand.
On the way back, we stopped off at and walked along the nearby tidal flats where we saw millions of little sea snails left behind when the water receded.
We returned to the boats to find Kaleo a little too close to the shallow water so Ted and Matt reset the anchors, moving us into deeper water. Never to soon to enjoy lobster again, we whipped up a small feast of grilled tails, agave glazed carrots and buttered potatoes. Then it was off to “MG” to make a “cruising bucket list,” those things we want to do before leaving the Bahamas.
N 23° 37.67 / W 75° 19.95
