Exumas - Normans and Warderick Wells

Our second stop in the Exumas was Normans Cay. (Cay is pronounced 'key' like the Florida Keys). There is an airstrip here and the island was used for drug smuggling by the Medellin cartel in the 70s and 80s since it is about half way between Columbia and the US. It was nice to get off the boat, do some walking and enjoy a beautiful beach all to ourselves. About the only thing on Normans is MacDuff’s Restaurant. There are some cottages that can be rented and a new marina resort is being built. At $7 a foot, we chose one of the many great anchorages.

One of the highlights was snorkeling the wreckage of a C-46 smuggling plane. Another highlight is Derek and I scored two coolers full of ice!!! So what is it like here? It’s hot. It’s sticky. Nothing seems to ever really dry. The boat is covered in salt. And there’s sand everywhere. We pretty much bathe, do laundry, wash dishes, shave, etc in saltwater. So when we scored some ice it was a major luxury and cause for celebration. Derek and I took his dinghy to the marina hoping they sold ice. There is no marina office or any staff that we could find. But we did hear a car and when I located the driver, I asked him if he knew where we could get some ice. He looked curiously at me and said, “Yes. Give me a minute and I will take you.” Say what!?! So we got in his nice air conditioned vehicle (another luxury) and he took us around to the back of MacDuff’s (which happened to be closed every Wednesday). He opened a door and there were two ice machines! I filled both our coolers as full as I could and “Saint Tony” drove us back to the dinghy. After three nights at Normans, it was time to head to Warderick Wells.

Warderick Wells is the headquarters for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. It also has no cell service or any other services including ice, restrooms and trash. There are three mooring fields and unfortunately, there wasn’t room for the three of us to get the north mooring field which is closest to Powerful Beach (also called Whale Beach because of the sperm whale skeleton on the beach), the Headquarters and hiking trail to Boo Boo Hill. Our first night was spent on Rendezvous Beach which we had all to ourselves. And then it rained! We made it back to the boat just in time to close everything up. We were all out on deck taking a ‘shower’-- literally! and the boats all got a much needed fresh water washdown.

Cruisers hike to Boo Boo Hill and leave an offering to King Neptune – usually a piece of drift wood with their boat’s name on it. Sharon and I weren’t very prepared and attempted to write our boat name on a piece of a branch. Hopefully that will please King Neptune! The terrain consists of sharp jagged rock with Swiss cheese-like holes everywhere – some holes were pretty large and deep and look like wells hence the name, Warderick Wells. Good thing we invested in a pair of Keens for just this reason! The ‘holes’ were the result of rain water acting like acid to dissolve limestone. We continued hiking from Boo Boo to Hutia Highway, getting lost a couple of times, before Sharon discovered the way. We hiked full circle back to Whale Beach. We all had a picnic lunch and Michelle and I did the hike again. We were both determined to get some exercise! After that we all hung at the beach, had happy hour and visited and met other cruisers. We all ran into someone we had met somewhere else. No matter how beautiful the water looks in pictures, it is 10 times more beautiful in person. The Land and Sea Park is a great way to really disconnect from everything!

Cruiser's offerings to King Neptune

The 'crew' before our hike to Boo Boo Hill

Northern mooring field

The following day (Saturday), Derek and Dianne left and went to Cambridge Cay. Conditions that are good for sailing are not always good for trawlers and vice versa. Sharon and Michelle went back to hike to Boo Boo Hill and Hutia Highway. After they returned, Sharon, Michelle and I spent three and a half hours hiking the southern part of Warderick Wells. We were the only ones on the trails which led to at least six beautiful beaches that we had all to ourselves. We passed well after well and navigated our way through several poison wood 'forests'. Our final destination was Pirates Lair. This was a spot where pirate ships could hide and wait to plunder ships headed to/from Nassau. There was a clear spot and fresh water well where the pirates would go ashore. It was a long walk back and we were all exhausted and thirsty when we returned to Rendezvous Beach.

One of hundreds of wells on the island -- some incredibly deep

Terrain we hiked. Flip flops don't work here!

It was interesting how the trails were marked.
There were dots of yellow and red spray paint
but hikers created different markers along the way.
Like this one which marked the entrance of a trail from the beach.

This wall extended from one end of the island to the other.

Ruins from an old plantation

After our hike, we hydrated, rested and prepared for a cruiser's potluck dinner on Whale Beach. That was awesome! So much good food and so many cruisers to meet! Even the island staff joins in every Saturday.

Potluck dinner.