2017 Life Logs, Day 112: Emerald Rock to Hog Cay

2017 Life Logs, Day 112: Emerald Rock to Hog Cay
Date: Saturday, April 22, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Rainy Early, Sunny PM; Winds ESE 20
Location: Warderick Wells South, Hog Cay Anchorage

The title of this log is Emerald Rock to Hog Cay because we did move anchorages this morning, but it should have been called “A Wild Ride to and from the Malabar Cays.” First, I’ll tell you about moving anchorages and then I’ll tell the story of wild ride.

Sam and Dawn invited Dan and Isabella over for a breakfast of Sam’s specialty, Mexican Eggs. Breakfast was delicious and then we listened to the Park’s morning radio check-out and check-in of boats for Park moorings. Both Windbird and Epiic had hoped to get a mooring in the north anchorage to ride out the nasty weather front headed out way, but there was only one spot in the north anchorage so we both took the two moorings available in Hog Cay. This required us to go out and around the Park into the Sound and then south to this hidden, and very tiny, anchorage. We were bashing down the Sound against the wind for a couple of miles, so it was slow going. It was overcast with sprinkles as we did this, but once we made the move and got settled, we were all very happy with the location. It is a beautiful anchorage and well protected.

After a late lunch, we got ready to go snorkeling at the Malabar Cays. We could see the little islets from our old anchorage at Emerald Rock, but from here we would have to dinghy around the bottom of Warderick Wells and go about a mile and half to two miles to get there. The Park information says to only snorkel there in settled conditions, but we decided that 20 knots of wind was settled. Besides, the sun was shining, the skies were blue, and we wanted to get into the water. Dan decided not to go, so we went to Epiic to pick up Isabella. Just as we approached Epiic, Isabella dropped one of her dive fins in the water the current sent it flying toward us. We tried unsuccessfully to pick it up as it flew by but we only succeeded in making it sink. So Sam dove in the water and I took over the dinghy maneuvering. I had to pick Sam up to give him a ride as he also got caught in the current, but he knew where the fin had landed and we finally got it. Then the three of us headed out. It was a wet ride as we had spray from the waves, but as we learned on the way home, the ride out was really calm in comparison! Mark and I had snorkeled the Malabar Cays a couple of years ago and we never really found the spots indicated on the Park map. And the same thing happened to us today. So we finally gave up and snorkeled on the north side of the Cays as Mark and I had done previously. There was no good place to anchor the dinghy, so I stayed while the others went in to decide if it was worth it. It was, so Dawn came back to the dinghy to take over so I could get in the water, but I told her I would just jump in and trail the dinghy behind me since the current was not too strong. The most exciting thing was that we got to see the Queen Triggerfish that we didn’t see at Emerald Rock yesterday. And like the Peacock Flounder

we did see at Emerald Rock, the Queen Triggerfish changes colors from light to dark when she feels threatened. Sam had my GoPro and captured the change in colors. After completing our snorkeling on the north side of the Cays, we decided to dinghy out and around to go back to the south side to look for the designated snorkeling areas. As we did this, we realized the ride was a lot rougher on the outside. But we persisted and as we rounded the last islet we noticed a long length of dark water which looked promising for snorkeling. We problem was the water was rough and we weren’t sure the dinghy anchor would hold. So again, I offered to stay in the dinghy as I am quite familiar with that Yamaha 15-horse motor which takes quite a yank to start. And since Dawn and I feared we were getting low on fuel, I was turning off the engine and drifting toward the rocky islets before starting the engine again to get away from the rocks. Dawn came back to take over the dinghy while I jumped in, but before that happened we saw Sam swimming toward us . . . we thought intentionally. We had the motor off so there were no worries about him being close, but then he ran right into the dinghy. He was watching a big barracuda and didn’t even see us. When his fin hit the dinghy, he thought the barracuda hit his fin and came up cursing. It was quite ‘entertaining’. I then went in with Sam back in the dinghy and what I saw was beautiful. There were large schools of fish and the sunlight was just right for great video, but I didn’t have the GoPro with me. When I got back to the dinghy I asked Sam if he would go back in to try to capture it, and he did. When he got back to the dinghy it was time to head home, and that is when we learned what a really wet ride can be. We had water coming into the dinghy from behind and in front and somehow we had left the plastic bailer on the boat. There was so much water coming in from the front that we had to wear our snorkel masks so we could see. But then we had to take our masks off to try and use them to bail some of the water out of the dinghy. That didn’t work at all, but Isabella noticed the dry bag we had water bottles and other things stored in. If we emptied that, they dry bag would hold enough water to possible bail out the dinghy. Dawn was on bailing duty and she did a great job. I don’t think the people who sell dry bags ever thought of this unintended use, but it worked!

Once again, Dawn served a great dinner of Indian Butter Chicken. And after dinner we were all invited over to Epiic. Even though they insisted, I didn’t go because I thought I should give Sam and Dawn time alone with their friends, and it wasn’t until after they left and I started writing this log, that I realized just how tired I was. So I have a feeling it is going to be early to bed for me tonight.