Suliere's Blog

Thursday 18^th April

Headed for Normans cay but not to keen on the anchorage location on arrival which seemed rather bland and as we knew there was a bit of a blow coming in we wanted somewhere a little more entertaining.  Decided to head off to Shroud Cay the first island we have come to within the Exumas Land And Sea Park so had to tie up all black water outlets as per park rules.

Took a mooring in an otherwise empty mooring field using the remote control to keep Suliere on target for picking up the mooring buoy. With the bowsprit extended it’s ropes get in the way somewhat so we are trying to revise our methods. The remote control managed well in winds to 15 knots.  It simply turns each engine on or off into forward or reverse. We had set a reasonable engine speed on the potentiometers inside the main controller and think this would be ok up to 20 knots.

In doing this it is much easier for Paul to see all the activity up front now being able to see the pickup buoy and maintain Suliere’s position also Lesley is no longer alone up there at the bow if the going gets tough.  We should have started to use this technique much earlier as we’ve been using it for some time for bringing up the anchor. The remote control has the ability to control engines, anchor, windless and bow thrusters, about the size of a TV remote and hangs on a neck lanyard.  We think it makes life much easier and there’s nothing wrong with that!

We have planned to take a couple of trips up the creeks into the mangroves tomorrow if the wind eases. The northern most creek will be possible in Slurpy where we are told to beach her and take a walk along the beautiful long beach on the Exuma Sound side, also to collect a piece of driftwood to take to ‘Camp Driftwood’.  We will attempt the other creek by Kayak where no engines are permitted in order to preserve the wildlife. The mangroves offer shelter to all manner of creatures and make particularly good nurseries for young fish.

We are expecting heavier wind tonight (Thurs)  20 to 25 knots maybe from the SE but we are protected here n the lee of Shroud Cay.

Rock Opera

The sun gently slides down the peach tinted sky to the horizon an especially mellow time to sit and enjoy the beauty of the scenery that surrounds us.  Alongside Suliere there is a small opening between two of the cays where the surface of a reef dries out at low water. As the waves begin to play across the coral heads they create and erratic stipple of splashes like a tune rippling over piano keys playing some previously unheard rock opera.  The wind plays its tune in the rigging and whisks its way across the water surface and the birds fly back to roost. The end of another peaceful day aboard Suliere.

The Sun Goes Down on Another Peaceful Day