Shroud Cay (Wednesday - Saturday)

Shroud Cay was our first stop within the Exuma Land and Sea park, only about 4 miles, as the crow flys, from Norman's Cay. The winds were really picking up so we chose what we hoped would be the most sheltered anchorage, this is also one that Hal from Naples had told us about. The rock and roll wasn't very bad at all which was surprising - the wind was literally howling through the boat. The forecast was for strong winds for a few days so we decided to stay put since we were reasonably comfortable and didn't know how sheltered the anchorages would be to the south. There isn't much to do on land, so we had a very mellow few days. I was able to get back into my workout routine (yay videos!), enjoyed the Nickelback songs I downloaded while we were in Nassau and devoured about 4 books. We also enjoyed the company of a resident seagull, Max (named for the human/avian hybrid in a book I was reading - nope, not reading classics at the moment :). Max came by every evening for dinner and brought some friends the last couple of nights (see pics). While there aren't many gulls, there are beautiful tropicbirds. They look like large terns with long flowing tails - gorgeous!

The first day/night we were all by ourselves, not a boat in sight, it was amazing! Thursday we took the dinghy up into the northern creek to visit Camp Driftwood which was built in the 60s by a hermit/sailor. The point was later used by drug agents to spy on the drug smuggling at Norman's Cay to the north. The views are gorgeous (see pics). We re-anchored closer to shore in the afternoon as the wind was really picking up. A few boats came that afternoon, a few to the mooring field south of us and 2 to our anchorage but they all left the next day. Friday afternoon we took the dinghy up to MacDuffs for lunch, about 4 miles north at Norman's cay. It was easy getting there with the wind to our back and Rough returning - soaking wet! But well worth the trip. It's a cozy little restaurant/bar and there always seems to be a few people there for lunch. There are few dogs to keep you company too, I bonded with the old chihuahua, Pepper... Our last day we did some swimming/snorkeling but there wasn't too much too see - lots of sand and turquoise water. (Unfortunately we did spot a lionfish.) It was relaxing and beautiful but I think my tolerance for the lone, slow life is much less than Martin's and by Saturday I was itching to move on!