Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

We took another nice shore walk.

And out for another nice sorkel.  This time over to the inside Cocoa Reef.

Not a lot of pretty coral but lots of fish.  A grouper swimming freely because he knows he's off limits until grouper season begins March 1. 

A pretty queen angelfish.

And a menacing barracuda.

A few lobsters.

And sweet looking little  bluehead wrasse. 

And the ever present queen triggerfish.

A little fishy video

Back to the boat.  Still the only boat around!

 

While I was tidying up the snorkel gear, I noticed shimmering in the water beside the boat.  I took the underwater camera down the steps and took these photos.   A school of bar jacks....

And what appears to be a nurse shark.

A beautiful sunset - and there really was an emerald green flash at the very point of sundown.  I've never been able to capture it on the camera....even in video mode.

L ittle Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Out in the morning for a snorkel.  We're still the only boat in the anchorage.  We're a tiny white dot in the center of the photo.

Winds had died down but the surf was still pretty high.  

Good to be back in the water but the visibility was poor due to churned up sand and froth from the breaking waves.

Zoom in and you can see a small-ish lobster.  Oddly, a lot of the lobster we are seeing are perched at the opening of their lair.  Like in an aggressive stance.  They are usually hunkered back in their "hole" in the coral.  

With the churning waves and less than ideal visibility, we decided to cut the snorkel shorter than usual and head back to the boat.

Overdue for some laundry....

The deck was full with laundry and drying snorkel gear.  I'm sure to a passer-by we look like vagabonds.

After lunch at low tide we decided to try again for a more pleasant snorkel since the winds are going to fill back in tomorrow and keep us from having another snorkel opportunity for about a week.

Much better! 

Nice visibility

Coral still not terribly healthy but not horrible.

After having passed on a dozen or more small-to-medium lobsters, Duane did spear this nice one.

Pretty sunset but no green flash.  

I made some lobster bisque for my supper - it was fabulous.  (Substituted evaporated milk for the heavy cream).

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We took the dinghy ashore for a bit of a walk....were pleased to see that the table the cruisers built several years ago is still standing!!!

Since we're the only boat in the anchorage, no need for the "meeting area" yet....I'm sure we'll do some cleanup at some point.  

A side note - there are a lot more bugs here than we were expecting.  Even with strong breezes, we are getting mosquitos and biting flies in the evening.  Of course, we put the screens up but hate to do that as it impedes air flow in the boat.  I believe the surrounding marsh/mangrove area is a bit wetter than we're used to.  This will probably abate in the coming weeks as we head into a drier season. 

Walking and beachcoming on the ocean side.  

 

Beautiful as always!

Of note, there is a subtle difference in the shoreline - lots of sand is missing, I'm assuming from Hurricane Michelle's surf.

Back to the boat.....

My "haul" for the hour or so walk....was pleased that Duane found a "purse" bean - fairly rare for me.  It's the bean at the bottom of the photo.  One of these years I'll get around to polishing one of these for a necklace!

Little Ragged Cut, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 The cruisers in the anchorage all got together and had a bit of a spontaneous "work day" at the cruiser hut.

A couple of hours of hands-on earthmoving!

A combination of rocks from the surrounding area and anchorage. 

And sand....lots of sand....

The work will hopefully continue over the next few weeks or months...goal would be to at least fill in the interior of the hut so some normal level.  There are other areas that washed out in the hurricane that will probably not be repaired - maybe mother nature will bring in more sand at some point.

 

Edit - I should have listed the boats participating - 

Desiderata II

Ursa Minor

Breeze On

A Ten

Maranatha

Wolfpack 2

Sojourn

(sorry if I missed anyone)..... 

 

 After lunch, we pulled anchor and headed out for a nice sail over to the cut between Ragged Island and Little Ragged Island - to our sweet little protected spot.  Zero other boats here!

Made some bread using another of my premixed vacuum packets....turned out wonderful. 

And in the early evening we were treated to a nice washdown again....