Little Ragged Island, Bahamas

 A few hours later - update!

Much more our style!

 

 

Just us 4 friend-boats - BlueJacket, Now & Zen, What If, and Sojourn.

 We'll stay here in this protected little alcove as the weather blows thru for a few days.  Lovely!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Apparently our secret is out - this little piece of paradise is actually getting crowded!  There are 15 boats now in the anchorage.

 

Early morning views.

 

We decided not to attend the nightly sundowner visit last night.  There are several new boats - and we have no way to know where they've been or what they've been exposed to......we're going to leave and go to a southern anchorage where hopefully we'll be more secluded.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 I understand it's rainy and cold at home...not here!

The group decided last nite to go for a hike with some of the folks that hadn't been here before.

 

Up the hill behind the cruiser hut.

 

Beautiful view of the anchorage.

 

 

Fun conversations along the way.

 

The trail opens out to this lovely bay.

 

Up and over a rocky hill.  Ed and Cathy pausing to enjoy the view.

 

I stole this photo of me from Cathy's blog - we were twins - both with pink shirts under our white "sunscreen shirts".

 

 

 

Down the rocky hill on the other side to continue the walk.

 

 

Across the mostly dry salt pond.

 

 

And past a rock wall you've seen before.

 

About 2 hours total for the walk - back to the boats!

 

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Not much happening!  A few boats came in from the northern anchorages.  Glad to see our former boat owners on Roam again!  Everyone went ashore for the sundowners - fun conversations and catching up.

 

Sunset didn't appear to be spectacular.

 

 

But the colors improved as the evening progressed.

 

Same view in the morning....lovely.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 I know, this is getting pretty repetitious!   

We dinghied with What If over to nearby Darvel Cay for a little exploring.  Stopped at this little spit on the way.

 

 

Darvel Cay is a little bigger, but still just a big rock jutting out of the sea.

 

 Lots of pretty coral.

 

 

Little video of lots of little fishes....

 

 

Then we headed over to Maycock Cay to see if we could snorkel on the ocean side of the island since the wind was so calm.

 

The seas were fairly calm, but we couldn't find any reefs worth exploring, so we came back on the inside to a familiar reef.

 

More beautiful coral.

 

 

 

A nice size grouper - they are protected until Feb 28th so no fishing allowed!

 

 

Duane diving deep to peek under a ledge.

 

 

More pretty coral.

 

 

And Mr. Barracuda following me around again.....

 

 

Back to the boats - Ed and Cathy

 

The only catch today.

 

 

Sojourn at Hog Cay.  Lobster scampi for dinner for me tonight.  (Duane gets a pork roast...)

 

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 Early in the morning Maxine dropped off our veggies at the cruiser hut.  So nice of her!  I know it seems like I'm gushing about something trivial, but when there is no grocery store within a day's sail, fresh lettuce becomes a luxury!

 

 Then we went out for a long snorkel as the winds have calmed.

 

Because the winds were fairly calm, we were able to go out near the ocean.  This is a fair sized trigger fish.

 

 

And this one is a larger "ocean" triggerfish - a different genus than the variety above.

 

Lots of little juvenile fish.

 

 

 

And here's a view from the top of a shallow reef.

 

No catch today!! 

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We saw Maxine who runs the store in Duncan Town over at shore so we took the dinghy over to say hello.  While chatting, she offered to deliver fresh veggies tomorrow morning.  Yay!!  

 

While chatting with Marjane from Maranantha, she told us about a trail on the northern end of the island that we've never walked.  So off we went!

The little white buoy in the treeline marked the trailhead.

 

 

As usual, just a pleasant walk across the island.

 

 

Trail marked by flotsam.

 

 

And opening out onto the ocean side of the island.

 

 

Spotted a little ghost crab in the seaweed washed up on shore.

 

 

At this point, we were just walking along the coast line as the marked trail ended at the shore.

 

 

Lovely uninhabited island.

 

 

 

The northern tip of the island is a mix of sandy beach and very harsh jagged limestone.

 

 

 

If we had done this walk at low tide, we probably could have walked in the surf, not on the jagged rocks.

 

 

 

We took every opportunity to walk in the sand.

 

 

 

But the last 1/2 mile was making our own way in rocks and brambles.

 

 

 

This is the prickly hill we beat thru to get back to the shore.  About 2 1/2 miles total.   A fun adventure but someone needs to blaze a trail!!

 

 

And I picked up these prizes on the walk and carried them back in my backpack!  Sea beans, a couple of almonds and various conch shells (empty).