Ambergris Cay, TCI
21.19.283N
71.38.944W

The transit across the TCI Bank was awesome. There was absolutely no wind today so the Bank was like a pool. The water was crystal clear whether at 10 feet or at 20. I was completely hypnotized by the play of light and water on the sand. Dale seemed to zip from one little project to another. (There's always something to fix or maintain but I began to wonder what would happen if there wasn't.)

We had departed Provo at 6:45 am and dropped anchor at Ambergrist Cay by 3:00 pm. In between times, we motored amongst millions of sea biscuits, more than a few coral heads, hundreds of star fish and flamingos flying in formation. The average water depth through the majority of our trip was 13'. Dale and I were forced to come to an agreement between what would be considered prudent and what was being overly cautious. We finally agreed that anything less than 10 feet we would slow down and observe, otherwise, it was to be expected and throttling back was unnecessary. Since we were motoring at 6 kts, there were times when I was sitting poised to throttle back in an instant.

Once we reached Ambergrist, the clarity of the water was so inviting that Elaine and I both wanted to jump in as soon as the anchors were down, except for the fact that we had all seen several sharks on the way into our anchorage. All of us agreed that they were nurse sharks (supposedly non-threatening) but we were also not willing to 'swim with the sharks'. We ended up snorkeling a few small reefs and saw lots of fish but in all honesty, it seemed to be more clear from the decks of our boats than it was underwater, probably because it was getting later in the day. Dale says that I've been spoiled. Unless I have unlimited visibility, I'm not happy. He's probably right. I think that when you see the true colors and beauty surrounding you, it makes the dive/snorkel more interesting.

Since we had to dodge and weave the coral heads coming into this anchorage, we'll leave tomorrow for Great Sand Cay after 10 am to keep the sun high where we can dodge and weave our way back out again. From there we'll be heading on to Luperon.