Cambridge Cay, Bahamas
24.18.209N
76.32.510W

Being Monday, today was field day on 'the Palace'. We did our washing, used the old rinse water to wash down the decks of salt and polished some brightwork. While waiting for the laundry to dry, we kept an eye on the changing wind. It was slowly moving to the south and west which pushed us further and further into the shallow areas we were trying to avoid and the tide had only just begun to recede. As you can see, we decided to move a little just to make sure that we weren't going to find ourselves high and dry after sunset.

Once we tired of doing chores, we decided to check out the caves on the island to the south of us. Rocky Dundas was supposed to have caves that rivaled "Thunderball Cave" even further south. Well, bless their hearts, the Exuma Land and Sea Park had put out another 'Welcome' sign and a mooring ball exactly where we figured those caves were. What a treat! Both caves that we explored were huge. There were stalactites and stalagmites and some that met in the middle. Although you had to snorkel into the caves, you could stand up and explore a little after you got there. The smaller of the two had a shelf that if you timed the waves just right, you could be deposited into a sitting position on the shelf, then turn around, stand up and walk around a bit. Both caves had holes in the ceilings so that filtered light came through and there was no need for flashlights. We pondered their creation for a while then donned our gear and started back to the dink.

I have to tell you, I enjoyed the coral formations outside of the caves more than I did the 'mini wall' we explored yesterday. The coral we saw today had a couple of spans of elkhorn coral about 6' in diameter. I've never seen live elkhorn coral before. I'd just hover over it and the fish would come to me. Talk about an aquarium, we saw everything we saw yesterday plus more. It was an underwater nursery. Lots of the fish we saw were tiny versions of their adult counterparts; in other words, the fish that are normally tiny and the baby fish were about the same size. The coral was amazing. I've never seen so many varieties of live coral before in one place; the colors were so vivid. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen so many varieties of live coral at all. I truly enjoyed our swim today.

When we got back to the boat, we had another fish added to the collection, a remora. Those are one interesting looking fish. About sundown, Dale saw his host. He guessed it was about 5.5 to 6' long. He ambled in, took a swing around the anchorage, then headed back out again. I'm rather glad I didn't see him. I don't like sharks of any size or variety.
Tomorrow early, we'll be heading off to our next island, Staniel Cay.