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Warderick Wells Cay is the headquarters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. This nature area was created by the Bahamian government in 1959 as the result of the urging by the superintendent of the Everglades National Park Daniel Beard. He had campaigned for several years to set aside a protected area in the Bahamas that stretched for 22 miles from Shroud Cay to Conch Cut plus 3-5 miles either side of the islands encompassing 176 square miles. Originally the locals could harvest from the area within specific limits but after a few years all taking of anything was prohibited. No one is allowed to fish, shell, leave garbage, or in any way molest or disturb the environment. If caught the evil doer can be fined $500 and get their vessel confiscated. The result is an incredibly beautiful area where birds, lizards, fish and shellfish are safe and can be viewed by the public.
We arrived at the entrance of the mooring ball field at just about low tide. Arriving just in front of us was another sailboat that drifted out of the channel slightly and ran aground. We waited for a while to see if they would move but after 10 minutes it was obvious they were stuck. We had to decide which way to take them and, of course, we chose the wrong side and immediately went aground ourselves on the sandbar. We backed off and turned to their other side and then slowly snaked through the mooring field filled with about 20 sailboats. After some very skinny water we tied off on a mooring ball in a beautiful part of the bay. On one side of us was the snorkling reef and behind us was the sand bar. We are close to the office and get wifi for the internet quite well. As I was setting the line on the mooring ball I watched a 5 foot nurse shark slowly cruise under the boat.
Today we took the dinghy to shore and climbed BooBoo Hill for the view. At the top you can the the entire island with the Exuma Sound on one side and the Banks on the other. At the crest there is a shrine of sorts. Cruisers find driftwood and carve, paint, etch or otherwise enscribe their boat name and date and place it there on BooBoo Hill. We found some driftwood on the beach and made our offering as well.
We will be here one more night and then head south to Cambridge Cay - still within the Park boundary.
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