We left pretty early the next morning, desperate for the sea breeze out away from the island. Great Harbor makes for a very sheltered anchorage, however, not if you're looking for a breeze to go with it.
Coffee in hand, we sailed over to The Bight to check it out. The famous Willy T. bar was anchored, although all was quiet. It wasn't party time for awhile yet. We set in about 15 feet of water, so crystal clear and took off in the dingy around Treasure Point to check out the caves. We'd heard that it is a great snorkeling spot and who wouldn't want to snorkel in caves?! Well, after tying up to the dingy mooring ball, provided by The National Parks Trust, we noticed that the last dingy load of people were leaving. There was a rough chop on the water and then they mentioned that there were lots of jellies. Jared hopped in to check it out and quickly came back into the dingy. Yep, lots of jellies out there. Moon jellies have a mild sting, but we weren't too keen on experiencing that without vinegar on board to neutralize the nematocysts. We decided that we'd stop in to get some before snorkeling with jellies.
We snorkeled around our boat a bit back in The Bight and then decided to take off for Salt Island to check out the old salt ponds.
Salt Island is named for the island's three evaporation ponds. It was once an important source of salt. The residents of the settlement have all moved off to the more populated islands, yet the crumbling remains of the buildings and one home still remain. Just around the corner, on route to Lee Bay lies the Wreck of the RMS Rhone.
The Bight, Norman Island. The famous Willy T. was anchored just to the right of the first photo.
We anchored in a patch of sand in Salt Bay (it set the first time, wahoo!). What a beautiful anchorage! Calm and sheltered, but the middle section of the island was lower and allowed for a wonderful ocean breeze to pass through. This was one of our favorite places. After making sure the anchor was set, we set off for the dingy dock to explore the island. We tied off and jumped into the water to wade up to shore. We could have climbed onto the dock, but the water sure felt nice! We walked around the island awhile, checking out the lower salt pond, which was a dark shade of purple. Sea glass and shells lined the water's edge, so tranquil. It was fun beachcombing awhile and we decided we'd stay the night, rather than sail on to Cooper Island. We relaxed as the afternoon wore on and enjoyed a lovely sunset, all by ourselves in this lovely anchorage.
We snorkeled a bit, but there wasn't to see other than sand. Didn't see a single fish.
We experienced some wind and thunderstorms in the late afternoon. It was lovely to take a shower in the rain off the transom, instead of inside the boat. While preparing dinner (we made a beef and veggie stir fry), we learned that the fridge was not staying cold, despite running the engine 4 hours per day as instructed. We decided to head to Nanny Cay in the morning to get ice and replace our lost provisions. Didn't want to take a risk with spoiled food. Besides, we had another boat to check out!
After another beautiful sunset, we set the anchor alarm and went to bed.
