A Day Exploring Cave Key

Day 14: Monday March 9, 2915

Where to start.  It was a busy day.  Our anchorage last night was solid but we were not in a cove so the boat rolled somewhat.  We both slept fairly well.  Up ant the usual early hour, we began with a pancake breakfast. 

We messed around on the boat until about 10:00 when the fired up the dinghy and

Landing on Cave Cay

motored into a shallow cove on Small Cave Cay.  We walked the beach looking for whatever appeared and found a few shells and a lobster trap float but little else that intrigued us.  I was impressed by the amount of trash that was washed up on the beach of this very secluded island.  I can’t imagine what it must be like in the more populated areas.  The main species of trash is plastic bottles.  We also saw glass bottles and sections of discarded synthetic rope.  All of these items are not biodegradable so they will be here for a long time.

We did see a vulture eating on something and when we approached him we found the carcass of a large sea turtle.  The shell must have been about 3 feet long and maybe 2 feet wide.  The skull was somewhat bigger than a softball.  It was mostly decomposed and there appeared that there was little that this determined (and probably hungry) bird did not want to leave.  It flew off about 20 yards and watched as we examined the remains.  As soon as we walked away, the bird was back picking.

We walked around for a while taking pictures of the various rock formations and scenery.  This really is a remote uninhabited island.  The guide book tells of the remains of an old home and evidence of pasture where some hardy soul tried to eke out an existence but we were not able to locate that area. 

From the small cove, we motored about a mile to a much larger vary shallow cove

where we landed on a sandy beach.  We assumed that we would find more interesting stuff here but it turned out to be more of the same.

Back at the boat, we fixed our typical lunch, rested, raised the anchor and headed for a site on the opposite side of the Cay where there was reported to be a field of sea fans.  Janine piloted the boat about 3 miles to this shallow location where we again dropped our anchor.  We donned our snorkel gear and went over the side into a stretch of barren water where we found a few fans and sponges but little else.  It is good get into the cool clear water.

Back at the boat, I planned to show Janine what the keel of the boat looked like in the water.  As I approached, I realized that the1200 pound ballast ball on the end of the keel was missing.  I swam under and checked it out and found a jagged broken end of the board where the “torpedo” had been attached. 

Back on the boat, we hung our sun shower from a halyard on the mast, took off our suits and had a wonderful hot shower.  It is amazing how hot the water gets in this plastic bag that lays in the sun on the deck.  It was nice to be clean again.

Now, deal with the broken keel.  I am positive that we have hit nothing solid on this trip.  The only thing that I could think of was the pounding that the boat and that heavy weight took as we banged across the Gulf Stream.  I called the production supervisor at the Hake Yachts (our boat’s manufacturer) and he assured me that the boat would still be seaworthy but not as stable when sailing in strong winds.  He said that they had lost the ballast weight on other boats in the past and have since developed a new bolt on mounting system. They changed over to the new system about the time this boat was made.  He alluded to the fact that this one may still be under warrantee.  He assured me that they had new ones in stock (But that is in Stuart FL and we are in the Bahamas.)  He said that he thought we could bring the boat back across.  I am to call him tomorrow to find out about the warrantee.  Stay tuned!

What to do?  We motored back to a more secure anchorage, fixed a chicken fettuccini alfredo soup for dinner, motored over to a nearby beach and sat in our portable lawn chairs watching the sunset.  First thought is to continue on with our trip motoring more and sailing less.  We still have the majority of the keel which provides lateral resistance when sailing.  We just don’t have the “righting moment” that the boat was designed with. I guess I need to sleep on it.