Cloudy with a Chance of Sunshine

The air and water temperatures are warm, but the skies have not been clear for days, and cloudy skies are predicted for the next several days. There are intermittent, very brief periods of rain, but not enough precipitation to collect water in the tanks. Also, the steady 15 knot wind, with gusts above 20, is creating chop and stirring up the sand beneath the water, reducing visibility and making rides on the dinghy bumpy to jolting. What all this means is that the conditions have not been and are not predicted to be great for snorkeling, my favorite activity here. The cloud cover every day has been between 50 to 75 percent for much too long. Peter, of course, is constantly occupied with physcially working or mentally puzzling, but I have not been totally successful in warding off boredom.

Recent typical skies

But, let's go back a few days. The life sling training at noon on Friday was excellent. Thirty people attended. The main leader Chris and his buddy Luke are both former helicopter pilots; Luke served for years in search and rescue with the US Coast Guard. Not only was the demonstration invaluable but the statistics were enlightening and somewhat horrifying. For instance, only 20% of persons who go overboard are ever rescued. Because of that, we also reviewed how to avoid going overboard in the first place, since prevention is obviously key. Now, we just need to become more familiar with our equipment--where it is and how it works--and I need more practice in stopping the boat and returning to the victim.

That afternoon, the only upside of the cloud cover was that there was a large and luminous sundog high in the sky. Then, the skies cleared for a while, and Peter and I went to the entrance to the tunnel under Stocking Island through which swim large oceanic fish normally not seen in shallow water. We observed dozens of blue tang and ocean surgeonfish; schools of schoolmasters; stoplight parrotfish; various jacks and grunts; a large angular permit with its distinctive acutely forked, black-bordered tail and silvery scales glimmering in the light; French angelfish; large mutton snappers and a huge southern stingray. A local boat with two tourists arrived after us, and we were fortunate to hear the guide's talk about the tunnel. In the 1970s, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team explored this place, going as far as 1700 feet through the tunnel with diving gear, having to turn back before finding an exit. He then released red vegetable dye during an outgoing tide and went to the Exuma Sound side of the island to track it. He found that the tunnel is almost two miles long, and the ocean side entrance is 70 feet down on the wall where the Sound drops to 2000 feet. In fact, there are actually several entrances, so the tunnel is part of a system.

That evening, we dinghied to the shore for a walk, observing the geological characteristics of Monument Beach. Internet searching provides either academic articles focused on a narrow area of the geology of the Bahamas or websites catering to tourists. Based on what I read, I think is that Monument Hill is composed of carbonate eolian sand banks dating from the Holocene epoch. The oolitic aragonite limestone by the beach is sedimentary rock formed when the area was a shallow, warm, turbulent marine environment in which crystals of calcium carbonate precipitated out of the water to the seabed. The oolitic aragonite sand on the beaches of the archipelago are constantly being produced. The production rate of this type of sand is greater in the Bahamas than anyplace else in the world. The gray limestone flats behind the sand at Monument Beach (and a few other places on the island) are cracked vertically into polygon shapes. Each layer is about 4-6 inches deep. Where the stones are loose, and along the water where they natually break into blocks through water erosion, the whitish-gray surfaces becomes dark with microbial life. Geologically, there seems to be two main types of rock formations along the shore, the sedimentary flats of limestone such as the ones at Monument Beach, and the bioclastic formations, which are irregular with many holes and indentations, resembling hardened a'a lava.

Limestone flats and oolitic aragonite sand in front of Monument Hill

At the end of our walk, we observed several birds with long pale legs; long, straight red-orange beaks; and white, brown and black plumage--obviously American oystercatchers. Almost constantly moving, searching for shellfish, they are fun to watch but difficult to photograph.

American oystercatcher

In the evening, Ted from S/V Sundog stopped by and gave us information on his favorite spots to anchor in Woods Hole, Buzzards Bay, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket--his stomping grounds. 

Yesterday (Saturday, April 15) was totally, woefully uneventful. The big event was the hour-long water aerobics class. There are a surprisingly large number of boats in Elizabeth Harbour for this time of year. Many are here in anticipation of the upcoming Family Islands Regatta. We just saw a mail boat heading into George Town with some of the racing boats on board.

Mail boat/ferry transporting vehicles and racing boats

In the afternoon, Peter repositioned a shield in the engine room and did other small tasks. We talked with our children and my dad. I read and did crossword puzzles. Peter and I played cribbage and backgammon. The hours passed.

The wind is blowing around 15 knots. Cloud cover at the moment is only about 25%, so Peter and I are going to snorkel along the bioclastic walls south of Monument Beach. We were planning to go to town for lunch, but the water is quite choppy, so it will have to be another day. It will be grilled cheese sandwiches today!