We love anchoring out, so we were excited to be able to cast off the lines and spend some time out on the hook throughout our time in the area. We had some stunning, clear nights and enjoyed some quiet stargazing. The weather was generally pretty settled and it was so calm at times that it was hard to tell that we’re actually floating IN the water. One of the things that I love most about anchoring out is how much we slow down. I spent an entire morning sitting on the stern, sipping my coffee and just staring down into the water, and I’d say it was time well spent.
We hopped in the dinghy to snorkel off the south end of the island before work one morning. We didn’t find anything all that interesting and were only in the water for a short time, but it felt good to start the day with a swim. Our gear and bag needed a good rinse – everything had gotten sandy from snorkeling off the beach back in West Palm.
We later heard from some people at the marina that there really is good snorkeling, so we loaded up Squall and tried again, this time right along the south shore. We didn’t see a lot at the first spot, but a reef shark swam a lazy, distant circle around us before going about its business. There’s another spot around the corner with a nice little beach, and we found some of the best snorkeling we’ve had right along the marly outcroppings. Several “moorings”had been dropped that were just old engines, but the fish seemed to love them. There were lots of soft corals, starfish and all the common species like bluehead wrasse and french grunts, but I also spotted a scorpionfish and we saw two slender filefish, both species that were new to me.
Another afternoon, Chris wanted to do some spearfishing, so we checked out along the west wall of the island. There were some beautiful coral patches and lots of fish. Unfortunately we didn’t find any lobster and missed out on a mutton snapper, but the snorkeling was well worth it anyway. We could see a distant squall forming, so we ran back to the boat just in time to close up ahead of the rain.
I’m glad we’ve gotten to spend so much time out here before all the other boats arrived for the season. Sometimes we’d have 8 boats in the anchorage, but there was plenty of space for everyone without feeling like we were on top of one another. But more and more boats are arriving, and it seems like we’ll be leaving as the season really kicks into full swing.
