Sharks, turtles, and a green flash.

I don't remember exactly what I mentioned last...  but I think it was about trying to sail to Conception Island, which is a national park.  The second day we tried the wind was on the nose again.  One tack had us arriving around 10 p.m. and on the other tack the distance was increasing!  We noticed that on one tack we were heading back towards George Town so we kept going.  We thought maybe we could sail back to Conception the next day, or if not start sailing back up the Exumas.  In the morning the forecast was for 17 to 20 knot winds - right from Conception!  It turned out not to be that strong and off the nose enough that we could actually sail to Conception Island.  We dropped anchor just after sundown.  So after three days and just under a hundred miles of sailing we had avoided motoring 30 miles.  There were about fourteen or fifteen boats there and nothing else for miles around.  Conception is uninhabited and is one of the most remote places we have been.

Sunday we went snorkeling with three other couples.  We saw a ship wreck, some coral, and tropical fish.  It was rather like being in an aquarium.  The water is crystal clear so you can see the bottom even in fifteen or twenty feet.  Sue decided since she was already salty she would clean the dinghy bottom before taking her shower.   After she splashed around under the dinghy for about 10 minutes she asked for a sponge to clean the rudder of the big boat.  The next thing I knew Sue came flying up the ladder!  Apparently there was a four to five foot long shark under the boat.  Later we met on the beach with people from 7 or 8 boats to watch the sun set.  One couple who does a lot of diving said not to worry about the sharks as they are not interested in us but Sue does not want anything to do with sharks.  There was a green flash - which needs just the right conditions to be visible (Google it).  I actually didn't see the green flash, and suspect the other 15 people were lying, though I suppose it could have something to do with my red-green color blindness.  Nah...  Sue said she saw it.

Monday we decided to dinghy into the mangoves in the center of the island to look for sea turtles.  The cut was upwind about a mile and a half from where we were anchored so we wore our swim suits; a good decision as it was a wet ride.  Once inside we saw 2 or 3 sharks - probably small Lemon sharks, each about three feet long.  We also saw two sea turtles but they were too fast to get close to.  As we were wading around finding live conch two other dinghies came in to explore.  Ever since our outboard problems I'm always wondering what we'll do if I can't get it started when we're a long way from the boat.  I figured having two other dinghies behind us wouldn't be all bad, so we headed back towards the ocean and our boat.  As we got almost to the ocean we saw another dinghy anchored in the creek, its owner pulling away at the starter cord.  We stopped to see if we could help and were amazed to see that they had the same exact outboard that we have.  I told Donald our outboard had quit too and about cleaning the carb and the fuel system.  We pulled the carb apart and found a litte bit of crud.  But when we put it all back together we still couldn't get it to start.  We ended up towing their dinghy back to the anchorage and it was another wet ride.

Today we motored until the wind filled in and then had a slow sail back to Cat Island.  We might be here for a few days as high winds and squalls are predicted for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  The holding is pretty good here and even if we drag the water is shallow for a mile or so with pretty much only open water behind.