A two hour cruise put us in Flamingo Cay early in the afternoon.
Flamingo Cay is another uninhabited cay in the Jumentos. The cruising guide mentions a drive-in cave just south of one of the anchorages, We had a difficult time getting the anchor to bite, the bottom is just a bit of sand over marl, or hard limestone. The anchor simply scrapes across the bottom with its point probing for something soft to bite into, or in some cases, a crack or rock that it can jam into, with the result that the anchor chain comes tight very quickly and causes the chain to jump over the chain gypsy with a fanfare of exciting noise and action. We moved around a few times and finally moved closer to shore after doing some probing with the dink. A bit closer than we’d prefer, but winds are light and are predicted to remain so. We were finally able to get a set that we were comfortable with.
During that exercise, I ran the dink to the adjacent beach where Innu was also having some degree of trouble getting a set. I confirmed their anchor was set and returned to continue our own routine. We were shortly joined by Luc and Helene and took the dinghies to visit the cave just to the south. The interesting feature of the cave is that it’s a drive-in! The opening easily allows a dink (or two) to enter the cave under power! Very cool! The shore at the back of the cave slopes upward to an opening that empties onto the rock hill that makes up the cave’s roof. Conch shells litter the shoreline of the small beach within the confines of the cave, and if you tilt your head just right, you can imagine pirates there adding another skull to the pile as they split the booty! Yeah, yeah, they’re conch shells- all of ’em!
Just to the north of the beach, the island features a light perched atop a prominent hill, and the point is a great spot to get a commanding view of the Jumentos. There is a trail leading to the ruins of the old acetylene powered light that was replaced by an aluminum tower that supports a modern self-sufficient light powered by a solar panel. Although the theory is the light is self-sufficient, reality says the light, like most in the Bahamas is non-functional. Despite the failure to fulfill its intended purpose, the tower provides a great spot to take some photos! It’s an easy climb, probably less than 20 ft to the top. And- no signs with dire warnings about falling, trespassing, defacing, danger of electric shock or other lawyer-promoted drivel to protect the stupid from themselves. The view revealed two salt ponds and a beautiful cay that stretched off to the south amid sparkling azure waters. We did not spot any flamingos. Perhaps a misnomer!