From Shroud we moved to Emerald Rock, the mooring field south of the Park headquarters at Warderick Wells. We enjoyed a few days of delightfully calm weather on a mooring there. We hiked some of the trails across to the ocean side that traverse the ruins of the Davis Plantation, a loyalist venture that was not to last. There are remains of buildings, and the ever-present rock walls that can be found all over the islands. Since Molly is not permitted beyond the beach, we occupied her with swimming off the boat instead of hiking, a choice she seems to prefer anyway! A floating dock was tied to the mooring adjacent to ours, and we enjoyed swimming to and from the float. An occasional nurse shark would swim by, not a worry despite their size, usually 5-6 feet; they don’t show much interest. They’re usually accompanied by a type of remora, locally referred to as “tennis head sharks” for their strange gill arrangement on the top of their head that bears a striking resemblance to a sneaker print. Because the park is all “no take”, wildlife that would typically be thinned out is protected, so it’s not out of the ordinary to see wildlife, particularly spiny lobster and conch of exceptionally large proportion. We have in the past seen lobsters that are in excess of 2 ft long and the girth of someone’s thigh!! Tempting! But violation of the no take zone is taken pretty seriously; if caught, a violator could forfeit their vessel!
We always enjoy time in the Park, and are happy to pay the modest mooring fees in support of the park. We left the Park as we headed south for Staniel Cay, a short cruise to another favorite spot.
