In 2019 we made a trip to Conception Island that was cut a bit short due to the weather forecast. This time we had a nice long stretch of comfortable winds and so enjoyed an extended stay at Conception Island giving us an ever greater appreciation for it. This small Island is completely uninhabited by humans and is maintained as a nature preserve by the Bahamas National Trust. The water is the clearest we have seen so far, and that is saying a lot. The small swells making wash gently on to the beach that lines the anchorage making for a very relaxing and pleasant sound, especially at night.
On Sunday, we returned to a beach on the north that we enjoyed in 2019 and had it to ourselves for most of the day. We spent a good part of the day snorkeling off the beach, and walking the beach, and reading under the beach umbrella. Some other cruisers had organized cocktails on the beach for 4:00 but after getting back to Juno it felt good to be out of sun so we stayed aboard for our own cocktails, dinner, and sunset.
On Monday we took the dinghy two miles south to a lagoon that makes up most of the interior of Conception Island. The entrance is wide but very shallow so we needed to visit just around high tide. We didn't see much sealife at we made our way up into the interior. As the water was getting lower we headed back for the mouth of the lagoon. This time we saw several young hawksbill turtles, what appeared to be a young lemon shark, and a two foot barracuda. We concluded that the retreating water was forcing these into the remaining depths where we were also confined. We left the lagoon and found a nearby beach that we had all to ourselves to settle on for a few hours that included snorkeling where we saw several type of groupers we had not seen before.
Finally on the way back to Juno we stopped to snorkel an area that was called out on a chart as a coral reef. We got in and discovered just about the best coral at shallow snorkeling depths we have seen this trip. So many of the shallow reefs are bleached and nearly devoid of fish. Here we saw spectacular Elkhorn corals and many fish. Thankfully no barracuda or sharks so we could take our time exploring the reef. It was low tide and this restricted us a bit so we returned the next day at high tide to explore the reef further.
Wednesday the winds looked to be perfect for a sail back to George Town and they were. Southeast at 15 knots made for an easy beam reach all the way back. Harry had his fishing lures out but unfortunately came up empty. We found a more secluded anchorage away from the 175 other boats and settled in for the night. Tomorrow we plan to move closer to the George Town settlement for provisions, then head to the southern parts of Elizabeth Harbour until we need to find shelter from an incoming front Saturday night.
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