Another trip in Salt Pond Cave

Monday, June 24





This morning, I loaded my back pack with lights and camera, and made one more, more thorough investigation of the Salt Pond Cave. I spent over an hour, working my way to the very back of the cave, to a room where they say an "altar" is carved. Hmmmm. OK, some people think that. I wondered if it was an area dug in to set containers for water catchment.





Whatever that area is, it is interesting. But the cave is lovely to explore. It is fascinating to look at the areas eroded by water passage at some time in the distant past, and see the cave decorations primarily away from the center chamber.





The bats were squeaking and flying this morning in abundance. I randomly shot photos, but don't couldn't capture the four or five bats I saw almost constantly flying in my visual path directly in front of me in the side tunnel cavern that connects to the sink over by the yellow house.





There are banana trees growing in the sink. There are lots of small land crabs, and some humongous spiders.





After my hour plus expedition, I returned to where the MERCY was anchored, and anchored the Whaler. I pulled myself over to the MERCY with a line I'd attached, and then left the Whaler on the hook while I took the Nordic tug to the fuel dock at Long Island Petroleum.





After I fueled, I returned and dropped the anchor on the MERCY, and my calculations worked well. I managed to grab the Whaler's anchor line with a boat hook, and retrieved the skiff without having to swim for it!





I ran the Whaler in for gas, and was told that the gasoline tank was empty. (I guess I'd asked the wrong person 30 minutes earlier.) The Ocean Energy, a fuel tanker who traverses all these islands was on his way in, and I drifted and watched the operation for awhile.





The tanker came in pretty close, dropped a man in an outboard, turned stern to the dock, dropped her bow anchor, and then the man in the skiff ran a mooring line ashore.





This afternoon I found out the insulin pump had never been delivered. UPS had some kind of problem. The internet in town seemed to be down, and I couldn't get a call out to the insulin pump company. I let that eat on me all evening, but late last night got a text from my Good Samaritan saying he had resolved issues and it should be delivered tomorrow. That is an answer to prayer!