Conception Island, tropicbirds, diving

Cat to Conception.Island

Today is The Bahamian Independence Day, July 10th.

We crossed from Cat Island to Conception Island. The water is over 7000' deep, and gorgeous blue. There was scattered sargassum weedlines, though I didn't see any fish under any.

We arrived at Conception Island around noon, and spent the rest of the day, and all day Wednesday exploring and enjoying the beautiful area.

Conception Island is part of the Bahamian National Trust. Everything here is protected. Aside from its spectacular diving, the area is known for its abundance of green turtles and its nesting tropic birds. It has beaches, bluffs, mangrove creeks, crystal clear water, and is uninhabited. What more could one want?

I think everyone who has ever been on the MERCY would have loved Conception Island.

Rich, I talked to three different sport fishing boats that had hooked up blue marlin that day.

Lila, there are tropic birds doing their acrobatic flying in groups of 3-5 (noticed it was always an odd number) I saw a couple of noddy terns on the way over. Uh, you would not have liked the trip over! If you could have been deposited onboard at the gorgeous anchorage, you'd have loved it.

Rudy, you would have been rethinking the whole diving past the second atmosphere thing! The walls were spectacular!  There are a number of dive moorings along the southwest side of the island.

We romped the beaches seeking treasure among the flotsam, and found a number of sea beans. (Be prepared Fred and Nancy, Allen found more than sea beans that I reluctantly agreed to transport.)

We took the Whaler to the beach on the east side of the island, and explored across from Boobie Cay.  I didn't see any of the infamous red footed boobies.

When I heard the weather on Thursday morning, due to increase to 25 or so for the week-end, I decided we'd best pull up the hook on Conception and we headed towards Long Key.

I was almost in tears, since I have always wanted to go to Rum Cay, and was within 15 miles.... I did not, however, want to be forced into a marina for the week-end, and there are only good anchorages for prevailing winds, and I think it is going into the SW on Friday evening.

So, I reluctantly turned to Long Cay, and then when under its shelter, ended up continuing on to Exumas, where Allen said he wanted to go. We were in a couple of squalls over 40 knots. I love this boat! She is a great, sea worthy vessel. The temperature dropped to the mid 70's, and I ended up turning the air conditioner on to defog the windows.

I've been told where there is free wi-fi, and I actually got in long enough to collect my mail, but not send any. At daylight, I'll slide over closer, and hope they have it on!

So our adventure continues in the Exumas...