After all the fun we had snorkeling around Square Rock, we wanted more. So we looked on the map and read that Rudder Cay has some fantastic coral reefs. So that’s where we headed…

It was the morning of February 2, 2016 when we left Square Rock. Our goal was to make it to the Rudder Cay cut by slack tide, which was around 2PM. So we left at 9:45 AM from our anchorage, figuring we’d average 4 knots or so. The wind was out of the east / southeast and we were heading north.

After a quick breakfast, we prepped everything for launch. We decided to raise the main at anchor, instead of out in the Exuma Sound (which would be rocking and rolling with wave action). Then Jake got on the bow and up went the anchor.

I motored us clear from the cut before we turned north on our route. The waves were around 4 feet – not great, but not terrible either. Once we turned away from the wind, it was much more comfortable. And we were FLYING at 5.5 knots. The wind was more south than east, so we sailed mostly on a broad reach and only had to jibe twice. It was a really fun day of sailing.

Jake decided that we would try our hand at fishing again, just as we neared the shelf of the ocean (where the shallows get super deep). Its also where the most fish like to hang out. And within just 15 minutes of dropping our little pink squid, we had a bite. Jake reeled it in, and it turned out to be a barracuda. Not an edible fish for us, but still a pretty one to look at. We threw it back and kept going.

The sailing was fun and fast. We neared the Rudder Cay cut just before 1PM – not exactly slack tide but pretty close. The tide was coming in so that meant the waves were in our favor. The entrance to the cut was a little bumpy (as they all are) but once we cleared the breakers everything was flat calm.

Rudder Cay is a really big area with lots of rock features and small cays all around. We dropped anchor in the big shallow bay just west of one of the larger beaches and a small cave. It was one of the most picturesque places we’ve been. Plus today was so pretty and sunny the water was sparkling its splendor of colors.

After we settled in for a bit, I realized that anchored just behind us was Beans! We didn’t plan it either – so that was super funny. It was still early in the afternoon and I was aching to go explore. There were 2 smaller half-cave features just nearby the anchorage and the infamous David Copperfield mermaid-piano sculpture in the area.

The first cave, nearest Bosco didn’t look like much from above the water. We decided that I would be the one to investigate the waters (i.e. – dive down to check it out) and Jake would stay in the dinghy in case it wasn’t worth it. I had my snorkel gear all ready and was in the water before we even stopped the dinghy because I was so excited. Even if there’s nothing to see its so fun to be able to swim in warm and clear water!

As soon as I dove down, I was blown away by the variety of coral and fish in this little area. It was only about 5 feet deep all around so that made it really easy to get up close and personal. I told Jake he had to see it, so we dropped our little dinghy anchor and off we went. I think we spent a good half hour before we decided to move on to the next cave. Again, I scouted the area inside the second cave while Jake stayed with the dinghy. This cave was not nearly as cool as the first (though still cool).

While I was investigating some nearby rock features, Beans came by in their dinghy and invited us over for dinner. How sweet are they?!?! Apparently they caught a 6 pound tuna during their trek up here!

After cave explorations, we tried to find the mermaid-piano statue. We knew the general area and figured it’d be obvious with the crystal clear water and bright sunshine. But it was not! We spent a good 20 minutes or so floundering around trying to find it and all we came up with was sea grass.

Beans saw us in our futile search and told us we looking in the wrong area (haha go figure!). They dinghied with us over to the right spot and sure enough, there it was! The infamous David Copperfield mermaid – piano statue.

The history of this statue, that I know of, is that David had the piece fabricated out of stainless steel for his wife, and then sunk it in the water. Its become something of a big tourist attraction.

It was fun to see it and try to dive down on it. But it was so deep none of us could quite get there (at least not without some dive weights which we didn’t bring). Once we were through with that fun, we moved over a bit to another deep coral garden. It was flush with some huge varieties of coral and tropical fish – its always hard to soak it all in because everywhere you turn are other crazy cool features and fish swimming around. I can never seem to get enough!

After 2 hours in the water, we were starting to feel super cold. Beans went back to their boat, but I made Jake take me over to the first cave again because I didn’t get enough. There were so many fish and coral and being a little shallower, the water was warm. I also found a huge queen conch (the full-grown ones) walking around the shallow floor. That was super cool.

Jake practically had to drag me back to Bosco haha. I was pretty darn cold by that point so I didn’t put up much of a fight. 😉

That night we went over to Beans’ for another fantastic dinner of teriyaki tuna, conch salad ceviche, leftover spanish rice from last night and local bananas and homemade granola cookies for dessert! Such a treat! We have been so spoiled by these two. Its so great to hear and learn about their experiences and to share in the fun with them. It definitely makes learning easier and lets us enjoy ourselves (and relax a bit). We hung out for several hours yet time went in the space of mere minutes.

We dinghied back over to Bosco in the dark. It was slightly choppy by now so we got a little wet. Once back onboard we were exhausted. Way more than we thought. I think we both passed out as soon as heads hit the pillows.