Perry's Peak – Lee Stocking Island (Feb. 9 – 11)

After Little Farmers Cay’s Five F’s Festival, most boats were headed to Georgetown on Exuma Island, and we were no exception. To shorten our travel day, we elected to stop about half way there (from Farmers Cay); taking the Adderly Cut from Exuma Sound to Lee Stocking Island. Its’ claim to fame is that it boasts having the highest peak in the Exuma island chain.

First leg of this journey to the peak, was having to land Seabiscuit (the family car) on a pristine crescent beach near the foot of the peak….

With water bottles in hand and our best walking shoes on foot, we trekked up, up…. …. for all of about 10-15 minutes! Too funny. The highest peak in the Exumas is 123.’

Perry's Peak, Elevation 123 ft., Highest Point in the Exumas

I had to stand on a survey block to find this sign!

Our short climb was rewarded with a stunning view. From up there, we counted 40 sailboats sailing in the Sound – it was a good day for sailing! Though we didn’t know it at the time, CS’ta Time was one of them. Jorge & Kim radioed us as they were passing by, but we missed their call …. fellow  cruisers filled us in later in the day.

We still had some energy left after scaling the highest peak, so we went in search of conch. This excursion took us to Norman Ponds Cay. We found conch, but none to eat. They were either too small to warrant the effort, or harvested already with their shells emptied. C’est la vie.

mangrove roots on Norman Ponds Cay

We did, however, run into the fellow cruisers mentioned earlier. Tom & Annie (S/V Makani Olu), Dave & Rose (S/V Cloud 9), George & Penny (S/V Star Shot), and Barry & Wilma (S/V Syrena) were all snorkelling off one of the beaches. Point of interest: Wilma became a first time great grandma at
noon on Feb. 10^th – and an hour later she was snorkelling and found a lion fish! ‘Gotta love her.

tugboat and barge islands

Dave & Rose had all of us over for happy hour that day. I want to stalk these particular cruisers, as the food was sooo good….  marinated figs with a cheese filling (Annie), to die for devilled eggs (Wilma), clam tapenade (Penny), dried fruit & nuts coated in chocolate (Rose) …. and we brought banana bread and fresh coconut pieces.  Now that’s trading up.

sunset at Lee Stocking Island

 Before we departed from Lee Stocking Island, we took one last excursion; this time in search of coconuts. Fresh coconut really is yummy. Gil found a mother load, and we returned to Serenada with 15 of them. Gil then took them to shore to break them open. We’ve banned opening coconuts on the boat, as it’s very messy. It’s also hard work. Gil came back well over an hour later, having opened six of them. The other nine are still bouncing around in our lazerettes – maybe they’ll open themselves down there  :-).