Bullies on the island

I walked with my friend, Marilyn, to a beach on the East side of Salt Cay on Saturday, we had to walk through a crowd of bullies... Armed with just my camera I took a picture of one of them. He didn't move and just glared at me for disturbing his peace and quiet.

We escaped unharmed and had a great time beachcombing. :0)

Salt Cay is for fishing and reading

Sunday on Salt Cay is always a good day for fishing or hanging out with a good book. On a beautiful Sunday in February, Mike packed his fishing stuff and I grabbed a book and a couple of bottles of water for a few hours fishing, reading and of course some photos. We started out on North Beach... the water was a hundred colors of blue, turquoise, and aqua with no one in sight.

Years ago I visited a Salt Cay friend, Janet Onnie, and caught her relaxing in her hammock. We sat on her breezy outside porch and talked about a lot of things. What I remember the most is her telling me that when she has trouble sleeping she thinks of the Sea and Sky off of North Beach and tries to count all the different colors of blue.

Mike grabbed his stuff out of the back of the buggy and walked down the beach to try his luck in the surf. I sat up on the bluff, spread out a blanket and spent so long looking at the water, the islands in the distance, the beach and the waves that I never did get my book out. Mike walked back to join me at the bluff and we moved on to another spot for him.

Back in the buggy, we drove north past the Grey Salinas to the Northeast side of the island. There is an inlet from the Sea that is made of cut stone and allows water from the Sea to fill the Salinas on that side of the island. This channel was built over 200 years ago and is about 6 feet wide and about 600 feet from start at the Sea to the end that empties into the Salinas.
Following the inlet channel to the East, we watched crabs scurrying about, little fish swimming against the current, birds doing a little fishing and a gecko basking in the sun. Notice the incredible cut stone along the sides of the channel.

Walking along the wall of the channel, we arrived at the opening, a small opening in the rocky cliffs - a great place to try a little fishing.

It was mesmerizing watching the water flowing in and out of the channel, the waves crashing in to fill the little "bay" and spraying foam upon the rocks. Not much beachcombing to be done at this part of the island, but so many beautiful natural treats.

The skies were a bit overcast on Sunday with the sun breaking through from time to time and casting its rays down through the clouds. The Sea on the West side of the island was rough but on the East side it was fairly calm with a few good sized rollers from time to time. The sparkling brightness of the day was incredible.

Mike grabbed his bucket and pole and walked to the end of the small rock cliff to try his luck in the surf. The rocks can be pretty uneven at the end of the small cliff, I chose to stay back and take a look around with my camera.

Any vegetation on this side of Salt Cay has to be pretty hardy. The trade winds blow fairly constantly throughout the year from the East showering the plants with salt water and salt spray on a regular basis. Plants that would normally have a little height are more of a low growing ground cover or bush height.

The tangled branches of this Mosquito Bush (Strumpfia martima) have little barnacles growing attached on one side and beautiful fragile looking pink flowers on the other side. In folklore, when the leaves and branches of the mosquito bush are burned, the smoke is said to repel mosquitoes. I've tried transplanting a small plant and have not been successful getting it to grow on the West side of the island.

A large brain coral with a whole in the middle and another coral lodged inside of it rests next to the channel. I have to believe that a few people spent some time dragging it to this spot, although there doesn't seem to be any place that it could have come from. I enjoyed the contrast of the sun bleached, curvaceous white coral and the dark, sharp angles of the cut stone walls of the channel.

(Don't forget that by clicking on a photo you will be able to view it larger but you'll have to click the back button on your browser to come back to this page.)

I had a book in my bag and fully intended to sit down to read a bit... after a few more pictures.

... the bend in the channel right before it meets the Sea.


... the waves crashing on the cliffs.


... three Haitian islanders fishing a little further north along the same cliff with hand lines.

Mike enjoyed fishing for rock hinds or strawberry grouper along the East side of the island, moving from the spot at the end of the cliff to a place a bit further North in search of the elusive fish.

The wind-smoothed rocks on the top of the cliffs are very different from the razor like rocks of the cliffs further South on the island. After about 1/2 an hour, Mike returned to try his luck by the cliffs again. Caught by a wave or two, his shirt and shoes were soaked and he was ready to try something different on the end of his line.

I do not know the name of this little lure... and I don't suppose it really matters because it did not work! Relaxing on a rock with his (empty) bucket, Mike changed his lure hoping to attract a strawberry grouper or two...

The sounds of the sea crashing on the cliffs and echoing through the channel were a perfect accompaniment to the peace of fishing, relaxing and enjoying a little quiet time together.

I did actually read about four or five pages in my book before heading back after a day of fishing and exploring.

And no, Mike didn't catch anything that day. (Hmmmm, Mike read this and reminded me that he did catch a little sand fish - not worth eating or keeping - so he threw it back... does that count?) Heeheee.

Foggy Day Walk

One day last week (in fact, it was the 3rd... my granddaughter Rachel's 6th birthday), I woke up to find all the screens covered with dew. Looking outside toward the Sea I could see that it was a soggy morning with dew on the boardwalk and lots of moisture on the sand. And amazingly, when I looked out the front door toward the East - there was a layer of fog over South Creek! If you look closely at the picture you can see it hovering over the whole area.

Fog is just not something seen on Salt Cay! Inspired by this strange sight, I stuffed my camera and a bottle of water in a bag and set off for South Creek. By the time I got there, the fog had lifted and a calm hung over the Creek, setting us up for a hot day to come!

Even the Sea off the East side of the island was calm and as I walked past some clam beds, I spotted one of the young osprey perched on the top of the north osprey nesting platform.

As I walked closer to the platform, I could hear the young osprey calling to its mother. "Maaaaaama"... it really does almost sound that way! And loud! When the osprey used to nest in front of our house we were often awaken (at all times of the day and night) by the young osprey after they were kicked out of the nest. It's a relief to see them enjoying the other nesting platform instead of the roof of our house or the railing of our neighbor's house.

The osprey are not intimated by people walking close to their perchs... they turn their heads to get a good look at you as you're getting a good look at them. Unless of course they have young, just hatched babies - then they might just dive bomb you to keep you away.

But this osprey was perfectly happy to sit on top of the pole making noise. Notice the ropes draped over the nesting platform? Apparently, the osprey started to build there and for reasons known only to themselves, changed their minds and built their nest on the southern-most osprey nesting platform instead. I've also seen the osprey by the nest in town sitting there looking around... maybe one day we'll have three osprey families! At 2.5 square miles, that's about the maximum number of osprey Salt Cay can expect.

As I walked home, the mangrove area of South Creek was not without a few strange and wonderful treasures. The metal float has obviously been here for some time... it had to make it's way from the mouth of the Creek, turn right and eventually get lodged pretty close to shore. It looks like it's been here for a long time! I have no idea how long. With the sun just coming up, it turned the colors of the float brilliant orange, rich brown with some wonder rusty flakes covering it. A beachcomber's delight - and I'm sure Mike is very happy it's too heavy for me to roll home for our back yard.

The mangroves are a little difficult to navigate on foot... it's very mucky and slippery... but well worth it to catch some interesting photos of South Creek through the mangroves.

Hey! don't forget that you can click on any of these photos to view them larger. :0)

Winter Weather on Salt Cay

The coldest day on Salt Cay is still better than the warmest day in North America this time of year! I just got an email from one of my friends (Hi Gracie!) in Penn Yan to let me know that it is a "balmy" 20F there right now but warming up during the day. And another email from Danny (Mike's cousin) to report that he actually could go out without a hat (just gloves and warm coat). Brrrrrrrrr. I must report that we had to close all the shutters last night because it was only 70F, windy and "freezing." Isn't it funny what a person can get acclimated to!??

The Seas continue to be high but as the day is progressing the clouds are being blown away and it looks like it will be a fairly sunny (but windy) day. We have to remember that it's winter here too and if Pa Sammy were still alive he'd be sitting around in his winter coat with his hat pulled down around his ears! Me??? I feel lucky that I can still wear sandals and a sweatshirt to stay warm - oh, and just put a blanket over me at night.

See all the seaweed on the beach? I will end up raking it all into a pile, taking it off the beach and letting it sit for awhile to leech the salt out of it. And... I will probably find some really cool shells in it. I've got a pretty nice collection of shells (don't really go shelling that much lately) and my beach glass collection has really grown after the hurricane! Beachcombing at it's finest.

You should have seen me riding my bike North this morning! The wind is blowing 23 miles per hour and I was afraid if I stopped pedaling I would end up going backwards. Going home will be a breeze. :)

Another Day in Paradise

Taken at dawn yesterday morning, it looked like we were going to be in for a stormy day! Believe it or not, the clouds went away and it was another fantastic day. "Another day in Paradise" was written about Salt Cay. The temperatures have been cool at night (low 70F) and the tradewinds have been keeping the island in the low 80F during the day. Incredible.

Personally, I love the cool, cloudy mornings... perfect for taking a bike ride around the island, coming home to make an omelet with juice and homemade bread, doing a little gardening and then biking down to connect to the internet to "take care of business." By the time I'm through with all of that, it's time to think about what to have for lunch. At least once a week I meet with another lady or two (sometimes as many as six) for an Anchovie Cheeseburger at Debbie's Coral Reef Bar and Grill. But I do enjoy my salads or leftovers at home too!

The seas have been rough to get in and do any kayaking. I was in one day - probably could have gone in a couple of other days but decided to snorkel intead. The snorkeling has been fantastic and I've been hearing great things about the diving too. Beachcombing has been great... lots of shells found down at Southwest Point. Amazingly there are now dirt roads that go to most places instead of crashing through the brush. It's nice, but just another sign of how much things are changing. Of course you can always just hike around the island and there are still a bazillion little places you can't get to any other way.

This picture was taken the day before yesterday... there have been some awesome sunsets. How great is it to sit and releax on the beach deck at the end of the day watching the waves and enjoying all the colors of nature.