We do not associate the idea of antiquity with the ocean, nor wonder how it looked a thousand years ago, as we do of the land, for it was equally wild and unfathomable always.

Henry David Thoreau

We “cleared out” of Puerto Real on a Wednesday afternoon, and began the 410 nautical mile (nm) sail to “clear in” to the most remote of the Bahamian islands – Great Inagua. Being the longest passage leg since arrival in Antigua back in December, we anticipated a mixed bag – some slow upwind motoring through the Mona Passage, but then mostly 25 plus knot (nautical miles per hour) surfing downwind for the majority. A brief lighter spell allowed us to fly our colorful spinnaker. Clearing into the island of Morton Salt is another story in itself (for another post some day!)

A day and a half later we made another 110 nm downwind run to another rarely visited archipelago of the Ragged Islands. Inagua was rural, but now we’re feeling very remote and wild – actually closer to Cuba than any other larger island.

First stop: Hog Cay (pronounced like “key”) for meeting some new folks at the local “yacht club” for sundowners. This local hangout is the only structure (a basic one at that) on the island. Puerto Rico is where we first started crossing paths with “westerners”: my term for boaters working their way east from the Bahamas. Here at a far-point in Bahamian waters, most cruisers were at their easternmost point of their voyage, only to turn back soon before June and hurricane season.

Next stop: Raccoon Cay. Our own private cove and beach for four glorious days and nights. Clearest water of anywhere we’ve been in months. White powdery sand, no lights and only the sound of the birds chirping over a gentle breeze. Paradise has truly been found.

We partially awoke from that dream a few days later when fellow cruiser friends Mary, Mike and Zee anchored behind us at Flamingo Cay in the late afternoon, and we caught up over a round of sundowners. We met up via dinghy before lunch at the beach. A scorching sun was high above as we ventured forth looking for a hiking trail.

As we strolled barefoot along the white-sand waterline, we soon spotted telltale trail markers of singular flip flops and colorful plastic bottles on tree branches. Ahoy! A trail!

Time to don our own footwear, before scurrying across jagged rocks. Up and over scraggly mangrove dunes, past the blooming seven-year apple trees, we soon came across small bodies of water, some lightly tannin-colored, and others crystal clear with warm brackish water.

Some of the pools contained brightly colored shrimp, oddly but evenly spaced on the flat sediment-coated pool bottoms, perhaps just a few feet deep. These little creatures moved along slowly in the solar-heated water between the rocks.

But then came other more interesting wildlife, and a few interesting plants too!

We continued to follow the trail across to the Atlantic side of Flamingo, and found the remains of an old crashed aircraft, underwater just off the beach. Of course, scenery is no less wild and astonishing along this shoreline.

Back aboard Fayaway for a late lunch and time for a swim to cool off.

The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

Julia Cameron

Being the place we saw the most wildlife in (and out of) the water, Flamingo Cay was our last stop in the beautiful Raggeds. Next: We push north and a bit further west to Thompson Bay, Long Island.