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One of our concerns in cruising the Exumas was the availability of fresh
water. Francesca holds 300 gallons which, given the level of conservation we are willing to live with, can last us a month to six weeks. Pretty sorry conservation compared to sailboat standards where 30 to 40 gallons seem to last them forever. Many cruisers routinely collect rain water to help replenish the tankage. But, as I have said, it rained too little to help much. Two alternatives remained; buy water at $.50 to $1.75 a gallon and/or dip it out of the wells that can be found on a few of the Cays. At this time, we had intended to stay in the Exumas for as much as 5 months, so we were always on water alert.

Shroud Cay is one of two or three places in the Exumas that boasts a fresh water well and we felt compelled to add a few gallons. Hiking a quarter mile to the well with empty five gallon cans was no trick. The well was about 15 feet in diameter and around 10 feet down to the water. After selecting an area of water without tadpoles, a bucket on a rope did the trick. Ugh, the return trip with full jugs hightened our realization that we were in fact 60 years old and the number of trips to the well was going to have to be limited. Maggie enjoyed every trip and did her very best to deviate from the path and get lost when we weren't looking. The island with riddled with small caves openings and the well was simply an entrance to the underground complex.

At this time in our cruising career, we had a supply of bottled drinking
water on board and the main water tanks were always maintained in a state of disinfection with a small amount of Chlorox (about 1/2 cup to 100 gallons). There was a side benefit to the Chlorox treatment. In the tropics, wet clothes don't dry as quickly as you would like and the penalty is mildew. But with a bit of Chlorox in the water, bath towels stay as fresh as a daisy for as long as you can stand to use the same one.

Shroud Cay was once used by the DEA (US drug cops) as an observation post to keep tabs on the activities at neigboring Normans Cay. Normans was the hub for all of the drug activities in the Bahamas. As the story goes, those folks and their associates were responsible for the Bahamas piracy that was a considerable concern for cruisers in the 60s and 70s. These days, piracy in the region, is next to nonexistant.