Having fun near Oyster Cay was good, but the ‘Mare likes to move, so off we go on the next voyage. Ah, well, actually, we just idled south about 7.5 nautical miles, taking 90 minutes to get there…. to good ol’ Normans Cay. It was a pleasant cruise, not in the least a “three-hour tour.” You might remember Norman’s history, named after a pirate, but made famous by the movie “Blow” about a massive cocaine smuggling operation. For those interested, check out this writeup.
Once we got settled and had lunch, we “dinghied up” and headed north to stretch our legs, i.e., find a beach to comb, as we are always on the hunt for “treasures.” Unfortunately, this section of Normans Cay didn’t offer much in the line of sea glass or shells. It was mostly rugged stone. But there was…
A Mystery
While the fellas waited patiently on a rock (solving the problems of the world, as it were), the ladies strolled the length of what rocky shoreline they could safely access. They returned with a handful of these unknown whatchamacallits:
When we returned to the boat, we reached out to our niece for help.
Us: “What are these? Do turtles have teeth??”
Shel (after stifling a giggle, I’m sure): “They look like pieces of chiton.”
AHA! Marine Biology degree to the rescue!
Mystery solved; we bade the world good night in order to get some rest before exploring Normans Pond the next morning.
Here we go! For another long dinghy exploration. (reddish orange track)
Remember, calm on the left side, not so calm on the bottom and right of this chart. It was fun!
As you can see, Normans Cay is shaped sort of like an upside-down fishhook. Tucked in at the top is Normans Pond, only accessible by a very narrow cut of deep water. All the tan stuff is water less than 2 feet deep at low tide…
As we approached the southern anchorage on the way to the lower end of Normans, we saw a boat we thought we recognized. Got closer, and yep, it was Crossroads! We screeched the dinghies to a halt to say hello to Barry & Robin, who we last saw in Fort Pierce and Terry & Lynn had not yet met.
Barry & Robin had just arrived that morning. Cool.
After crashing Robin’s online church service and making introductions, we chatted a few and then resumed our journey to Normans Pond, which, as the chart shows, requires a trip around the southern side, which is a bouncy, splash in your face ride! (Difficult to get photos when you’re holding on.)
Once we got through the cut (sorry no photos) and into the pond, the water was much calmer.
And an absolutely beautiful shade of turquoise.
Imagine our surprise to find a mega yacht in there. We had enough adventure getting our dinghies in!
This Dutch made beauty only draws four feet and has a very brave and talented captain.
As we were gawking at the improbably anchored mega yacht, who showed up but Barry and Robin from Crossroads. They’d caught up!
And speaking of catching up, this was a fantastic opportunity for a group chat. So, we rafted together on the dinghies, enjoying the sunny morning, and jibber jabbing. Naturally, Susie wanted a group photo, but no matter how high she stretched out those long arms, from her vantage point in the center, all she captured was partial people. No way to get everyone.
It started getting a bit warm sitting there in the sun, and there was the tide to think about. We didn’t want to mistime the tide and end up stuck in Normans Pond, unless there was room for six extras on that mega yacht… So, we headed across the pond to check out the caves.
Ha! Almost got everyone on the fly: our “rollbar,” Barry & Robin in full view behind us and a partial of Terry & Lynn off to the right 
We see this every once in a while, the limestone craggy island has been split open by the sea and the caves are exposed.
After Susie threatened Todd with a paddle, we left the caves to check out a little beach that turned out to have the kind of sand where you sink to your ankles with each step. The most fun thing was the tiny mangroves trying to take hold.
Mission accomplished: Normans Pond officially checked out. Now we had to face the sporty return. Somehow, it was much smoother on the ride back. Tides and currents. Tides and currents. Sometimes they’re in your favor.
Everyone cleaned up from the adventure on Normans Pond and got back together for sundowners. What a splendid day with friends! But just wait until the next day, when someone amongst us is going to have a VERY special day!
DISCLAIMER: Unlike Robin, who is very, very good at getting her posts out daily (Kudos, Robin!), the SaltyMare crew is most often several days behind. So, trust us when we say, some good stuff is coming…
Our Travels 