A Windy Day at Castaway Cay

During our 2017 Disney Cruise on the Disney Dream, the ship made not one but two stops at one of our favorite places, Castaway Cay, the Disney Cruise Line’s Bahamas Island. On both of those days, we had a bit of wind at times.

As you can see here, the wind is gently blowing the palm trees. Actually, you may think that looks more like the palm trees you might see in a television news report on a tropical storm. The wind really was nowhere near tropical storm strength while we were at Castaway Cay, but it did have a few gusts from time to time. Don’t worry, however, because we were never worried about the wind. And it helped to keep us from getting too hot, too, along with the fact that the clouds were usually covering the sun. It could have been much worse than it was.

One of the first things that I noticed when we arrived was that the umbrellas were folded down instead of all being open as they usually are. I am certain that this was a precaution because of the wind conditions. There would be no sense in sending the crew people out to open all of the umbrellas if the wind was just going to blow them away. Because as we have found out before, wind and beach umbrellas don’t always mix well together.

The wind did die down later on in the morning, and several of us opened up umbrellas to have some protection, either shade from the sun when it was out or protection from the occasional raindrops that were falling. But it was not a problem then, since the wind was not as strong.

Later on in the afternoon, the crew members started folding down all of the umbrellas that were still open, unless someone was sitting underneath one of the umbrellas. Once again, I am sure that this was to protect the umbrellas from the wind. And I know from our previous visits that it is also their standard procedure every afternoon, so that the umbrellas are folded down until the next ship arrives, whenever that might be.

By the way, here is a reminder: Even though it looks like the title of this post should rhyme, remember that “Cay” is pronounced “kee.” So a rhyming title would be A Windy Key on Castaway Cay, but that doesn’t make any sense at all, does it? If you check the dictionary for “cay,” its meaning is “a small, low island.” And its pronunciation is indeed listed as “kee.” So that isn’t just a trick the crew members play on unsuspecting passengers after all.

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord God Almighty is his name. - Amos 4:13

About the Photos

This collection of photos incorporates several of the new things I have been playing around with lately, such as variations of the sunlight techniques mentioned in the Nassau Public Library post. It is fun to keep learning new things and put them into practice. And when you do so, you often learn even more new things that you can use later on, too.

Here is a before-and-after view of the first photo from this post, showing the differences between the original cloudy photo and the processed “sunny” version:

Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: June 8, 2017
Location: Castaway Cay, Bahamas