Dec 12 – 21
We left Nassau and headed east to the Exuma Cays. The Exuma Cays are a chain of 365 islands about 90 miles long. The wind was blowing out of the east (right on our nose) and it rained on and off. We arrived in Allan’s Cay late in the afternoon. Allan’s Cay is popular with cruisers because it is inhabited by hundreds of iguana. When we arrived, all the good anchoring spots were taken (4 other boats) so we dropped anchor in a less than ideal location where the current and the swell rocked us badly all night. It was the worst night we have ever had and got very little sleep. As usual, things look better in the morning and the coral reef which was only a short swim from the boat made for spectacular snorkeling.
Later that morning, we pulled up anchor and made our way to Highborne Key. We wanted to check out a reef that a friend of ours had showed us on the charts that had tons of nurse sharks and mega lobsters. When we took the dinghy over for a snorkel, we found that the wind was blowing onto the reef, we would be smashed to bits by the waves so we decided to pass this time.
We left Highborne Cay in the morning. There was only a foot or two of waves and 15 knots of wind which made for the perfect sail. Several times Steve and I looked at each other and said: “It doesn’t get any better than this”. We arrived in Shroud Cay in the early afternoon. Shroud Cay in an archipelago of small cays covered in mangroves divided by crystal clear blue creeks. We took a dinghy ride through the mangroves and ended up on the other side of the island where we found a small beach with bright white sand. I found some beautiful shells on the beach which I took back to the boat and made into earrings.
In the morning, Steve noticed a 3 foot long barracuda circling under our boat. We decided we didn’t want to go swimming anyways (just kidding…they usually just swim away unless you provoke them).
We left Shroud Cay and made our way to Normans Cay. There was barely any wind so we decided it was a good time to practice putting up the asymmetrical spinnaker sail that we picked up a couple weeks ago. We ordered a cool red and white pattern (how patriotic!). It looked great but there wasn’t enough wind to fly it so we put it away again and motored the rest of the way.
When we arrived in Norman’s Cay, we took the dinghy about a mile to a spot we saw on the chart that said an airplane was “awash”. Norman’s Cay used to be owned by a drug lord so we can only imagine how the plane came to crash there. It must have been there many years because there was some decent size coral on it and lots of colorful fish swimming in and out of the windows. The plane was still in good shape other than the fact that it was cracked in two which made it very convenient to look inside. While we were at the crash site, another dinghy arrived with a couple from a Canadian boat called “Adventure Bound” . We talked to Jim and Amanda for quite a while and decided to get together later for Happy Hour. (this snorkeling is thirsty work).
There were 4 boats anchored within two miles along the shore. We were all tucked in on the West side of the island because the wind was supposed to come from the East. At 4:00 in the morning, a squall blew through and the winds clocked around to the north which we were all wide open two. From this direction, there was no protection for thousands of miles so the waves whipped up in no time and it became very rough. We couldn’t pull up our anchor and move because we had visually navigated our way through the reef to get in and we had to wait until daylight to see our way out. At 6:30 when the sun was up high enough that we could see through the water to the reef, all 4 boats left like rats off a sinking ship.
We had a beautiful sail south to Warderick Wells. It is a National Land and Sea Park where all the sea life is protected. No fishing, lobstering etc. The anchorage is totally enclosed and protected from all sides which is good because it is supposed to continue to blow for a couple days. The park (consisting of 4 staff members) installed mooring balls so that no damage is done to the coral by anchors dragging.
On the beach in the park, they have reconstructed the skeleton of a 52’ sperm whale. There are lots of trails through the island which is very rocky (coral) terrain with low scrubby plants. The snorkeling here is fabulous since the sea life is protected. We stayed for two days and then moved on to Big Major.
The wind is supposed to blow over 25 knots from the east until after Christmas We had a fabulous sail in the morning to Big Major and then tucked in along the west coast. It is a great anchorage because it is protected from the North, East and South. We weren’t the only ones with this great idea. There were about 10 boats there when we arrived and another 10 arrived in the next two days. Barbara from Blossom decided this was a good reason to invite all the boats to Happy Hour on the Beach and started Kayaking from boat to boat to tell everyone. After her arms got tired paddling, she decided just to put an announcement out on the VHF radio. Most of the boats showed up and it was great to meet lots of other cruisers from all over .
Staniel Cay is the little town on the next island. It has about 70 residents, three little stores and a bar with internet services. To get into town from the anchorage, one has to go about a mile by dinghy around to the other side of the island. Steve and I set off in our dinghy on the second day to go into town and we forgot how windy it was because we had been nicely sheltered on the West Side of the Island. The wind and waves were quite big once we got around the other side and we arrived at the general store soaking wet just as it was closing for lunch. The mail boat only comes once a week with fresh produce and supplies so we wanted to get there early before it was all picked over. We grabbed a few things and headed back. This time the wind was at our backs so we arrived back at toboggan relatively dry.
Today when we came into town, we got smart. We wore our foul weather gear to keep dry.