Showing Off the Exuma Cays

We have talked about living aboard the boat, the different challenges that we have, including limited water, power and cell coverage when we are off the dock and into the beautiful waters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (ECLSP).  We get by on what we have purchased before leaving the U.S and by topping up on fresh food in some of the small towns.  Last year we were very lucky that our visits to the stores happened to be right after the delivery boat had been in, so there were lots of fresh fruits and vegetables available. Not so much this year.

We arrived in Staniel Cay Marina on Tuesday, a couple of days before our guests, Sue and Randy, arrived so we could get ready. Laundry, boat cleaning, fueling, filling water tanks and groceries were on the list. The delivery boat arrived Wednesday, instead of Tuesday as expected because it had apparently gotten stuck on a sandbar and needed to wait for high tide to get off. Once it was at the government dock the deck cargo of building supplies had to be unloaded before the fresh food below. The Bahamas waiting game I call it!

Sue and Randy arrived 9 am Thursday morning on Flamingo Air, a 14 seater plane that they could not even stand up in. The flight came in from Nassau, along with three other flights, all landing one after another. When they deplaned, they went to get their luggage, only to find one of their bags was on another plane that had landed right after them!

Flamingo Air

With baggage in hand, we started walking back to the boat, stopping in two of the three food stores, only to find nothing fresh on the shelf and a promise that it would be there in the afternoon.  Our plan was to leave right away and sail up to Warderick Wells in the ECLSP, and that was about a four hour sail. So, we could either wait for food, and go up the next day, or leave with the few things I had on board and make do.  I was able to get a cauliflower, some pears and a couple of yellow peppers, as well as a loaf of Bahamian coconut bread. So we decided to be on our way and as Hugh says, we never starve on the boat.

We had a beautiful sail up to Warderick Wells, and arrived mid-afternoon and picked up our assigned mooring ball. One of the best things about having Sue and Randy on board was watching their reactions to the incredible views as we motored into the mooring field. Warderick Wells north mooring field is one of our favorite places and we were very excited to share it with them.

Trekker (closest boat) at Warderick Wells

We spent three nights, hiking, snorkeling, swimming and just relaxing on the boat and watching for eagle rays and turtles to swim by the boat. One of the spotted eagle rays actually jumped out of the water right beside us! Spectacular! We also walked up to BooBoo Hill to make a new offering to Neptune. And Sue found our offering from last year, it was still there!

2019 offering to Neptune on Boo Boo Hill

Saturday nights the ECLSP host Happy Hour on the beach, and all the boats in the anchorage gather together with the staff of the ECLSP to share stories, appetizers and libations. Always a fun time to meet other cruisers (a lot with their plus 2s = guests) and compare notes!

Warderick Wells beach

Sunday we motored down to Cambridge Cay, also part of the ECLSP, and sat on a mooring ball for two nights. It’s another great spot, with amazing snorkeling, hiking  and beaches. When we arrived there was already one megayatch on one of three balls designated for large boats up to 150 feet long. As we sat and ate lunch, another one arrived, and it was great entertainment to watch it pick up the mooring ball.  Just before dusk, another one entered the anchorage and took up the third ball. This is the first time we have seen three mega yachts in one anchorage, and needless to say we felt pretty small beside them!

Trekker surrounded by mega yachts

The ECLSP host boat, who stay at Cambridge Cay, for a month to be the representative for the Park, collect fees and make sure everyone behaves, arranged another happy hour Sunday night, and everyone gathered to watch a beautiful sunset.

Cambridge Cay sunset

We had a great couple of days exploring the area, including a whole morning visiting four different snorkel spots, including one Hugh and I had never been to. The weather was amazing, and with calm winds we were able to see places you can only get to when it’s calm.

Sue and Karen

Reluctantly we brought them back to Staniel Cay for their flight back to Nassau, where they are staying with Randy’s cousin for another week. They were wonderful guests, willing to do anything we suggested, and embraced our cruiser lifestyle with no questions. They got very good at showering on the swim platform too!

And we didn’t starve!!

Karen, Sue, Randy and Hugh

We are now sitting in Black Point, starting our journey south towards George Town, where we will decide our route back north. It sounds crazy, but we are half way through!

And so the adventure continues, one day at a time!

Nassau and the Exumas

Saturday February 9 we left Nassau at 0845 bound for Highbourne Cay.  The route between Nassau and the Exumas passes over the Yellow Bank that the charts and guidebooks say have coral heads that can be less than 1.5m deep at low tide. We draw 1.7m. Leaving at 0845 was designed to get us to the Yellow Bank at high tide so that there would be more water over the coral heads. Winds were 15 – 20 knots out of the east resulting in a 3’ chop that would every once in a while find its way on deck. And then, as we were motoring into the anchorage at Highbourne Cay, protected we thought from waves, we caught a wave just right so that it literally broke over the entire boat soaking all the canvas and finding its way into the cockpit!  Where did that come from?! Poor Trekker was covered in salt when we got to Highbourne.

Shooting Star anchored in the foreground at Highbourne Cay

We stayed a couple of days in Highbourne Cay while the winds blew. Sunday we snorkeled with Ruth-Ann and Fred. Another adventure with Fred!  Monday we bid farewell to Shooting Star who were headed for the Cruisers’ Regatta in Georgetown, and Karen baked her first loaf of bread this season.

From Highbourne we headed to Hawksbill Cay, a cay we didn’t visit last year.  We arrived just behind a couple of other boats (one of which left later), anchored and marveled at the incredible crescent of  white sand ahead of us.  

Hawksbill Cay beach

We dinghied around the shoreline and then onto one of the many deserted beaches and hiked up to Russell’s Ruins, a couple of walls dating back to 1785, staring down a small snake on the way up the path. I think we won!

Russells Ruins

View from Russells Ruins

 When we returned to the dinghy we realized that we had lost one of our oars on the dinghy. Another part to be ordered!  All was calm in our anchorage until about 2:00 am when the wind shifted to the south-east and we began a wicked roll.  By 6:00 all was calm again … very odd.

From Hawksbill we motored down the bank side of the cays to Warderick Wells, one of our favorite stops last year, and were assigned the same mooring ball! There is little to no cell service in the ECLSP (Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park) but thankfully, standing by the fire hydrant at the park office one can get 1 to 2 bars of cell service, so I was able to order a replacement oar for our friends Sue & Randy to bring when they visit. We spent a couple of quiet days hanging around the park, one of which was overcast with occasional showers. We hiked up to Boo Boo Hill where cruisers leave their offerings for Neptune and found Her Diamond’s from last year but Trekker’s seemed to be buried.    

Her Diamond's 2018 Boo Boo Hill offering

Thursday dawned calm again with a forecast of more of the same.  Karen suggested moving to Hogg Cay, a narrow and quite secluded anchorage between Hogg Cay and the southeast shore of Warderick Wells.  It was a perfect time to try it out as the entrance to Hogg Cay, which is exposed to the Exuma Sound and is usually pretty rough, was as calm as we had ever seen it.  After letting the park office know that we were moving we motored down to Hogg Cay, picked up one of the two mooring balls in a couple of knots of flooding current and enjoyed yet another idyllic tropical scene! We had it all to ourselves!

Trekker in the background at Hogg Cay

We dinghied around the cay and found “stromolites” which were noted on the chart and look like little rock posts, and then went snorkeling on a reef the park calls Pieces of Eight.  The different types of coral and fish were amazing.

After a quiet night we headed down to Cambridge Cay, another favorite spot, via the Exuma Sound.  In the afternoon we headed over to a snorkeling site called the Sea Aquarium, but were disappointed to find two tour boats there dumping French fries and other food into the water to attract the fish for the tourists that didn’t appear to want to snorkel.  We did snorkel for a short time but left.  We headed over to the sunken plane but the mooring ball at the plane was occupied by yet another tour boat. We had obviously picked a bad time to go snorkeling!  On the way back to the boat we detoured to the beach on Cambridge Cay and walked across the island to the sound side to look for sea glass and sea beans, finding only one piece of sea glass, plus of course ubiquitous plastic.   Sunday we snorkeled the Rocky Dundas caves, which are caves in this little island that can only be accessed at low tide and in calm waters, and to our delight we had both! The caves contain these amazing stalactites and stalagmites, and the reef adjacent to the entrance to the cave had a huge elkhorn coral.

Rocky Dundas Cave

Elkhorn coral

We then went back to the sunken plane for a quick swim and called it a morning.

Sunken plane near Cambridge Cay

 Karen baked her second loaf of bread in the afternoon and we sat and enjoyed the soft breeze, stunning water and the wonderful island scenery.

Tuesday morning we left Cambridge Cay and had a boisterous sail (our new word for windy) over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club. We had decided to book a slip for a couple of nights to get ourselves and the boat ready for our guests. Poor Trekker was pretty crusty from all the salt water and needed a good cleaning. Laundry, water, fuel and groceries were also on the to-do list.  This marina is not our favorite, as we had quite a bad experience here last year. So it was with some trepidation that we approached the marina, especially since it was low tide and not an easy place to get into. However, all went well and we were put on an outside dock, behind several of the mega yachts that come in here, and one of two sailboats in the whole place. The first thing we did was empty the garbage and then walk over to one of the three grocery stores, only to find out that the delivery boat had not been in from Nassau for nearly two weeks and there was no fresh fruit or vegetables to be had! The rumour is that it will be in tonight and fresh food in the stores tomorrow morning. We hope so as we aare down to our last two apples!

Sue and Randy fly in tomorrow morning from Nassau and then we will leave Staniel Cay and take them up into the ECLSP for a few days and show them some of our favorite spots.

And so the adventure continues…one day at a time!

Exploring the Berrys and Nassau

On our final day at Great Harbour Cay we decided to go for a dinghy ride and explore some of the island. There is a creek not too far from the marina that goes right across the island, and the brochure from the marina said to go at high tide. So with Fred in the lead again, off we went, but before high tide, thinking that we would get there as the tide would be going up and we would be fine. We found the bay where the Shark Creek started, and headed in, only to find that is was really shallow, and we were stuck! The water was only inches deep so Hugh quickly lifted the engine up before it got too stuck in the mud. Hugh got out of the boat to push us out of the shallow, and immediately sunk up to his thigh in muck. So back in the boat, the oars came out and he slowly rowed us back into deeper water. I guess they really meant it when they said high tide.  Another “Misadventure with Fred”.

With the weather calming down, we decided to leave Great Harbour Cay Marina and take a couple of days to explore the Southern Berry Islands. They are mostly deserted and have a few protected anchorages that you can tuck into for a night, as long as the weather is right. A few other boats had the same idea, so we all left Sunday morning heading up over the top of Great Harbour Cay and past Great and Little Stirrup Cays. These two islands are owned by Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruises respectively and have little villages for the passengers to spend a day at. There were two huge cruise ships anchored there that day, which we sailed past.

The first night we decided to go to Soldier Cay, which is a little island at the top of the southern chain. We anchored off a little sandy beach with no one in sight, and went for our first chunky dunk in the Bahamas! The wind direction was not as we had hoped, so it was a little bumpy, but all in all pretty awesome!

Imagine the dock is our swim platform ... 

Soldier Cay

The next morning we decided we would move further south down the chain so that the passage to Nassau would be a little shorter. We had originally decided that the next stop would be White Cay, but we noticed that a few of the boats from the marina had gone there. So as we sailed by, we counted five masts, and kept going further to Alders Cay. Again we found a lovely little bay, with no one around. There was a house on the island around the point, but it looked like no one was there. We were very excited and pleased with ourselves that we were alone again, until we looked behind, and there was another boat coming in. Darn!  We toured around the bay in the dinghy, and since it was a privately owned island, did not go to shore. We had a lovely quiet night, and the stars were unbelievable.

Trekker anchored off Alders Cay

Nassau was our destination for the next day, so we set off fairly early and had a wonderful sail over. We came across Nassau Harbour with little trouble, including going under the two 69 foot bridges (lots of room!). 

Atlantis viewed from Nassau Harbour

We are docked in Nassau Harbour Club Marina and have been here a few days now. We have had a slight delay here because while we were getting ready to anchor the first day in the Berrys, our remote control for the anchor windlass (the thing that brings it up and down) broke. So we ordered one from Florida and had it shipped “overnight” by UPS.  However, just because it got to Nassau overnight doesn’t mean we get it overnight. Two days later, it is still sitting in customs, with a possible date of arrival of next Tuesday (its Friday today). Sigh…..

However, one of the good things was meeting up again with Blue Train, who are also in the marina, so yesterday we had an adventure day, and took a local bus into downtown, then onto another bus to Compass Point, which is quite a ways across the island. We had a wonderful lunch right beside the water, and as we were walking around the resort before leaving we realized we had been at the same restaurant with the CCDC group in 2010. Great Memories of a fun trip!

Lunch with Julie and Mike at Compass Cay

So today Hugh found a marine electronic repair shop where they fixed the old remote. So now we can leave tomorrow and have our friends, who are stopping in Nassau on their way to visit us, pick up the new one and bring it with them.

And so the adventure continues ... one day at a time.

We made it to the Bahamas … finally!

We left Kitchener on January 2^nd, and in our innocence and inexperience we thought we would be across to the Bahamas by mid-January. With all good intentions we got ready to go, only to be delayed by battery issues, and Mother Nature, both beyond our control.

We were starting to get a little worried about when we might cross once we were ready to go, and with our friends’ visit looming in the near future, slight panic set in. But, a small window of opportunity appeared, two days of pretty calm winds and waves. So, with Mike and Julie on Blue Train from Toronto, we decided to set off on Tuesday at noon to cross the treacherous Gulf Stream and the Bahamas Bank to the Berry Islands during an overnight sail. We didn’t make it to the Berrys last year, but Blue Train did and with a two day window of good weather, the thought of getting as far possible was definitely appealing.

The forecast was for good winds and swells up to 9 feet (yikes) but with an 8-10 second period between the waves. This means that although the swells are high, you really don’t feel it, as you float up and down over them. I found it was best not to look behind, as when you saw one coming it looked huge, but if you looked forward it was no big deal! Hugh exclaimed a couple of times “wow, that was a big one”! I preferred not to know! 
Follow this link to an animation of how we felt in the waves ... https://media.giphy.com/media/3mfxDl4SRFN6cfDAHr/giphy.gif

We reached the other side of the Gulf Stream about 10pm, and suddenly the waves were gone, and instead of depths in the thousands of feet, we were in 15 feet. Unfortunately is was dark, so we were unable to see the beautiful blue waters we had just entered, but were happy to have a calm sail for the rest of the night. We took two hour shifts, and during each watch looked out for other boats coming or going our way. The sunset was wonderful, and the rising moon was the coolest I have seen in a long time. When it first peeked up it was the shape of a crescent, but it looked like it was something sitting on the water. I was on watch, and at first it looked like a boat on fire, it was so red and bright. Then I realized it was the moon, and as it slowly rose up it really was a beautiful sight. We also had a great sunrise, so all in all a good passage!

Sunrise compliments of  Julie

We arrived in Great Harbour Cay Marina about 11am, tired and hungry but so excited to be in the Bahamas. The marina is tucked inside the island, and to get in you have to go through a narrow blasted channel, through a bay, then turn left and there it is.

Great Harbour Cay entrance

A great hurricane hole if ever needed! Just as we had finished getting settled on the dock we heard Shooting Star calling in to the marina. We really enjoyed the time we spent last year in the Exumas with Fred and Ruth-Ann, including when Hugh and Alyssa competed against them in the blindfolded dinghy rowing competition at the Cruisers Regatta in Georgetown!

Once we were ready, the marina called the customs officer at the airport and he drove over to check us all in. What service! After we were official, we invited Mike and Julie from Blue train over to toast our successful crossing with Champagne and OJ. I think we will make that a yearly tradition!

With a good nights sleep we were all feeling ready to explore. After lunch, we went for a bike ride with Shooting Star’s, Ruth Ann and Fred, down to the “shell beach” which was beautiful, empty, and lacking shells because we had missed low tide and the water was filling in. We will try and time it better another day.

Shell beach

We also managed to find The Beach Club along the way and rewarded ourselves with a beer on the way back! Traditions or hard to ignore!

The Beach Club

We found a local fisherman selling fish and lobster tails at the marina, so for $15 I got three nice size lobster tails for our first dinner in the Bahamas. Delicious!

Yesterday afternoon we rode bikes into town. There wasn't much there other than a couple of stores and bars that didn't look too appealing. Last evening there was “Chill and Grill” at the marina gazebo where, for $10, you get your choice of chicken, ribs or pork, with two sides, so the six of us went and had good conversation and laughs.  What a deal!

Grill and Chill at the Gazebo

We will stay here until Sunday, when the front that blew in last night dies down, and then the plan is do a couple of days exploring and anchoring in the Berry Islands, then head to Nassau for a night then down to the Exumas.

Trekker docked at Great Harbour Cay Marina

And so the adventure continues … one day at a time!