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!