Back to the States via a new inlet!

When we left Green Turtle Cay to head to Great Sale, we thought we had a window to cross in a few days. It closed en route. Little did we know, this would be a frustrating pattern our entire trip north. We were only carrying 33 gallons of diesel and we had to motor the entire way to Great Sale Cay, but we were hoping the next window would have enough wind to get us to Jacksonville or Cumberland Island. Alas, it was not to be.

With our weather window closed, we waited for a few days at Great Sale with more boats than we had ever seen there. Obviously the weather was clogging travel plans for everyone. Great Sale Cay has virtually no internet, so we were VERY happy we had installed the SSB the previous summer so we could get weather forecasts from Chris Parker. Those of us with SSB gave the weather forecasts on the VHF to the boats without SSB or Starlink.

After the blow passed at Great Sale, a short window opened up to cross back to the U.S. Yay for a window! Boo for not having any wind. If we wanted wind, we were going to have to wait for another week and even then there was no guarantee the forecast would hold. Time to regroup.

We knew we didn’t have enough diesel to make it to Jacksonville, but we were hoping that if we could get a bit of wind we could make it to St. Augustine. Our friends on SV Minx and SV Purrfect were heading there, but with bigger boats they carry much more fuel. We said we’d hopefully meet them there, but we were going to have to see how the weather panned out.

Before we left we had routes set for Fort Pierce, Port Canaveral, New Smyrna, and St. Augustine. Where would we end up? Even we didn’t know.

Our Pelagic autopilot was on the fritz so this was going to be a hand-steering motorfest. Not our idea of a great time, but you do what you have to do. Raising the anchor around 1:00 a.m., we waved goodbye to the Bahamas until next season.

Getting ready to leave the Bahama Banks and head out into the Gulf Stream.

Big Red performed like a champ and we motored along, adding diesel from the jerry jugs as the hours went by.

I never get tired of how blue the ocean is when you get into deep water.

We quickly crossed Fort Pierce off the list and hoped we could make New Smyrna or St. Augustine. But by sunset that night we knew we couldn’t risk it with the fuel we had left. The little wind we had was in the wrong direction, so Port Canaveral it would be! This was going to be a new one for us.

Sunset with a cruise ship in the distance. You can tell how little wind there is by the smooth water.

Around 2:00 a.m. I got up for my shift, and as I grabbed my iPhone and AirPods (I listen to podcasts with one ear bud to pass the time), I noticed that the quarterberth that they were lying on felt warm. I lifted the lid off the battery compartment, and that was REALLY warm. It also smelled a bit odd. Uh-oh. I mentioned it to Jeff who said it was probably heat from the engine. I VERY skeptically agreed and we kept motoring along.

Normally we try not to enter new inlets or anchorages at night, but we were going to be at Port Canaveral about an hour before sunrise. We weren’t too concerned, however, because it’s a major port for cruise ships. We knew it would be lit up like an airport runway and at least equally wide.

Going through Port Canaveral ended up being easy-peasy, and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. We were accompanied by manatees and dolphins as we went through the lock, enjoyed a pretty ride through the canal out to the Indian River Lagoon, and stopped to get much needed diesel at Titusville Marina.

Jeff keeping Pegu Club away from the lock wall.

We pushed on to our regular anchorage on Callalisa Creek near New Smyrna and finally, 205 nautical miles later, we gladly turned off the engine and let go of the steering wheel. As for the heat in the battery compartment? That’s a story for the next blog.

A new stop – Tahiti Beach

After a solid night’s sleep, it was time to sail up to a new spot for us in the Abacos: Tahiti Beach. For some reason we had never stopped there before, although we had read it was lovely. Even better, we learned the Thirsty Cuda was there most days serving up drinks and food. Figuring better late than never, we decided this was the trip to check it out. It’s safe to say we won’t skip it again.

We had a nice sail from Lynard Cay to Tahiti Beach with our friends from Minx accompanying us part of the way. Tanya even got this great video of Pegu Club under sail:

A beautiful, relaxing sail to Tahiti Beach.

Upon arriving at the anchorage, we knew this was a spot we’d be happy to stay for several days. The beach was beautiful, the water was warm, and it was fun getting food from the Thirsty Cuda. We only bought drinks once when we realized how weak they are, preferring to bring our own after that, but the food was good.

Tahiti Beach is gorgeous, and the water temperature was lovely.

At one point there were several boats that participate in the daily Cruiseheimers SSB net all in the same anchorage, so everyone got together one afternoon to hang out in the water and chat in person. This is our first season with a single side band radio, so it was nice to finally meet the voices we’d been hearing for several months!

Cruiseheimers gathering. We all kept moving the dinghies back as the tide receded.

We ended up spending three relaxing days at Tahiti Beach. All good things must eventually come to an end, however. A lengthy weather system was heading our way, so we reluctantly raised the anchor and headed back to Green Turtle where we had made a reservation at Donny’s for a week on a mooring.

As we approached, we joked about how it would be nice to spend a week in a slip for the mooring rate like we did at the beginning of the season. Wouldn’t you know? That’s exactly what happened. As we approached we called Donny on the VHF, and he said he didn’t want to move boats around so how about if we stay in a slip instead. Ok – if you insist. LOL!

The wind blew for a week, but we didn’t feel anything in Donny’s snug spot. We went back to Island Greens produce for some great fresh veggies, and we walked down to the local beach which had a cute series of signs to let you know you were on the right path:

We had breakfast at the liquor store (yes, the liquor store serves a yummy breakfast) and watched the activities when the mail boat came in:

The local grade school was holding a fundraiser with food vendors and bands, so we went to that and had some excellent conch salad.

We were in Green Turtle for my birthday and we wanted to go to a specific restaurant. Unfortunately their credit card machine was down and we didn’t have enough cash (there aren’t any ATM’s on Green Turtle), so we improvised and went to Sundowners Restaurant for the first time. The drinks were good, the musician was good, and we had pizza for the first time in months so it was a very happy birthday indeed!

The only thing putting a damper on our lengthy stay in Green Turtle was the knowledge that we needed to get back to Connecticut, and we were already departing later than planned because of weather. We were going to have to put the hammer down.

Finally the weather cleared, and we had a possible window to head back to the States. Waving goodbye to Donny’s until next season, we cast off the dock lines and headed towards our jumping-off point, Great Sale Cay.

Respect the water – always.

The currents in the Exumas are VERY strong near the cuts. The tides either bring the ocean onto the Banks or it sucks the Banks water back out into the ocean.

Shortly after our arrival during our first season, we read a Facebook post reminding everyone to always tie a long line onto the boat and let it drop down onto the water. That way you can jump in while holding the line to gauge the current. Apparently the poster’s wife had jumped in without a line and, within seconds, she was swept several hundred yards behind their boat. She was o.k., but it was a good lesson for newbies like us who had no idea.

We always used a line after we read that post, and it came in handy a few years ago when we were in Pipe Creek. I jumped in, the current immediately swept me behind the boat, and I basically crab walked with my feet against the hull to get back to the ladder. After that we started taking note of how strong the current was by the position of the rope when we put it in the water. But despite knowing better, it can still catch you unaware if you let your guard down, as I discovered when we made a return visit to Cambridge Cay.

In our previous visit to Warderick Wells, we went snorkeling near the cut at slack tide so we could see the drop off to the ocean. We had specifically waited for slack tide, but knew we had wiggle room because once slack was over the current would start pushing us in again (away from the ocean and onto the Banks.)

Once the current started to increase, we moved over to the snorkel area by the Ranger Station. We were starting to tie our dinghy up to the snorkeling mooring ball when two newbie cruisers called out to us. They had been snorkeling when the current picked up, sweeping them away from their dinghy. Try as she might, the wife was unable to swim back to their dinghy (the husband was struggling, but making progress).

We motored over to her and gave her a ride back, and the husband made it to the mooring while we were bringing his wife back. It was a good reminder to be aware of the currents and respect the water – a reminder I would forget a few weeks later – and we decided to snorkel over by Emerald instead where the currents weren’t as strong!

So, back to our trip north. After we left Staniel Cay, we motored over to Cambridge Cay for a return visit. We wanted to grab a mooring ball so Jeff could do some work on the windlass. We had hoped to get one more season out of our chain, but it had become apparent that was a bad decision. The chain was skipping on the gypsy and jamming, basically making us the entertainment of the anchorage every time we tried to raise the anchor. Jeff hoped he could improve the situation by doing his annual windlass maintenance early, but no luck. We were going to have to suck it up until we could buy more chain when we arrived back in Connecticut.

No wind meant we had crystal clear visibility at our mooring.

With that failed attempt out of the way, it was time to have fun! We ordered an Olympus Tough camera a few months prior and had it delivered to Lyn and Ken. They brought it with them when they came to visit, so now we could take underwater pictures!

The first time we used the camera, we discovered two things: (1) taking pictures of fish while snorkeling is harder than it looks; and (2) until I get progressive lenses for my snorkel mask, Jeff will be the designated picture taker. I can’t hold the camera out far enough to actually see what is on the screen, so I was basically randomly pushing the button and hoping that I was lucky enough to capture something!

There are several areas to snorkel near Cambridge, and we wanted to return to a few favorites. We took the dinghy over to Rocky Dundas and jumped in without looking, then immediately jumped out as quickly as we could when we found ourselves surrounded by little brown dots. A Facebook inquiry told us that they were thimble jellyfish. Luckily we were wearing wetsuits, and we had jumped out of the water so quickly that we didn’t get stung!

Thimble jellyfish courtesy of Google Images.

Thwarted at Rocky Dundas, we decided to go snorkeling on the other side of Cambridge – a new snorkeling spot for us. It was around slack current and the snorkeling was getting better as we went closer to the cut. After about an hour Jeff said he wanted to head back, and I said I just wanted to quickly see what it was like at the cut. Jeff waited while I started heading out, and after around ten seconds I could feel a change in the water. I was moving MUCH faster, and in the wrong direction – out to the ocean.

I poked my head up and Jeff was calling my name, and I made eye contact so he knew I was aware of what was going on. My heart rate skyrocketed as the adrenaline hit, but I decided to treat it like a rip current. I swam across the current towards the cay (hoping the current would be weaker closer to the rocks) vs. just swimming straight back, and also tried to settle down my heart rate (which was easier said than done.)

Obviously everything worked out fine, but it was scary for both of us. Candidly, we were both shaken for awhile. Despite having rescued the couple a few weeks previously, I had completely forgotten about being aware of what the current was doing. Big lesson learned, and one I’m sure neither one of us will forget again!

Well hello there, Mr. Ray! I see you hiding in the sand.

That experience was definitely the end of snorkeling for the day. A few days later we left Cambridge and went up to Shroud Cay, another favorite spot. We relaxed and I did some snorkeling (I had finally shaken off my previous misadventure), but the wind direction meant the visibility wasn’t as good for pictures. It’s a great place to snorkel from the boat though, and the current isn’t a factor, so we’ll certainly try again next season.

Ultimately we spent more time in the Exumas this season than any of our previous trips, and we explored several new spots. It was a fantastic stay, but with a great wind forecast for sailing it was time to say goodbye to the Exumas and head over to Eleuthera.

Black Point and mega yachts.

One of the things we were very much looking forward to during this season’s trip to the Bahamas was a visit from my best friend Lyn and her husband Ken. Pegu Club is too small for overnight visitors, but Lyn and Ken had decided to rent a cottage at Black Point for ten days. The plan was for us to anchor at Black Point and take them on day trips, but sadly Mother Nature had other plans. We had to move the boat to our hidey-hole a few times and the day trips didn’t work out because of too much wind, but we still had a wonderful time hanging out, sharing meals, and relaxing together.

We took walks around the cay:

This was a 5 minute walk from their rental.

I don’t know if this floating BBQ is still in business, but I love the idea!

We watched a relay race for field day at the local school (in true Bahamian style, it took around 20 minutes to get organized for a 45-second race):

And we played many games of Rummikub in their rental, which had an amazing view of the shallows on Black Point:

While Lyn and Ken were there, the Seven Seas Cruising Association was having their GAM at Black Point, sponsored by Lorraine’s Cafe, so they were even able to get a flavor of the cruising community.

I felt bad that the weather didn’t cooperate, but Lyn said it was exactly the kind of laid-back vacation she needed. And there was the added bonus of getting to spend so much time together!

After they departed, our trip north officially began with one last stop in Staniel Cay for the season. By now it was late March and spring break was in full-swing with mega yachts galore anchored outside of Staniel. It’s always fun to see them, and to know that we get the same views from Pegu Club (if not the same amenities).

Why take a dinghy to get to Staniel when you can use a helicopter instead?

Or you can use a dinghy and a helicopter – your choice.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ yacht, Bravo Eugenia, made an appearance. I didn’t get a picture so this one from Google will have to do. Research revealed that Bravo Eugenia travels far and wide – lucky captain!

The top reminded us of the Wicked Witch of the West. At 282 feet, it used to be owned by Steven Spielberg. Maybe he also thought it looked like the Wicked Witch of the West!

Staniel is a small cay, but if seems like there is always something new to see, like Herbie the Golf Cart:

We also saw the residents working on one of the sailboats that are used for the local regattas. The wooden mast was SO tall compared to the boat that it goes with. The racers carry a huge amount of sail area on the small boats.

A coin at the base of the mast is supposed to bring good luck.

I couldn’t even get the entire mast in the picture because I was thwarted by the placement of the boat. As you can see, it’s VERY tall!

Ultimately, the calendar was insisting that we leave, so after getting more groceries we reluctantly waved goodbye to Staniel for the season. Using Staniel as our base in the Exumas worked out splendidly, especially once we bought the bigger outboard. It’s centrally located along the cays, we can get (expensive) groceries when we need them, and our hidey hole for cold fronts is less than an hour away. There is no doubt that from now on, Staniel will be our home base when we are in the Exumas.

A bucket list spot for us – Warderick Wells.

We have been meaning to go to Warderick Wells in the Exumas Land and Sea Park since we started going to the Bahamas, but for some reason it had never happened. We had anchored near it, but we had never stayed in the mooring field which has some of the most iconic scenery in the Exumas.

I think part of the reason we hadn’t stopped there was because it’s the only mooring field in the Bahamas where you need to call ahead, but no sooner than the day before you want to arrive. If there isn’t availability, then your name goes on a list and you listen to the VHF at 9:00 a.m. the next day to see if you have a spot. So you need to be able to plan a bit, and you need to be within VHF range to see if there’s room. Both require a bit more structure than we prefer when we’re in the Bahamas. But we decided to go for it this time, and after our stay I can say that we won’t hesitate to jump through the minor hoops again.

Warderick Wells has great snorkeling and hiking, and we took full advantage during our five night stay.

The north mooring field is stunning, with a strip of deep water in a semi-circle, surrounded by shallows and sand.

One of the things we wanted to do was hike up to the top of Boo Boo Hill. Boo Boo Hill got its name because it is supposedly haunted from a ship that vanished on a nearby reef during a storm. It is a relatively easy hike – when you go the right way that is.

We thought the trailhead was near the park office so we ended up taking the VERY long scenic route around the Cay until we finally found the hill. Once we arrived at the top, we saw where we SHOULD have gone up, so it was a faster trip back. It was very hot and we were seriously rationing water by the time we got up the hill, but we’ll know better for next time!

Despite the longer route, the scenery was gorgeous along the way.

Normally you don’t need to cross this creek to get to Boo Boo Hill but when you take the long way…

Boo Boo Hill not being mentioned on this sign should have been a tip off.

And once we got to the top of the hill, we could see why it was such a popular hike. The views were stunning.

Exuma Sound on the right, the Banks side on the right.

One of the traditions of Boo Boo Hill is to leave a piece of wood with your boat name (or whatever else you want) on it. Some people plan well ahead and make elaborate decorations. We scrounged up a piece of driftwood along the way and brought a marker with us!

It was fun checking out the signs and seeing which boats we recognized.

When we weren’t hiking or snorkeling, we got together for sundowners a few times with fellow cruiser friends and simply relaxed and enjoyed the view. We even saw a fever of spotted eagle rays – at least 8-10 of them – swim by each evening around the same time. Sadly no pictures this time, but hopefully next time. And there will definitely be a next time. Warderick Wells was absolutely worth it. We won’t miss it again.

Hands down my favorite Cay in the Bahamas – so far.

One of the things we wanted to do this season was to spend some time in the Bahamas Land and Sea Park. We had spent a few days at Shroud in the past, and anchored once by Warderick Wells for one night, but we had never spent any extended time exploring the hiking trails and snorkeling.

The Land and Sea Park is a series of protected areas within the Bahamas, and it’s strictly a no-take zone. No fishing, no shelling, etc. If you see it there, leave it there. We had heard the snorkeling is outstanding and the coral was in very good shape, so we were excited to check it out. You do have to pay .50/foot to anchor or $30/night for a mooring ball (for our size boat), but it’s a reasonable price to support an NGO that is doing very good work.

We spent a few more days in Staniel after getting our outboard, and of course it’s impossible not to take pictures of a such a pretty place:

One of the dinghy landing areas at Staniel Cay.

Staniel Cay has some of the most amazing blues in the Exumas.

Staniel Cay Yacht Club rents mooring balls now, but you choose them yourself so you need to know if there is sufficient depth for your boat at that particular ball. This guy learned a good lesson about the tides.

But eventually the weather was cooperating so we were off to our first ever visit to Cambridge Cay. We spent four nights there, and by the time we left, I knew it was my favorite non-settlement cay in the Bahamas (at least of those we’ve seen). I could have spent all winter there.

The water was so still when we raised the anchor to head to Cambridge that we could see the marks in the sand from our chain as the boat swung back and forth. By the way, this is 8 feet deep.

No wind for sailing on our way to Cambridge, but it’s hard to complain when you can see the bottom so clearly at 15 feet of depth.

The water color – it NEVER gets to be ho-hum!

Cambridge has a few hiking trails that we thoroughly explored. The longer one is the Ridge Trail which offered up wonderful views. Jeff and I didn’t go all the way to the end – it was hot and we had only brought one water bottle each – but that just gave us a good reason to go back again next winter.

There typically isn’t much elevation in the Exumas, so it’s a nice treat to find a trail that gives you a view from above. The anchorage and mooring balls are on the top right.

With the exception of the water color, some of the trail reminded me of the scenery when we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway last winter. I feel very fortunate to be able to travel like we have. Memories to last a lifetime, for certain!

I was teasing Jeff by singing “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music as we walked up the trail. Now that song goes through my head every time I see this picture.

The trail to Honeymoon Beach was shorter and flat, but it led to a gorgeous beach that we had virtually to ourselves. The only other couple there had arrived on a small power boat and were on the opposite end.

Our dinghy on the beach that leads to the Honeymoon trail.

You can’t miss the beginning of the trail!

We also took full advantage of our bigger outboard and went to Rocky Dundas in the dinghy for some snorkeling. Our friends Lyn and Ken will be bringing our Olympus Tough camera when they arrive (we had it delivered to their house), so soon I’ll be able to add underwater pictures to the mix. I sure wish I had it when we were snorkeling the Rocky Dundas. There were TONS of fish everywhere and they were following us. I suspect people feed them.

An added bonus was seeing our friends Marc and Nancy on Mer du Jour, who joined us in the mooring field on our second day. We had a great time playing Euchre each night and laughing a ton. Nancy and I even went on a girls hike on the Ridge Trail.

It’s always so much fun when Nancy and I get together!

Since Mer du Jour has a much larger outboard than we do, we all went snorkeling together at a spot called the Aquarium where we saw plenty of fish and a turtle. We also snorkeled the sunken plane where there were a ton of fish and a nurse shark sleeping on the bottom. The current was so strong though that we had to keep kicking our fins just to stay in place. Marc stayed in the dinghy to keep an eye on all of us.

Finally, although we didn’t get a chance to get together for sundowners with them, we were also able to see and chat with our friends Chuck and Helene on Aurora. Their trip to the Bahamas was a bit shorter so our paths never did cross again for those sundowners, but hopefully we’ll see them again this summer. In the meantime, Chuck snapped this fantastic shot of Jeff and I are in our dinghy as the sun went down one evening. Thanks again, Chuck!

Next up: Warderick Wells.

What a FANTASTIC sail!

We have traveled between the Abacos and Eleuthera many times now (we skipped the return trip during Covid because we went straight from the Exumas to Florida). Invariably it turns into a motor fest. Either there are days of too much wind so we grab the first non-windy day we get, or there is nice wind but it’s a tad too on the nose to sail, or it’s behind us and it isn’t strong enough for us to cover the 50 miles before it gets dark.

With our Pelagic autopilot on the fritz, I was NOT looking forward to hand-steering this time. The forecast showed, once again, too much wind on Friday and not enough wind on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, before going back to too much wind. So as of late afternoon on Thursday, we had resigned ourselves to motoring on Saturday.

But wait! Now the forecast was looking much better for Friday! 10-12 knots, gusts to 17 knots, just behind the beam, seas of 3-4 feet. That sounded great, and all of the forecast models agreed. So with a quick change of plans, we were heading out on Friday to hopefully sail across for the first time.

Not so fast. We motored from Spanish Wells to past Egg Island, and we were only seeing around 5 knots of wind. What the hell?? We’re supposed to have wind! But another 45 minutes later the wind freshened. And freshened. And freshened some more.

Our 10-12 knots just behind the beam ended up being primarily 15-18 knots at 60 degrees off the nose. The 3–4 feet of seas ended up being 4-6 feet plus. This was definitely a sporty sail in our book! But Bob the Monitor windvane was helming like a champ. All we had to do was sit back and hang on.

With the benefit of a slight current in our favor, Pegu Club was flying at over 6 knots most of the day. We even passed a catamaran that was sailing. It is unheard of for us to pass a larger sailboat. Granted, catamarans don’t sail well at that angle, but I’ll still count it as a win.

After we passed the catamaran we had a humorous/bizarre moment with them. We were at least 300 feet away when we passed them, and when I looked back they had moved over to our other side and were gesticulating at us.

We hopped on the radio and the woman complained that we were too close when we passed them (again, it was at least 300 feet.) Because we were so far away, I was completely perplexed and blurted out the first thing that came into my head, “We’re from New England.” I’m sure that statement made no sense to her, but in my mind I was thinking, “Lady, that was nothing. You should see how close people pass in southern New England.” She responded with, “Stay 100 yards away!” Ohhhh-kay. Later we were laughing about it with our friends on Minx, and Tanya said, “Tell me you’re new to boating without saying you’re new to boating.” Exactly!

Anyway, back to our sail. A few waves hit Pegu broadside, spraying us with salt water where the weather cloths ended, but as Jeff is fond of saying, “It’s a water sport.” We were so grateful that our friends on SV Lone Star had suggested that we make weather cloths before we left this fall! We would have been SUBSTANTIALLY wetter without them, and we’re going to extend them a bit more this summer.

As we approached Little Harbor cut, the thought crossed my mind that I wanted to sail through the cut. The wind angle was right and we had enough wind, but I knew Jeff wouldn’t go for it so I didn’t mention it. We started the engine, and after 30 seconds it cut out. We started it again. Same thing. Looks like we were going to sail through after all! I did admit to Jeff later that a little part of me thought, “Yay!” when the engine stalled. It’s amazing how much more confidence I have vs. when we cut the dock lines in 2018.

We called the catamaran that we had passed earlier on the VHF to let them know we had to sail in, and they said they’d give us plenty of space (at least 100 yards, I’m sure. 🙄) We sailed in without any issues, tacked our way to the anchorage with everyone who had heard us on the VHF watching the show, and dropped the anchor under sail for the second time in our lives.

What a tremendous day!! It was the best 50+ nm sail we’d had in a VERY long time.

As for the engine? It was no big deal. We foolishly hadn’t topped off our fuel tank before we left that morning. Even though we had about 1/2 a tank, the fuel-pickup is on the high side and we were heeling enough that Big Red was sucking in air. After we anchored we added another jerry jug of diesel to the tank, and the engine started just like it was supposed to. Lesson learned.

And just like that, we were back in the Abacos.

A first-time visit to Prime Cay.

One of the many anchorages we’ve been meaning to check out in the past is Prime Cay. We didn’t even know about it our first year, but on our second trip we read about an anchorage that is only accessible for our draft on a rising tide. Once in, you are rewarded with very nice protection, several beaches, an abundance of marine life, and some hiking. For various reasons we weren’t able to explore Prime on our second or third trip. This trip, the fourth time was going to be the charm.

We had a lovely, lazy sail from Staniel to Rudder Cut Cay where we anchored for the night. Once again, there were 14 boats anchored by the Active Captain anchorage, so we went around the corner and had the anchorage to ourselves. Go figure.

The next day we did some calculations to figure out when we could leave for Prime Cay, knowing that we were going to be navigating through some skinny water. We added a buffer but should have added more, because the trip was a bit of a pucker-fest. We didn’t find the bottom, but there were more than a few occasions where we had less than a foot under the keel. No big deal under calm conditions, but with a steady 20 knots of wind it was choppy so it was stressful. However, the color of the water was stunning, and after a tense few hours we successfully slid into the anchorage.

The shade of blue in the deeper water on our way to Prime was gorgeous…

And the varying shades of blue were also jaw dropping. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

The arrow shows the route we took to sneak into the anchorage. The depths are in meters on the chart, and we tend to stay away from anything under 1.5 at low tide just to be safe. But mid-tide gave us enough extra depth to get in and out without any issues, and the anchorage itself is deeper than charted.

We ended up staying for five nights, sometimes having the anchorage to ourselves, but never sharing it with more than one other boat. We saw plenty of turtles and rays from the cockpit, and we enjoyed snorkeling and checking out a different beach for every day we stayed – beaches we had all to ourselves.

At low tide the area next to the anchorage drained of virtually all water, creating an extremely large sand flat. We enjoyed exploring one day, looking at the small fish waiting in pockets of water for the tide to return, and doing a bit of hiking.

The water was as warm as a bathtub in the shallows.

There was this random wall made out of coral rock on the cay. We didn’t see any signs of a former house.

After a very enjoyable stay, it was time to tear ourselves away from Prime and head back up towards Staniel. Once again we had a very nice sail – cruising the Bahamas is fantastic if you like sailing the vast majority of the time!

Wing and wing for a bit while we navigated around the shallows near Big Farmers Cay.

After dropping the anchor south of Staniel to try a new spot for one night, it was time to go back to our anchorage at Big Majors. We had an outboard being delivered on the mailboat!

White Point near Jack’s Bay on Great Guana Cay. Disappointing snorkeling, but very scenic.

After four trips, we’ve found our Exumas winter base.

The Exumas offer beautiful cruising grounds, but they aren’t perfect. Protection from westerly winds when winter fronts arrive is hard to come by. More than a few cruisers base themselves in Georgetown or Red Shanks and do what’s known as the “Georgetown shuffle”, moving as necessary depending on the wind direction. But long-time readers of this blog know that we have spent enough time in Georgetown and Red Shanks to realize that those spots are not for us.

I forgot to put this picture in my last post – the big boat towing the little boats (they remind us of ducklings) – is always so cute to see.

In the past we’ve kicked around the idea of basing ourselves out of Staniel Cay, but always found ourselves being sucked down to Georgetown (“Maybe this time it will be better!”) and getting pinned down there. This time, my best friend and her husband were going to be vacationing in an Airbnb in Black Point in mid-March, so we decided to avoid going farther south than Lee Stocking until after they leave. And that’s how we discovered that Staniel Cay is definitely the winter base for us.

But before we arrived in Staniel for the first visit of the season, we upped anchor on our second morning in the Exumas and spent several lovely days at Shroud Cay, even sitting out a mild cold front.

We would have stayed longer at Shroud but the trash situation was getting critical, and we needed to replenish the snacks and the booze which was even more critical. So off we went on a beautiful sail to Staniel.

Staniel Cay is a regular stop for us, and typically we anchor right by the settlement. But since we were last here the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (i.e. marina) has installed moorings along our preferred anchor site, so we decided to round the bend and try Big Majors Spot – a place we had previously stayed for one night.

This nurse shark came by to say hello as soon as we dropped the anchor at Staniel.

Being sure to anchor far away from Pig Beach (too many go-fast power boats with tourists who want to swim with the pigs), we tucked ourselves close to land and were VERY well protected from the strong easterly winds. Yes, there were more boats than we prefer and it was a wet dingy ride into town (more on that in another post), but it was comfortable and had a good “feel.”

Having several boats in the anchorage isn’t as bad when you’re in the front row.

Between the number of boats in Staniel and nearby Black Point, I was surprised that there wasn’t a cruiser’s net. So I took the script that I had from Vero Beach and started one up, which was a lot of fun.

The first morning I was concerned I’d be like the person who invites everyone to a party and no one shows up, but to my surprise there was good participation. Encouraged, I kept it up for the next 8 days, including while we were tucked away in Rat Cay for a cold front. I had a lot of fun with it, and by doing it we met several cruisers.

It was when we moved to Rat Cay for the cold front that we were convinced that Staniel would be our winter base in the Exumas. While Rat isn’t the PERFECT spot for a cold front, it’s good enough. Great holding, and it’s a short hop from Staniel.

A beautiful view from our anchorage in Rat Cay.

And we only had to share it with one other boat.

While we waited for the weather to improve, we relaxed, baked bread, and even had a visit from Joyce and Matt who we met at Shenny back in 2017 when they bought their first cruising boat. We hadn’t seen them since New Year’s Eve in Miami, right before Covid hit, so it was wonderful to catch up.

English muffin bread has become a breakfast staple on Pegu Club.

But once the front passed it was time to go explore. I couldn’t get any volunteers to take over the net, so it went silent until we planned to return. But we were definitely planning to return – we had to pick up our new outboard that was going to be delivered on the mailboat! More on that in the next post.

Scooting down to the Exumas.

Our strategy for this trip was to get down to the Exumas as quickly as possible. Typically the water is a bit warmer and the air temperatures are a bit higher than in the Abacos, and ideally the cold fronts don’t make their way that far south quite as often. Of course as we’ve seen, that doesn’t always pan out, but we were willing to give it a try again.

Towards that end, we had a great sail from Green Turtle to Marsh Harbor where we stocked up at Maxwell’s and picked up an Aliv card so we could finally have reliable internet again (yay!). We spent a few days there waiting out a cold front, meeting with cruiser friends and making new ones, before we had another fantastic sail down to Lynard Cay.

Our anchorage at Lynard. Several hundred yards to our starboard were at least 15 other boats, but we had this area all to ourselves. I just don’t understand the herd mentality when it comes to anchoring.

We spent one night at Lynard and then motorsailed across to Royal Island in Eleuthera where we connected with cruiser friends we had made in Marsh Harbor. Two nights later, we were up with the sun to the Exumas!

Our anchor chain in about 8 feet of water at Royal Island.

Typically we go down Eleuthera and leave for the Exumas from Rock Sound. We’ve shied away from dropping down from Royal Island because the chart makes it look like you have to dodge a minefield of coral heads. After talking to other cruisers though, we decided to go for it.

The + marks are deeper coral heads. The + marks with circles are shallower ones. No way were we taking any route other than the one with the green arrow. People that take the other two lines are braver than we are.

The lines on the Explorer charts are usually bang-on for avoiding obstacles, but in this case we did find ourselves having to dodge the occasional coral head that was right on the line. But, they were easily seen with a lookout on the bow (they look like a black puddle of oil on the water).

Courtesy of Google Images, a coral head on the bank heading to the Exumas.

Starting to see that beautiful Exuma blue water!

It was a bit stressful, and we wouldn’t take the route again in anything but settled weather and sunny skies, but we WOULD do it again. That’s because before we knew it, we had the anchor down in Highborne Cay and we were basking in that beautiful, gin-clear Exuma blue water!