Motoring into 18 knots when the engine dies. Great.

We do seem to be in the midst of a streak of adventure. Hopefully it’s almost over and I can go back to more boring posts (we swam, we snorkeled, repeat) complete with pretty pictures.

The cold front had finally passed and we decided it was time to get out of Norman’s Cay and move to one of our favorite anchorages last year, Pipe Cay. We were down to slightly over a half tank of diesel and our reserve tank of water, so it was time to make tracks down to Staniel Cay where we could replenish both. The plan was to stay in Pipe Cay for a few days, wait out a mild front with westerly winds, move to Staniel, and then backtrack north and spend some time in the Land and Sea Park. Well you know what they say about plans.

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An experiment we won’t repeat.

Last year in the Bahamas we loved the Abacos for the settlements and the Exumas for the water. Our plan when we left in May was to repeat the trip, beginning with the Abacos and continuing to the Exumas via Eleuthera and perhaps the Berry Islands. Then Dorian happened.

After debating whether to go to the Bahamas at all, we decided this time we would leave from Miami and get to the Exumas via Bimini. While the Abacos are making progress recovering, we weren’t sure we were quite self-sufficient enough vis a vis water capacity if we were to be pinned there for awhile due to weather. It seemed like a good decision at the time, but by the time we landed in West Bay on New Providence we agreed any future trips to the Bahamas from the U.S. will be via the Abacos.

When we crossed the Gulf Stream we knew we would be in Bimini for a week based on the weather forecast. While it was a great relief to finally have the Gulf Stream crossing out of the way, and while it was wonderful to see that beautiful water again (I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I laid eyes on it), we did not feel the love for Bimini.

All of the marinas except one are in North Bimini, but Bimini Sands Marina in South Bimini offered the best protection from the forecasted 25-30 knot winds so it was a no brainer to stay there. The fact that they were offering a special of $150/week made it even better. I wasn’t sure if we would regret it given how quiet South Bimini is, but it actually ended up being the best part of our stay.

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So what’s the plan for winter?

When we first heard that Dorian had struck the Bahamas we were on our passage down the Jersey coast. My Uncle Ken messaged me, but we didn’t have great internet service at the time so we weren’t fully aware of the magnitude of what was happening. We were shocked, and I was in tears, when we saw the pictures the next day. Even though we had only spent about six weeks in the Abacos last winter, we were enchanted by its beauty and friendly residents.

We’ve been talking over the past few months about wanting to get a bit more connected with a community by staying in one spot for a while – in the states and in the Bahamas – and we had decided to spend at least a few weeks on a mooring in Hope Town this winter. As of now it looks like that plan will have to be put on hold.

But what about the rest of the Bahamas? Most people watching the news probably think that “the Bahamas” are devastated. We would have thought the same thing before going there last winter, but we knew that Dorian spared the vast majority of the islands. Nevertheless, we debated whether we should go to the Bahamas at all this winter. To me it sort of felt like vacationing in San Diego if Los Angeles was lying in ruins from a cataclysmic earthquake. Jeff pointed out that our tourism dollars are now more important than ever (even if they do represent a tiny drop in the bucket), and as the days have passed various Bahamian organizations have been delivering that same message.

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A tale of two passages – part one.

We spent several days waiting out a weather system at our hidey hole by Green Turtle Cay before moving to Great Sale Cay where we would leave for our crossing back to the U.S. We have spent approximately one week in this Green Turtle anchorage during our time in the Bahamas, and we really do love it. We have had it to ourselves every time except for one night, and the protection is superb. Turtles and rays come by every day and we discovered some nice snorkeling on this last stop. However, it was time to go so we sadly waved goodbye until next time.

After many discussions over the past few months, Jeff and I agreed that we were ready to try a multi-night passage. Up to now we had only done two single overnights. We had the awful one down the New Jersey coast, and we had a mostly wind-free 20 hours when we crossed from Lake Worth to Great Sale Cay in early February. We had gained a lot of confidence while sailing in all kinds of conditions in the Bahamas, so it was time to push our comfort zone a bit more.

We set up custom weather routing with Chris Parker who is well-known among cruisers for his forecasting. Although we wouldn’t have cell service off shore and we only have an SSB receiver, he would be able to send detailed forecasts through our inReach device. When a good weather window opened up, it was time to go.

Our hope was to go from Great Sale Cay to Georgetown, SC or even Beaufort, NC if the stars aligned, but we agreed that we wouldn’t hesitate to bail out early if we wanted to. That proved to be a very good plan.

We left Great Sale on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and had good wind for sailing all day. The wind angle was a bit different than forecasted so right away we weren’t going to be able to aim for one of Chris’ suggested waypoints, but we kept chugging along with Bob (our Monitor windvane) steering like a champ.

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Back to the beginning at Green Turtle Cay.

Spanish Wells in Eleuthera was a charming stop, and a place where we would like to spend more time next season. It had an abundance of colorful, cute houses which reminded us of a larger version of Hopetown, and there was an amazing shallow beach that seemed to stretch out forever at low tide. Spanish Wells also had a large grocery store where we were able to stock up on more snacks. Note to self: bring more snacks next time!

**Their parking space around the corner was labeled “Parking for Crazy Frank and Margaret Rose.”**

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Farewell to the Exumas as we begin to head north in earnest.

Any place after Pipe Cay was going to pale in comparison, but we still enjoyed our stop in the Exumas Land and Sea Park. We spent a night anchored at Warderick Wells before moving on to Shroud Cay. Everyone we spoke to who offered suggestions for Exumas stops said that we MUST see Shroud Cay, so how could we skip it?

We spent two nights in a very lovely anchorage where we were able to snorkle a few coral reefs (we saw lots of fish) and we also took our dinghy up the mangrove creek to the ocean side which was a lot of fun.

We didn’t have any fish-sighting success while snorkeling in the creek, but we did see a shark swimming in the shallows on the ocean side and a turtle in the creek as we slowly motored along. The Land and Sea Park has so many snorkeling spots that we didn’t get to see, but the pesky calendar won’t slow down. We’ll definitely come back next season, but for now we needed to take advantage of good weather to cross back to Eleuthera and keep heading north. Continue reading “Farewell to the Exumas as we begin to head north in earnest.” →

Pipe Creek. How is is possible that the Exumas keep getting prettier?

A short sail away from Staniel Cay was Pipe Creek, an absolutely stunning spot which is now my favorite place in the Exumas. As far as beauty goes, it is the prettiest place we’ve seen so far, and that’s saying something.

Pipe Creek runs between Pipe Cay and Little Pipe Cay, and at low tide the vast majority of the water is gone, leaving sand flats everywhere. The water ranged from dark blue to turquoise, electric blue to clear.

We spent several days here, simply not wanting to leave. We watched kiteboarders (who love the shallow spots), a seaplane landed in front of us, and every time the tide went out we took the dinghy and played in the water, floating in the shallow areas, drifting along, and walking around the sand flats.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let these pictures (which honestly don’t do it justice) do the talking:

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Staniel Cay

Our next stop after Black Point was Staniel Cay, an easy, lazy 11 nautical miles up the Exumas. With one of the few places to get diesel and water in the area, Staniel Cay was the busiest place we had been since leaving Georgetown and it was initially a little jarring. I can only imagine how much starker the contrast will be when we return to the United States at the end of the month! Boats ranging from regular to mega yachts went in and out of the harbor, and the anchorage was busy with dinghies of all types and sizes zooming back and forth.

Despite all of the activity, we really enjoyed Staniel Cay. The water was crystal clear and had the most beautiful shades of blue that we had seen so far. The pictures really couldn’t capture it.

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A return to Little Bay – and our first blowhole!

As you can probably tell, we are not dawdling quite as much as we typically do. Even though it feels like we just got here, it’s actually been a few months and we need to start thinking about the timing for sailing back to Connecticut. We would love to stay longer, but we also want to spend some time in Connecticut and in the Chesapeake as we go south again. As Jeff pointed out, it took us so long to get down here that in order to get somewhat back on track, something was going to have to get cut short.

We decided that a maximum of three months in the Bahamas was going to have to suffice this time. We’ll make up for it next season. We need to get back to Connecticut by the end of June for doctor appointments, so as a result we’re skipping up the Exumas with an eye towards crossing back to the United States by the end of April. However, we are definitely taking notes on where we’d like to spend more time when we return at the end of the year!

One repeat visit for us already on this trip was Little Bay on Great Guana Cay. Looking at the forecast we were going to be getting some westerly winds in the mid-teens for half a day before the wind clocked to the northwest and around. One thing that the Exumas lacks are an abundance of anchorages with westerly protection. Little Bay was only 10 nautical miles away from Little Farmers Cay, and while it was open to the west, we could tuck in and get protection once the wind turned to the northwest. Bonus points for it being a lovely anchorage and a 45 minute walk into Black Point, which is a settlement where we hoped to be able to pick up a few provisions.

We had a nice, lazy, jib-only sail of 12 nautical miles from Little Farmers to Little Bay. Although the wind was supposed to be light, it started turning west and picking up speed as we approached Little Bay. By the time we anchored we already had two to three foot swells in the anchorage. Good times – not. Tom and Anita from S/V Lone Star pulled in a few hours later and although we had planned to get together that evening we decided to postpone until the next day given the conditions.

As the evening progressed the wind started to shift, but the wave direction didn’t. This put the waves on our beam with Pegu Club rolling side to side, side to side, around 20-30 degrees at a time. It was an absolutely sleepless night for both of us. I wanted to set a swell bridle but we had never done it before and Jeff didn’t want to set it up in the dark. While in hindsight this was obviously the right decision, it didn’t make the night any easier. Finally we both fell asleep around 4:00 a.m. The rolling hadn’t stopped, but we were so tired it didn’t matter.

The next day Tom and Anita came over and cheered us on while we rigged up a swell bridle. The relief from the swell was immediate, and we won’t hesitate to do that again in the future. Tom, Anita, and I decided to walk into the settlement while Jeff opted to stay on the boat and rest, feeling especially tired from our sleepless night. I was on a quest to buy some bread from Mama, who reportedly made the best bread in the Exumas.

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Rudder Cut Cay and Little Farmers Cay.

As we head north we are trying to sail on the shallower Exuma Banks side as much as we can so we can enjoy the beautiful colors of the water. To get from Leaf Cay to Rudder Cut Cay we were going to need to go around the Pimlico Cays which have low water depths of under 4′ (which is less than our draft). Additionally, the chart indicated that the sand shifted so it was possible it could be shallower.

After asking about it on a Facebook group we belong to, we were encouraged by our friends on S/V Duchess who had been through the area a few weeks earlier with a draft 2″ deeper than ours. High tide was in our favor so we decided to go for it, and we were glad we did. It was a nice route, and once again it boosted our confidence a bit.

Dropping the anchor at Rudder Cut Cay, we found to our delight that we had it all to ourselves. That hasn’t happened since we left the Abacos. We were a bit surprised because Rudder Cut Cay offered good protection from a strong front that was going to be passing through, but no one joined us until the day we left. Works for us!

Rudder Cut Cay is a private island owned by David Copperfield. While we weren’t allowed to walk on the beach, we were still able to enjoy one of the prettiest anchorages that we have seen on this trip.

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