Northern Exumas

The last two weeks we have spent slowly 'gunk-holing' our way north through the Exumas.  After re-provisioning and filling our water tanks at Staniel Cay, we made our way back to Black Point for one last load of laundry and one last plate of conch!  On March 10 we finally pointed Wyvern's nose north and had a lovely, albeit short, sail, anchoring off Bitter Guana Cay where we had a beautiful evening....so calm and with a full moon, the dingy looked like it was floating in midair off the stern of the boat!  The next morning we had a beautiful sail to Cambridge Cay, where we wanted to wait out the next front that was due to come through, and have one more visit to some of our favourite spots!

"...me and my shadow!..."

The day we arrived the wind hadn't picked up yet, so we were able to dingy over to the Sea Aquarium for one more dive with the fishes!  On our way back to the boat, we wandered over to the north end of O'Brien's Cay where the water was so shallow we simply dragged the dingy behind us as we walked over to the beach!  The white sands and turquoise water was stunning, and I was sorry I didn't have my camera with me.

While at Cambridge Cay, we also hiked up Little Bell Island along the windward side.  The front was moving through by then, and the winds were about 25 knots, so nice and cool for hiking, with impressive views of the Exuma Sound from the cliffs!  Not too many people out sailing that day!  We also made it around to honeymoon beach for one more swim and I finally captured a photo of a sea turtle as it swam by the beach!  We ended up staying at Cambridge Cay for almost a week, as a double front actually came through while we were there, and with very little protection from the west winds as we make our way north, we wanted to wait until there was a stretch of good weather so that we could take our time and enjoy our sail through the northern Exumas.

Looking southwest from Cambridge Cay mooring field

Sea Turtle

at the leeward side of honeymoon beach, Little Bell Island

mooring field from south, leeside  of honeymoon beach

path to the windward side!

...when the beaches aren't sandy!

honeymoon beach, windward side

Bell Rock beach

windward side during the passage of a front on Exuma Sound

leeward side, same day!!!  Exuma Bank in the distance

Bell Rock

Looking south from the north end of Little Bell Island.  Exuma Sound to the left and Cambridge Cay mooring field at the upper right.  Small lake on the island is tinged red from the surrounding mangroves

Cliffs on the east side of the island, looking out over Exuma Sound

When we did leave Cambridge Cay, we had another great sail to Hawksbill Cay.  We were hoping to stay at Warderick Wells, but because of the fronts moving through, there was essentially no room at the mooring fields there, except the one that is exposed to the west winds!!  So we gave it a miss and went straight to Hawksbill, which is essentially, the northern end of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, while Cambridge Cay is the southern end.

What a beautiful spot!!  We were actually the only ones there when we arrived and had the place to ourselves for about an hour!  The beaches are white sand that is so soft and fine to walk on, with the accompanying turquoise waters!  Also, for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas, we were starting to see coral heads and large rocks under water that had to be avoided while sailing.  I was a bit concerned about these initially, as I worried I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between rocks and just the deeper, darker patches of water, however my fears have been allayed!  The rocks are really black and are very easy to spot and therefore avoid, as long as the sun is not in your eyes and the water is not too rough.  Looking at the charts, the northern Exumas are much more prone to rocky stretches of shallow water that extend away from the islands than the central Exuma islands, so it is something we will definitely have to be more aware of!

Wyvern III at rest!

We picked up a mooring just off the southwestern end of Hawksbill Cay in a harbour off Rocker's Point; Rocker being the last person to have lived on the island, so it is now uninhabited.  Legend has it that he bled to death after being bitten by a barracuda while fishing in the shallows off the island!  After visiting the beach, we took our dingy and motored around the southern point and explored South Hawksbill Cove; a really neat area of shallows with sand bars and coral reefs.  This area was really protected from the open water around it, so very peaceful and beautiful.  As fate would have it, while we were nosing our way around, a good sized barracuda swam by and checked us out!  He really was quite curious, and hung around long enough to get a good look at us before carrying on!...our thoughts turned to Rocker!....  By the time we got back to the boat, one other boat had arrived, so that night there was just the two of us!

beaches off Hawksbill Cay

looking west toward the bank and the Wyvern III, from the beach at Rocker's Point

Rocker's Point beach

These two pictures are of South Hawksbill Cove

The next morning it was lovely and calm.  The second boat left early and another arrived shortly after, but only stayed to enjoy the flat water and do some water skiing behind their dingy, and then left about noon.  We finally had the place to ourselves!  And yes, we finally got our skinny dip, in the clear, clear water and enjoyed the peace and quiet!  It didn't last long, as about two hours later, boats started to arrive for the night, and we ended up sharing again with about four other boats!

The next day the wind was starting to pick up again, and we reluctantly released our mooring lines and left Hawksbill and it's beautiful beaches behind.  We sailed up past Shroud Cay and anchored off the south end of Norman's Cay, just by the airport.  It was quite 'rolly' when we arrived but the winds were staying north/northeast, so we anticipated that by the evening the swell would quieten down.  It did, and we had a nice comfortable night.  Fortunately, a little wind kept up, so we couldn't hear the charter boat right next to us having LOTS of fun quite as easily as we could have, had it been really quiet!!  One thing we have noticed as we make our way north, are the charter boats starting to make an appearance.  Most of them come out of Nassau, so if they are rented for a week, they really can only get about as far as Norman's Cay or Warderick Wells before they have to turn around and get back!  It can be a bit scary when they pull up and drop their anchor about one boat length away!  We are not used to that, but fortunately, no midnight dramas yet!!

We have been very spoiled by Hawksbill Cay, so Norman's Cay did not impress us too much!  The water is more green, with more rock and sea grass in it, and the beaches are not as fine a sand, and a darker colour also.  There is quite a history around Norman's Cay, as there was a huge drug smuggling business here about thirty or forty years ago.  Everyone has been caught now and the smuggling is no more, so the people now enjoy a quiet life on the island!

After Norman's Cay, we made our way just north of Highbourne Cay to Allan's Cay.  Here we anchored between two small islands, Allan's Cay and Leaf Cay, where there is good protection from most winds except the northeast winds, however, there probably would be a lot of swell from the Sound with some good strong east winds.  We enjoyed our stay there and had fun watching the tourists come in from Nassau on big, fast boats to see the iguanas on Leaf Cay and try to feed them.  These iguanas seem to be smaller than the ones we saw on Bitter Guana, but I believe they are the same kind.  We did not bother going to look at them, as the beach was quite a bit smaller, and not as pretty as the one on Bitter Guana.  We did do some swimming off the boat when the current wasn't running too swiftly, which caused some excitement.......finally, after 10 months of living on the boat, and three months of swimming off the boat, I dove in to the water with my glasses on and lost them!!!!  George quickly jumped in with me and the two of us snorkelled beside the boat for about half an hour before George finally saw them and brought them up!!  I would have been in trouble, as I really need them to read and don't have another pair on board, other than some drugstore readers, that are probably not strong enough any more!  Needless to say, we had a glass of wine with our late lunch that day!!!

view from our anchorage off Allan's Cay, looking east toward the Sound

Aaah!  Another tough day in the cockpit of an Alberg 34!!!!

After two days off Allan's Cay, we are now in the marina at Highbourne Cay.  We have been at anchor for 14 days, have no fresh veg or fruit left, all dairy products have been gone for some time, we are on our last row of our last chocolate bar (Wil and Didi brought four giant Lindt chocolate bars as gifts when they came!), and we are on the last of our water, so it is time to stock back up before we start to make our way west across the Exuma Bank, and then over to the Bimini Islands and across the Gulf Stream to Florida.  Also, yet another front is due, so it is a good place to hold up while it passes at which time we hope to take advantage of the south easterlys and sail toward Rose Island, just off Nassau.  From there we will cross to the Berry Islands, and on to the Bimini Islands via the Great Bahama Bank, waiting there for good weather to cross to Florida.  Meanwhile, we are enjoying the beach here at the marina, and will also borrow some bikes and do some exploring of the island!

Central Exumas

Well, the last of our visitors have come and gone. Wil and Didi and Ash came for an eight day visit. Once again, we were able to get in some snorkelling at the Sea Aquarium, a small coral reef where numerous varieties of fish abound! While Wil and Didi swam and snorkelled amongst them, Nana and Grandpa and Ash fed the Sargeant Majors and Snappers cheerios! Grandpa had made Ash a 'fish finder' out of an old water container we had on board, so although Ash enjoyed swimming in the ocean, he wasn't too keen on putting his face in the water (even with his new mask and snorkel!), so he was able to see in to the water through the plastic bottom of his fish finder! This was a spot where we were able to take all our guests, so we were really pleased, as it is such a good spot to see fish!

driving to Cambridge Cay

waiting for the next wave!

While we were in the Cambridge Cay area, we also walked and swam off some of our favourite beaches, again, where we had taken our previous visitors! When in the Bahamas, one must stroll along white, soft sand with palm trees and turquoise water rimming the edge!

We also finally found the iguanas! These iguanas are actually an endangered species and unique to the Bahamas, so we were pleased to see them! They come running out of the bushes on to the beach when you land your dingy, which can be a little intimidating, however they stop and wait to see if you have any food for them without getting too close! While we were anchored off the beach we also saw a lemon shark, so swimming was put off until after lunch!!

beach at Bitter Guana Cay where the iguanas are

Rock Iguana

After seeing the iguanas, we carried on to the settlement of Black Point, another spot where we have stopped with all our visitors, as the people here are friendly and the pizza at DaShamon's is a nice treat!

getting a hair cut and doing laundry at Ida's laundry in Black Point....nice view!!!

good Bahamian fare!!...deep fried conch bits with a cold Sands beer!

Finally, we returned to Staniel Cay, where everyone flew in and out by Flamingo Air from Nassau. In Staniel Cay, we always take our guests to the Thunderball Grotto, where the James Bond movie, Thunderball, was recorded! It is actually a lovely grotto, where, at low tide you can swim right in to the cave and look up where the sun shines in through the opening at the top of the island and the roots from the plants above dangle down towards the water! There are also plenty of fish to see here as it is a coral reef as well as a cave, however, the day we went with Wil and Didi and Ash there were more people there then we have ever seen before, so most of the fish made themselves scarce! The cave was still lovely, though, and Wil and Didi swam right through the cave to the other side of the island, and then swam around to where we had moored the dingy. This was something that Pat and Fiona were also able to do, but the water was too high when Cindy and Carlie were here.

leopard spotted ray swimming by the boat

Since saying goodbye, we have been spending our days quietly, waiting out yet another front that fortunately passed once Wil and Didi had left, and starting to plan the next part of our journey!

fisherman bringing home a grouper as big as he is!

the mail boat...how all supplies are brought to the Central Exuma settlements

We have really enjoyed the turquoise waters and white sands of the central Exumas, and the people here have been very friendly and accommodating.  With only one exception....the perfectly miserable girl that works for Flamingo Air who has lots of time and jokes for the locals, but no time or humour for the tourists! Otherwise I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “No problem!” and walking through the streets, the people always have a friendly hello and how are you when they see you! We even got a ride with 'Officer Kelly' in her police vehicle when she saw George limping on his way to the Blue Store in Staniel Cay!

However, we feel we have explored this part of the Exumas pretty well, so we will now move on to the northern Exumas in search of more beaches, and hopefully some 'private' anchorages! This is a lovely part of the world, but a whole bunch of Canadians have already discovered it and there is always, on average, about twenty boats anchored and/or moored everywhere we have been so far!!

yet another beautiful sunset!

Bahamian Blues from the cockpit 

Finally, for all the Alberg fans out there, we have, for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas, seen another Alberg! An Alberg 37 dropped anchor beside us at Black Point Harbour! It is owned by a young man from Brisbane who has just bought her last summer in the Great Lakes and is taking her south for now. And for the trivia fans, another Wyvern anchored beside us last time we were off Bell Island!! A number of people at the anchorage remarked on the coincidence, as Wyvern is such an unusual name!

On that note, I shall sign off and try to get this posted! I have heard there is not much in the way of internet as we head north, so may not get another chance to post for a few weeks! Until then, we hope that spring is slowly starting to make it's presence known for all our winter-weary family and friends! We know this has been a hard winter at home, so warm weather will be a welcome arrival for everyone!