Staniel Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

In the early hours of the morning we are awoken by a change in the wind caused by a large area of squalls, unusually approaching from the south west. Unfortunately this causes wind over tide and the shallow water creates steep waves and rock us uncomfortably as we are held into tide the waves slapping with an uneven and irregular wave pattern making sleep impossible. It is still dark though and even this is preferable to trying to negotiate the reef in the dark, so we lay in bed irritable from lack of sleep having taken a long time to get to sleep because of the heat neither of us has had more than a couple of hours.

As soon as light dawns we up anchor and motor the mile to Galliot Cut and pass into Exuma Sound again, which ironically because of the unusual wind direction is flat calm. We have our breakfast on route as we make it up to the nearest cut to Staniel Cay our destination, Dotham Cut. It’s not far in the calm waters of the sound before we have to pass back on to the Bank side as it is known locally, where people usually go to find the calm water. Today it is just short steep waves and we have 5 miles to cross a 2m deep reef in the low grey cloud until we get in to the relatively deep 4m channel to round the natural harbour of Staniel Cay, which should hopefully be calm. We are both not really in the mood for bad weather having had little sleep so we just grit out teeth and get on with it. I am sat on the coachhouse roof by the mast and Kevin at the helm, both hoping this 2m depth (1m clearance for us) is fairly uniform.

We negotiate the channel into Staniel Cay and a motor fishing boat who obviously knows the waters better than us sneaks round the back and pinches our anchor spot just in front of us. It’s just like being in a supermarket carpark! We take a tour of the bay trying to find somewhere else suitable whilst the rain starts in earnest but the anchoring space is quite limited. Eventually we go alongside the motorboat and get the anchor in to a nice patch of sand and it digs in straight away. We both run into the saloon to dry off. We get the last laugh though as the motorboat besides us drags his anchor in the wind associated with the squall and ends up having to go elsewhere. The monohull beside him is also dragging and they go out in the rain to reset. We are the only ones in the small anchor area backed by a line of reef / rocks that is holding, so it looks like we got the best spot after all.

Once we dry off and have lunch we both decide to go back to bed, as it is still pouring with rain. We get a couple of hours of sleep and the weather hasn’t improved when we wake up so we decide to spend the afternoon on board reading and pottering.

Galliot Cay, Exumas, Bahamas

We took our first passage north in the sheltered waters of Exuma Sound. In the north and east the barrier islands of Cat Island, Eleuthera and San Salvador (the purported first landing of Columbus) provide protection from the Atlantic. In the west an almost continuous chain of 365 islands and islets (Cays) backed by a large area of reef called the Exumas form part of the Great Bahama Bank separating the Exuma Sound from Florida / Cuba. Finally at the north of the Exuma Sound the entrance is closed off for deep draughted vessels by the extension of the Great Bahama Bank containing New Providence island (with Nassau the capital) to join with Eleuthera island at the north. Therefore once you head into Exuma Sound you either have to pass over the reef 2-4m deep beside New Providence or go the very long way round and back down the Sound round Long Island or San Salvador.

 

The Exumas form nearly a continuous chain and to gain access to the inside of the Great Bahama Bank you have to pass through one of the navigable “Cuts” between islands. We have chosen Cave Cay Cut being deep and nearest to our destination, though the weather and tide needs to be considered when passing through any of the cuts because of the volume of water trying to pass through with tidal flow standing waves can occur. Luckily the Exuma Sound is a glassy calm on our motor up the sound, but even so swirls and eddies could be seen in the cut when we approached. The cuts look quite narrow as you approach especially to us as we tend to stay well off land on passages. Kevin steered us through and said that he could really feel the current trying to turn us as we passed, that you could not let it go anything except head on into the flow.

Passing through Cave Cay Cut

The light blue shallower clear water can be seen as a band as you approach and again the water clarity in the Bahamas is amazing. I stand at the bow during these parts of navigation looking out for coral heads / rocks etc and was amazed to see starfish, fishes, sea grass in amazing clarity below as we passed. We put our head into the entrance to Cave Cay marina heralded as a ground breaking solar / wind powered deluxe facility in our pilot book. Unfortunately although our book is 5 years out of date it was still not complete and there were no signs of life. However, it looks like it will be really nice and they have a perfect natural hurricane hole in the Cay.

We decided to move further north to find an anchorage on the bank side and are passed by another catamaran going the same way. We pass Galliot Cut and another monohull which has been travelling up the Sound with us also pulls in. We see the catamaran ahead struggling to pass the very shoal area ahead near Farmers Cay, going first one direction than backing out, then trying another tack. It is now 4pm and we decide that grounding out on an ebbing tide didn’t sound like a pleasant way to spend an evening and we anchor alongside the monohull behind Galliot Cay. The water is really clear and there is a small beach which the monohull crew all head off to in their dingy but we are happy snorkelling round the boat.

Kevin snorkelling in the clear water

There is a really strong current flowing even now at the end of the tide and for the first time on our trip the the boat is held into current instead of into wind. Swimming against it is really hard work as we take turns to try to make it to the anchor and then drift back. Again the rays avoid me and as soon as we are back on the boat we can see them gliding by.

Anchored behind Galliot Cay

A quiet night on anchor watching a dvd, the boat turns exactly according to the tide indicator on Kevin’s watch and we get out a torch and go our on deck and can clearly see the anchor chain stretch out beneath the boat. It is so warm when we go to bed that we decide to camp out on the trampoline. I can’t get used to the breeze whilst trying to sleep and leave Kevin to it.

George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas

We are planning to head north a little further again tomorrow and today about mid morning our Propane cooking gas cylinder ran out. This would normally leave us with about 3 weeks supply but our last fill seemed a bit light so we decided to enquire in George Town again before departing.

  George Town, Great Exuma

We went to the Shell petrol station as mentioned in our pilot book, but for the second time in a row they do not do propane but gave us a number of a local man who can collect and refill. We tried the other petrol station up the road, same story but they telephone the guy for us, no reply. We decide we’ll risk it as a couple of our stops before Nassau list having propane, well according to the pilot book anyway.

  Public Park, George Town, Great Exuma

We have a bit of a walk around the town and pick up a couple of other bits and pieces but there isn’t a great deal in George Town of interest. We decide to head back to the boat and spend the afternoon doing a bit of reading and fighting with the intermittent free Wifi signal until aggravation wins out and we shut down.

Stocking Island Anchorage, George Town, Exumas

We headed off to the Exumas markets after dragging out the boxes and boxes of food still on the boat to see what we actually needed to buy. This list amounted to just fresh foods so we headed in, unfortunately there were swarms of small flies in the vegetable section of the supermarket and even things like potatoes and onions were a long way past their best. We did manage to get apples though at a reasonable price for the first time since the Canaries.

Stocking Island – on the way to everywhere

We had a bit of a wander in town and called at the ATM again before heading back to the boat. We decided to reanchor at the other side of the channel at the Stocking Island anchorage so we could go to the Chat ‘n’ Chill bar that evening where the sailing crowd apparently congregate. There were more boats over this side – no doubt for the small amount of extra breeze, it was now sweltering at the town anchorage. We jumped in for a snorkel to cool down when we arrived, then did a bit of reading in the afternoon. I decided to do a reccie for the evening and swan ashore for a look round. There were already a few people in the bar and volley ball pitches and other activities available on shore.

Stocking Island anchorage – Chat ‘n’ Chill on shore

  Kevin snorkelling of the boat, Stocking Island

Chat ‘n’ Chill bar

We took the dingy in about 5pm, running it up the beach successfully. Kendal the bar man was friendly and we told him about his namesake in the Lake District, near where we used to live. The owner arrived for his dinner from the grill, he was apparently into Economics and used to live in Chicago and West Kensington before setting up the business back home. Shortly after the crew of another boat arrived, another catamaran from South Africa and we got talking to Lynn. They had also come across the Atlantic last season and headed up the Caribbean but their route was passing the more remote islands of St Helena and Ascension islands. They are debating where to spend the hurricane season and were erring on the side of the Bahamas instead of having to check in and out of each port in the US, which apparently they would need to do. We had a pleasant evening chatting to Lynn and their friend Tom from Florida who was visiting for 4 days. About 7pm they announced they were shutting the bar, I had had only two drinks but Kendal’s rather generous G&T’s were too much for me and I was happy to head back to the boat. We were getting in the dingy when we saw a large stingray gliding through the water literally in the surf of the shore line.

   Jo chilling after an evening at the Chat ‘n’ Chill 

Sting rays on the shore

George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas

We depart fairly early but after Geru who are pushing to get the miles in. The clouds are thick and rumbling with thunder and when a brief break in the rain appears we decide to make a run for it. We have only about 20 miles to do to George Town, but it is where all the thunder and lightening is coming from at the moment, so we set off slowly hoping it will pass.

We set off with the rods in the water, but no bites today and we even end up turning a big circle to let the squalls have time to dissipated before we eventually get into the approaches to George Town around lunch. The sun comes out just as we attempt the entrance which from the charts looks terrible, coral heads, submerged rocks, sand banks. It is boater central in the Bahamas with up to 300 boats all hanging out during the season (winter), but when you first look at the chart you can’t imagine how they all get in there, but console yourself it can’t be as bad as it looks. Well in the end after duly following our 5 waypoints from the pilot guide, we arrive into the town anchorage, realising that it really wasn’t that bad actually, though that’s mainly because we are shallow drafted.

Winding our way into George Town 

We drop the anchor in the large bay a fairly uniform 2-3 m deep over bright white sand on the edge of town. The sun is out now and the colours are stunning. The water clarity is so amazing here that we have been looking at fish, star fish, coral and weeds on the bottom in amazing detail. The anchor sunk straight into the fine sand and it definitely wasn’t going anywhere. There are only around 10 boats anchored here and more over in Stocking Island the barrier island protecting the George Town roadstead and another cruiser hangout. This bay is nicknamed Chicken Bay from all the cruisers that pass south of here out of the sheltered water of the Bahamas to realise it is rough out there and come back. Looking around after days and days of rough crossings before us, I wonder actually who the clever ones are…. the Bahamas is definitely our favourite place so far despite timing our visit in the wet season.

Stocking Island anchorage

After a quick bite for lunch we decide to explore in town and take the dingy under the road bridge into the inner lagoon which is very shallow, but has a couple of dingy docks giving good access to town. The town itself has a certain character with its pastel shaded buildings and laid back atmosphere, but has a certain scruffiness too. We find the one supermarket and take a walk round looking at what they stock and just buying in for the evening. We need to come back and stock up for the next 3 weeks tomorrow – stores being few and far between after this in the Exumas.

Invincible on George Town anchorage

There is not much else of interest in George Town, an ATM the only one until Nassau and the first since Turks and Caicos so we get out some cash. We then head back to the boat and enjoy a pleasant evening on the calmest anchorage we have ever been on, not a ripple and really quiet.

 

Indefatigable (dingy) floating on clear Bahamian waters

Warm Bahamian evenings – 41.6 degrees C in the shade of our cockpit at 6pm!!

Calabash Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

Having checked out of the marina yesterday afternoon, we’d planned on setting off early to head to Calabash Bay in the north of Long Island in company with Geoff and Ruth and on their boat Geru, a 38ft Prout catamaran. All we had to do that morning was to call our bank using Skype as our debit card had been stopped a couple of times, which we guessed must be a security thing but being unable to get a mobile signal they’d obviously not been able to call. After a 40 minute phone call (thank good for cheap Skype calls!), we’d finally got it sorted. I guess it’s all for our own benefit, though I must say that as our cards have been used continuously abroad for more than a year it’s a bit of a course filter they are using that it was only just getting stopped.

  In a flat calm approaching the north of Long Island

Consequently Geru was on the distant horizon when we set out from the marina on a perfectly still day with blue skies and scorching heat. Definitely not even motor sailing today, the sails stayed furled as we motored up the length of Long Island. The consolation for today though is that apparently this stretch of water is world famous for sports fishing, so all four rods were out. I am progressing on my apprenticeship now and am allowed to wind in and deploy the rods and didn’t we get some practice with all the seaweed in the water. As it was a pretty boring motor though it did provide us with something to do as literally as soon as one rod was cleared another one would foul.

Kevin marlin spotting from the bimini

All the effort was eventually rewarded when one of the bigger reels suddenly spun off briefly and stopped. We both looked round to see a now familiar circle of disturbed water behind the lure – the sign of a marlin strike. We could still see a shadow in the water behind the lure, we were still being hunted. I went up on to the bimini to see see if I could see it any clearer. Kevin excitedly ran between the two bigger lures as he saw the shadow move between them to let them off and wind them in to try and tempt another bite. After about 5 minutes of cat and mouse play, the reel screamed again and we were hooked. I put us into neutral and Kevin started the fight, the reel ran off about 100m of line straight off as the marlin ran off. He’d was hooked for 10 minutes or so and Kevin just had it beginning to turn when the line snapped and marlin swam off with the lure. We were both very unhappy to think of the fish having to struggle with the lure attached, though this is the first we have ever lost, we were also pleased to have used the less barbed hooks that with the tension released off the line should soon be dislodged. I still didn’t manage to get a photo despite more tail walking but if anything this one was larger than the last one - 8ft plus.

We rounded the northern tip of Long Island and got another bite, this time some sort of mackerel, but he got off before got him on board. We worked our way round the reef to anchor beside Geru and then got in for a swim straight away as it had been such a long hot day. We spoke to Geoff and Ruth on the VHF, but as the grey clouds were gathering on the horizon and the thunder was getting louder and louder we agreed to stay aboard our own boats and said our goodbyes (they are heading the same way as us all the way to Canada though and much quicker than we have planned).

A quiet early night on anchor as the rain hammered down and the thunder and lightening flickered all around.

Flying Fish Marina, Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas

We were up early cleaning the boat ready for our visitors and getting ready for our trip to the Blue Hole with Zoe a nice local lady who had offered us a lift. Unfortunately Claudia from the marina arrived at 8.30 with a note from Zoe to say she’d had to cancel because something had come up but she could take us the next day. We had already planned to make tracks the next day – I have a schedule for us now to make sure we make it to Nassau on time. We weren’t keen on a four mile walk in the searing heat with not a breath of wind to go ourselves and no car hire or public transport locally, we decided we’d have to miss that one.

We watched in amusement at the stream of large sports fishing boats / cruisers pulling up alongside us on the fuel dock. Last night a 65ft Betram Fishing boat – 1500 US Gallons, 60ft custom build sport fishing boat 1300 US gallons, Motor cruiser 2000+ gallons, then another sports fishing boat, then another motor cruiser called Enterprise (complete with spaceship logo). Although the marina has four very large fuel tanks each larger than the two that the local petrol station has and one tanker delivery during the afternoon, by the evening they had run dry. We agreed that we could both live comfortably on the profits just for the fuel pumps here. It’s hard to conceive the scale of fuel usage of these boats, but as the only marina between George Town and the Turks and Caicos they obviously get a large proportion of the cruisers passing. I like to amuse myself with counting out the fuel bill in the seconds as these boats zoom by us (£5…£10…) but we sail by for fee, especially as they seem to like to pass very close for a look leaving us 2 minutes later with their wake as beam on swell.

We tried in the afternoon to get beer as we had visitors due, it is obviously a precious commodity on the Bahamas. There are  plenty of bars, but the shops don’t seem to stock it and are surprised you’d even ask. We’d been directed to a small hut type bar with no seats on Friday who’d assured us if we came back on Monday when he went to the wholesalers we could get a case from him. On Monday we arrived, someone else was there who looked very dubious about getting us a crate of beer but took our number to call us back. We weren’t too sure about this and didn’t want to be inhospitable so called in at the Winter Haven to get some take outs and goggle at the novel TV whilst we had a beer ourselves.

Ruth and Geoff arrived on time and we had a very pleasant evening sharing cruising experiences – disappointed with the Caribbean compared to the idyllic notion before leaving mostly due to unfriendly locals, really enjoying the Bahamas, very pleased with having a catamaran but also idealising cities and other future treats in the states such as well stocked supermarkets. Geoff and Ruth have a 38ft Prout catamaran and have been cruising 2 years but are on their way back to Canada now to start work again. We found we had lots in common and agreed we’d sail the next leg together to the north of Long Island.

Whilst they were with us, someone from the bar turned up with our crate of beer, delivered directly to the boat, what good service!

Flying Fish Marina, Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas

On Sunday we caught up with a few internet jobs as we had Wifi, trying to get the blog up to date etc. As I had yet again managed to go out without the camera the night before I made Kevin come for a walk with me in the heat of the day to get the photos we’d missed of Clarence Town the day before.

Clarence Town contains two churches designed by Father Jerome a famous local figure who also built a hermitage on nearby Cat Island. The Saints Peter and Paul Church sits on a hill in the middle of town and is a beautiful building with its twin towers and stark white walls. The town itself is quite spread out but nicely kept and is obviously not Seventh Day Adventist as about 50% of the buildings seem to be bars. There are a quite a few derelict small hut type houses which appear to have been deserted to build the larger replacement alongside and left to the tropical vegetation to regrow. It reminded us a bit of the Highlands of Scotland where the crofts have been deserted and the less attractive concrete bungalows built alongside.

 

Saints Peter & Paul church

Second Father Jerome church

The view across the bay is stunning and we were pleased to get good sunlight for our photos as we’d had rain and dark clouds again in the morning.

View across the Clarence Town bay

In the afternoon I went to the laundry whilst Kevin did some boat jobs. In there I got talking to a nice young Canadian couple who had arrived shortly after us to anchor in the bay and were the ones we’d heard on the VHF. We were talking for the full duration of wash, dry and another wash as we exchanged experiences having travelled the same route almost. They have also visited some of the places in the States that we are planning and gave us some tips. I invited them to our boat the following evening to meet Kevin.

View from Flying Fish Marina wall to channel

We decided to head out to the Grill again for a couple of beers to enjoy the local atmosphere. Tonight was mostly locals and they were playing dominoes, it could almost have been any local pub back in the UK – especially when the rain started outside!  

  View across the Clarence Town bay

Flying Fish Marina, Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas

Another day, another 40 mile sail, this time mostly in sight of land as we made our way along the southern half of the unimaginatively named Long Island. Long Island is nearly 80nm long though, so I suppose the name is apt. We decided that we would make a stop midway at Clarence Town which although has little to offer itself has the only marina / anchorage on this coast.

The sail was fairly uneventful except for a fair amount of big ship traffic which has been picking up on the last few sails with two or three sightings each trip. I guess as there is no route across the Bahamas for them for a couple for hundred miles north from here many need to cut across south of Long Island. We heard one other yacht on the VHF who were confirming a safe crossing with one of the tankers but we couldn’t see them. Ever since we left the BVIs we have been the only yacht around which is a strange feeling after being in company with at least ten other yachts all around the Caribbean until now. However, it is well discussed that there is a dividing line – American / Canadian yachts go south to the Bahamas and other yachts cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean going north as far as the BVIs, but very few go all the way up what is know as the Thorny Path.

We passed down the channel into Clarence Town at about 2pm, with about a 20 knot crosswind. The shoaling natural harbour has every colour of blue and green running across the reef to sand to the shore and is a stunning site. The shore line is also dotted with some luxury (holiday?) homes showing the signs of greater prosperity we were expecting as we got closer to the States. We were directed to a berth in the far inside corner of the marina to give us shelter from the swell, we were told on the VHF it might be a bit tight to get in… a bit tight in marina speak I think means you have to grease the sides of your boat. In a twenty knot crosswind they wanted us to get into a slot at the end of the dock about 1.5 boat lengths off the harbour wall and with a 20ft gap between the telegraph pole stern post and the dock – we are 19.5ft wide. We asked if we could possibly take a berth which was a little wider. There was one at the end of 25ft wide which after a bit re-manoeuvring Kevin comfortably put us into and we were assisted by about 4 guys on the docks. There are only 15 slips and all the others are filled with big sports fishing boats and they are all really friendly and I think a bit curious about this thing with sails that has arrived.

Sports Fishing Central on Long Island

The facilities are excellent, Mario and Claudia the owners are doing a great job of developing the place. We next had a quick walk into town to find a grocery before it shut to get a few supplies. The only one in the town had just two shelves and didn’t quite have all we needed but enough to keep us going until George Town.

Flying Fish Marina and Outer Edge Grill

In the evening we decided to go out for a meal at the Winter Haven Grill we passed earlier. We went for a shower in the immaculate freshly tiled marina showers before heading out. When we arrived there was a group of people having a drink at the idyllic looking thatched beach bar at the back over looking the coast with a stunning view. We got talking to a family at the bar who live on the island. Zoe is from Canada originally but escaped the rat race when she met her Bahamian husband in Nassau and they moved to Long Island. They are both really happy with life on the island and told us how they they didn’t even lock their house when they went on holiday recently. One of the locals helpfully decided to lock it for them whilst they were away, they then had to break in as neither of them knew where on earth they kept their house key as it is used so rarely! Zoe offered to take us up to see the Blue Hole about 4miles away on Monday which we gladly accepted.

 

Great Beach Bar at Winter Haven Grill

We then went in to the restaurant for some food and found all of the people from the marina were here, obviously the place to be. There were a few other tourists too, including one couple who were bone fishing here, a popular fish which is taken by fly fishing off the shore. The chef was really gregarious and came to each table wearing his big floppy chefs hat, to make sure everyone got their food how they wanted it. I had conch fritters followed by shrimp Caesar salad which was lovely but so large I had to take a doggy bag home with most of the salad. Kevin had chicken wings followed by lobster and New York Strip steak Surf and Turf which he said was one of the best steaks he’d ever had and not bad value at 33$.  

 Winter Haven Grill

Landrail Point, Crooked Island, Bahamas

Another day another sail as we push on through the Bahamas, Mayaguana was 260 miles from Nassau, which we need to reach by 15th June, so we are trying to cover the distance into the Exumas group quite quickly to enjoy as much time there as possible. We have decided to do this distance as day sailing which is far more enjoyable though, so tonight’s destination is the west coast of Crooked Island, which with Acklins Island and Long Cay form a triangular archipelago surrounding a large shallow reef.

The Crooked-Acklins-Long Cay Archipelago

The sail was fairly uneventful, Kevin put in the fishing lines although the water was still thick with seaweed as it has been since we left Dominican Republic. We assume it must be the debris from the Sargasso Sea which is mid-Atlantic from here and famous for it’s weed infested waters. We therefore regularly needed to bring the lines back in to detach the clumps of seaweed “catches”. We therefore didn’t leap up quite as quickly when one of the reels ran off until it became clear that it was something far more substantial than weed. Kevin picked up the rod and as soon as the tension was applied a 8ft marlin jumped out of the water behind the boat. I was slightly less excited by the thought of reeling in this monster than Kevin and just shouted “Oh My God!!” in a slightly panicked way, but Kevin was having the time of his life reeling it in. The marlin put up quite a fight, tail walking as it is apparently know in the trade – dancing vertically out of the water on it’s fins. However, after about 5 minutes the fish bent the lure and got away which goes to show it is sporting, the hooks we use are specially designed to give the fish a chance. Kevin was extremely pleased to get that step closer to reeling in a Marlin and was reliving the experience all afternoon and evening….!

The 50 mile sail is complete by about 4pm and we anchor off the beach in front of a row of beach houses. We passed the Bird Rock lighthouse on route which we can see from where we are anchored. Bird Rock lighthouse dates from 1876 and was made from stone quarried nearby. It was built using Fresnel lenses and was only converted to electrical power after over 100 years at which point it apparently became unreliable but it was working when we were there.

Bird Rock Lighthouse

After three longs day’s of sailing we both fancied a cold beer but we had none on board, we also needed bread, eggs etc. This time it was Kevin’s turn to adventure ashore, so we dropped the dingy and he motored off round the headland into the Landrail Point settlement, where there is a small boat dock literally bored out of the rock. The town is a settlement of Seven Day Adventists who do not imbibe, so Kevin’s search was not successful. He came back reporting the shocked looks his enquires had produced, though he did manage to get bread. They had suggested the Shark Bay resort the other side of the boat, so he headed off again this time dragging the dingy up the beach. The resort is the ultimate getaway with it’s own airstrip connected by a private plane which can come and collect you. However, it’s probably not the business to have in the offseason within a community of Seventh Day Adventists and the bar was closed, the local nearby reporting that it may well not open that night either.

Invincible at anchor off Landrail Point in view of Bird Rock

We made a cup of tea and a angel hair pasta and prawns with truffle oil for tea and I finished off Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet which I had been reading before we both got another early night ready for another sail tomorrow.

West Plana Cays, Bahamas

We have a fairly slow departure from Abrahams Bay across 4 miles of shallow water to the west exit with dark patches of coral which must be avoided. The coral heads are just below the surface and are hard enough to hole the boat if hit at speed. We have good light though and pick our way gingerly across, the break in the weather emptying the anchorage as the other two boats head off through the east exit.

 

Dolphins play off the bow

   Dolphins come to visit

Although it is another lumpy sail with lots of passing squalls our journey is much improved by a fleeting visit from a pod of dolphins, the first we have seen for sometime. One even obligingly performs a full somersault just off our bow (I am too slow on the camera to catch it unfortunately). As quickly as they had appeared though they disappeared again.

The slow start means we decide to take the intermediate anchorage rather than press on all the way and so we complete 36 miles arriving to the uninhabited pair of islands the Plana Cays each only about 3-4 miles long and 0.5 – 1 mile wide. The water is amazingly clear, we can see the 20m contour line from the surface as a line of colour change to a lighter blue, the bottom plummeting to 200-800m straight down from here and to over 1000m deep within a mile of the shore. A long white sand beach surrounds the island and it looks amazing.

20m contour line clear from the boat

I am an intrigued by the present of the hutia, a small native Bahamian cat-sized rodent on the east island, however, not intrigued enough to attempt the swell in the tender to go and try and find one as I am not keen on rodents at the best of times and a cat-sized one sounds unpleasant. We manage to find a clear spot to anchor off the beach between coral heads and Kevin immediately gets in to check the anchor / have a look around. He surfaces within a couple of minutes to say he has seen a sunfish, a relatively rare prehistoric looking fish with a large body and small pointed fins, which get their name for their unusual habit of sun bathing on the surface.

 

Invincible at anchor off West Plana Cays

I get in next and am amazed to be able to see the full length of chain to the anchor from the stern of the boat as soon as I jump in. I snorkel for a while and see lots of smaller fish, but the sunfish has swum off. We are quite excited to be anchored in our first ever uninhabited island with only us in the anchorage. It is quite overcast still and we are pretty tired and get an early night.

Our own desert island

Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas

Today, the rain finally abated in the early afternoon and everyone started to emerge from their cocoons. Our neighbours on the monohull beside us, Ann-Marie and Larry on Loafer’s Glory II, popped over to say hi. They are on route to Turks and Caicos and then Luperon on Dominican Republic, with the catamaran also in the anchorage, whose son has apparently already arrived before him but they have both been delayed by the weather. We exchange a few tips on places to visit etc before they head off to the shop. We decide to go for a snorkel, the water is an amazing aquamarine blue now the sun is out and it is like being in a swimming pool it is so shallow. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a swimming pool with little stinging jelly fish, but we still have a swim round. We see lots of pits dug by rays and Kevin saw one mdeium sized dark colour stringray but again I miss it, a large barracuda, some conch, sand dollar shells but little else. However it is lovely water clarity and we enjoy getting off the boat for a while.

 Abrahams Bay - After 

Later, we we are having a drink in the cockpit and Kevin spotted a round shape moving along beside the boat that appears to be a big ray. He is off again before we can get in, just came to torment me I think as I am really keen to see one and haven’t yet.

Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas

We had been hoping to move on quite soon from Mayaguana, as there is little of interest on this island, however the weather has other plans. Overnight the rain continued and during the day we are treated to amazing thunder and lightening all round us. The thunder is so loud and close that the coach house roof shakes with the force of it. We put all of our electronics into the oven in case of a lightening hit and settle down to read again doing what few jobs are available indoors.

Abrahams Bay- Before

Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas

We arrived into Mayaguana and the Bahamas about 4.30pm yesterday after completing a 67 mile sail and negotiating the coral strewn entrance to this natural harbour successfully. We dropped our anchor near two other American boats, one catamaran and one monohull in about 2.5m of water, the average depth in this end of the 4 mile long bay surrounded by coral on one side and land on the other with entrances at the east and west ends.

Mayaguana, Bahamas

 

This being our first point of call in the Bahamas we needed to check in, which has been designated as my job, being more suited to paperwork and being female generally get less hassle from the officials. It was pretty blowy in the morning with grey overcast skies creating a swell across the bay that was creeping over the reef. The government dock is about 1 mile from where we are anchored and we decided that as our tender is at best a wet ride and struggles to get on the plane with both of us, it will be safer and more comfortable if I go alone. I managed to get fairly soaked just detaching the lines from the davits, but have my Kag-In-A-Bag on ready for the deluge so I head off.

I have obviously misunderstood the instructions in the pilot book about how to miss the reef on the way up to the dock and diverted too far because about 200yds off the dock I finally come to a stop, the dingy now barely floating in the rapidly shoaling water. Luckily it is just sand so I bow to the inevitable, take of my flip flops and walk the dingy in. There is a local standing on the dock watching me and as I approach he makes what I consider to be the fairly obvious statement that I have come across the bank. He tells me I needed to have come between the posts (which I had understood to be avoided as reef markers). He turns out to be very helpful and instructs me to moor next to his opening fishing boat along the dock. There are no steps here, but there is a steel hoop to tie up the only one on the pier. I look at the sheer wall which is about my shoulder height dubiously and consider wading back to the steps further up the dock but the fisherman very courteously offers me his hand if I would like it and I scramble up the wall. He is really polite and tells me he lives on the island and grew up here, one of only 500 inhabitants. He offers me a lift but I decide not to trust his courtesy that far and start the ten minute walk to the Abraham Bay settlement.

It is either mangroves or bare earth each side of the road and not particularly attractive, the islands highest point is only 41m high. The Battelco (Bahamas Telecom) buildings are the administrative centre of each island, usually under the Battelco Tower mast and are the first buildings I come to. The Bahamian government crested sign outside declares this collection of three small buildings to the tax office, local court, customs & immigration, telephone service and just about everything else you could need to do I think. I complete the three forms – cruising permit, fishing licence (apparently mandatory) and immigration clearance fairly quickly only to discover that the fees are rather more than I anticipated - 300$US and I don’t have enough with me. Arrgghh! I ask about banks – none on the island (or infact the next three islands) and no they don’t take cards. I bow to the inevitable and head back to the boat.

The trip there and back despite correctly taking the route between the poles is arduous, the dingy can barely keep to the 6ft wide deeper water channel with the prop on the tilted position required due to the shallow water because of the strong cross wind. Kevin is sympathetic and gives me the cash but I realise this is my error for not checking before heading off so off I go back to the office. As the fisherman is not there to help me up the wall this time I have to tow the dingy along from the steps, that done and now fairly soaking wet I start the walk back to the office. I am passed by two trucks, the first smile and wave, the second with two local men on board stop beside me and then drive at my walking pace literally hanging out the windows telling me I am the most beautiful girl they have seen, asking me where I am from, do I need help to find where I am going etc etc. This line of patter is becoming rather a broken record for me in the Caribbean and I am neither flattered nor amused as this is quite intimidating on a deserted road. Luckily the Battelco buildings come into sight quite soon and I see a lady stood outside so I say she is waiting for me. The driver looks round and amusingly says “Oh my god, my wife is watching me!” and drives off rapidly presumably to try and explain! Obviously one of the downfalls of the small populations.

I am feeling quite smug that these guys have been caught out and told off for their behaviour… until that is, the same woman comes into the customs and immigration office and is obviously the head of the office, oops. Another guy come in and asks her how she is, she says she is pissed (from her tone she means angry rather than drunk). I do not look up to see if she is looking at me when she says this. I do not however feel guilty as I was certainly was not doing anything at all to encourage them. I quickly pay the fees to her assistant and depart.

I get back to the boat where Kevin has made me a nice fresh coffee and I get an extra ginger nut biscuit for my efforts. Shortly after the heavens open and I am pleased that I have got that over with but tell Kevin after that intimidation I am resigning that job. The rain does not let up at all day or evening, so we both settle down with a good book listening to the rain hammering on the roof. Reading a book being one of the only four suggestions in our pilot book of things to do in Mayaguana. However, it is quite cosy and reminds me of England!

Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

We were up early this morning and left the dock successfully between the menacing poles by 7.15am. We then went to the fuel dock and filled up, checked out of the marina. All ready to go, we are then left sat on the fuel dock waiting for the electrician to turn up to disconnect our pigtail adaptor which is wired into one of the pedestals. It is 9am and I am typing this up as we still wait, with 56 miles to go today this is not what we had in mind for departure…

The weather looks good though and we should be able to the clear in to the Bahamas in Mayaguana, then we will day hop to the Exumas island group where most of our cruising will be. The Exumas are 365 islands over 100 miles stretching to within 40 miles of New Providence where Nassau is located.

Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Today we were preparing for our departure early on Sunday morning for Mayaguana, Bahamas. We were up early and decided to improve our usual planning by walking the mile or so to the nearest supermarket in the cool of the morning rather than the heat of the middle of the day as we usually seem to manage. Fresh bread and vegetables bought and back at the boat before 9am we got all of our electrical items recharged whilst we were still on shore power.

The Customs & Immigration official came down to the marina and I was able to check us out at the same time as a large monohull who also leaving. They are on route to Fort Lauderdale, via Great Exuma, though because of their draught they were having to leave at 2am to get out of the channel on high water.

I then set about the paperwork for the US visa appointment we have next month as this has to be done online. Many of the Bahamian islands are uninhabited and we are not sure how regularly we will get internet access. So I diligently completed all the questions…are you coming to the US to commit terrorism etc (I suppose if they don’t ask it would be in all the papers when someone did do). We tried to gather what documentation we could to prove that we were intending to leave and that we can support ourselves whilst we were there, just in case we needed anything sending to us which could take some arranging.

Finally, I looked into travel requirements for Cuba which we would like to visit whilst we are in the area. A visa is also required and must be collected in person (as we can’t do postal) from a Cuban Embassy. As luck would have it there is actually an Embassy in Nassau, so we will be able to arrange this while we are there too.

Quiet night in with a game of dominos ready for an early start and our departure for Bahamas.

Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Today was a day to catch up on a few jobs, washing the dive kit in between rain showers, cleaning the boat, metal polishing etc.

I spent sometime doing the blog, diligently researching online the names of some of the fish we saw on our dives, so I definitely educated myself with this week’s blogs.

In the evening we went out for a drink at the Shark Bite bar at the far side of the marina which was full of white Scotsmen who were I think here for something on the banking line, Turks and Caicos being another offshore tax haven. After a beer or two we succumbed to a meal out at the Tiki bar again, which was the usual good service and good food.

Turtle Cove Marina, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Our second day of diving and only 5 onboard today, so just one group of divers diving with Dave. Ironically, we head out to North West point where we moored on our way in to Provo. The North West point of Provo drops off to 2000m deep within a couple of miles of the shore creating an excellent wall dive. The Amphitheatre is a natural overhang of coral from the wall, it was a good dive, lots of different species and looking over into the abyss.

Dive 1: The Amphitheatre

 Queen Triggerfish 

Shoal of horse-eyed jacks swim close by

The red-striped lobster a local species 

Fan coral 

Sea Anemone 

The second dive site was literally within 5 minute’s boat ride just along the wall of the North West point. The weather however wasn’t quite so good with thunder and forked lightening in the distance amongst grey overcast skies. The second dive called “The Crack” leads through a fissure in the coral, quite easy to find when you know how as a black and yellow striped fibre optic cable is literally laid across the bottom just before it which acts as a landmark. Just like buses, after waiting for for three dives, 3 long awaited sharks appear on this dive, black tipped reef sharks to be exact. The sharks, patrol the shelf as this is where many fish come to feed. This was certainly the best dive we did in Turks and Caicos, lots of life and impressive drop-offs on the wall, though if anything the visibility was not quite as good here.

Dive 2: The Crack

A Black Tipped Reef Shark – at last!

A Green Moray Eel being cleaned by Blennies 

Large coral 

Honeycomb Cowfish  A difficult one to spot – Spotted Scorpionfish

Type of Puffer fish?

After the dive the boat is taken round to South Side marina on the southern coast of Provo. It was good to head across the reef in someone else’s boat and see all the small limestone islets and blue waters. It was pouring with rain by the time we disembarked and we were bused back to Turtle Cove marina, pleased with ourselves not to have chosen South Side marina miles down and unmade road with very little around it.

We dropped our kit back at the boat then went to settle up for our diving. It is pouring down still and we are soaked by the time we get back to the boat, but we enjoy a quiet afternoon listening to the rain catching up on blogging etc (after some prompting from Jean on the comments!). A long hot shower and I am thrilled to realise I can actually use my hair drier as we are on unlimited shore power – the first time I have done this onboard!!!

Sunset and Sinatra evening 

A lovely evening on the boat looking at the sunset and dancing to Frank Sinatra in the cockpit, followed by a fairly well matched gin rummy game.