Sampson Cay and Cambridge Cay - Perfecting the art of eyeball navigation

We had been quite lucky with the weather in the Bahamas but the wind turned westerly which meant were getting the worst of it whilst in Big Major so we had to move on unexpectedly.  This was the first westerly wind since Gibraltar back in August! We have been lucky with the trade winds.  Again we put out eyeball navigation stills to the test to get behind some small islands and gain shelter, which we had all to ourselves for the night but it did mean we missed the mailboat, this brings the Out islands all their provisions and in places like Staniel Cay is desperately needed it is critical.

Heading to our isolated anchorage for the night

Sampson Cay does have a fancy marina and luxury resort which has a small shop, Mark popped ashore in the morning hoping to get some fuel, water and possibly some fruit and veg, but unfortunately was unsuccessful as the lady that runs the shop won’t come if it is too windy as she doesn’t like the sea!  So onwards with no food.

We headed back out to the Exuma sound and the big sea which wasn’t looking quite so bumpy since we had westerly wind, it seemed that everyday the navigation became more and more of a challenge, to get out we had to weave in and out of coral heads with Mark standing on the pulpit at the front of the boat shouting directions, what a relaxing start to the morning!  The entrance to Cambridge cay was slightly easier but still the deep passage we had to manoeuvre was very very close to the shore, so we had the island one side and coral reef the other!  But it was definitely worth the effort the location is stunning, the most beautiful sea you can imagine.

Admiring the view at Cambridge Cay - yes the water is really this colour

We had the afternoon snorkelling, it was lovely to be in the water, there are not many fish close to the anchorage but we did see a turtle which was nice.

Next morning we had a great walk on the Atlantic side of the island with almost calm conditions although as you can see from the windswept hair there was still some wind.

The rocky Atlantic coastline

Windswept with Magnum at anchor in the background

Great coastal walk

Cambridge Cay is part of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park which is managed by the Bahamas National Trust which means there is no fishing and the area is protected, people are not allowed to take anything from the islands.  On the Atlantic side beach on Cambridge Cay there were huge bits of coral and some beautiful shells.  The Park lay mooring buoys in some of the areas to protect the sea bed but as always we needed to save ourselves money and found somewhere to anchor.

At Cambridge we also bumped into Patsy and Robie a fantastic couple who currently live in Maui but were spending some time sailing Celest in the Bahamas, Robie had been in the Bahamas for a few months and Patsy had joined him for a few weeks.  We were having problems with our VHF radio and Robie was kind enough to let Mark use his, as our next stop was Walderick Wells, where you need to book a buoy as there is no anchoring.

Mark hauling anchor as we leave Cambridge Cay

Celest and Magnum left at almost the same time to head for Walderick Wells, Celest originally headed off shore but our paths soon converged and we had a lovely sail side by side with around 10-15 knots of breeze.  Mark hopped up on deck and took a few photos of Celest, we were later to find out that Patsy had been doing the same which was fantastic as we never have photos of Magnum sailing but even better she took a video clip, look at Magnum go!

Celest having a lovely sail