Spanish Wells - Pretty cottages and church fete

The next day was another significant sail, we were now feeling some pressure to make way north for our crossing to the States.  The sail to Spanish Wells was all in shallow water, if it was over 6 metres this was deep!  The winds were variable and Mark was busy adjusting our sails to keeps us moving, we attempted the spinnaker again when we had light winds but within an hour the winds were up and the spinnaker was down but we sailed most of the way to our navigational challenge.

The Current is a cut through 2 islands (one called Current Cay) which can have tides running up to 10 knots but in the last couple of miles approaching the cut there are various sandbanks which must be negotiated, the water seemed to be constantly changing colour and Magnum weaving between these colour changes, the water was 2.3 metres at time, we are 2.1 metres deep so we were very apprehensive. But we reached the Current successfully, position Magnum in the centre and were whisked through at 9 knots!

Whistling through the Cut, look at our wake!

Sandbank that we had just avoided

The remainder of the sail to Spanish Wells was not much less challenging, for around 5 miles we were able to sail as depths were 3-4 metres but the final couple of miles were heading into 18-20knot of wind over less than 3 metres of water, again down to 2.3 on several occasions.  Mark had worked out the tides but we had a arrived slightly early and we working off depths which were different on both our electronic and paper chart so were not very confident.  Just as we overcame the final hurdle of entering into the cut between Russell Island we heard on the radio that the ferry to Nassau was leaving and it headed straight toward us through the narrow channel – what fun, we were glad to be there!

The settlement is renowned for Lobster fishing which the export worldwide, the port was full of large fishing boats.

Huge lobster fishing boats

We were so thankful that the buoys which we had read about were still there in the harbour and there was one free and even better the water was over 3 metres, we tied up safely and radioed “Bandit”  - yes that was his name, to advise we were using a buoy.  This was really the only way we could visit Spanish Wells as the closest sheltered anchorage is miles away, just too far for us in our dingy

The view from our mooring, couldn't get much closer to the town

Almost looks like a toy boat

Spanish Wells is one of the original Loyalist settlements and many of the families remain on the island and there are lots of pretty cottages that date back to the 1800s.

What a view from your house

The people here were really friendly and it was a thriving little settlement, the main road was bustling with golf carts!  We had a really nice day just wandering around, Mark yet again found the bakers and today it was carrot cake J and we even popped along to the local church fete.

Nights we relaxing here, there was quite a lot of boat traffic heading back to the main island but they were all very considerate and there was little wake, we also saw some great sights, he is a car being transported and just in front of the boat you can see the fin of the dolphin which the boat was completely unaware of!

Car on boat and poor dolphin about to get run over!

Leaving Spanish Wells we decided to take the north east Ridley head passage which is part of the Devil Backbone and the pilot book will not even provide pilotage for this area and advises that you use a pilot, so after seeing 4 boats being piloted out the previous day we decided if we were going to take this route this is what we should do.  So at just before 7am, we were following Bandit out of the channel.  With the sun so low in the sky water visibility was very poor and it made it difficult to see the channel and immediately our chart plotter was not showing the channel where were we were motoring (normally it have been completely accurate) as we headed through the coral heads there was no sign of these on the plotter or the paper chart, so the pilot was definitely money well spent.

Pilot boat leading us out

Goodbye Spanish Wells

Still following Bandit

Governors Harbour - mmmm cakes

The next morning we were up bright and early and sailing to Eluthera which was a round 30 miles away, we had to make our way back out into the Exuma sound but with no swell and light winds we had a perfect sail across to Eluthera. Here we had to drop sails and motor across a sandbank and back into shallow water on the Eluthera bank. We then had a 20 mile sail across the sandbank, with the wind dropping off Mark hoisted the spinnaker and we glided across the channel water.  Approaching the island it looked significantly different from Exuma, it was more undulating, green and there we lots more trees on the horizon.

It was a long day it as we approached the rocky headland but we made to the bay along with one other boat arriving at the same time, the pilot books advised of poor holding but we dropped the anchor in less that 3 metres of water and we held.  We were joined that night whilst eating our dinner by a lone dolphin swimming in the bay which always makes us smile.

Approaching Cupid Cay and Governors Harbour

Governors was once the capital of the Bahamas after the Elutheran Adventures landed in the 1600s, although a lot of the original houses on Cupid Cay we destroyed in a fire quite recently.  The settlement is actually one of the bigger settlements we have visited, it was suddenly amazing to have a supermarket where we could track down some fresh fruit and veg.  It was quite a busy place with passing local traffic, assume this was due to the shops, garage, bank, etc but in reality it was still small and took less than an hour to walk around the entire settlement.

Mark tracked down the bakery and bought himself a sticky bun but he had to wait to consume as we found a lovely café overlooking the bay and tucked into muffin and cookies! Delicious J

Magnum all alone at anchor whilst we enjoyed our cakes

There we some beautiful colonial buildings to admire, with an amazingly well stocked library in a beautiful building.

What a lovely library in such a small place

Wow what a fancy house - there were lots of these wooden plantation style houses

As always the people were very friendly and not sure they had too many cruisers pass this way (not like the busy Exumas) as they seemed really keen to chat.

Walderwick Wells - Wonderful

Walderwick Wells is the headquarters of Exuma Land and Sea Park, there are around 20 buoys that have been laid around the deeper channel which for us were $20 a night.  The island itself has various marked walking trials and almost as soon as we arrived we were off and walking through the Mangroves.

View from Walderwick Wells

Wandering through the dried our mangroves

That evening we had a lovely time with Robie and Patsy who brought over a bottle of rum to share, before we knew it the bottle was empty and the sun had set!

The next day we felt slightly jaded but were keen to make the most of the stunning surroundings we were up and in kayaks fighting again the tide!  We paddled off along the shore to a deserted beach were we sat in the water watching the world go by, could have been more idyllic especially as there was no wind so the sea what flat calm.

Waking up to these surrounding is amazing

What a beautiful anchorage

That afternoon we met with Robie and Patsy for our playdate and went snorkelling, we had to do this at slack tide as the currents run quite strong through the anchorage.  There was some beautiful coral, we saw some huge spiny lobsters hiding in the rocks, a large Nassau Grouper and a Lion fish neither of which we have seen before – the Lion fish is actually an invasive species and is usually killed, we assumed this was still surviving as there is no fishing in the Park.  We would love to share some photos and will add when we can but we can extract the photos from the camera at the moment due to problems with our laptop!

The afternoon saw Mark up the mast attempting to resolve our VHF problems and checking all our rigging.  He also took the camera with him and got some great photos.

View across sandbank and main channel into anchorage

Magnum and daisy dingy from above

View across to Walderwick Wells Cay and park headquarters - look at the water colour!

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

Big Major Spot & Staniel Cay - Pigs and Sharks

We had our first sail on the bank (shallow) side of the islands, the water was almost perfectly flat as the wind was blowing easterly and the islands providing shelter.  Big Major Spot is only a few miles north but on route we passed various small islands, some completely dessert with just beautiful white andy beaches others with a solitary luxury house, lots of the islands here are privately owned, that is how the other half live!

Big Major Spot is famous for the pigs. Not just any pigs, they are swimming pigs, once they see the dingy approach they must know you are likely to feed them and they haul themselves off the beach and into the water.  All very funny although not quite so funny once you are stopped in the dingy trying to feed them as they are quite excitable and really big!

Swimming Pigs!

Cheeky seagull hitching a ride

Look at them go!

On day 2 we saved up all our peelings, banana skins and anything else we could find and put it in the bucket, Mark did not even have time to empty on the sand before the barged him out of the way and demolished everything, including the bucket.

Beating the bucket!

Staniel Cay is a short dingy ride away Big Major Spot and it more of a holiday island.  There is a small yacht club/marina where a few boats were moored, this is also a popular place for watching the sharks.  The local fishing boats gut their daily catch on the shore side and the sharks take advantage of anything spilt into the water.  We had only seen one shark since arriving in the Bahamas, the night before after we had just been having a dip off the back of boat one swam under the boat and it must have been at least 6 feet!

Around 20 nurse sharks just under the surface looking for scraps

He doesn't look too big in the photo but he was bigger than Amanda - not that she got too close

The island is still pretty sleepy even thought there are some holiday cottages and there is an airfield with direct flights from the US daily but the island is still very isolated, most people get around in golf buggy or on foot, the supermarkets are reliant on the mailboat which arrives weekly, when we arrived at the end of that week the only veg we found was past their best onions, no fruit, no bread, very little of anything and what you can geet is very expensive.  We have experienced difficulties in provisioning since we reach the Caribbean but the Bahamas has been the most difficult yet, lucky we topped up with packets, tin and all the staples in Puerto Rico. All of this aside the island was very cute, loved the roadsigns (see photo), most of the holiday rentals were small wooden cottages and the people couldn't have been nicer - apart from getting ripped off at the fuel dock for water!

Just off Staniel Cay is Thunderball grotto, this was the cave which featured in the James Bond Thunderball film.  After just seeing all the sharks at the dock it feels a little odd going snorkelling but this was the first really chance since arriving.  You can get into the cave by swimming through the rocks and it opens up above you, there are lots of fish to be seen in the cave and outside the Sergeant Majors must be used to getting feed as the surround you!

Looking our of the cave at all of the fish at the entrance

Mark making friends with the Sergeant Majors

Great Guana Cay, Black Point - Sleepy settlement

On leaving George Town we had a 50 mile sail to make some progress up the Exuma island chain.  The morning started well when we were joined by a young bottlenosed dolphin who came to say hello which was a bit of a surprise as the water was only around 3 metres deep and have usually seen them in water over 100 feet! We then had to navigate through a different exit back into the deep Atlantic, again this was a challenge as it is never a straight route and you have to weave in and out the sand banks which makes progress pretty slow and then once you hit the deeper water the waves are rolling in and it pretty bumpy but once our we had a good breeze for a long days sail.

Black Point it on the north tip of Great Guana Cay, in the pilot books it refers to the settlement as the second largest in the Exuma Cays but it is tiny!  There are probably less 30 houses and a few holiday cottages surprisingly though it had good public amenities with a medical centre, post office, school, police station and a tiny airstrip – we believe these are all subsidised by the Bahamian Government.

Great Police Station

There is also a great laundrette for the yachties which also does a suburb carrot cake for $1 a slice, mmmmmmmmm yummy.  But the shops are very sparsely stocked we were lucky to pick up some carrots and a pepper but there really was no other fruit or veg.

The anchorage was lovely and calm but we also went for a windswept walk on the Atlantic side of the island which was also beautiful.

Beautiful anchorage

Windy Atlantic shoreline

If you had lots of time, Black Point is somewhere you could potter around not doing much, the locals were so welcoming you instantly felt at home.

Lovely sunset from Black Point

George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas - Yes the are as beautiful as you imagine

The anchorage at Geroge Town is tucked in behind Stocking Island which means a bumpy mile dingy ride across to Geroge Town but it also means great shelter behind the island from the rolly Atlantic waves and easterly breeze.

George town is the biggest settlement in the Exuma Cays which are made up from over 100  islands that stretch for 90 miles.  George Town is at the south of the chain of islands on Great Exuma.  We did not realise that we were arriving in Regatta week, we knew it was taking place but hthough we had just missed but thankfully not as it made for some lively entertainment, as we could watch the racing whilst sitting in Magnum’s cockpit. 

The trip across the to George Town takes you into Victoria lake where you can tie up the dingy and explore.  The settlement is small but this makes it easy for check in as Customs and Immigration are only a couple of minutes walk.  There are a couple of supermarkets which we later found were fantastically stocked compared to stores on the other islands along the chain.  There are some very pretty buildings including the Peace and Plenty hotel and also a few lovely little gift shops.

It was really lively on all our visits ashore as the regatta seemed to be in full swing with music and beer flowing from mid morning, this also meant that were lots of yachties around which made for a really nice atmosphere.

We did venture ashore on Stocking islands which was little more that a couple of bars, a small marina, a few small holiday villas and stunning beaches.  We walked across the island to the Atlantic shore to one of the most stunning beaches, it was nice to get our  legs walking again.