Norman Cay. Shroud Cay and Hawkesbill - Can't believe how beautiful

We left Warderick Wells on the edge of the front and as we headed onto the shallow waters on the Bank it was still pretty bumpy and we had 22-25 knots of south westerly wind.  Initially we motored into the wind but we were able to turn to run with the windy the sea was a little bumpy, this only really caused a concern because where were we going to get any shelter?  We headed for our first option about 12 miles away where it soon became apparent we were not going to get any shelter, a 100+ft powerboat was happily anchor there but we were rolling all over the place. So we pressed on about another 5 miles to Norman Cay, the chart showed shallow water in the entrance which was difficult to see in the white horse but we managed to sneak through, the charts explain to follow the dark blue channel, what dark blue channel? The water seemed to get light and lighter all around us and with around 20 boats already in this anchorage we just had round up into the wind and drop the anchor, good news was it was sheltered, bad news was there wasn't much room so we squeezed in close to this beautiful little island.

As the afternoon went on the wind built but we sat happily at anchor, as other boats came into the anchorage there was plenty of room for them to manoeuvre.  We went off to bed with the wind howling but happy that we had been there all day and there were no issue, as we woke up around midnight Mark looked out to check all way ok, yep all ok.  Less than 5 minutes later there was a huge bang and we both jumped out of bed and into the cockpit, the boat next to us was on just off our stern, it looked like our lifebuoy which is on our guard rail had collided with their pulpit, so it was a very close miss.  This had happened not because of the wind but because of the odd flowing tide which was causing all the boats to move in different directions.  We upped anchor in the dark and moved, very nerve racking in water which we knew was shallow all around us but we had to re-anchor.  Mark then sat on deck for the next 2 hours watching all the boats dance around but thankfully nowhere near us but it was a very sleepless night.  Next day Mark dingyed over to our neighbours who were as mystified as us that we had collided as we seemed to have plenty of swinging room, thankfully all was good on their boat as with Magnum but not nice night at anchor.

We were desperate to move as we did not want a repeat experience but decided to head out for a snorkel before making a decision.  There is a sunken passenger plane in the Bay which lead to some great snorkelling, there we some huge stingrays gliding around and hidden in the sand and schools of grunt hiding in the plane plus a huge numbers of sergeant major fish swarming in our faces, I assure they get fed so are all over any visitors, they even bit Amanda’s leg!

Wow a sunken plane

Big school of grunts playing hide and seek in the plane

Amanda and the overly friendly Sargent Major fish

Mark and his follow me fish

Mark showing off his swimming skills

As soon as we were back on board we decided we would up anchor, by now then wind had dropped and we had a leisurely sail of 6 miles to Shroud Cay.  This is back in the Exuma Land and Sea Park, stunning location, with the tropic birds noisily circling around the boat, it is close to mating season so there were lots of displaying taking place, we also had a big flock on egrets fly by.

That evening when Mark jumped off the back of the boat to have a wash, he looked at the hull only to find the Ramora fish aka sharkersuckers which we had stuck to the hull in Warderick Wells were still with us! They did not seem to concerned that Mark was in the water and we were quite excited by having some pets.  That night we had a lovely time feeding them our left over vegetable peelings, they particularly like the inside of the butternut squash, at this point there seemed to have 2 friends  – Tilly and Tom as we named them, Tom was probably 2.5ft and Tilly closer to 2ft.  They are very odd looking creatures with a large sucker on the top of their head which is how they stick themselves to sharks and whales, oh and our hull, they have big wide mouths which looked scary at first but now look like big wide smiles.  It was nice to think they were enjoying their new home as much as we were enjoying their visit.

Next day after breakfast with Tilly, Tom and now Tiny had also appeared and we set out in the dingy to explore through the mangroves on Shroud Cay and then out to the beach on the sound side of the island.  The mangroves seem eerily quiet and we did not see any wildlife, the beautiful beach you reach on through the island is amazing, it is sheltered by a few small islands and a reef, with crystal clear waters.  What was really funny as we reached the beach was there were 7 director chair set up on the beach, along with a cool box, suntan lotions, towels, kayaks, basically everything you could want on your own private beach, funny that this had obviously been set up for guests from one of the 2 huge superyachts anchored in the bay but there were no guest to be seen and we didn't even help ourselves to a cold beer.  We were certainly glad that the guests were not on the beach and we had the place to ourselves, so we jumped in for a swim.

Pottering through the mangroves on daisy dingy

Mark loving another beautiful beach

Amanda  all alone on the beautiful beach

How the other half live with everything they could want waiting for them on the beach

That afternoon we were off again and the short 4 miles hop to Hawkesbill although we had briefly stopped here before we couldn't resist another stay as it was such a wonderful location.  We even allowed ourselves an entire day of relaxing on the beach, swimming and generally taking it very easy.  Not much snorkelling here but we did see a few fish and pretty much had the place to ourselves apart from a huge powerboat whose occupants occasional came out and whizzed around on jet skis.

Magnum at anchor before leaving Shroud Cay

Big boat and little boat at Hawkesbill

This lovely little crap was keeping his eye on us

Dodging the coral heads all the way to crystal clear waters of the Exumas

On leaving Nassau the weather had settled so we headed only a few miles out to Atol Island and were already into the shallow waters which makes the Bahamas a challenge when you have a deep boat like Magnum.   Once the day tripper boats had all headed back to Nassau to the night we had a lovely calm and peaceful night.

The next day we were to sail to the Exumas through waters where eyeball navigation is critical, this basically means one of you standing on deck shouting at the other which way to steer and the other not hearing and shouting back at you, a sure way for a relaxing sail!  There were areas on this route where this navigation went on for miles so it was slow going but very necessary and we did have navigate around various coral heads but they were easier to spot than expected, as our friend Jay explained “they are the size of a sunken boat with a ring of light sand around them” and this is what we found.

It was fantastic to arrive into Highbourne Cay and call up Jay on Kenlanu, we had last seen him in Lake Worth over 2 months ago, what was even more fantastic was Jay had prepared dinner for us, so we just had to drop anchor, have a wash and grab the rum.  We spent a lovely evening with Jay with too much to talk about and lots of wine and rum to consume.

The next day we looked at the weather forecast and we were already looking at the next cold front forming and arriving in the next few days, this very sadly meant we had to head south and leave Jay, we had thought we would have at least been able to repay the dinner invitation.  With us all feeling a little jaded we headed off for a morning snorkel just north of Highbourne Cay, there were some great corals, lots of reef fish and we were stalked by a scary Barracuda.  We then waved goodbye to Jay as he thought on his long trip back up through the Bahamas and up the East coast of the States to Maine.

Kenlanu

So next stop for us was Hawkesbill Cay, this is in the Exuma Land and Sea Park which is owned by the Bahamas National Trust.  This is one of the most beautiful locations which we have been lucky enough to visit, the water is crystal clear, the sand is pristine, there are little birds hopping around the shore and old conch shells washed up on the beach.  After an amazingly silent night at anchor we had the beach to ourselves during our morning walk and swim.

Amanda on beach at Hawkesbill

Mark at Hawkesbill

Conch shell no longer occupied on beach

Magnum at anchor at Hawkesbill

We only had the morning to relax at Hawkesbill and with light winds we upped anchor and motor sailed south to Warderick Wells.  This 20 miles passage was quite relaxing apart from the last 5 miles where we had to navigate through the shallows, all would have been fine apart from our paper and electronic charts differed and although we were told that the paper charts were the more accurate which meant we would be fine and there was plenty of water it was still nerve racking manoeuvring through water which on the electronic chart was too shallow.

We safe picked up out buoy in Warderick Wells and settled in for what we knew was going to be at least a few days with a cold front bringing strong winds.  Warderick Wells is the headquarters of the Land and Sea Park so there is a small office and there are various walking trials around the island.  We had a lovely time walking trial to the Sounds side of the island and watching the waves crashing on the beach.  Many of the paths are over porous rock, through palm woods or along the beautiful beaches.  We often saw no-one else walking and were alone on the beautiful beaches to have a quick dip to cool off. 

Mark enjoying our own private beach

Magnum moored in Warderick Wells

Views over Warderick Wells

Wonderful views from Warderick Wells

Another private beach for us to enjoy

We enjoyed swimming off the beaches in the shallows but also there is some great snorkelling, we even swam with a nurse shark and a lemon shark! Plus a huge lobster that must have been 2ft long. 

Curly Tail lizards enjoying a bit of biscuit!

Bahamian Mocking Bird

 We enjoyed swimming off the beaches in the shallows but also there is some great snorkelling, we even swam with a nurse shark and a lemon shark! Plus a huge lobster that must have been 2ft long. 

Nassau Grouper

Gray Angel Fish

Nurse Shark quietly laying on the bottom

Monster lobster with his little fishy friend

We stayed on our buoy for 6 nights waiting for the weather to pass but were lucky that we could get off the boat most days but when we were stuck on the boat we made the most of the time making fresh bread and cakes.

Nassau - Chance to restock and see the sights

Next stop was Nassau which is on New Providence Island and is the capital of the Bahamas.  .  First we had to navigate back out the shallow channel with Amanda shouting instructions from her lookout.

Amanda providing lookout

We had not stopped here last year, we thought it would be shame not to as this is probably the place that most tourists visiting the Bahamas see – via a Cruiseship.  We also needed to stock up  on food although we had left the States with a huge amount a lot had been eaten in Cuba and although we loved the cheap fresh fruit and veg in Cuba we were almost out of some essentials like Mark’s beloved cereal and some not so essentials like crisps and Coke.  So with a cold front forecast we decided we would splurge and go into a marina, the unfortunate thing about Nassau is the crime rates are high and a number of people had recommend not anchoring as boats are often boarded and robbed.

Highrise on the horizon

The trip there was stress free once we had navigated away from the island, past the conch fishing boats and where into the Tongue of the Ocean, an area of water which is up to 3000M deep, one minute you are in 5M and next you are off soundings.

What makes Nassau most visible on the horizon is the hotels, in particular the Atlantis resort on Paradise island plus what look like large hotels but are actually a range of cruiseships. On arrival we decided we could anchor in a Delaport Bay slightly west of Nassau, as always we were trying to save some money, unfortunately this made for another bad nights sleep as it was a rolly one.  Still we were up early and heading for the harbour once we were granted to permission to enter we motored in observing what is not the prettiest of ports but interesting all the same.

Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island

After the row of cruiseship there are a few small marinas that take smaller yachts and based on a recommendation we stayed in Nassau Harbour Yacht Club, sounds poser than it is.

Most of our time in Nassau was spent stocking up on food, it felt like we were never out of the supermarket but we were like kids in a sweet shop with the variety of food available, everything you could want but at a price.  Everything cost more than in the States or the UK so although we wanted to buy lots of yummy stuff we really limited ourselves. It was also very funny to see Waitrose products again, I really would have loved a whole selection of Waitrose biscuits they looked amazing but I see Waitrose as a extravagance at home let alone when I have not been working.

So enough about food, we did have time to walk into Nassau centre and our overall opinion is that it has been spoilt.  There are some remaining colonial buildings and some of the government buildings are pretty but mainly it is full of tat tourist shops, a few luxury brands like Gucci, a few duty free shops and lots and lots of tourists from the Cruiseships.  There were 3 ships  in on the day we visited and it was over-run by people.  We did attempt to head a bit off the main strip and walked to the Art Gallery and then onto the Distillery and onto the Fort, an improvement on the main street but not that exciting.

Courthouse

Gallery

John Waltings Rum distillery

Governors House - we think

We also had a surprise visitor in Nassau, our friend Robie on Cilest who we met last year in the Bahamas had just arrived from the States and was anchored in the harbour so he managed to pop over for a glass of rum.

We appreciated the fact that we had shelter during the cold front, it was great to get stocked up with food and drink but not sure we would be rushing to return to Nassau.

Very Merry Berry Islands

An unexpected first stop in the Bahamas at the Berry Islands, when we finally reached Frazer Hogs Cay, we dropped our anchor on the south of the island around lunch and decided we would not be moving anywhere until both rested, so we hoisted our yellow Q flag but made no attempt to check in.  

Mark finally able to relax after some tiring days at sea

Sunsets like these make it all worth while - I say that now but not at the time!

We slept like babies and woke in the morning ready to navigate along the west coast of Frazer Hogs Cay which is a small island is the south of the Berry Islands which are made up of around 30 Islands or Cays as they are called here.  There was a very small marina which comprised of a few berths much too shallow for Magnum and some mooring buoys.  These were managed through the Berry Island club which used to have some small cottages attached to the club but we understand that it closed some years ago and have only over the last couple of years re-opened on a smaller scale.  We could have anchored in this area but we needed to get checked in and if we took the mooring the guy who manages the marina would take us to check in.  Sounds simpler than it is, there is a fancy marina at the other end of the island at Chub Cay, here you can pay $100 to dock just to check in but at the Berry Island Club, Howard will drive you across the bumpy roads and get you checked in at the airport which actually takes hours our of his day but is done for only $20.

This was a great place for us to stop as we had use of the washing machines in the club, they had wifi which was a luxury after so long and even the shower seemed wonderful – even through this was cold, in a wooden hut that drained through into the ground and you had to have the door open as there was no light but we had just come from Cuba so weren’t expecting much!

Berry Islands Club

Berry Islands Club from the water 

Would love to day it was a perfect start to our stay in the Bahamas but the first night we had strong northerly winds, all would have been fine but the tide runs very strong , and against the wind it mean that the buoy was pulled under the hull and the chain was scrapping along the keel, we were up running around the deck with head torches trying to move the buoy, this worked for a while and we were able to rest but as the tide turned again and the wind increased the buoy was causing a lot of surging on the lines and by 3am we were up having tea, biscuits and trying to do all we could to make the motion more comfortable and not damage the boat.

The next few days we did as little as possible to have time to recover, you could have a few short walks on the island – we saw a raccoon which was quite exciting. We could have taken the dingy to other islands but we did very little other than relax.

Taking it easy

About time we relaxed

We did enjoy our stay here, Howard was more than helpful and to date (from the previous year) had been the most helpful Bahamian we had met.  He was visited frequently my people from the large Bone Fishing boats and small power boat to enjoy a meal at the club, he was supposed to be an amazing chef.  We also enjoyed watching the conch fishing men, one day they had engine problems and it was amazing to see them empty their catch overboard to keep them alive, Howard told us there were around 2500 Conch onboard but full catch would have been closer to 4000, how there are any left in the sea is amazing.

The pile on the deck is the Conch

Cuba to the Bahamas

Amanda and I had been fretting about this leg of our journey for months. It was only 200 miles to Bimini where we intended to check in, but with the prevailing winds from the NE this time of year we looked to be in for a long upwind slog. We had dallied so long with our visitors that our visas were due to expire and that put pressure on us to leave asap.

We were lucky, the day after Amanda said goodbye to Cheryl and family, the weather gods decided to send us a change. Light Sw winds were forecast for 2 days before turning light northerly. We rushed around, paid our bills, booked a 5am checkout with the coastguard and spent the last of our CUC (on rum and pizza!)

0430 we were up but the coastguard arrived late and took nearly 40 mins to complete the paperwork but by 0600 we had cleared the harbour entrance and set sail for Bimini. 

Sun rising as we leave Cuba

We motored for a few hours then hoisted sail and motor sailed for a bit before the wind filled in and we had a few hours spinacre sailing in sunshine and flat seas.  Lovely to be moving again.

Eventually the wind died and we motored along but we were now in the gulf stream so with reduced engine revs we were still making 7-8 knots as darkness fell. At midnight as Amanda came off watch the wind filled in and we again set sail and roared towards the Bahamas at 8+ knots.

The wind continued to build and we continued to reduce sail as our speed meant we would arrive in the dark unless we slowed down. As daylight broke we could start to spot the land but alas the increased wind (30 knts) was driving a large sea which made the entrance to Bimini very dangerous. With a sigh of disappointment we decided to continue around the top of Bimini and eastwards onto the Grand Bahama bank, to make use of the predicted drop in wind and the swing to the north.

All was going well, the wind dropped, it swung north and we made good progress.

As the wind was now <10knts we decided to anchor out on the bank for the night as we were both exhausted. We stopped made dinner and went to bed.

A couple of hours later Magnums motion indicated the wind had strengthened, so by midnight we upped anchor and were once again underway.

It was one of the darkest nights either of us could remember and with the wind now in the 20’s the short steep waves were not very pleasant. We put a scrap of sail up and kept progress deliberately slow to ensure we reached the narrow passage off the bank in daylight.

The weather gods reaped their vengeance for our easy passage from Cuba and sent 35knts winds, driving rain and zero visibility. It was a very tense 6 hours until daylight, it was darker than a miners armpit and 20 miles to leeward Andros and an area for very shallow sandbanks. We sailed along as slowly as possible trying to limit our slippage downwind just relying on our instruments alone, thank you US government for GPS.

Daylight dawned the wind disappeared and Mark left Amanda to pilot us through the NW channel and on to Frazer hog cay whilst he collapsed exhausted in the bunk.