Everyone should visit the Exumas

Here's one that didn't get published via email...oh well...maybe these missing posts will start to pop up along the way.

We left Nassau on Monday for a perfect day of sailing to Allan’s Cay, a completely undeveloped island (or group of small islands) at the northern tip of the Exuma chain. We followed a mega-yacht in and anchored at N24 44.950 W76 50.317. A sea plane landed in the anchorage and pulled up on the beach just after we got settled in and we decided it was cooler to arrive in the seaplane than the mega-yacht. We hopped into the dinghy to check out the shore. Allan’s is famous for its iguanas and I was surprised at how many there were…they were out on the beach and in the underbrush, just all over the place. The tide went out a bit too much for the seaplane guys and Reinhart had to help them push the plane back in the water. The mega-yacht pulled out soon after the plane left and Allan’s Cay turned from a playground of the wealthy to just a regular anchorage. Boats kept coming in though, and we ended up being about 20 anchored boats settled in this lovely sandy beach and coral island. The afternoon was overcast and cool and the night ended up being the darkest night I’ve seen; very eerie with stars being replaced by the anchor lights and the peculiar cries of the iguanas all night. It felt like we were in the jungle!

We were told by a neighbor that there was some nice snorkeling around, but we opted to move on to a place called Paradise Bay on Cambridge Cay instead. The ride was a mix of sailing and motoring into the wind. We came extremely close to a very shallow unmarked bank and we were happy that the waters of the Bahamas are so remarkably clear that you can rely on your eyes for navigation. Actually, these are the most beautiful waters we’ve seen with the exception of Tahiti; I don’t know the words for the countless blues and greens we’ve seen over the past few days. As we sailed past the many cays of The Exumas Land and Sea Park, we wondered why there aren’t any charter boat companies in this amazing area so full of anchorages and so close to the US. As we came close to another bank (bright turquoise water) and then spotted coral heads nearby on the other side (emerald water), we guessed this area might be a little risky for a charter boat company!

As we neared Paradise Bay, we decided it was a bit exposed in the southeast winds and looked nearby for another anchorage. We opted for one within sight of Paradise Bay (aka Conch Cut), between Cambridge, Compass and Fowl Cays. There were three other sailboats nestled in an area surrounded by coral formations as we sighted our way into a spot at N24 16.430 W76 32.308 late Tuesday afternoon. We saw some folks snorkeling back to their boat and went over to find out where a good spot was. They told us that there was a cool grotto in a nearby rock which is exposed at low tide. We told them we were looking forward to seeing the “Thunderball” grotto at Staniel Cay in the next couple of days, and they said this one was much better. We watched the sunset over an unspoiled beach and made plans to just snorkel in this area all day on Wednesday. The next morning the three other boats disappeared and we had this sand and coral paradise all to ourselves! We snorkeled a nearby coral head and then dinghied around to the grotto entrance. You could barely see it from the outside but there were a few feet of clearance to make it into the cave without having to hold your breath. Inside, the water was deep for another 10 feet or so, then the floor lifted up and you could walk around inside the large dry cave; a small hole in the top allowed light inside and you could see all the stalactites or stalagmites (which ever they are). Reinhart even climbed the wall a bit to make it up into another section of the cave. Outside of the cave, the snorkeling was fantastic and tropical fish swarmed around large purple fans growing on colorful coral. A little later we dinghied over to Paradise Bay to snorkel on an even more colorful and fish-filled coral head. This really might have been one of the best days we’ve had on this trip, and I can imagine that we will find a way to spend an entire winter season on the Exumas like so many of the cruisers do!

Today, Thursday, we were supposed to be on our way to Staniel Cay. Staniel Cay is the population center of this section of the Exumas…“population center” meaning someone’s home has been designated the post office; someone sells their home-baked bread and home-grown veggies, and the grocery store is open the day the boat bringing the groceries comes in. We heard on the radio this morning they were out of diesel, the store wasn’t open, and the official keeper of the post was “gone fishing”. It sounded like a completely charming place, but instead we made our way a little further south to Galliot Cut. We had a delightful downwind sail (twin headsails - spinnaker and poled out jib) in sapphire waters, and Reinhart actually caught our dinner about half an hour before we ducked in and set our anchor (N23 55.665 W76 17.542). Tomorrow, we’ll be on our way to the most charming town on the Exumas, Georgetown. We can’t wait to get to Georgetown and we’ll tell you all about our barracuda dinner, the rest of our journey, and just how wonderful Georgetown is when we get there!