The Exuma Cays

Finally on Wednesday, 6 March, we left George Town and headed to Lee Stocking Island. Andrew was very nervous as it was our first entrance into a cut and they can be shallow. One has to watch the tide and waves and the depth all at the same time.

We entered the cut with no issues but when we were heading to where we wanted to anchor, we hit the bottom. Andrew managed to get us off the sand and we motored over the way to a deeper section. 

Usually when we drop anchor, the boat faces into the wind and as the anchor drops the wind pushes the boat back, with the anchor and chain going out in front of us. This time we dropped the anchor and even though Andrew was going astern, the anchor dropped under the boat and the chain went along with it, heading to the middle of the boat. It was the weirdest thing!

We had some much needed breakfast and watched as we went around in circles, twisting the anchor chain more than it normally is. I don’t think I have mentioned this before but since we splashed in Trinidad, we have been having problems with the chain. When we bring it up it slips on the gypsy and has jumped off causing the chain to run out at a fast pace. Laura has to be down below half hanging into the anchor locker as she moves the chain from the top part of the locker down to the lower part. I am terrified that she will get her hands caught when the chain slips. We are not sure why the chain is so twisted but this certainly wasn’t helping.

After breakfast which was more like lunch, which confuses Laura every time, we decided that we didn’t want to be going round in circles all night, so we picked up the anchor and went back to the other side again. 

The tide had come in a bit and we didn’t touch the bottom. We anchored with relief and without going round in circles!

Only two boats in the anchorage

There was only one other boat in the anchorage. They popped over to us on their way to conch hunting and told us that they had taken a photo of our boat in the sunset. After exchanging boat cards, they said they would send it to us.

This was our sunset

We spent three nights at Lee Stocking Island and after getting used to the keel being on the bottom we had fun. Have a look at our Facebook page to see a video I took of the keel almost on the bottom. Link at the top of the page.

We pumped up the paddle board, which Laura loves! She isn't up on her feet yet but I'm sure she will get there at some point.

                                    

Cleaning the stainless

There use to be a marine research facility on the island which operated from 1984 to 2012. Visitors were allowed on the island to tour the facility. Sadly, the grant ran out and the funding dried up. Nowadays, although we saw people going to and from the island, visitors are no longer allowed ashore.

On Saturday morning, we managed to get the anchor up without too much drama and Andrew navigated our way back out the cut. We had to time the tides to make sure we would get out safely. We had to wait until the tide was turning. We mistimed it slightly and had a bit of unsettled water at the entrance - nothing like what we experienced going in to the Knysna Heads, so it was fine.

We sailed up as far as we could before going in to Rudder Cut Cay. The wind dropped and we bobbed along in the current. We weren’t too worried about speed as we wanted to get to the entrance of the Cay (please pronounce it: Key) at the turning of the tide, heading to high tide. There was a cat ahead of us also waiting. We politely called him on the VHF informing him that we would go behind him, with another boat behind us. Next thing another cat comes whizzing in from the side, pushing in front of us and haring off towards the anchorage! Some people have no manners.

We dropped anchor in beautiful clear blue water, but too close to another monohull called Obelix. As we were about to pull up our anchor, they upped anchor and moved further away from all the boats.

Making the most of the beautiful day, we dropped the dinghy and donned our swimming costumes and rash vests for a snorkel. We wanted to see the mermaid and the piano.

Rudder Cut is owned by David Copperfield. The story goes that he commissioned someone to make a life-size mermaid and grand piano, which he dropped in the sea for his friends to find.

The guide book says that it is at Musha Cut, but it is actually much further south. We managed to find it and it was amazing. The only thing was the current was so strong we had to swim hard just to stay above it.

Mermaid and her piano

If you want to see a video of the mermaid, have a look at our YouTube channel. Link at the top of the page.

While we were there we noticed the people in the dinghy with us looked like the people on Obelix who had moved. Andrew spoke to them and said that we were going to move and hoped it wasn’t because of us that they moved. They said no, they were too close to the cat behind them and if they were to swing, they would have hit them.

Magical sunsets

We were so thankful that we had gone for our snorkel the day before as the following day the wind picked up and the weather was miserable. We spent the day boat bound, watching other boats leaving in a hurry. I suppose the fetch on the water was too much for them. We had experienced far worse in other places and we knew the anchor was well in, so we stayed put.

Andrew had done a lot of research about our route to Great Guyana Cay and even asked on the Facebook group about the depth of the water. He got some good replies and a route from Addison Chan, who has written some Bahamas guides, so Andrew was feeling a lot happier about it all. There were two patches that he was worried about. On the chart it said they were 1,5m but when we went over them they were well above 2m. 

Blue is shallow

Lighter colour is shallow!

Once we got there we anchored in a vast expanse of blue water that was about 3m deep. 

We went for a walk to the cave. It is a huge cave with a pool of water which we did not swim in, but I believe you can. Bats hang upside down on the ceiling as water drips down making stalactites. 

Then we went and found the other side of the island. There was very little rubbish on the leeward side of the island, but that was not the same on the windward side. There was so much flotsam and fishing nets. I'm not sure how much of it had washed up and how much had been dumped.

Oven Rock

Someone's rudder!

We went for a snorkel on the bommies off oven rock. There were a few fish but nothing much else to see.

Oven Rock

Andrew and I went across the vast expanse of water to find the dump. Rubbish is a huge problem and we are always grateful to find the correct place to dump rubbish. They do burn their dump but clearly glass and broken fridges don't burn.

Rubbish dump

On the way back we went into the town dock. There wasn't much to it but a quaint waterside dock with some sweet little houses. 

We decided to go to Little Bay near Black Point. We had a very lazy day or two with some paddling on the SUP and a very long (6km) walk to Black Point town. The roads are very dusty until you start to hit civilization and then there is a pot-holed tar road. 

The roads are dusty sand roads until you get closer to town and then it changes to pot-holed tar roads. Not sure how much of a highway it is, but that is what it is called.

Highway and Boulevard

Spot the buggy coming over the hill

Kings Highway

No grass and very little growing in the gardens

The shop was small and didn’t have much. It was expensive too. I don’t know if anything is not going to be expensive on our travels. The little shop had eggs and even though we had a few dozen on board we still bought some. We never know when we will find eggs, so we stock up whenever we see them.

High Tide Cafe

Not!

We were tempted to have a conch salad at High Tide Cafe, but they were setting up for a function that evening. They weren't interested in serving us let alone allowing us to sit down. So they saved us about $100 or more. More beer money for Andrew!

The stray cats love Laura

Local school

Garfish

We walked back the way we had come and ended our morning with a swim. 

Eish! Long walk!

We have noticed a lack of birds. Further south you find pelicans and royal turns, but here there is nothing! We saw one on our walk to the caves but that was it. We are hoping to see the laughing gulls soon. Somebody said they will arrive on 15th of March. We will wait and see.

Finally saw a bird!

There is also very little sea life here. We have seen a few rays and one turtle. There was a lone dolphin in George Town. There is no fish on the banks. Hopefully we will be able to catch one outside the banks soon.

One lonely ray

After a few days we decided it was time to move on. Our next stop was Staniel Cay where we visit the famous swimming pigs.