Category: Sailing Return 2021 – 22

This post is all about the caves!! We’ve had a few days of restful exploration back in the Exumas, starting with Rudder Cut Cay. This area is known for a few things – Musha Cay which is owned by David Copperfield and the piano & mermaid. When David Copperfield first resided in the Bahamas, people would come to his island to check things out! So to give people something else to look at, Copperfield commissioned Jason deCaires Taylor to created a sculpture of a piano and mermaid. This sculpture is about 2nm south of Musha Cay and it was just south of our anchorage at Rudder Cut Cay.

The Rudder Cut Cay anchorage was very interesting because lots of boats would arrive in the morning and early afternoon. They would check out the piano and then either leave right away or head out first thing in the morning. It was fun to watch the outgoing and incoming boats as they tried to find the perfect spot. It turned out that this spot was less then perfect. With the wind from the south east, we had lots of waves and it was pretty rough the whole time we were there. We did get the chance to snorkel the piano and mermaid and to look at some of the interesting caves in the area.

Today, Friday, March 18, we decided to head north to Great Guana Cay (the home of Black Point Settlement which we’ve visited already this season) and to anchor at Oven Rock. This southern part of Great Guana has an interior cave that (apparently) is 500ft deep. We reached our destination around 10:30am and went ashore to explore the cave. It was very cool – we have no idea how this cave was originally found but the trail to it is well established. We walked up the hillside and then down into the cave and swam in salty cave water. It was dark but still visible – a bit creepy but very interesting. After our swim in the cave, we walked out to a sound side beach that was very secluded and lovely. We packed a lunch, sat on the beach and enjoyed this spot all by ourselves!! It’s rare to have any of these ‘touristy” areas by yourself, so we enjoyed every minute.

Once we returned to the boat, we decided to move further north to get away from the rolly water we were experiencing at Oven Rock. We moved back up to Little Bay where we anchored several weeks ago. It’s very interesting to be travelling north by the same route as you travelled south. We’ve only done this once before when we went home because of Covid. Now we get the chance to leisurely explore areas we missed on the way down as we make our way slowly back north!

I don’t usually post so close to my last one but today was a special day. After my last post that talked about one of our worst days here in the Bahamas, I thought it would be nice to post about an amazing day!!

We left New Bight early this morning (Tuesday) – around 7:30am. It took a bit of time to get our fortress anchor on deck (it took both of us!!) and to secure it to our safety lines. Once it was up and secured, we motored about 1 hour until we were out of the Bight of Cat Island. The wind was predicted to be from the south east (a good direction) with about 10 – 15 knots of wind. Well, the direction was good but we didn’t see that much wind all day. We were able to motor sail with our jib!

It was a very nice trip across the sound to Rudder Cut Cay (in the Exumas). The jib did a good job of moving us forward while adding a bit of stability against the waves. The sun was out and it was a nice day to travel back to the Exumas.

Whenever we travel across deep waters – the Exuma Sound is 2000ft plus deep – we like to put our fishing line out. This is called trolling – the fishing line just drags out behind you. Mark is the captain of fishing and he looks after the whole process. Today, we started fishing as soon as we left the Bight and continued most of the way across the sound. Mark diligently changed the lures he was using every 30 minutes or so. At one point we talked about turning into the wind “if” we caught a fish because we had a sail up and waves rolling us from the stern. In my head I thought okay I’ll turn into the wind – but how far and for how long….I left those questions for later – didn’t want to jinx things.

We were about 5 nm from Rudder Cut (the entrance off of the sound) when the fishing line went off (with lure # 5 or 6). We turned into the wind which slowed us down and stopped us from rolling side to side. Mark worked for a good 15 minutes reeling in the fish he just caught. You never know what you’re catching but as the fish got closer, we could tell it was a big Mahi!! This was only the second mahi we have caught- it’s very cool.

So tonight we had fresh fish for dinner!! This certainly makes up for the little problems we had in New Bight and makes us super happy we are back in the Exumas!

Where to start – okay so we were anchored in the south east end of the bight at Cat Island and had to move to the north end for the changing weather (winds changing from south east to north east). We decided to make this move after our restaurant lunch on Saturday. We took our dinghy to shore at noon only to find out that the Bahamian Prime Minister was making a surprise visit to the resort so the restaurant was closed. We were very happy for the little resort to have such a special visitor but no lunch for us!! We headed back to the boat, had lunch and moved up to the New Bight anchorage a little head of schedule. This is when things started to fall apart.

The wind had already picked up and changed directions. It was now coming from the south west and plowing straight into the New Bight anchorage – big waves bouncing everyone around! Many boats from our south spot had already moved up, joining the boats that were already anchored so it made finding a good spot to anchor a little more challenging. It is important to drop your anchor into the wind and because the wind was coming from the south west, we had to anchor with our bow facing out and our stern facing the beach. That’s not the usual way to anchor and it’s definitely more difficult. Most times you anchor with boats in front or beside you facing the shore (more or less). This time we had to turn away from shore, move out in front of the other boats and try to judge the distance from our stern to the other boats (while keeping in mind you have to drop anchor, let out 75 – 100ft of chain and then back down on it!). Oh and I forgot to mention that earlier in the morning, our plotter stopped working! Mark managed to get most of it up and running before we headed to New Bight except for the depth sounder (tricky to anchor when you don’t know how deep the water is!!). Time to trust the maps for water depth!

We found a great spot – close enough in to be sheltered and no boat directly behind us. We got into position and lower our (so far) amazing new manson anchor and the darn thing wouldn’t grab!! We were bouncing so much and being blown back so fast that the manson anchor just couldn’t dig in. We tried 5 times – changed locations 3 times and finally decided to change anchors. Our next best anchor is a Fortress danforth style anchor. It was on the bow until we bought the manson in November. The fortress was taken apart and stored under the floor in the main cabin. So while I manned the helm and kept us from dragging too far backwards (into the shallow water), Mark reassembled the anchor and attached it to our secondary anchor line which is 30ft of chain and then rope (this line is attached to the second anchor on our bow which is a cqr anchor – it’s not a great anchor but it’s the only one that fits on the bow with the fortress or the manson).

Once the new anchor was in position (basically just sitting on deck at the bow), the manson had to be retrieved (it was still in the water doing a crappy job!!). So we motored forward, brought in the manson and then Mark literally lifted the fortress onto the cap rail and pushed it off the side of the bow (there was no space for it up there). A big splash and the line started paying out. First attempt – success!! We were finally anchored way off to the side away from all the other boats (just in case). By this time it was close to dinner – we were tired but happy!

The expected wind change (from south west to north east) happened overnight which meant our anchor had to reset itself as the boat turned (something this fortress has failed at in the past). So at about 4 am our anchor alarm went off (we can set an alarm to tell us if the boat has moved from its original spot – very handy alarm). With the wind direction change the anchor dislodged and couldn’t reset – we were dragging about 1ft/second out into the bay. At least we were moving away from all the other boats and into deeper water! So we started the engine, motored up to the anchor and started to bring the rope line back on deck. This was quite the challenge – it was dark, windy and the anchor line was not on our windlass (the device that winds in our chain and anchor). Mark had to pull the rope by hand until he got to the chain portion. At that point Mark could use the windlass to get the anchor up. We had to drop the anchor twice before we got it to hold again!! By this time it was 5 am and we were both exhausted!! The good news is that the fortress anchor held all day yesterday and is still good today!!

Tomorrow morning we will be sailing out of New Bight (with a sigh of relief) and heading back to the Exumas. The wind is predicted to be from the south east so we should have a great sail back across the Sound. We’re heading to Rudder Cut Cay where we’ll stay for a few days to explore the area! Here’s hoping for an easy sail and a successful anchoring!!!

Our crossing from Red Shanks to Cat Island on March 10 was great. We had good wind from the south east and were able to sail all the way across the Exuma Sound and into our anchorage (within 1.5 miles of our final resting spot!). It was a beautiful day – the wind and sun cooperated to give us a great sail. It did get a bit wavy about half way across and those waves continued until we were behind the south tip of Cat Island. We were fortunate that wind and waves were moving in the same direction so we rocked a bit but the wind kept us moving forward at a good speed.

We are currently anchored in the south east corner of the Bight – a large bay at the south end of Cat Island. As we travelled across the sound, we could see many other boats heading this way and we are now anchored with most of them. It’s a very large area so it doesn’t feel crowded at all. Today we explored a little creek near us called Joe Sound Creek and it had a very nice beach on the east side of the creek. We had a good walk along the beach and saw lots of shells. We also found several large holes – no idea what is using these holes but if it’s a crab, I don’t want to meet one on the beach!!

As usual we are expecting another slight blow Sunday and Monday from the north/north east, so tomorrow (Saturday) we will move to New Bight. This anchorage is in the same bay just on the north end so we will have better protection from the wind. We will also be close to the town and can do a bit of shopping and maybe some laundry. Before we leave this anchorage, we are having lunch at this little resort (Rollezzz Beach Resort) that’s very close to our current spot. It should be fun.

Our plans moving forward keep changing (the nature of sailing). We originally wanted to sail to Conception Cay, Rum Cay and Crooked Island – all of these are south east of Cat Island. Unfortunately, the prevailing wind in the Bahamas is east and we’ve been seeing a lot of south east. So it looks like we may be heading back to the Exumas to explore some areas we’ve missed in previous seasons.

We’ve had a great stay here at Red Shanks but it’s now time to move on to other islands. We’ve done a lot of weather watching and wind watching to figure out where to go next. This morning our plan was to head to Long Island but tonight we’ve decided to sail to Cat Island. Tomorrow’s wind is predicted to be about 15knots (gusting to 20knots) from the south east which is perfect for sailing to Cat Island. If we went to Long Island, we would be motoring into the wind (and waves) all the way. We are very excited to be heading out again and to revisit Cat Island.

The sad part of our departure tomorrow is that our friends Jane and Steve (on Daydreams ll) will not be travelling with us. They have decided to start heading north to explore parts of the Exumas that they haven’t seen yet and to revisit some of their favourite spots. So in the morning, we will head north east to Cat Island and Daydreams will head north west to Lee Stocking Island. We will definitely catch up with them at some point before we jump back to the USA. So we wish them fair winds and following seas as they enjoy the Exumas!

Crimson Kathryn is mostly packed up and secured for an early morning departure. We should have good wifi at Cat Island so we’ll send another post once we’re there. But for now, here are some photos from the past few days.

It’s a good thing we are tucked away in our favourite George Town anchorage – Red Shanks – because it has been blowing like crazy for 3 days!! Our wonderful big anchor has held strong against the 20 – 25 knot winds that have gusted into the low 30 knots. This anchorage is well protected from the wave action that comes with wind so we have been quite settled in here! It does make for a bit of a wet dinghy ride but that’s okay!

One of the big pluses of these windy days is that our wind generator has been working overtime. We have power to burn and so, using our new inverter, we were able to turn on our hot water tank and have real showers and wash dishes with hot water – the little things really make a difference when you’re on a boat!! After our last big blow at Cambridge Cay where the wind generator kept us awake, Mark contacted the manufacturer and found a solution to that problem. Now we put the brake on at night so the wind generator doesn’t spin and we can sleep!!

We’ve managed to keep ourselves entertained during this blow by doing little jobs and getting out in the dinghy a bit. Right in front of us is a small island called Moss Cay. It has a nice beach that faces east and a sandy area on the west side where you can leave your dinghy. We went over there on Saturday – I walked the beach and Mark worked on the dinghy motor. Mark added these fins just above the propeller on the motor that are supposed to help your dinghy plane better. And guess what – it works really well!! We had some fun planing around our anchorage!!

We’ve also done some socializing and baking this weekend! Our friends Jane and Steve joined us here at Red Shanks on Friday and we had happy hour with them that night. On Saturday Mark baked some brownies and I made focaccia! And then last night (Sunday), we headed over to Jane and Steve’s for dinner and a movie. It was loads of fun and we watched a classic (must watch) sailors’ movie called “Captain Ron”, starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short. This movie makes all other sailors look (and feel) good!! It was a fun night.

It’s hard to believe that it has been 3 years since we last stayed in one of the many George Town anchorages. It’s nice to be back and to be anchored in one of our favourite spots – Red Shanks.

Our trip down from Lee Stocking on Monday was super easy. We left through the southern route, going out onto the Sound via Rat Cay cut. We left at high tide and saw lots of water all the way down that shallow draft route. It was a very sunny morning and there was virtually no wind. When we got out onto the Exuma Sound, we found the water to be relatively flat and with the low wind speed, we had an easy 2 hour motor down to the Marina at Emerald Bay (which is located near the top of Great Exuma Island). We stopped at the marina to fill up our water tanks and to buy a jerry can full of gas for our dinghy motor. We left Jane and Steve at the marina as they were visiting friends staying at the condos nearby.

We continued south to George Town and saw lots of boats that we had met at earlier anchorages. That’s one really cool thing about the Exumas – it’s pretty small so you see the same boats all the time! As we entered Elizabeth Harbour, the waves and wind lessened even more as we ducked behind Stocking Island. We also realized this is where everyone has been hiding – there are about 300 boats in the harbour!!We arrived at Red Shanks at low tide and there were only 2 boats in the anchorage- excellent!! We picked a good spot, dropped anchor and went for a swim.

On Tuesday we started our day by doing laundry at a laundromat close to Red Shanks (outside of George Town). We discovered this place 3 years ago and are super happy that it’s still open. It’s a great laundromat and it’s easy to dinghy to. After laundry we headed to George Town for lunch at Island Boy Cafe (one of Caroline’s favourite spots!). We also took a look around and we’re glad to say that George Town has survived the pandemic (even without all the cruisers there to spend money).

This weekend we are expecting another blow (winds ranging from 18knots to 30knots from the north east) so we’re staying put in Red Shanks. Jane and Steve are heading here tomorrow (Friday) so hopefully there will be room for one more boat!! The winds are moving south so we’re hoping to get a good crossing window to sail to Conception Cay by next Thursday (March 10). Fingers crossed!!

Our visit to Lee Stocking Island is coming to an end. It’s been a great 5 days and we’ve truly enjoyed the rest!! We’ve watched boats come and go over the past 5 days. We’ve heard some are heading to George Town but there also seems to be a large number of cruisers heading north. Everyone is saying there are way more cruiser here this year then last year (makes sense).

One of the highlights of our stay here was our encounter yesterday (Saturday) with some very large stingrays. We went for a dinghy ride to explore the area just south of our anchorage and because the water was a bit rough, we decided to come back close to shore. That was the best decision!! Steve and Jane saw the stingrays first and within about 20 minutes we were surrounded by about 10 of these graceful creatures. We had fun moving along with them and trying to get some good photos. Steve had his GoPro video camera and got some amazing underwater footage of the rays.

Another highlight was the snorkeling Mark and I did today at these 2 rocks just west of our anchorage called Tug and Barge. The coral and fish around these rocks were beautiful! It’s probably some of the healthiest coral we’ve seen in the Bahamas in recent years. There were many different types of fish and we saw one school with at least 50 fish swimming between the 2 rocks. We spent a bit of time snorkeling around and taking in all the underwater scenery.

We went for one final walk on Lee Stocking and enjoyed a short walk that led to the Exuma Sound side. The waves were fairly small today as the wind has calmed down. We met a couple walking along the little beach who followed us through the Bock Cay cut 5 days ago. They are anchored just in front of us but this was the first time we saw them off their boat. It’s always interesting to chat with fellow cruisers – you can hear some interesting stories and you can get some good tips about places to see and areas to explore. Lots of fun.

We’ll be up early tomorrow morning (Monday) to catch the high tide so we can take the southern route to get onto the Exuma Sound. George Town is fairly close and we should be anchored there by mid afternoon. It should be an easy moving day with low wind speed – it’s a motoring day!!

It’s so nice to get to an anchorage knowing you have several days before the winds change and you can move again. That’s what has happened for us at Lee Stocking. We arrived here with a mostly east wind and that wind will build (and move more south) over the next few days. So here we are – stuck in a super cool spot!! We’re nicely protected from the easterly wind and it’s a very interesting island with lots of trails.

On Thursday Jane, Steve, Mark and I checked out the abandoned Caribbean Marine Research Centre. It’s been closed for years but it looks like it was left in a hurry. They did a lot of fish research here and you can still see all the tanks and water ponds that they used for their research. The place would make an amazing movie set! There’s also an airstrip on the island but you certainly wouldn’t want to use it! We walked around the research centre and along 2 or 3 beaches on the Exuma Sound side – it was such an awesome day!!

Today (Friday) we went on another hike up to the highest point in the Exumas. The view was amazing (see photos below) and the trail was very nicely maintained! We also did another walk out to 2 more beaches – I’ll never get tired of walking on beaches with the waves crashing in!! That’s the best!!

We ended our day with a hour happy on Jane and Steve’s boat. It was the perfect way to end an awesome day. Good eats (thanks Jane!!), good drinks and best of all good company. As we were chatting in the cockpit, another dinghy flew by with 2 men and lots of groceries. We’re not close to any stores so we were super curious about how they managed to get all that stuff. Turns out they rented a car near the top end of Great Exuma Island (the island that George Town is on) and drove down to George Town to get lots of provisions!! A very good idea!

It looks like we will be here at Lee Stocking until Monday. The winds are supposed to calm down by then so we will be able to motor our way down to the Marina at Emerald Bay. This marina is in the north part of Great Exuma Island and they have water!! We need to fill our empty tank that we didn’t fill at Staniel Cay and fill our other 2 tanks as well. Jane and Steve will be staying at this marina for a few days as they visit other friends who are staying in a condo there. Once we’ve filled our water tanks, we’ll continue down to George Town and hang out there for awhile. I’m looking forward to visiting George Town again – it’s a neat place.

We had 2 lovely days anchored at Little Bay (Great Guana Cay). It was calm and fairly empty. Jane and I spent a bit of time hunting for sea glass on a beach that faces the Exuma Sound. For some reason, this beach gets a lot of sea glass – you can pick it up off the beach or grab the pieces as they get tossed around by the waves. It was lots of fun and the water was super warm.

We’ve moved south today (about 25nm) from Great Guana to Lee Stocking Island. We had a good sail with all 3 sails deployed. The first part of the trip was done on the banks side (west side of the islands). This side was much smoother so we were able to sail along at about 6.5 knots. We crossed over to the Exuma sound side (east side of the islands) and encountered larger waves and a slightly changed wind direction which made it more challenging to sail. In the end, we motor sailed the last 2 – 3 nm and then used one of the cuts to cross back onto the west side of the islands. We’re anchored at Williams Bay, Lee Stocking Island with lots of other boats. Our plan is to stay here for a few days and then jump down to George Town.

Here are some photos that didn’t make it into the last post.