Atlantis - Paradise Island - Bahamas

While anchored off Nassau we enjoyed an outing to the Atlantis resort complex on Paradise Island.

We accessed the resort by way of the dinghy dock in Atlantis' marina. Our wee dinghy was dwarfed as it slipped between the massive mega-yachts docked there.

We skirted the casino, having already made a sizable donation in the marina shopping complex and enjoyed viewing the fish in Atlantis' huge aquarium.

Nassau - New Providence Island, Bahamas

Barry's Birthday

We coasted in the swift current into Nassau harbour at noon on Barry's 59th birthday (Apr 16).

Our passage today from Highborne Cay took us across the "yellow bank" section of the Great Bahama Bank. Barry and I strategically timed our crossing to allow ourselves the best light conditions possible as we visually piloted Sea Star through the numerous shallow coral heads in the area.

Hindered by the strong current and brisk (20-25 knot) winds, it took us 4 attempts at anchoring to get a good hold in the crowded, busy harbour channel between Nassau (New Providence Island) and Paradise Island.

Our anchorage here allows us a good view of the constantly changing flow of cruise ships.

While stopped in Nassau we visited it's famous straw market. I was enamored by the locally made baskets that incorporated the area's locally made batik (Androsia) - truly beautiful works of art.

Blog Quiz

We dropped anchor off Highborne Cay (Bahamas) in front of the British flagged, London registered motor-yacht "Blue Guitar".

We clearly viewed a chap playing his guitar on the aft deck.

Can you guess who he was?

The Exuma Cays Chain - Bahamas

On our way north we visited, albeit briefly, some of the Exuma island chain of islands that we hadn't seen going south.

On April 7th we left behind the on-going cruiser's fun and festivities in Georgetown, skirted the shallow coral and rocks at the north end of Stocking Island and started north. We motor-sailed through the cut from Exuma Sound to the Great Bahama bank side of Rat Cay to spend the night anchored amongst the sting-rays there.

The next day we exited, at slack water, back through the Rat Cay Cut to sail on the Exuma Sound side of the island chain. We averaged 5 knots in light south-east winds and re-entered the Great Bahama Bank side, 35 miles north, through Dotham Cut. Here we anchored for 2 nights off Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay. We hiked to the windward side of the island to explore the beaches and a new marina development. Of interest to us was the sharp contrast in local housing between the Bahamas and many of the Caribbean islands. Here we see houses with glass windows, doors, air-conditioners, sky-lights, chimneys and golf carts in the driveway; non of which we'd seen in most Caribbean communities.

For the rest of our passages along the Exuma Cays we sailed only on the Great Bahama Bank side.

We stopped in at Staniel Cay to snorkel the "thunderball" grotto during slack water. The huge number of multi-coloured reef fish plus the spectacular corals edging the grotto made us feel as though we were swimming in an aquarium. Barry kindly reminded me of Steve-O's (Crykey) fate as I swam back to the boat amongst the myriad of sting-rays in the grotto area.

From Staniel Cay we entered the Exumas Land and Sea Park and anchored for the night in the swift current off Warderick Wells Cay.

Our next stop was Shroud Cay, where we dinghied through the mangroves in the centre of the island to walk the beach on the windward side.

From Shroud Cay we hopped north to take shelter from the fore-casted 30 knot sustained (24 hrs) winds in the lee of the privately owned Highborne Cay. While waiting the weather out we dinghied in to the small marina operating out of the south end of the island. We found not only many sharks in the marina's waters but also in their store as we paid $6.50 U.S. for a loaf of bread. The very swift current in the area gave us just the speed we wanted as we made our hasty exit. We both felt "Highbrow Cay" might have been a more appropriate name for this island.

Anchor to Anchor - Exuma Cays

April 7, 2010 Georgetown, Great Exuma Island to Ray Cay - 5 hours, 23 miles

La 23.43.8'N Lo 76.02.9'W

April 8. 2010 Ray Cat to Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay - 7 hours, 35 miles

La 24.05.9'N Lo 76.24.1'W

April 10, 2010 Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay to Staniel Cay - 2 hours, 8 miles

La 24.10.7'N Lo 76.26.9'W

April 10, 2010 Staniel Cay to Warderick Wells Cay - 4 hours, 16 miles

La 24.22.9'N Lo 76.38.1'W

April 11, 2010 Warderick Wells Cay to Shroud Cay - 4 hours - 19 miles

La 24.31.3N Lo 76.47.7'W

April 12, 2010 Shroud Cay to Highborne Cay - 4 hours - 18 miles

La 24.42.9'N Lo 76.49.8'W

Easter in Georgetown, Great Exuma Island, Bahamas

Anchor to Anchor - Long Cay (Crooked Island District, Bahamas) to Cape Santa Maria (N/W corner Long Island) Bahamas

25 hours, 122 miles

La 23.30.6'N Lo 74.45.7'W

Anchor to Anchor - Cape Santa Maria, Long Island, Bahamas to Georgetown, Great Exuma Island, Bahamas

6 hours, 22 miles

Our path to Georgetown has taken us 1460 miles and 2 months since we left Grenada.

Coincidentally, we find ourselves arriving in Georgetown on Good Friday. Sea Star anchored here over Easter as well on our way south in 2007 along with our friends Debbie and Larry on Tsunami, Ola and Tom on Blind Faith and Carmelle and Yvon on Taima.

On this passage we crossed the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees 27.0 minutes north).

The Flamingos at Long Cay

While hiking on Long Cay our breath was taken away as the resident flock of flamingos lifted into the air surprising us with their close proximity. The chase was on then as we spent a goodly amount of time traipsing about the salt ponds in an effort to get a close view of these magnificent birds.

Long Cay, the Bahamas (The Bight of Acklins)

Long Cay is in the Crooked Island district of the Bahamas. Just over one mile wide and 9 miles long it marks the north-west edge of the very shallow Bight of Acklins waters.

The only settlement on the island, Albert Town, fell on hard times with the failing of the sponge and salt industries. A testimony to more prosperous times is the Anglican church, the largest built in the Bahamas south of Nassau (currently under partial restoration). Today 30 residents remain on the island.

We were saddened by the decaying sign at the dock welcoming one to Long Cay "the Home of Prosperity".

We anchored on the southeast side of Long Cay, miles off shore, in 4 feet of water and took our dinghy in past the mounds of conch shells marking the very shallow channel.

A hike along the dirt track to the other side of the island revealed the gorgeous beach off Albert Town. While we were there the wind was whipping the top off the surf as it crashed across the reef surrounding the town.

On the Move - North-west

Anchor to Anchor - March 25, 2010

Big Sand Cay to West Caicos, Turks and Caicos

19 hours - 90 miles

La 21.39.6'N Lo 72.28.2'W

Anchor to Anchor - March 27, 2010

West Caicos, Turks and Caicos to Long Cay, Bahamas (the Bight of Acklins)

27 hours - 137 miles

La 22.34.7'N Lo 74.20.1'W

We find ourselves choosing a different route north than the one we followed south (2007) and planning our passages "around" certain places. Notably we chose to by-pass the Dominican Republic and the banks of the Turks and Caicos.

Pleasantly, this gives us a chance to explore some different locations along the way.

Repairs

While anchored at Big Sand Cay we undertook repairs to the damage we sustained on route.

Barry made a stainless steel bracket and through-bolted it to the remaining part of the goose-neck on the boom with a nylon webbing strap as a safety.

We will seek a facility to weld the goose-neck properly along the way.

The boom-vang snap shackle was replaced and 2 lines were rigged (port and starboard) to use as a jybe preventer in conjunction with the vang.

Big Sand Cay - Turks and Caicos

La 21.11.6'N Lo 71.15.2'W

Big Sand Cay is a giant, completely isolated sand dune surrounded by reef and crystal clear turquoise water.

We spent 3 nights here, all but one by ourselves. We swam to shore a couple of times and explored the "island" extensively. The only structures on shore are 2 abandoned old wells and a non-working light. The wind instruments previously here are now gone. The windward side was a great delight to us as we scrounged through the debris (flip-flops, runners, bottles, plastic jugs, floats, nets, coral and shells). Barry "scored" some lines, hose clamps and a plastic spout. I was happy with the shells and sea glass.

The layer of tiny, round white shells on the lee-side beach give one the impression of bubbles in the sand.

On shore we note a multitude of small lizards that call Big Sand Cay home. As well, we spotted a pair of Osprey, 3 tropic-birds, a barracuda, a shark and a sting-ray. After dark flocks of unidentified small birds "screamed" around the island.

While here we find ourselves thinking of, and missing, Ola and Tom (Blind Faith) and Carmelle and Yvon (Taima) as they were here with us on our way south in 2007.

Whale Watching in the Mona Passage

During our passage from Puerto Rico to the Turks and Caicos we sighted whales on 3 occasions.

The first was in the Mona Passage. The water was still with a long, lazy swell running out of the south-east. On this sighting we found ourselves literally in the midst of 6 humpback whales (4 adults, 2 calves). Two of the adults were sleeping, their fins and tails appears to be periodically waving to us. The other 2 adults were breaching. The 2 calves looked like turquoise torpedoes as they approached us at full speed, on their backs with their white bellies facing up, bubbles streaming off them. Once they reached our hull they made an abrupt 45 degree turn and swam along-side.

We hove-to and watched intently, marvelling at the sound of every spouting, as the pod made it's way around us. It was an amazing experience.

Each whale appeared to be accompanied by at least 12 dolphins. They rode the swell in perfect unison (the Rocketts would be jealous). We had one more sighting of dolphins during this passage.

Also this day we sighted 2 Portuguese man-of-war as we sailed by them on the calm sea. Another hour later a single pilot whale came along-side our cock-pit, popped out to have a look at us then circled Sea Star before heading off.

The next day, as we approached Big Sand Cay, yet another humpback whale was sighted breaching. That made a total of 8 whales, at least 50 dolphins and 2 Portuguese man-of-war clearly sighted during one passage - WOW!

Our Longest Passage Ever

Anchor to Anchor - Boqueron, Puerto Rico to Big Sand Cay, Turks and Caicos

62 hours - 327 miles

At 6 a.m., March 20th, 2010, in hot, still conditions we motored out of the Boqueron bay into the Mona Passage. Our buddy boat "Unchained" (U.S.) would follow behind at noon as they expected to out-pace us. The day would unfold with them experiencing transmission problems and parting from us as they sought repairs in the Dominican Republic.

On day one we switched between sailing and motor-sailing until late afternoon by which time the wind filled in. Our course (325 degrees magnetic) took us northwest across the Mona Passage. As we reached a latitude of 18.35' and cleared Puerto Rico's north shore the sea picked up significantly and we encountered a large ocean swell, out of the east, running behind us. We surfed the swell down-wind, taking turns steering in 3 hour shifts for 230 miles. Our knot meter registered up to 9.5 knots at times. It was a lumpy, bumpy ride. Today we sailed through the 2nd deepest water in the world - the Puerto Rico trench, which is approximately 8 kilometres deep. (the deepest is the Mariana trench in the Pacific)

This was the first passage we've made using our lap-top, hooked up to the GPS, equipped with Ocean Navigator Lite software, as a chart plotter. It worked very successfully along the way and even guided us around the reefs surrounding Big Sand Cay as we approached in the dark.

The wind and swell behind us during this passage made for difficult sailing. As a result of the conditions the snap shackle on our boom-vang blew apart while underway. It wasn't until we were snugly on anchor at Big Sand Cay that we would discover a piece of the boom's goose-neck broken off, laying on the deck. Barry's reaction is that if something hasn't broken we haven't made a passage - that's just the way it is.

We averaged 5 knots over-all for the passage.

We arrived in Big Sand Cay at 8:30 p.m., March 22, 2010, 62 hours (327 miles) after we set out; exhausted, hungry and stiff but definitely pleased with our accomplishment.