Allan Cay - The Exumas/Bahamas

We shared the anchorage at Allan's Cay with 14 other boats and many iguanas.
The Allan's Cay group of small islands is one of the remaining habitats of iguanas in the Bahamas.
In our visit to one small beach here we got a head count of 54 iguanas.
The iguanas are herbivores and are protected by the Bahamas National Trust.

Intimidated Yet?

March 11th saw us under-sail from Rock Sound, Eleuthra to Allan Cay in the Exumas.
It took us 3 hours to cover the shallow water from Rock Sound to Powell Point where we finally found some depth. One of the charts we used during this travel was EL19 in the Explorer charts (Monty & Sarah Lewis). These are some of the notations from that chart - unsurveyed shifting sand bore / shallow sand / rocky bar / shallow hard bars / grass patches / sand dry at LW (low water) / sand, grass and widely scattered coral / awash LW / strong current / nearly dry at LW / unsurveyed area / poor holding / narrow - strong current - may shift
We safely arrived at the deep water in the Exuma Sound only to find the charts at the other end of our day's journey listed as VPR - "visual piloting rules apply in areas covered on this chart - good weather, sunlight, bottom reading and piloting skills required".
- and you thought we were just having fun !

Rock Sound - Blue Holes

We had a brisk sail in 20 knot east winds from Governor's Harbour to Rock Sound, which we found to have good holding and offered excellent shelter.
On route 6 dolphins played along with us in the 5 foot seas.
When we arrived we joined the 15 boats already on anchor in the shallow (6') waters of Rock Sound.
A short hike on land revealed to us one of the many ocean (blue) holes that dot the area. Researchers are unsure of the depth of this semi-fresh water hole and whether or not it connects to the sea through a series of caves. There is an abundance of sea-life in the 360' diameter hole but locals say it was placed there by the area's fishermen.
We have been unable to find laundry facilities on Eleuthra, so we "sent it out" in Rock Sound. A local gave us 24 hour return service at a cost of $5.00 per load. We failed to find any down-side to this.
We proudly have mastered the skill of riding our dingy while standing. After months of arriving on shore with wet bottoms we are now much more presentable.

A night at the movies We took in a movie while in Governor's Harbour - "A night at the Museum". Our curiosity was more in seeing the only theatre on the island than the movie itself. Ticket prices were $5.00 (U.S. or Bahamian dollar) per adult-$5.50 for the balcony seats. The concession booth offered popcorn, burgers, hot dogs as well as conch salad. We, and our friends, were the only patrons on the night we attended. Even though we bought the best seats in the house (balcony) and made purchases at the concession booth, we were concerned about how air-conditioning this large theatre and the 3 or 4 staff operating it could bring any profit. This concern would be ours alone as we have repeatedly witnessed the Bahamian attitude which is centered on happiness rather than commercial gain.

Governor's Harbour - Hatchet Bay

Hatchet Bay was our 3rd stop along the Bight of Eleuthra.
We had our friends Larry & Debbie (Tsunami) and Tom & Alex (Blind Faith) on board for sun-down drinks on Saturday March 3rd. Much to our delight and surprise the clear evening sky that night allowed us to witness a full lunar eclipse.
Our next stop along Eleuthra's lee shore was our favourite - Governor's Harbour. Everything we saw and experienced here left us feeling good.
The buildings were painted beautiful colours and the dogs and poultry roaming the streets were entertaining and delightful.
The friendly, happy community spirit was obvious to us in the evening as the town came to life "under the lights" with a baseball game, a basketball game and a choir practice.
We fully enjoyed the beauty of Governor's Harbour from the many flowers, pink sand beach, turquoise waters, pretty churches and brightly painted houses. Here we witnessed the full beauty of the Bahamas and its people.

The Glass Window - Eleuthra

March 2, 2007 - Once clear of the turbulent waters at the end of Current Island we enjoyed a 30 mile sail in l0-l5 knot south winds along the Bight of Eleuthra to the Glass Window.
The turquoise colour of the water here has to be seen to be believed.
The Glass Window is a rock formation where the serene turquoise Bight of Eleuthra waters almost meet with the restless cobalt blue waters of the Atlantic. It was originally a natural rock bridge 85 feet above sea level but in l926 it was washed away in a hurricane. In l960 a bridge was constructed to allow the Queens Highway to cross the land which is high on either side but falls away abruptly nearly to sea level, for all practical purposes, dividing Eleuthra in two.
On Halloween day in l991 a rogue wave picked up the bridge and moved the northern end 7 feet westward to where it sits today.

Eleuthra

We had a fairly rocky ride around the end of Current Island as we made our way through the choppy waves caused by the strong conflicting currents.
Once in the lee of Eleuthra (the Bight)we enjoyed travelling sheltered from the prevailing north and east winds.
We found the breathtakingly beautiful turquoise water along the whole 90 mile Bight of Eleuthra offered good depth with few obstacles.
Eleuthra varies in width from virtually a few feet at the Glass Window to barely more than 2 miles at its widest point.
While moored in Governor's Harbour we strolled the short distance to the Atlantic (windward) shore and enjoyed swimming and snorkelling at the beautiful pink sand beach we found there (former Club Med location).

Current Island - Eleuthra

On February 28th we left Nassau by it's eastern entrance, inched through the shallow channel between Paradise Island and Athol Island, rounded Salt Cay and set sail along the Eleuthra Cays for Current Island, Eleuthra.
Our friends on Tsunami and Blind Faith continue to travel with us.
The winds were light when we left but built during the early afternoon (NE gusting to 30 knots - seas picked up to 6 feet). By the late afternoon the wind started to settle back down again (10-15 knots) as it clocked to the east.
We passed just below Pimlico Island, between it's western edge and a turbulent, choppy wave area (cross currents).
We anchored off of the west end of Current Island, between it and Pimlico Island in 14' of water.
Here we enjoyed an evening bonfire, snorkelling and beach combing on our own private beach.

Atlantis Resort - Paradise Island
Grounds

Atlantis Resort - Paradise Island
Aquarium

Atlantis Resort - Paradise Island
Glass sculptures in the casino (sun, temple of the moon and crystal gate)

Atlantis Resort - Paradise Island Atlantis is a family entertainment and gaming resort complete with a marina complex, 38 restaurants, bars and lounges, spa, sports centre, 11 swimming areas including water slides in a life-sized Mayan Temple, casino, shops, l8 hole golf course, tennis, Discovery Channel Camp, The Dig (an elaborate underground maze of passageways and rooms representing what life may have been like for Atlanteans more than 11,000 years ago and the huge aquarium complex. The One and Only Ocean Club which was once home to the eccentric multi-millionaire, Huntington Hartford, is now part of the Atlantis complex, as well as the Versailles Gardens which house the Cloisters (French Monastery). We were curious to see what developments had taken place since we last vacationed in a resort adjoining the Atlantis resort, on Paradise Island, during its early construction 15 years ago. We found that the hotel we had stayed in, plus the one beside it have since been taken down to make way for the luxury Atlantis residences. We noted they are selling for $700,000.00 to just over 3 million. We spent two afternoons exploring the complex. We found that we could access the grounds through the dingy dock at the Atlantis marina, so we held our heads high and came in by dingy that way, past the super-mega yachts docked there.

Nassau
Overview:
While in Nassau harbour we anchored directly offshore from the Cloisters which is a French monastery bought by Huntington Hartford, disassembled, shipped and rebuilt here.
The harbour boat traffic was very heavy, the current strong (upwards of 2.5 knots) with lots of wake.
We melted in with the immense tourist population.

Nassau

Observations :
Nassau is a working harbour and daily traffic consists of:
- huge "party" boats complete with live music, taking tourists from the many hotels as well as
the cruise ships out for a day of snorkelling, fishing, sight-seeing, diving and general merry- making
- jet-skiis
- freighters
- cruise ships
- cruisers (sail and power)
- mailboats carrying supplies and passengers
- beautiful all wood Bahama sailing sloops
and of course, what busy harbour would be complete without a good number of sailing school dingys darting back and forth
Women in the straw market primitively sewing designs on baskets for sale, with their children tucked at their feet, but also talking on cell phones and eating take-out food in styrofoam containers (cross cultures?)
Local buses (jitneys) - $l.00 - loud music is played for the entertainment of the riders - many locals sing along
We found the locals to be very kind and helpful - lovely people.
The ocean beach was breathtakingly beautiful.