Bahamas, Part 5: Back to George Town and The Ragged Islands
Will the Bahamian authorities put an end to our remote cruising dreams?
This morning, the crew of Osprey set sail on a northbound course—a direction we largely haven’t traveled since last October, but one we’ll continue until September.
The directional shift signals an impending close to our Bahamas chapter and brings with it some sadness; however, it comes at the right time. The temperature inside the boat reached 84°F today, and springtime squalls have started to form in the heat of the afternoon.
Bahamian summer is approaching, and it’s time to seek cooler waters.
The past several weeks have been an absolutely perfect way to begin wrapping up our time in the Bahamas.
We spent a week in George Town, visiting with family and repairing our dinghy. Then we decided how we wanted to spend the remainder of our time here.
For those who know us well, you won’t be surprised that we chose to spend our last two weeks back in the remote beauty of the Ragged Islands.
Route Overview
Friday, February 20 – Saturday, February 28
George Town, Exuma
Sunday, March 1
Thompson Bay, Long Island
Monday, March 2 – Wednesday, March 4
Flamingo Cay, Ragged Islands
Thursday, March 5 – Sunday, March 8
Buena Vista Cay, Ragged Islands
Monday, March 9 – Tuesday, March 10
Racoon Cay/ Spanish Well, Ragged Islands
Wednesday, March 11 – Thursday, March 12
Hog Cay, Ragged Islands
Friends to the Rescue: Surviving Our Dinghy Attack
We left our last blog post on a cliffhanger—how would we manage a deflated dinghy after it was attacked by a barracuda?
Not having a functional dinghy is clearly inconvenient. It’s our car—without it, we can’t get from Osprey to shore for groceries, meeting people, or taking Maisie for bathroom breaks.
As soon as we anchored in George Town, we started planning our dinghy repair. We knew it would be out of commission for at least 24–48 hours, the time it takes for the glue to dry.
Priority #1 was finding a way to get Maisie to shore.
Thankfully, our friends on S/V Anatta were in George Town and generously offered to escort us and Maisie to the beach twice daily. They even brought their dog, Vinny, so the pups could recreate some of the playtime they enjoyed back in Little Bay, where we hunkered down for a January blow. (you can read our previous post here)
With doggie bathroom breaks handled, Michael got to work on the repair—using a patch and glue to fix the barracuda tooth–sized hole.
But misfortune struck again when we realized our glue had completely dried and unusable!
What’s a sailor to do when they need supplies? Call fellow sailors to see who has extra to spare.
Lucky for us, S/V Loka—fellow Sailing Totem coaching clients—were in George Town and came to the rescue. We’d been wanting to meet the crew anyway, so our mishap had a silver lining.
After trading homemade carrot muffins for dinghy glue, all we had to do was patch the hole and wait.
I’m happy to report that the repair worked perfectly and has held air ever since!
A Visit from Family and Western Winds
While the glue dried, Michael and I prepared for both welcomed guests and unwelcomed weather.
Michael’s parents were attending a conference in Florida and decided to take a detour to George Town.
While Osprey has a guest cabin, it currently serves as storage—mainly housing the remains of our four-month supply of dog food and Blanchard’s coffee beans—so our guests stayed at a hotel in George Town.
At the same time, strong western winds were forecasted for the first half of their visit.
Getting to shore to see them was going to be challenging—not only were we without a dinghy, but crossing the harbor would have been wet and uncomfortable in the forecasted winds.
So, for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas, we decided to pull into a marina for a few nights.
Thankfully, Anatta decided to ride out the same weather there, so we had excellent slip neighbors.
The added bonus? A land shower with unlimited hot water.
During their visit we enjoyed delicious meals, snorkeled around Great Exuma Island, sailed in Elizabeth Harbour, explored George Town’s small commercial district, and soaked in the sun on several of Stocking Islands many beaches.
Reconnecting with Friends
George Town sits at the southern end of the Exuma island chain and is a popular stopover for cruisers—both those who mainly explore the Exumas and those venturing farther afield into the Bahama’s Out Islands or Caribbean.
At any given time in winter, 200–400 sailboats are anchored outside George Town.
While Michael and I prefer less crowded destinations, the big upside of passing through is the chance to reconnect with sailor friends.
In addition to Anatta and Loka, we also caught up with our friends on Alboe, Anjuna and Silver Lining.
We even attended a few events that were part of the George Town Cruiser Regatta, which felt a bit like high school spirit week—complete with a variety show, sailboat races, and sandcastle-building competitions.
Buddy Boating Bucket List
By this time, we’d been in the Bahamas for two months, but one big bucket-list item remained unchecked—buddy boating with friends.
Buddy boating is when two or more boats cruise together for an extended time—both for safety (extra eyes and resources) and for fun.
Over the prior weeks, we had been staying in touch with our friends on Silver Lining and began to hatch a plan to buddy boat for a few weeks in March.
We first met them in Fort Pierce, Florida, as we all prepared to cross to the Bahamas. We reunited briefly in the Berry Islands around New Year’s, but had since gone separate ways.
Now, we were getting the band back together!
We hadn’t decided exactly where to go, just that we wanted remote waters where we could snorkel and spearfish.
We considered Acklins and Crooked Islands, which would be new territory for both of us, but ultimately let the strong easterly forecast guide us back toward the Raggeds—new for Silver Lining but a favorite for us.
Remote Raggeds Redo
The Ragged Islands are some of the most remote islands in the Bahamas.
There is one settlement, Duncan Town, on the southernmost island, with a population of about 40 people. Duncan Town has a small convenience store, a bar, a church, a health clinic, an airport, and a rustic fly fishing lodge.
There are no marinas, no supermarkets, and no boat supply stores. Anything that a sailor needs while cruising the Raggeds, they need to bring themselves.
Knowing this, we spent the day before departure stocking up for three weeks off-grid.
Both Osprey and Silver Lining have solar capacity to live off grid, fridge/freezer capacity for weeks of food and Starlink for weather checks.
We felt ready.
There are two routes to get from George Town to the Raggeds. The first, through a narrow cut in the Great Exuma Island - called Hog Cay Cut - is quite shallow and can only be navigated by cruising boat at or near high tide.
We checked the tides and learned that on the day of our departure, high tide was before sunrise and after sunset - not good times to be out on the water. So we opted for the other route - via Thompson Bay, Long Island.
If you recall, Thompson Bay is where we spent much of February hiding out from bad weather, and is where Maisie met some friendly sailors who took her on multiple walks on the beach! (read all about that in our previous post here)
Early Sunday morning, we lifted our anchor and left George Town for Thompson Bay - us and about 6 other boats! For most of the day, we sailed in a line with half a dozen other boats on a similar route as us.
At one point, our friends on Silver Lining mentioned that it felt like being back on the ICW! I suppose that it was a popular day to leave George Town, since the weather forecast was excellent and the Cruisers Regatta was ending - folks were heading to the next destination.
After spending almost two weeks in early February in Thompson Bay, it felt a little like returning home when we dropped the anchor there Sunday evening. However, this was only a quick pit stop and we were up and out early the next morning.
Our route and the conditions were the same as they were when we sailed to the Raggeds from Thompson Bay in February - idyllic sailing across a shallow bank of blue water.
This time, we skipped Water Cay and headed straight for Flamingo Cay—ready to return to our favorite snorkeling and spearfishing grounds, now with friends.
Spearfishing in the Bahamas
In our last post, we shared some of our snorkeling and spearfishing adventures—spotting a giant loggerhead turtle, learning about shark safety, and catching dinner fresh from the sea.
Since we spent even more time in the water during our second visit to the Raggeds, I’ll share a bit more about what spearfishing here looks like.
What’s the difference between line fishing and spearfishing?
A few key differences are: the equipment, being in (vs on) the water, and the type of fish being caught.
We spear fish while we are snorkeling in the water. We use a line and rod, trolling the line behind Osprey when sailing in deep water.
What equipment do we use?
We wear:
masks
snorkels
fins
wetsuits
weighted belts (to offset buoyancy)
Michael also uses a small waterproof flashlight to check crevices for lobster and hiding fish.
Spearguns are illegal in the Bahamas, so we use a pole spear—a pole tipped with a spear point and tensioned by a six-inch rubber band.
You loop the band around your wrist, stretch it back along the pole (like a slingshot), aim, and release. Once the spear hits, Michael brings the fish immediately to the surface and swims back to the dinghy to avoid attracting sharks.
What do we catch?
While spearfishing, we are seeking out fish and lobster that live on and around coral heads, such as:
some grouper species
some snapper species
triggerfish
hogfish
lionfish
lobster
Deep-water fish like tuna or mahi mahi are caught trolling a line while sailing.
What about sharks?
Sharks are a fact of life here. We think of them like stray dogs—don’t surprise or provoke them.
Our rules:
Only dive in clear water (never murky, dawn, or dusk)
No splashing or thrashing
Never swim alone
Stay situationally aware—especially before spearing
Get out of the water immediately if a shark appears
Remove speared fish from the water immediately
Change locations once we spear a fish
Never swim where others are cleaning fish
We’ve seen several sharks, but none have acted aggressively.
What are the fishing spots like?
Coral heads in 10–30 feet of water, often in cuts or inlets where marine life gathers.
They’re typically 1–3 miles from the anchorage, reachable by dinghy.
What other safety precautions do you take?
Beyond sharks, the main risks are dinghy issues and ciguatera, a foodborne illness caused by toxins accumulating in some reef fish.
We carry a handheld VHF radio in the dinghy for emergencies and often go out with friends in separate dinghies for redundancy.
To avoid ciguatera, we never eat large predatory reef fish and avoid certain species that are known to carry the toxin. We only eat fish we’ve caught ourselves so we know their species and size.
Hopefully that gives a fuller picture of our spearfishing days in the Raggeds, both as a couple and with friends.
Speaking of friends, a few nights ago, we were delighted to reunite with S/V Jojo—the first couple we spearfished with in the Raggeds.
Hog Cay Yacht Club
We first met Jojo at Flamingo Cay in February and reunited when we arrived at Hog Cay, one of the southernmost anchorages in the Raggeds.
We decided to meet at one of the most famous “yacht clubs” in the Bahamas—the Hog Cay Yacht Club.
When you hear “yacht club,” you might imagine men in navy blazers and ascots sipping Chardonnay.
This is not that type of yacht club.
Years ago, a group of salty sailors started congregating on the beach on Hog Cay. Year after year they would reunite at the same spot. They’d haul their beach chairs, sun umbrellas and beach toys to the beach, and haul them back at the end of the day.
Until finally they decided to just build a small hut on the beach to save themselves the schlepping.
Years later, a beautifully rustic beach bungalow remains, complete with grill, fire pit, beach chairs, volleyball court and various other flotsam and jetsam.
I’d heard about the Hog Cay Yacht Club and it sounded too charming to miss. So we arranged to meet Jojo there to reconnect.
While there, we met some of the longtime cruisers who built and maintained the place—many of whom have returned to Hog Cay every winter for over 20 years!
Unannounced Visitors
Our visitors in George Town weren’t the only visitors aboard Osprey recently. While in Hog Cay, we welcomed several other visitors - however, this time they were completely unannounced!
One morning as we were finishing breakfast, I saw a small motor boat turn into our anchorage. This was unusual as most of the boats we see are larger, cruising vessels. As the boat got closer, I could clearly read “Bahamian Defense Force” on the side of the boat.
As the boat got closer, it became clear that they had intentions of tying up to the side of Osprey.
The men aboard, dressed in bullet proof vests and holstered guns, tossed Michael bow and stern lines. After securing their vessels to Osprey’s starboard side, they politely announced that this was a “routine boarding”. They were there to check our immigration and customs paperwork and do a quick walk around our boat.
We had heard of such boarding, but honestly were not expecting one ourselves.
The four men aboard were incredibly professional. Two came aboard Osprey—the captain and another. While the captain stayed in the cockpit, the other man went below with Michael to complete the brief inspection.
He looked in our refrigerator and in a few of our cubbies. Unconcerned about what he found (what remained of our food supply) he came back to the cockpit.
Meanwhile, the captain and I chatted topside. He explained that the crew are based out of Nassau, but have rotations throughout the Bahamian island chains. Currently, they are based out of Duncan Town, the only settlement in the Ragged Islands.
When I shared that we are based in Virginia, he told me he had recently attended a leadership training program at the Quantico Marine Base, where Michael’s brother served as an instructor at the same time - small world!
The captain also explained that most of their work in the area was checking for smuggling and fish poaching operations. After checking our immigration and customs paperwork, the crew was fully satisfied that we weren’t involved in either of the aforementioned activities. Phew!
They thanked us for our cooperation, wished us well and were on their way.
After us, they ended up inspecting most of the other boats in Hog Cay that day. I’m not sure if this is a regular occurrence, or if we just happened to be around on an infrequent inspection.
Either way, we enjoyed chatting with the Bahamian officials to learn about their lives, and we’re thankful for the men’s service keeping Bahamian waters safe for cruisers like us.
About-Face
Hog Cay marked the southernmost point of our Bahamas adventure.
After collecting so many memories—and a few tasty fish and lobster—it is time to turn north again.
Our friends on Silver Lining need to return to the Exumas to meet friends and our Bahamian visas will expire soon.
The past two weeks in the Raggeds have been Bahamian cruising dream, and as our northward journey officially begins, we a have a few lingering questions:
Will we have time to explore more of the Bahamas before our time here expires?
What are our plans after we leave in April?
Are we ready for another Gulf Stream crossing?
Stay tuned for all that more!
Until then—cheers!
– Jen, Michael & Maisie
We love following y’all’s adventures Hopfully in a couple years we will be out there with you on Nalani
Another great report. Cannot wait to hug your necks!! See you sooner than later now!!
Becky