Bahamas, Part 6: North through the Exumas
Are the wild pigs in cahoots with the barracudas?
Good morning from a blustery bay in the Abacos! After two full days pointing due North, Michael and I arrived in our seventh Bahamian island group on Saturday afternoon, just in time to hunker down for yet another cold front.
Saturday evening, as we sat in Osprey’s (fully enclosed) cockpit, sipping sundowners and listening to the winds blow around us, we reminisced about the other places we’ve hunkered down for big blows, and how those places have grounded our overall Bahamian adventure.
Before I share our latest update, indulge me in a walk down big blow memory lane:
Cambridge Cay, Exumas
A 5-day stay for our first cold front in the Bahamas, where we navigated a tiny, shallow channel to reach 360-degree protection behind a sandbar. Once the weather cleared, we explored Rachel’s Bubble Bath, Rocky Dundas Cave, and the Aquarium with our friends from S/V Peaks.
Little Bay, Exumas
Rolling in just a few days later, the next front featured strong winds only from the east, necessitating protection from fewer angles. After testing Black Point, we decided to move a few miles south to Little Bay for easy access to the beach for Maisie. We found that—and many other dog boats seeking the same—including our friends on S/V Anatta who we finally got to meet in person.
Thompson Bay, Long Island
The biggest blow yet chased us out of George Town to find better protection and fewer boats to potentially drag into us. Reuniting with S/V Eleanor and S/V Bubblemoon made it more fun to wait for 10 days for the right conditions to head to the Raggeds.
George Town, Exumas
With a deflated dinghy and guests ashore, we opted to ride this blow out at a marina. With easy access to land, we were reminded of how, on land, life can go on with little regard to wind speed and direction.
Staniel Cay, Exumas
Higher winds timed perfectly with our return to the Exumas from the Ragged Islands—bringing a few much-appreciated lazy rest days.
Lynyard Cay, Abacos
Our current anchorage, providing solid protection and a launching point for what we hope will be a lovely week (maybe longer?) exploring the Abacos.
At times, it has felt like the weather removes all autonomy from decision making. We go where we find protection from the next blow. However, this serves as a reminder that in life, there are often things we cannot control. What we can control is how we respond.
Now for our update.
Route Overview
Friday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15
Double Breasted Cay, Raggeds
Monday, March 16
Flamingo Cay, Raggeds
Tuesday, March 17
Rocky Point, Exumas
Wednesday, March 18 – Sunday, March 22
Staniel Cay / Big Major Spot, Exumas
Monday, March 23 – Tuesday, March 24
Rat Cay, Exumas
Wednesday, March 25 – Thursday, March 26
Shroud Cay, Exumas
Friday, March 27
Egg Island, Eleuthera
Saturday, March 28 – ????
Lynyard Cay, Abacos
Double Breasted Cay: Home of the YouTubers
In boat life, it is common to ask new friends what inspired them to move onto a boat and start cruising around the world. Frequent responses include seeking freedom and adventure, and wanting to spend more time with spouses and children.
Another common response: YouTube.
About 10 years ago, “sailing YouTube channels” started to become more popular. A few families who live on our sailboats started making videos about their adventures and daily life and posted those on the video sharing platform.
“Arm chair cruisers” watched these videos and started to dream of their own sailing adventures. You might say that Michael and I were once “arm chair cruisers”.
YouTube sailing channels became even more popular during the pandemic, when many of us stuck close to home, dreaming of adventure and escape.
One of the most popular sailing YouTube channels is S/V Delos. Many liveaboard cruisers cite Delos as at least one of their inspirations for pursuing this lifestyle.
Michael and I have watched a lot of their videos, especially their season in the Bahamas. Delos sailed to the Bahamas in January, 2020 and subsequently were stuck in the Ragged Islands for four months during COVID lock downs.
The crew of Delos found a beautiful, protected anchorage to settle in for the season, and made several videos featuring their adventures in the area: spearfishing, paddleboarding across sand flats and hiking across beautiful beaches and rugged coast lines.
It seemed like their spot had it all, so of course we wanted to check it out! We made Double Breasted Cay our final stop of our Ragged Island cruise.
Double Breasted did not disappoint. It was tucked in between several small islands, offering great protection and a view that differed from the wide open water views we’d had to date in the Raggeds.
I got in a few delightful paddle board sessions across the sand flats and a small creek lined with mangroves.
To get to the good paddleboard spots required heading upwind. The winds were a little high for paddling, so Michael shuttled me and my paddleboard on the dinghy, dropped me off at a good spot and I paddled downwind back to Osprey.
With our buddy boat, S/V Silver Lining, we enjoyed our last spearfishing expedition of the Raggeds, complete with a trigger fish (one of our favorites) for Osprey and a hogfish for Silver Lining.
During our time at Double Breasted, we thought about the crew of Delos who were stuck in the very spot for months during the pandemic. Although we spent only two days there, we decided it would be a lovely place to spend more time.
“We Just Broached”
From there, our northbound journey continued—Silver Lining had friends to meet in Staniel Cay and we decided we’d head there with them to resupply and check out the area.
There are several possible routes north to Staniel Cay from the Raggeds:
Via Thompson Bay - likely a four-day journey and honestly, we’d seen enough of Thompson Bay
Via Conch Cut and George Town - not an option for us because high tides times were still too early and late in the day to pass during daylight
Across the Exuma Bank - a three-day journey only doable if Tuesday night had little to no wind, since the only stop over points were very exposed
Fortunately, the forecast was in our favor, so we opted for option 3.
Our three day journey began with an “off shore” or ocean leg from Double Breasted to Flamingo Cay in the northern Raggeds. Since we’d be sailing in deep, ocean water, Michael and I could troll the fishing line.
Despite high hopes, we were not able to repeat our fortunes from our previous off-shore passage and did not catch a mahi. Maisie was quite disappointed.
Flamingo Cay was busy that evening. It seemed we weren’t the only ones staging for a calm day across the Exuma Bank the following day.
With the packed anchorage, we had a bit of difficulty finding a good place to anchor. After a few tries, we finally got the anchor to stick, and got a good night’s sleep despite the anchorage being quite rolly.
With calm winds forecasted the next day, we were anticipating a day of motoring. Therefore, we were delighted to have enough wind to sail. We set our sails “wing on wing”, a downwind sail plan with the headsail set to one side of the boat and the mainsail to the other.
Downwind sailing is not my favorite because of the risk of “accidental jibe” or when the wind unexpectedly crosses the stern of the boat (either because the wind shifts direction or the helmsman alters course). The result is the wind violently pushing the mainsail from one side of the boat to the other, creating huge pressure loads, and risking damage to the boat.
Clearly, something to be avoided at all costs.
To avoid an accident jib, sailors frequently rig a preventer, a line that holds the mainsail in position. We do this by tying a line from the end of the boom to a midship cleat.
With our sails set wing on wing and preventer line rigged, we enjoyed several hours of comfortable downwind sailing.
Until, the wind suddenly clocked around and a huge guts blew across the bow of the boat. The strong wind shift spun Osprey 180 degrees and quickly overpowered her, making it difficult to steer.
With our mainsail tied in place with the preventer line the sail couldn’t naturally dump speed. Michael needed to go on deck and release the line so we could regain control of the boat.
I took over at the helm. At first, my nerves got the better of me and I had difficulty staying on course. After calming reassurance from Michael, I got her back on course and he took in the sails.
Once we were fully back on course, Michael messaged Silver Lining, who had been sailing behind us: “we just broached”.
A broach is an abrupt, involuntary change in a vessel’s course, resulting in loss of steer control and severe heeling.
Silver Lining had watched the entire thing from about 1nm behind us. Another benefit of buddy boating—someone keeping an eye on you, just in case.
After a few minutes, the squally winds passed. A few rain showers set in and we set up the enclosure that turns Osprey’s open cockpit into something akin to a Florida room.
After an eventful sail, we were ready to settle into our anchorage for the night. Thankful that there were no more squalls that evening, given that our anchorage was rather exposed.
Lessons in Patience from a Laundromat
The next day brought us to Staniel Cay, one of the most popular towns in the Exumas. Staniel Cay has three famous attractions:
Pig Beach - where pigs will swim up to your dingy looking for snacks
Thunderball Grotto - a partially underwater cave made popular in the James Bond movie “Thunderball”
Staniel Cay Yacht Club - a cozy beach resort with a tiki bar frequently by cruisers and vacationers
We had gusty winds our first few days at Staniel Cay, so we took the opportunity to rest and recuperate from our eventful journey from the Raggeds.
For Michael, this looked like playing games on his Switch. For me, it was finally binge watching The Pitt, a medical drama that takes place in my hometown, Pittsburgh, PA.
Even adventurers need to rest sometimes.
Once the weather cleared, goal #1 was to do laundry.
We can wash most of our clothes by hand in a 5-gallon bucket on Osprey, but sheets and towels require a proper washer and drier—so off to the laundromat we went.
The Staniel Cay harbor was still a bit choppy from a few days of strong wind. Not wanting our laundry to get splashed with salt water, we packed it all into dry bags then loaded it into the dingy. Once we got to shore we carried it all about 3/4 mile to the laundromat.
After almost three weeks of playing in the sand and salt water in the Ragged Islands, I was looking forward to fresh, clean sheets and towels like a kid anticipates Christmas morning. As I approached the entrance of the laundromat, I could practically feel the soon-to-be clean sheets against my skin.
But as I opened the door and looked inside, disappointment quickly grew. There were mounds and mounds of laundry stacked on the floor waiting to be washed. And two of the three washing machines were out of order.
I found the owner of the laundromat and politely asked if she had any available machines. She told me that it would be at least an hour and half wait. In hindsight, this really doesn’t feel like a big deal. But at that moment, the disappointment was all consuming.
I guess a long-wait for laundry is a common occurrence, because the laundromat is also a bar, complete with outdoor seating and board games. So we decided to settle in with a drink and a few games with another couple who was also waiting.
The couple were a captain and chef/first mate on a charter boat that was between guests. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon of Mexican Train and Heads Up with them, and swapped stories about our Bahamian adventures.
And after about 4 hours, we were finally back at the boat with fresh laundry!
The lesson I received that day is one I’m bound to learn over and over again: specific expectations often lead to disappointment, especially those around timelines, or things as mundane as laundry.
Embracing flexibility, instead, can lead to fun and whimsy - like spontaneous domino games on a front porch with new friends.
Thunderball Grotto
We decided to skip Pig Beach.
Something about huge, wild pigs—with their sharp hooves and tusks— swimming up to our dinghy did not sit well with us. The pigs and the barracuda might be in cahoots and we did not want to risk another dingy deflation mishap.
But Thunderball Grotto was on our “must see” list.
We decided to go at low, slack tide, so the water level would be low enough for lots of above-water breathing room and no strong current pushing or pulling us within the cave.
The cave was gorgeous! Lots of interesting rock formations, including little tunnels to explore, and a hole in the ceiling through which sunlight poured through.
Just on the outside of the cave entrance was some beautiful coral and lots of colorful reef fish. No spearfishing here though, the area is protected.
We also enjoyed lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, where we met a man who travels to the Bahamas for work installing and maintaining WIFI infrastructure. He’s from Framingham, Massachusetts and gave us several helpful pointers for when we travel north to New England this summer.
After five days in bustling Staniel Cay, we were ready to head for a more secluded spot.
Pipe Cay, famous for shallow turquoise water and sandbars that dry out at low tide was just a short hop away.
Shallow Water and Mega Yachts
Our route to Pipe Cay took us past what I’ll call “mega yacht alley”.
Between Staniel and Pipe Cay we saw upwards of two dozen mega yachts anchored on the Exuma Banks. I’m not sure how many of them are privately owned, and how many are charters.
What I do know is that one we passed is owned by Stephen Spielberg!
Reaching Pipe Cay required a sharp look-out for shallow water, lest we run around. Osprey’s draft (or how deep she is) is 4.5ft. So any water that is less than 6ft deep can mean danger.
We have a depth gauge that shows the depth of the water we’re currently traversing, but it is also good to know how deep the water is right in front of us—that requires visual navigation.
So I stood on the bow and directed Michael to steer towards the deeper water.
As we approached the Pipe Cay anchorage, it became pretty clear that the water was too shallow for our comfort. So we turned around and headed to Rat Cay instead.
The anchorage in Rat Cay is a bit deeper, but still close enough to the sandbars that we could take the dinghy there to enjoy.
We spent two picture perfect days in Rat Cay. Clear blue water, paddleboarding in the shallows, Maisie running around the sandbar, and freshly-speared lionfish for dinner.
We even met back up with Silver Lining for a final spearfishing adventure together before we parted ways for the season. We hope to meet back up again in New England, if not before then.
Playing at Shroud Cay
Our next stop was one we’d been looking forward to for quite some time—Shroud Cay.
Shroud Cay is known for two things:
Lazy River - a shallow, windy mangrove-lined creek full of sea turtles and other wildlife
The Washing Machine - a protected swimming area with strong current that takes you for a ride that feels like being in a washing machine
We thought about whether we should take Maisie on the dinghy ride through the Lazy River. She loves a nice dinghy ride, but it would also be more romantic to do it just the two of us.
So we decided to do it twice—once with Maisie, and once just the two of us!
We also enjoyed an afternoon at the Washing Machine. We’d jump off a rock—or just right into the water from the beach—and let the current wash us towards a sandbar. At the bar, we’d stand up, walk back down the beach and do the whole thing again. We felt like kids again, just playing in the water.
Another highlight of our time at Shroud was reunited with our friend Paul on S/V Valiant II and his dog Rumor.
We met Paul in Oriental, NC back when we were motoring down the ICW. Paul has a very handsome English Lab named Rumor who Maisie absolutely adores.
We’d been hoping to get together in the Bahamas so the two dogs could run around on the beach together, and after three months in the Bahamas, our paths finally crossed. Watching Rumor and Maisie chase one another and sniff the beach together was an absolute delight!
Shroud was Bahamas cruising at its finest - protection from prevailing winds, beautiful beaches, lots to do and explore. We would have stayed there much longer, but time was running out - both the weather and our soon-to-expire visas meant we needed to move.
Exit Strategy
Our visas expire the first week of April, meaning we need to get out of the Bahamas soon.
There are a few different routes we could take to exit the country and deciding which to take would determine our next steps from Shroud.
To make the decision, we balanced a number of factors:
Weather forecast - the forecast called for a week of strong east winds, starting in two days. We needed to be somewhere with good protection from the east, fast.
Staging for our exit - we wanted to go somewhere that would be a good launching point for our crossing to the U.S. east coast. And in case our visa expired before we got a good window to cross, the location needed to have a immigration office for us to extend our visas.
Fun place to explore - it’s also important to go to places we want to see and enjoy. Especially if we ended up waiting on weather for a few weeks, we wanted to be somewhere where we could continue to explore in the meantime.
With those factors we narrowed our options to two:
Head northwest Nassau, then to Great Harbour in the Berry Islands to wait out the strong east winds, then stage to leave from West End, Grand Bahama
Head north to Eleuthera, then wait out the easterly winds the Abacos and stage to leave from Great Sale Cay.
We decided on option 2.
We heard the Abacos are great cruising grounds, in fact some folks love the area so much they spend the entire season there.
It also offers solid protection from easterly winds and has multiple immigration offices should we need to renew our permits to legally stay in the Bahamas past the first week of April.
The one down side of this route is that to make it before the easterly blow, we needed to cross the notorious Yellow Bank.
Dodging Coral Heads
The Yellow Bank is a shallow area of the Exuma Bank that is dotted with numerous coral heads - shallow meaning 8-10ft of water and coral heads so numerous we had to weave in and out of them like a ladder drill.
Originally, we had not even considered crossing the Yellow Bank to get to the Abacos from the Exumas. It sounded too intimidating. But the more we looked at the charts, and sought the advice of the sailing community, the more our confidence grew.
Equipped with good navigational charts, three months of practice with visual navigation and a day with clear skies and calm water, we pulled anchor at Shroud Cay and set our course due north.
Crossing the Yellow Bank was like tracing a line on a Dalmation’s white fur—don’t hit a black spot, and you’d be fine.
In this case, the black spots were rock hard coral heads ascending from the seafloor, ready to crack our hull if we made a mistake and hit one.
It took about an hour and half to cross the Yellow Bank. Michael kept watch to starboard and me to port. I’d call out any coral heads I’d see, giving estimations of their distance and angle off our bow. Michael would adjust course to avoid them. It was a solid practice of teamwork and communication, and an engaging way to pass the time.
Having safely crossed the Yellow Bank, we briefly crossed a portion of the Northeast Passage—a part of the Atlantic Ocean that divides Eluethera and the Abacos. It is wild to see water depths quickly change from the teens to over 10,000 feet as we cross the threshold from the Bank to the ocean.
The next morning, we were up before dawn to cross the remainder of the Northeast Passage to the Abacos. In certain conditions, this ocean stretch can become quite choppy and uncomfortable, but Osprey and crew were blessed with calm seas that day.
We sailed the majority of the day, and arrived safely to Lynyard Cay before sunset.
What’s next?
The weather forecast—and our plans—are a bit up in the air.
Fortunately, much cruising in the Abacos can be done within the protected Sea of Abaco vs in the open ocean. However, there are several cuts that are open to the Atlantic that we will need to be mindful of as we move about the island chain.
For now, we will wait out this next cold front on anchor in Lynyard Cay.
We’ll also keep an eye on the forecast to see if there is a good window for crossing from the Bahamas to the U.S. east coast within the next week.
If there isn’t, we’ll pay to extend our visa and enjoy cruising this area until the right window opens up.
Once again, the big picture lies outside our control, but we’ll choose to respond in a way that is safe and enjoyable!
Until next time, cheers!
-Jen, Michael and Maisie
Enjoyable post as always! Good luck with the weather.
Being at the mercy of the wind and sea is certainly teaching some great life lessons. Smart move avoiding the pigs!