We continued our slow roll down the Exuma Cays, hitting a few old favorites with some new twists!
First up--Rudder Cay! We skipped this spot last year as a large flotilla of boats were there as we passed by, but this time we were almost all alone with only two other boats in the anchorage. We had a great afternoon of caving, visiting the mermaid, and snorkeling. While we didn't land any lobster on the reefs, we did manage to get some conch!
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| The caves are about the only thing you can explore on this private cay owned by David Copperfield! |
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| Copperfield's "Piano" sculpture is a family favorite! We have also had good luck conching here and the nearby reefs are very pretty! |
As we headed out of Rudder Cut we (or rather, I) tried something new--the 1st Mate took the helm in a cut! These cuts can be treacherous, but with proper planning they really aren't bad. With winds out of the NNE and the tide flooding onto the bank, we had pretty calm conditions though did have to work against the current. This is NOT my usual role in the cuts and I'm happy that I finally did it!
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| The Skipper looks totally relaxed with this swap! Hahahaha! |
We fished our way down Exuma Sound and we realized we were going to be close on getting into Adderly Cut at Lee Stocking Island before the tide started to ebb. If we hit the cut at the ebb, we would have tide going against the wind which makes for dangerous conditions. Instead we opted to try Bock Cut for the first time and approached Lee Stocking from the bank side. It worked very well!
At Lee Stocking we decided to keep the "new" going and anchored in Williams Bay for the first time. The anchorage is deeper than charted, but there were many more boats than we have ever seen there and finding a spot that would leave us with a foot under the keel at high tide was actually a challenge! But we got settled in and spent a few days exploring the trails on the south end of the island and the real treat, checking out the Brigantine Cays for the first time! With our new dinghy set-up the 3nm run to the cays was quick and we did some shallow-water snorkeling and spearing that resulted in two lobsters! We also managed to find a lot of mature conch around Lee Stocking so the eating was good while we were there.
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| We had fun hiking to Perry's Peak and along the trails on the south end of Lee Stocking. We even say a Bahamas Woodstar! |
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| Lobster! Frank's is massive and Trent's is a full 2-inches bigger than the legal catch size! Both lost antenna during the hunt. |
After a few days at Williams Bay we shifted to an anchorage right off the old research station. This year we did not go ashore at the station as there was definitely more activity from the owners and grounds keepers and we decided it's about time to start honoring their "no trespassing" signs. We watched from the boat as they did some landscaping and cleared filing cabinets from the science offices by the pier.
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| So many conch! And I loved returning to the site of one of my college courses! |
We did one more shift while in the area, heading back to east side of Norman's Pond Cay for a night so that we could slide without having to wait for high tide to get over a low spot near Lee Stocking. The holding around Norman's Pond Cay and Leaf Cay is variable and charted depths aren't super accurate off "the magenta line," but we poked around and set well for the night with great protection from NW winds. Really surprised at just how crowded all the anchorages around Lee Stocking were this time around, but as we are George Town-bound, we had better get used to lots of close company!
~Jo, 1st Mate
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