George Town (again!)

I was about to say that you can't cruise the Exumas without a visit to George Town, but as our friends Kurt and Shanty managed to avoid it I guess I need to change that statement! But if you've got kids on board, it is pretty much a must-stop. The large harbor can easily handle 300 anchored vessels and with two grocery stores, tons of restaurants, trash drop-off, free RO water, fuel, daily kid and adult events, and some of the most helpful, friendly fellow boaters you may ever find, it's a stop that meets many needs. I detailed most of it during out first year here--check it out at George Town--A Cruiser Mecca.

In the interest of doing "new" things this year, we did more hiking on Stocking Island, Frank went to more beach yoga classes, we tried a few new local eats, and we tried out the Masters Harbour anchorage for a frontal passage. I managed to do some sewing and "boat crafts" and Trent did, well, whatever a bunch of teenage boys do when they take off to an island together! 

We hiked the monument and saw our boat name in the pond below, and explored the windward side of Stocking Island several times. And I found more stromatolites!

Yoga at Chat & Chill and water aerobics right next to the boat at South Monument Beach kept us active Mon-Sat!

We discovered Chef Keva and her delicious baked goods! A call to 242-524-8016 was all it took to put in an order for pick-up the following day.

Anchoring at Masters Harbour for a front brought us to the abandoned development of Crab Cay Resort and Marina and some great local eats (via a "new" dinghy landing) at Fanny's.

During the front passage I made a cover for the fuel can and a cell phone sleeve for the dinghy seat thanks to a fabric-scrap-for-beer swap with another cruiser! On another windy day I made a mat from one of our old lines. Boaty crafty!

We FINALLY made it over to the Fish Fry Shacks! Such a great atmosphere and great food...can't wait to return!

Having filled up on fuel, food, and crowds for a bit, we departed for Long Island. Will we be back this season? Maybe!

Of course we hit the old favorite of all cruisers...Chat & Chill!

~Jo, 1st Mate

The Middle Exumas--mixing old favorites with new experiences

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! 

The caves are about the only thing you can explore on this private cay owned by David Copperfield!

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! 

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. 

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!

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. 

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

Black Point 3.0

We're back! Third time here, third version of the Black Point experience! You can relive our first two experiences at Black Point Settlement--A Perfect Mix of Quiet and Activity and Black Point 2.0.

This time weather kept us here for over a week, bouncing between the main anchorage and Little Bay to the south of the point a few times. There were very few boats for most of our time there, but we did manage to enjoy the usual treats--easy laundry with a view, easy trash, Scorpio's rum punch, Lorraine's good eats, Lorraine's mom's delicious bread, Dashamon's good eats, Aderly's grocery (fresh romaine and eggs!!!), and smiling faces. But we had a few standout experiences!

$36 in groceries, drinks at Scorpio's, and the best laundry view I've found as a cruiser.

While enjoying a few rum punches at Scorpio's a local noted that we had the same handheld VHF radio he had and asked if we could charge his. We took his radio, gave him a boat card, and a few days later (after a big blow) Jason swung by the boat to retrieve his radio and thanked us. It's so easy to just help each other down here!

Happy to help a neighbor!

We also had a nice walk/trash pick-up at the blow hole on a windy day, got to see lots of rainbows as rain squalls came through, collected a few nice conch, met up with friends for some successful lobster hunting, and hunkered down for a strong front passage with three of our friend boats. We only had one day where Trent got to hang out with other kids, but he had fun and it was nice to reconnect with the parents, too! 

A walk, a blow hole, collecting trash, and...rainbows!

Frank and Trent found conch!

I did well on our snorkeling/spearing outing with S/V Traveler and S/V Tangent!

Navigation note: we knew that we would have strong west winds as the front passed and there are very few places that actually have westerly protection in the Exuma Cays. Rather than crowd into one of those few places with several other boats, we opted to stay somewhere with very good holding and plenty of room to spread out. Black Point also allowed us to easily go "around the corner" to Little Bay for some more protection as winds went north of west. We had a few hours of strong winds and waves rolling in, but we held well and had plenty of sea room.

Lehe Paine, Tangent, Traveler, and Makae before the storm.

We also celebrated a big birthday for our Captain! Because a front came through on the night before/early morning of his birthday he got to stretch his festivities over two days as spoiled him with food and relaxation as much as we could!

HBD, Skipper!

Surf & Turf! We also made him a NC breakfast and lobster rolls on homemade buns.

Trent made the rum cake!

We are southbound again! If you are keeping track and are familiar with this area you may be wondering, "Did they stop in Staniel Cay?" Not this year! We decided that Black Point had what we needed and was what we were all feeling like right now. 

I took a long walk on the east side of Great Guana Cay to watch waves.

~Jo, 1st Mate

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park Revisited

We lucked into good weather for a slow roll through the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park (ECLSP) this year and it was such a treat! We revisited old favorites, stopped at two new spots, and met some new cruiser friends. The ECLSP was established in 1958 and covers 112,640 acres of land and sea in the central Exumas. It is managed by the Bahamas National Trust (basically their National Park Service) and is patrolled by park wardens and Royal Bahamian Defense Force officers. The park is a no-take zone and as such boasts some pretty phenomenal marine life. The park does charge nominal fees for mooring or anchoring within the boundaries, but for our vessel it's not much--$30 for a mooring or $20 to anchor. You may be wondering why we would ever take a mooring then! Well, in some spots there just isn't any anchoring space or anchoring allowed so moorings are the only option. Moorings are also used in areas where the bottom ecology is fragile and anchoring would damage the environment. So if there are moorings, we use them as we feel it's a relatively small price to pay. Fees can be paid online (IF you can get cell signal!), by cash via pay boxes on various cays, or via cash to the Warden who comes around via boat. The park doesn't have fuel, water, trash service, or stores (except for the small gift shop at the headquarters on Warderick Wells Cay), so spending time there requires one to be self-sufficient and well-provisioned. But it does have an extensive network of trails on several cays, pristine beaches, and glorious reefs! Our journey this year took us to...

Shroud Cay

A dinghy ride through a mangrove creek, accompanied by turtles and baby nurse sharks, lands you at a powdery soft beach on the eastern shore. We grabbed a mooring just outside of a little lagoon that doesn't get many visitors (making it one of my favorite spots there!). The north entrance to the creek is pretty deep and large yacht tenders can get in (and set up their music and tents, unfortunately), but the southern path out is so shallow that high tide is helpful! There is also a southern mangrove path on the island that doesn't allow motorized vessels...it's on my "to do" list for a future visit!

Shroud Cay is a fabulous place to enjoy those "Exuma Blues!"

Hawksbill Cay

This was a new stop for us this year! We tried to edge our way into the northern moorings, but needed about another foot of water to make it work so we hit the southern moorings instead. Reviews noted uncomfortable surge there, but conditions were good and we had a very cozy night! We were also the only ones there until late in the afternoon. We took a dinghy ride to a northern cove and hiked up to the Russell Ruins, home to Loyalist settlers in 1785. From there we hiked out the eastern beach. While it was littered with plastic trash as it is a remote windward beach, it was beautiful. Trent and I swam while Frank explored the shoreline and found us a great piece of driftwood for our boat sign (more on that at the next stop!). On the way back to the boat we tucked into a mangrove lagoon right by our mooring. It was beautiful! And the entrance framed our boat perfectly. Conditions were so nice that I swam from the lagoon back out to the boat. While several tour boats stopped at the beaches near the mooring fields, it wasn't crazy and they were all gone well before sunset. Really, really enjoyed this new stop!

Hawksbill Cay was so beautiful and peaceful!

Warderick Wells Cay (ECLSP Headquarters)

While at Hawksbill we spoke to the Warden who told us all the Warderick Wells moorings were booked up until after the new year. We still headed that way on New Year's Eve and radioed the office to try our luck and we were lucky! Not only was one available, but several were and we were assigned the only mooring we've ever been on there, good 'ole number 8! As we entered there was tons of people traffic in the narrow channel! Paddleboarders, swimmers, snorkelers...it's a very tight channel with strong current so it was a little exciting for a few minutes, but we finally made it to our mooring and tied up with ease. Almost immediately I swam over to the shore because it is so close at low tide! We spent two nights here which allowed us to meet several new cruiser friends, reconnect with a crew we had met briefly in Great Harbour Cay, celebrate NYE on the beach with friends (and tons of biting bugs!), go snorkeling a few times, and take a few hikes around the island. We were the first folks to hike Boo Boo Hill in 2022 and left our new boat sign there, then I managed to get Frank to hike up to watch the sun rise the next day. It's really a great spot to enjoy the land and the sea!

Warderick Wells Cay is always a hit with our crew. So much to do and it's inevitable that you'll meet other cruisers in the mooring field! We loved ringing in the new year with new friends!

Hog Cay/Pirate's Lair

This was another new stop for us and it very quickly went towards the top of our "favorite places in ECLSP" and "favorite places in the Bahamas" lists. With four moorings on the southeast end of Warderwick Wells between WW and Hog Cay, the Pirate's Lair is by design peaceful. It can also be a bear to get into if conditions aren't right. While it is well protected, the current rips through so wind, swell, and current direction all need to be considered when making the approach. Knowing there are limited moorings we went there with time to execute a backup plan if it was full. Lucky for us, it was completely empty as we entered and I immediately felt like I was in "Treasure Island!" We grabbed a mooring, only to realize it was the "big boat (>100')" mooring, so we cast off and moved in further. A little later we were joined by friends on S/V Echo. It was just the two of us for a night, just us and M/Y Magical Days for another night, and on the final night, we were alone. There are seemingly endless trails (thick with poison wood!) on the south end of Warderick Wells Cay that you can easily get to with a one-minute dinghy ride that will take you to numerous beaches, the Pirate's Lair, and plantation ruins if you really are up for a long hike. And you can hike the spine of Hog Cay, too...check out Active Captain for a fun bit of treasure while you're here! There is a small yet beautiful reef right along the shore of WW and just outside of that is a fantastic field of stromatolites (we only have one crew member that is always in awe of stromatolites, but that's ok!). Because of the stromatolites you really can't anchor in this area--if it's full, move along! I didn't want to leave...everything about this place just worked for me. I could swim at slack tide, hike and hit the beach, see my reef fishy friends, and ogle stromatolites to my heart's content. I really hope the weather cooperates the next time we are passing through!

Pirate's Lair was AMAZING! Can't wait to return!

Cambridge Cay

This was an old favorite for us from our first year of cruising. From the moorings at Cambridge Cay you can do a little hiking and hit Rocky Dundas, the Sea Aquarium, a sunken plane, Tom's Elkhorn Garden, and Rachel's Bubblebath via dinghy. The elk horn coral were in pretty rough shape compared to our last visit, and we skipped the bubblebath because conditions were so calm it wouldn't have been "bubbling," but otherwise enjoyed revisiting some spots. The vibe was different this year...there was some generator/noise drama between two boats...but we still like it here. I think after the serenity of Pirate's Lair it was tough to compete! We also reconnected with some boats we'd met along the way and had some friends over for dinner as their stove was awaiting parts and I was happy to cook up a huge vat of curry for some fellow vegetarians! They spoiled us with gifts and wine in return, but the real treat was sharing the time and stories with them. It's one of the best parts of this lifestyle!

We love the snorkeling sites around Cambridge Cay (and the cell connectivity to catch up on weather reports!).

While there are still more sites we want to get to in the park someday, we decided to move along and continue our journey south. It was definitely our best visit to the park yet!

Trail and site maps are still available at the headquarters on Warderick Wells Cay.

For videos from our time in ECLSP head over to my Instagram account, @mariner99.

~Jo, 1st Mate

Holidays 2021

How we celebrate the holidays has shifted almost annually for our family. For years it was dictated by duty stations, watch schedules, and even a cute kid intubated in the PICU. These days the weather and the moods of teens tend to shift how we celebrate! We have never been big on lavishly celebrating so this constant shift seems to suit us. 

This year we celebrated the season in the cerulean and turquoise waters of the northern Exuma Islands, surrounded by nature and dear friends! We spent the days swimming, snorkeling, gathering and eating conch, visiting with friends, watching Christmas movies, playing with our one big Christmas present (the new dinghy engine!), and talking to our girl between all of her Christmas parties in France. And perhaps my favorite…having our Christmas lights on at anchor! 

Good times in and around Highbourne Cay! Conch were plentiful and we were able to share with our friends!

Dusk on Christmas Eve.

Love "lights" season! We leave them on for a few hours each evening.

It was a truly enjoyable, salty, laughter-filled celebration!

George Town—a birthday, a blow, and a blast!

We kicked off our time in George Town with a 15th birthday celebration for our 2nd Mate! Breakfast at the Driftwood Cafe, shopping for a new swimsuit at the Sandpiper Boutique, fun at Chat-n-Chill (including getting serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by dozens of cruisers!), and a chocolate cake made for a fantastic celebration!

Happy #15!

A large chunk of our week-plus stay was spent weathering a 5-day long, 20-30kt blow. We tucked in off of Monument Beach for what we thought would be days of school, projects, some hiking on Stocking Island, and baking. The reality? It was just as busy and social as ever in GT! Hearty souls attended water aerobics, a book exchange, teen meet-ups, and beach parties. As expected, I was exhausted at the one-week point (introvert...love the social stuff but in small bites!). 

So much wind...so much FUN!

The wind abated, we topped up on provisions (the kids even made a solo grocery run!), and had a great bonfire on the beach with friends. 

Cruising=work+fun

We shifted south to Sand Dollar Beach for a night, basking in the “country”’feel after a week at Monument and joining friends for our first visit to the Peace & Plenty Beach Resort. Loved the powdery sand, food, and vibe there! We had one last trip to Chat-n-Chill for the kids to say bye to their friends as we’ve decided to move on in the morning. 

Such a great way to end our visit!

This trip to George Town was really awesome. We were able to reconnect with folks we met down here last winter and with crews we met in New England over the summer, as well as spend more time with boats we’ve met this year. We also met boats that we had only seen on AIS up and down the east coast! And the best part? Our kids met tons of great boat teens! We really look forward to continuing to meet up with these guys as our journey continues.

#boatfriendsarethebestfriends

~Jo, 1st Mate

(the other) Leaf Cay

Knowing that a big group of boats was at Rudder Cut Cay, we passed by (even though we love it!) and headed for Leaf Cay. This is the “other” Leaf Cay—there is one in the northern Exumas that is famous for its iguanas, whereas this one is more to the south (and also has iguanas!). Winds were forecast to have a westerly component the next day so Leaf Cay would actually provide some protection. It would also put us near where we nabbed a few conch last year! Holding wasn’t amazing, but we got a decent set about an hour before sunset and enjoyed the view. 

While the kids did school I mended a glove and we snorkeled! We swam with a huge ray, found a stromatolite, and found a nice conch. While we were out a few other boats came in and definitely struggled to set the hook. That’s what we learned about Leaf Cay—some westerly protection, but strong current and a semi-hard bottom can make setting the hook a challenge. Oh, and we returned to find our kids in full-on dress-up mode!

After school the whole family went to Leaf Cay. Amazingly no tour boats visited the entire time we were there. We got chased around by the iguanas, explored the tide pools, and eventually went to the east side of the cay where we were treated to a pristine, empty beach with powdery sand. We had planned to explore other cays, but instead just stayed on this beach for the afternoon. Loved it!

Our friends on Kohole joined the anchorage, too! The next morning, they had a little anchor tangle that we helped them out with, but then Katreina and I ran to Lee Stocking Island to check out the building I lived in a long, long time ago when I was there for a class. It was more boarded-up this year, but it still stirred up some great memories.

Tropical Marine Science, ‘97-‘98

After one last snorkel around the cove (and a spider crab on my spear!), we left to head to George Town. There is a big blow coming in a few days and we have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow—the birthday girl requested George Town so that’s where we will go. We have friends already down there so it will be nice to see them, too. And we managed to hook up on a tuna on the transit so it seems like this was a good decision!

Visiting my old “dorm”; helping Kolohe with their anchor; more crab; a nice tuna.

Black Point 2.0

It's no secret--Black Point is one of our family's favorite settlements to visit in the Exumas. When we visited last year we found the people and island to be absolutely welcoming and beautiful, and we had a fantastic time with friends. This year was the same, yet different! What hasn't changed? Trash and water are cheap and easy, Lorraine's Cafe still has the best dang conch fritters, Lorraine's mom is still making some of the most amazing bread in all of the Bahamas, Scorpio's 2-for-1 rum punch will still make you forget half the people you met there, groceries are available if you aren't too picky, the laundromat has the best view of any I've ever visited, everyone is really friendly, and the holding is good!

Clockwise: Picking up bread at Peermon’s kitchen; a round at Scorpio’s with friends; 2-for-1 at Scorpio’s can be dangerous; local fisherman; the grocer; view from the laundromat 

But this year...this year was the year of KIDS! We were thrilled to have Kolohe and Arethusa continue on to Black Point shortly after us, and while we were there we met Pleiades. The result? Eight kids ranging in age from 11 to 16 hopping between boats and all over Black Point, only occasionally with a mix of parents sprinkled in. There were also other cruising boats we'd met along the way, making this stop a real treat. The kids hiked and swam together, our families visited the Blow Hole together, there were video game and swim dates, and a bunch of cruisers got together at Lorraine's for her famous BBQ buffet. So this year's trip to Black Point was just as memorable as last year's, but with the added joy of tons of kids. 

The crews of Lehe Paine, Kolohe, Pleiades, and Arethusa made fast friends in Black Point.

Visiting the Blow Hole and the White Horses

While we were here, my friend Ava on S/V Kolohe published a perfectly-timed blog about cruising with kids that I absolutely LOVE called "Cockpit Chaos Contentment." The decision to embark on this lifestyle can be full of different emotions and Ava's writing takes you along for the ride. You can follow their journey at https://www.sailingkolohe.com or on Instagram @sailingkolohe. 

✌🏼❤️⛵️

Rocky Dundas...revisited

With the blow over we weighed anchor and had a sweet sail north to Fowl Cay, just outside the souther border of the Exuma Land & Sea Park. Last time we came to this area we took a mooring inside the park, but we decided to give Fowl Cay a try as the forecast winds looked like they would work well for that spot and it would put us in close reach of a few of our favorite sites--Rocky Dundas, Rachel's Bubblebath, and Tom's Elkhorn Garden. We joined three other boats in the anchorage, set the hook, and had a quick lunch. 

We started with a trip to Rocky Dundas. The kids (and adults) LOVE these caves--they are ranked above Thunderball Grotto for us--and while the tide was rising and the surge was a little strong, we managed to get in just fine. We hit the large, north cave first. The surge was really making a washing-machine effect inside the cave and we didn't stick around too long. We left, snorkeled a bit on the coral heads outside the caves, but the current was strong so we headed for the southern cave, which is actually our favorite. The entrance to this cave is smaller and there is less "in water" area, but you can clamber up onto a shelf and walk and climb all over inside. Each time we've gone conditions have been a little different, but there is always some sort of timing a wave involved in getting in and getting up on the ledge! We spent about a half hour in there climbing and watching the waves. Somehow our visit was right between two other groups and we had the caves all to ourselves. 

Entering the north cave

Fun inside and outside the caves

While the kids wrapped up school on the boat, the adults hunted for conch (got nothing) and snorkeled the reef at the NW corner of Fowl Cay. As the afternoon wore on our neighbors all left and we were alone in the anchorage. With high tide approaching in last afternoon, we headed for Rachel's Bubblebath on the north end of Compass Cay. This site is "best" at mid-to-high tide with east winds. We didn't have much wind, so we went closer to high tide--it's the water rushing over the rocks that creates the effervescent bubbles. We didn't have perfect conditions, but we still enjoyed our bath!

While we had initially planned to go to the Elkhorn Garden the next day at slack tide, a rolly anchorage and friends arriving in Staniel Cay caused us to abandon that plan. Is it a great snorkeling spot? Yes. Are boat friends the best? YES! And so we left.

Shortly after dropping the hook at Big Major Cay the kids reconnected with their friends on Kolohe. Then to my delight, I FINALLY got to meet the crew of Arethusa in person after months of chatting online and cruising the east coast near each other! Our three crews met up at the beach so everyone could meet and we chatted until the sun set. I really enjoy meeting other cruising families and hearing their stories and seeing their kids experience this life, too. I think we are all happy to share more anchorages with these boats in the future!

Boat kids doing their thing

Back in business!

Our dinghy engine is fixed!!! How did we do it? Not to over-simplify the process, but we ordered the part to ship to Maker’s Air in Florida, filled out a ton of forms, chose how quickly (and expensively) we wanted it shipped, and awaited the flight! As our dinghy was just not able to get into town we were very fortunate to have multiple cruising friends offer assistance. The part was due to arrive Friday and as the crew of S/V Tortuga was heading into town for errands, they offered to grab the propeller for us! Even as the flight got delayed, they lingered in town...so awesome! The cruising community is wonderful! 

This is a good time to mention some “new” provisions I added to the bilge this year—cans of wine! We don’t carry bottles but I wanted to be able to thank anyone that helped us along the way (because boaters are always helping each other)...cans of wine to the rescue! I know, I know, the wine snobs are cringing at this (and my boxed wine), but you can get some decent wines in a can! Kim Crawford and Dark Horse come to mind...and a can of wine is like half a bottle, so we can give two cans of wine (and even mix a white and a red) instead of a bottle of wine to say “thanks!” We got to test this out Friday when we accepted our propeller from Tortuga and handed off two cans of wine—no broken bottles and smiles all around!

Of course, the dink was fixed just in time for a big, 2-day blow. We managed to squeeze in a little snorkeling and dinner at the yacht club before the winds really kicked up, but we will be boat-bound for a bit longer...just for weather now!