Jazzy Lady's 2019/20 Cruising Adventure

ENTRY 18

By popular demand, Annie will probably be back with another entry sooner rather than later!
We are in Georgetown after what we vowed to the kids would be our last 9 hour day of travel for a couple of months! The next several days are promising to be very windy (30 knots, constant) so we are happy to be established here in time to take shelter from the low-pressure system coming through.
Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL 50 mile sail from Staniel Cay. Heading north or south along the Exumas chain, there is almost always the option to travel on the west side (banks) of the islands or the east side (sound) of the islands. If weather permits and you want to cover a lot of ground at a faster pace you travel on the sound side (east) since it’s reliable deep Atlantic water and you can practically shoot in a straight line. If you want to putter along and have more protection from the Easterlies you travel on the banks side where you’re often looking out for shoaling and reefs but it’s much more scenic because you’re weaving in and out of islands, each one unique and with endless exploring and anchoring options every 10 miles.
We had an epic two days way back on December 7th and 8th. As mentioned in my last entry, we took a good weather window to rush off from Bimini (our entry point to Bahamas) and east along the Bahama Bank. That was an incredible day, as the sea was almost dead calm and the depths only 10-20 feet. So the kids had a spectacular time perched on the deck watching the turquoise water with regular sightings of jellyfish, starfish and one shark! In between the hours of sea gazing they swung from the jib sheets, lazed about on the boom and climbed the shrouds as high as they could go. It was glorious. The water was so still that, at one point, we shut off the engine and jumped in for a swim while Jazzy Lady drifted along with no land in sight any direction we looked. That night we anchored with still no land in sight. It is a published anchoring way point but feels so bizarre because it is exposed from every angle. We wouldn’t have done it in rough conditions but it is common practice in calm weather. Also, we had a ‘buddy boat’ with us. We’d crossing over from Florida with them and they were keen to stay on the same path as us; Paula and Byron from Newfoundland:) Very comforting to anchor in a location like that with another boat in sight. The next day we went off the banks and across the ‘tongue of the ocean’, which brings the depths of the Atlantic scooping in between the north west islands of Bahamas. We ended up at New Providence Island, where Nassau is. We anchored at a lovely spot on the south west end of the island, opposite end from Nassau. We were forced to remain there for three nights to wait out bad weather and could not have been happier to stay put for a spell. From our mooring, we could see the island that Captain Jack Sparrow got marooned on in Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a glorious day of snorkelling and lazing about with our buddy boat pal, Byron followed by a ‘sun-downer’ visit aboard Sea Whisperer with our Newfoundlander friends.
On the 11th we lifted anchor, bound for the Exumas! Our touch down point was Highbourne Cay. This was pretty emotional, actually, because in 2016 we rented a sailboat for a week with Mark’s parents and did a whirlwind tour from Nassau to the first few cays of the Exumas. At that time we were dreaming of doing this sailing trip but it seemed out-of-reach back then. It was surreal to be sailing into the same harbour three years later on our own boat.
After all this rushing, worried that we were behind the average cruiser’s schedule, it turns out that we are early. Highbourne Cay was very quiet, hardly any boats in the marina. Apparently the cruising scene doesn’t really pick up until after Christmas. Of course, there are pros and cons to this. We are at a point of been quite eager for more social exposure but, at the same time, there is nothing like walking along a pristine beach with not another soul around.
As Annie reported, we found some lively Iguanas at Allen Key. We pulled up to a quiet beach with not a single critter in sight and before we’d finished dragging our dinghy ashore, the hungry creatures came scrambling out of the palm bushes! Unfortunately there are tourists who feed them. We didn’t but we armed ourselves with swimming flippers to guard our ankles when they got uncomfortably close.
On the other side of that island we had some nice snorkelling in a little tidal cut. Our next stop was Shroud Cay. We had a lovely meander through a Mangrove creek and explored a little fresh water spring with an abandoned well. There is a bucket for you to pull up water with. We tasted some and poured some over our heads. Fresh water, when you are
Et surrounded by salt water, feels so decadent.
On the 13th we snorkelled at a sunken airplane on Norman’s Cay in only 5-10 feet of water. This twin engine cargo plane crashed in the 80s, full of cocaine (I think part of the Pablo Escabar drug trafficking era). We got some great underwater footage which we’ll post eventually in videos.
From Norman’s Cay we sailed to Warderick Wells for the night, then carried on to Staniel Cay where we anchored right beside Paul and Cheryl on Distant Shores III a boat from Toronto with a couple who have been cruising for 30 years. They are famous in the sailing community, one of the first crews to make a tv series documenting their travels. Ever since 1995 they’ve been releasing movies for their series. We had a really nice visit with them aboard their brand new Southerly 480. We were a little star-struck, as we have a stack of their DVDs at home but we managed to remain fairly cool during cocktails.
We had spectacular snorkelling in Thunderball Grotto, the site of a famous scene from the James Bond movie, Thunderball. At slack tide you can just barely swim into the caves without going under water. Once you’re in there you look up at a breathtaking chasm and down with snorkel and mask at hundreds of fish 🐠 hovering around. There are two spots where you can dive down and swim through a hole to the outside. I am really proud of the kids. There have already been a handful of times that they have been hesitant and said ‘I’m not going in’ but with a little coaxing they have every time. And they’re always elated with all they’ve discovered once we hop back in the dinghy. As it turns out, Alistair has a fear of high cliffs or cave ceilings falling in him. We’re coaching him through it.
Today, our first in Georgetown, we dinghied across the bay to the town. We found some kids to play with so all is right in the world for Annie and Alistair. We set up shop on a beach with a bar/restaurant called Chat N Chill Cafe. There’s a volleyball court, hanging hammocks, a guy making fresh conch salads on the beach and huge sting rays swimming in the shallows. We will settle in Georgetown for a while, keeping this our home base for a couple of weeks.