Galliot Cut – Dec 19th

We staged out to Galliot Cut on the 19th in order to shorten our jump the next day. We had plans to meet family and friends in Georgetown, Great Exhuma Island. We’re getting more comfortable looking at a chart and determining where a tenable anchorage might be. The sail was another tight reach in 15-20 knots. Sailing in the lee of the Exhumas is quite a treat. There is simply not enough fetch for the waves to build up much. So, as per the last few days, we had great sailing; big air and flat water.

After anchoring in the cut and properly accounting for the expected current, our battle cry was sounded: “Let’s go kill some stuff!” We piled into the dinghy with the spear and chased fish around for about an hour. Dana does not let us kill any of the pretty reef fish, but we found a couple 18 inch yellow tail snapper that would have looked great in a pan. As we found out later, yellow tail snapper are almost impossible to catch with a hand held spear. They are fast and skittish. After a few near misses, we gave up, went back to the boat, and ate Ravioli.

We prepped the boat for offshore that evening, so that we could leave at first light. The trip to Georgetown would have to be made on the Sound side. The Sound side means real ocean with real swell. Prepping the boat for offshore means hauling the dinghy aboard, securing lines, poles, fenders, etc… and then going down below and jamming everything into a cabinet or drawer. If it is not nailed down, it must be stowed away. We even wedge coozies in between our liquor bottles to avoid breakage.

Staniel Cay – Dec 17, 18

We left Warderick Wells on the morning of the 17th, rounded the corner to the Banks side of the Exhuma chain and caught 20+ knots of breeze on a beam reach towards Staniel Cay. The boat loves this breeze. And, since we were sailing in the lee of the Exhumas, the waves rarely got over 1 or 2 feet high. We went with a reefed main and full jib. We probably would have been better off with less sail; maybe the staysail instead of the jib or we could have dropped the main entirely. But it was a fun ride. We had the rail down and the speedo happily topping 7.5 knots most of the way to Staniel.

After arriving we treated ourselves to two nights at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. The club has a restaurant, a bar, internet, and ESPN. ESPN was the best part.

While at Staniel, we visited Thunderball Grotto; a mostly underwater cave made famous by the James Bond movie, Thunderball. They shot at least one scene from Thunderball at the Grotto. And then a Tom Hanks movie, Splash, contains another scene shot there. A hole, near the roof of the Grotto, allows a small amount of light in. The crystal clear water that fills the bottom of the Grotto reflects blue back to the walls. The effect fills the Grotto with a dim blue light. The entrance is a little tricky. At high tide, you must swim underwater for about 10 feet to enter. Obviously, we went at high tide. The fish are so used to being fed that they swarm the snorkelers. You cannot hold your arms out in front of your body without bumping into a fish. Being there is like swimming in a massively overstocked aquarium.

On the second night at Stainel Cay, we went for a long walk down some dark streets and stumbled upon Club Thunderball – a nearly deserted night club with only a couple people inside. We played pool and had a few drinks before catching a ride back to the marina in the owner’s golf cart.

There’s a mixed doubles regatta on Jan 1 at Staniel Cay, sailed in the Bahama racing sloops. We tried hard to get someone to loan us a boat for the regatta, but no one was foolish enough. Apparently you have to build your own boat if you want to race.

Warderick Wells – Dec 15, 16

We sailed from Shroud Cay to Warderick Wells on the 15th of December in 20-25 knots of breeze from the northeast. We put up a single reefed main only and limped along at about 6.5 knots. In control. Comfortable. Dry. Maybe we’re getting the hang of this cruising thing.

Warderick Wells is the headquarters fo the Exuma Land and Sea Park – the most well known nationa park in the Bahamas. The entrance to Warderick Wells is tricky. The entrance is guarded by coral heads and thankfully marked by two tiny buoys. The well protected main anchorage is mooring only (no anchoring) and the mooring balls are set in a long curving ribbon of water, 8-10 feet deep, surrounded by 1-2 foot sand flats. The current rages along the deep water, so laying to the wind is only a coincidence. We contacted park headquarters on VHF Channel 9 and arranged for a mooring.

The park was spectacular. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. Snorkeling was out of this world. We saw 2 foot long lobsters, a 5 foot lemon shark, numerous manta and sting rays, and more fish than we could possibly count. It took every ounce of willpower we had not to go grab the lobsters and put them on the pot. The taking of any fish or wildlife in the national park area is strictly prohibited.

The next day saw us making a trek across the island to the Pirate’s Lair. Legend has it that Captain Kid waited here for Spanish Galleons to leave the new world, laden with gold. The island forms a protective bay here, allowing Captain Kid to hide his ship, launch surreptitiously and catch the galleon unawares. Even if the legends are not true, Pirates Lair just reeked of history. It was easy to imagine a gang of cutthroats, clustered round the mangroves, plotting the destruction of the outgoing shipping.

Pirate’s Lair was a 4 hour trek from our anchorage. We brought 16 ounces of water. Each. Not smart. Air temperature was about 80 degrees. Everyone except Dana bonked hard on thte trip back. At one point we were worried we might not make it back before dark. After getting back to the anchorage, we collapsed in the sand and sucked down about a half gallon of water. Dana thinks we are wienies.

Unfortunately, the mooring ball bounced off the hull for most of the night. Sleep was difficult, as usual.

Shroud Cay – Dec 14, 15

We decided to spend two days at Shroud Cay because we had incredible protection from the northeast breeze and a sweet mooring. We took advantage of the time to explore the island. We dinghied around in the mangrove lined creeks and interior swamps. Then walked along the sound (deep ocean) side of the island and sampled the pure white sand beaches.

Rumor has it that the island had a semi permanent resident, a hermit, who built a camp on the northeast corner of the island years ago. We spent the better part of an an afternoon searching for the camp, Camp Driftwood, without any obvious success. We found one or two places that might have been it, but no way to tell for certain. We did succeed in inflicting numerous scrapes, gouges, and insect bites on ourselves as we pushed our way through the dense mangroves, button wood, and palm trees. The trip was our first experience with jumping from stone to stone along the limestone ledges which rim parts of all the Exhuma islands.