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.