This is a two night stop between Big and Little Majors Islands to escape a West wind that is coming tonight. This is the area for Staniel Cay and the Pigs Beach. The second night was uncomfortable with the surge coming of the Exuma Sound and we rolled all night. We did go out on another Snorkel with Larry and Lynn to the Thunderball Grotto. This is the location they filmed the James Bond Movie for the underwater scenes. Joy very much enjoyed seeing the pigs on the beach.
Cambridge Cay is also part of the Exuma Park and has both mooring and anchorage. We took a mooring the two nights. From here we were invited by Larry and Lynn to go drift snorkeling on a small reef and to visit Rachael's Bubble bath. The bubble bath is on Compass Cay and is a small pool separated from the sound by a short wall. At high tide and with good waves the waves break over this wall into the pool providing an exciting splash of water and frothing in the pool. We spent the better part of an hour playing here.
Also from here we dinghied over to O'Brien Cay, where we could snorkel the plane wreck and the Seaquarium. The challenge here is to time the swim at slack tide, but also early or late enough to miss all the tourist boats that bring in people from resorts. It can get real crowded real fast.
Just beside O'Brien Cay is the island that Johnny Depp owned before he sold it to J.K. Rowling. And on the way into Cambridge Cay we passed Bell island that Aga Khan owns.
Our next stop going south is Warderick Wells, which houses the main office for the Exuma Land and Sea Park. They have a couple of mooring fields here and we found a mooring in the Emerald Rock mooring field. The rate for these very secure mooring is $40 a day for our boat. One the island are a few hiking trails, and of those one leads to a blow hole, which we never say blow and the other to Boo Boo Hill. This is a high spot amongst the islands and you can clearly see the Exuma Sound on the east side and the Bahama Banks on the west. Boo Boo Hill is famous for all the signs boaters leave of their visit here and we left a small Will'n Joy Canadian sign.
The interpretive center has plenty of information and the most important one was to avoid the Poison Wood tree. Apparently touching it's bark or leaves will make having poison ivy seem like a small itch. The rash and burn from this tree will last several weeks, and therefore we have learnt to identify it and avoid it.
While checking in we met two other Canadian boaters, Larry and Lynn on Seaquel II and Chris and Anneke on Sea-riously.
Today we moved a little further south to Shroud Cay, which is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. It is also starting to get a little busier with boats, and some of the very large yachts. There are also a significant number of catamaran down here and many are for the charter companies.
Shroud Cay has a few little mango covered rivers running through it and we were able to dinghy through here. This is where we saw our first turtles and rays in the crystal clear waters. At the end of one of the rivers there is a little spill way that flows in or out depending on the tide. On the outflow there is what they call the Machine Machine, and Joy took a little trip through it.
Early rise in the morning for our voyage to Highbourne Cay at the top end of the Exumas. Our travel from Nassau to Highbourne takes us through the Yellow and White Banks. This is an area of relatively shallow water, but with plenty of coral heads we need to keep watch for. These nasty things are 3 to4 feet below the surface and are as hard as cement and will do considerable damage to your hull or running gear. The weather was quite settled and with the sun well above the horizon as we crossed the headswere quite visible as a black spot in the water and we avoid them all.
Highbourne is a fairly open anchorage to the west, but we had calm seas for our three day stay. There is a marina in the south bay of the island, otherwise the entire island is private property and we really are not to go ashore. Here is where we also had our first encounter with Remoras and Nurse Sharks parking themselves under our boat. Nurse sharks are pretty benign but we chose not to swim anyways just to safe.
The sunsets are amazing as the anchorage is completely open to the west.
We woke to a fabulous sunrise on the Bahama Banks. Another great cruising weather day and we are off to Nassau. Again we decided to anchor in the west end of the harbor next to the cruise ship docks. The can dock up to 6 of these huge ships at one time. We also passed by the Atlantis Resort of Paradise Island. The marina there at close to $500 a night was not an option for us.
After a 2 day stay it was time to move away from Bimini. Our next destination is Nassau, but the distance is to far for a 1 day travel. The option is to stay at Chubb Cay or anchor out on the Bahama Banks. Since the weather was so nice we decided to take the anchoring option. Our departure from Bimini was with a wonderful sunrise. On our way out of Bimini we cruised by the Sapona Wreck. It is an old Ferro Cement ship that grounded and has become a popular snorkeling site, and of course graffiti. The water is so clear and only 15 to 20 feet deep along the banks and you can see the fish and starfish as you travel along. Our anchorage was nice an quiet, and a sailboat joined us a little while later for the night. And of course our day ended with a spectacular sunset.
