With winds picking up we went back inside to the marina at Great Harbor for a couple nights. While there we got our second covid test as Bahamas requires retesting at day five. Since the nurse came right to the marina it couldn’t have been easier.
Leaving Great Harbour Cay we had to travel north to go around the east side of Little Stirrup Cay and out into the Atlantic as the west side was way too shallow for our boat. On the north side are the “playgrounds” for some of the cruise ship lines. They apparently stop for the day and offload passengers to play at their version of amusement parks. With the cruise ships closed down the playgrounds are empty and rather forlorn looking.
From there we set our sights on Highbourne Cay with overnights at Bird Cay and the west tip of New Providence. Both were a little rolly so it was nice to get to Highbourne and a peaceful anchorage. Having been there on a previous trip we knew to go to the marina restaurant hungry and were not disappointed. The food is amazing. We grabbed some gas for the dinghy, said hi to our favorite parrot and then continued onward to the Exuma Land and Sea Marine Park. To get there we went through the cut at Highbourne to the Atlantic and down to Norman’s Cut which took us back to the west side of the island chain. Both cuts are narrow but Norman’s is the real challenge as it is also an anchorage so we wended our way between boats always careful to stay in the channel so as not to go aground.
First stop was Shroud Cay which is now my favorite in the Bahamas. If it weren’t for the fact that we had absolutely no cell phone connectivity we could have stayed there a week or more. It was that stunning. The kayaks came down and we checked out several of the creeks that are simply too shallow for the dinghy. We found turtles, small sharks, several herons and lots of little fish.
At dusk we were treated to a romantic get together of two large turtles not far from the boat. At first we couldn’t figure out what was going on as we kept seeing a large flipper extend straight up into the air and lots of turbulent water. Once we saw the second turtle we realized that rather than it being a turtle in distress it was two turtles in bliss. No pictures as it was a private moment.
We found a different critter under the boat later that night. In the evening we usually turn on the generator for a couple hours to charge up the batteries. This seems to be a siren song to sharks who come hang out waiting for leftovers and scraps that are thrown overboard. The food hit the water and there was a pronounced chomping going on. In the moonlight we saw a 5-6 foot reef shark enjoying the last of a baguette that had gone moldy along with other scraps.
The water is so crystal clear that pictures don’t do it justice. One morning I was looking off the side of the boat and saw what looked like a log on the bottom but the sand was disturbed in a pattern. I was trying to figure out what was going on when I realized it was our anchor almost totally buried in the sand and sitting right next to the boat. No wind or current so the boat was just wandering.
Alas 48 hours seemed to be our limit with no connectivity so we headed down to Pipe Cay, another pristine island. We took the dinghy down and ran over to the marina at Compass Cay looking for lunch off the boat. Unfortunately with the lack of tourists this past year the restaurant and market were boarded up. We could have grabbed a burger or hotdog off the dock but they charged $10 per person just to step on land so we headed back to the boat taking a circuitous route, only grounding the dinghy twice (it’s a little shallow in the Exumas).
Back at the boat we made the call to head further south to Staniel Cay and settle in for awhile. As we were anchoring a welcoming committee came out to say hi. Three nurse sharks and a remora friend just looking for a handout.
