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Fabulous sailing on the Exuma banks |
We have whizzed through the Exumas at a rate of knots, only it hasn’t been at a rate of
knots. Despite the fact that we have
been on the move daily for god knows how long (ok only about 5 days) we seem to sail
no faster than a granny with a zimmer frame - I could get out and walk faster.
The odd puff of wind gives us the occasional burst of speed but
generally we are left sailing on momentum.
But I can’t complain; balmy days of 3.5kts in flat calm gloriously blue
waters are barely a hardship. The stops at the islands in between have all been
Wow! And at the end of the day when you have good sailing, good snorkelling,
good weather and good company what more can you ask for?
Rudder Cay & Musha Cay
We left George Town and sailed up Exuma Sound pulling into
Rudder Cay Cut so that Sim could kiss a mermaid. Rudder Cay belongs to DavidCopperfield who bought up this little bit of paradise and surroundings cays. To enhance an otherwise already perfect
location he has added amongst other things an underwater sculpture by Jason DeCaires Taylor, the same guy who made the sculptures in Grenada. The work is called ‘The Musican’ and can be
found at 23˚52.163N 76˚14.157W. It is
a great piece of work with both piano and mermaid glittering in the crystal clear water - Sim got to kiss his steely mermaid while I played the piano. If you want to stay on this island and race
goldfish, ride a giant tortoise or take part in the Musha Cay Olympics prices start
at $37000 per night for a group of 12! – I kid you not. All the while we can anchor for free, snorkel
the sculptures, explore the caves and snorkel the very colourful coral that was
almost under our boat. I wonder who gets the better deal?
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Underwater Sculpture known as The Musician
I tap out a tune
Sim kisses the mermaid
The Cave
Inside the Cave
Lovely coral gardens
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Black Point
In Black Point you will find a friendly little town. If you need laundry, water, provisions or wifi here is a great place to be – we didn’t need any of these but were happy to hang out while John hunted for another geo cache. We all took a walk up to the beach at the head of the bay beaching combing while the tide was out then rewarding ourselves with a beer at Lorraines where she lets you help yourself!
Hunting for the geo cache
Black Points main street
You'll never get lost
Sim inspecting an anchor in the water
Sim proving he is an island
Cute little starfish
'im 'n' 'er
Pretty little church
Staniel Cay & Big Majors Spot
This is another fab spot anchoring in soft mountains of
white sand that looks just like a moonscape under the boat. The main attraction here is the underwater cave
called Thunderball Grotto which has made an appearance in the odd film
including of course the James Bond epic from where it gets its name. The cave is full of colourful fish and
coral. Quite amazing that so much of it
still alive considering the amount of abuse it gets from careless snorkelers.
Swimming out the other side and letting the currents take you past all the
coral gardens was very cool. The other
attraction is the pigs on the beach. Not any ordinary pigs but pigs that swim –
watch your hands and your inflatable dinghies as these giant pork chops have
scary looking teeth. I wouldn’t want to
be feeding these babies at the beginning of the day when they are hungry!
Outside Thunderball Grotto
Inside its teeming with fish
Skylight in the roof
Lovely coral heads outside the grotto
Coral very much alive
Small orange jellyfish
Huge shell with hermit crab living inside - yes I let him live!
Scary swimming pigs
They just stand there with their mouths open
Hawksbill Cay
This bay might not look much from your boat but step ashore
to the beach and you will be blown away by the colours looking out across the
bay. You can walk around the inner ponds
or even take your dinghy in at high tide.
Highborne Cay
The beautiful Hawksbill Cay
The water was like a warm bath
Sim takes a look inside his hat
Hawksbill Cay is part of the Exuma Cays land and sea park
View out across the bay
An inside lagoon that dries at low tide
Sim dingies inside the lagoon
Another short stop over with more lovely beaches. This place was filled with mega motor boats.
The big Wow here were the amazing shells we were finding in the
water under the boat. Sadly for me they were still
alive and I begrudgingly put them back. We sailed out of Highborne early the next morning as a squall line developed in the distance - its nearing that yucky time of year with convective squalls and waterspouts - which we hope wont become too much of a theme. One thing we are always happy to see though are dolphins playing in our bow wave.
Helmet conch shell
Khaya Moya and the waterspout
Dolphins playing in our bow waves.
It seems as usual we are on a bit of a mission. Seeing as we have only completed half the
miles it will take us the get to the Chesapeake since leaving Grenada last year
we still have over 1200nm to go. We have just arrived in Nassau on New
Providence Island and are waiting for good weather to take us to across to Florida.
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