Blog

3am the tide changed and the wind shifted. We were in the trough. We thought about moving, but anchored in 8ft of water with no visibility, and guests in the V-berth, it was a last case scenario.

So we rocked and rolled and dreamed of a sea keeper (a gyro stabilizer you can use while at anchor) until first light. Non of us slept.

Tessa had made two nights, with the option for a third (which we gladly took upon arrival) at Highbourne Cay Marina because she knew it was supposed to blow. If we were going to be stuck somewhere, we might as well be at the Dent Island of the Exumas: with bicycles, golf carts, hobi cats, etc at our disposal.

The entrance to Highbourne Cay Marina was again a tricky one. You have to transit a “deep” 23ft passage with current, to line up the channel markers on land in 8ft of water, to make a sharp turn to line up the next set of channel markers on land to enter the marina. Also in 8ft or less of water. Not any stress whatsoever.The only boats that came and went were boats with a schedule, typically charters. The rest of us were here to wait out the wind.

We ran into our second 61′ Tolly here at the marina. The owner said there were only 39 built, and 4 on the east coast. He listed the four and we corrected him- he did not know about the blue hull Meander. But since we will soon be taking Docktails back to the PNW, his number four will again be accurate.

We had a grand time while stuck waiting our the wind. From Tom getting on a bicycle for his first time since he broke his collar bone and three ribs last October, to finding the crows nest (gym),View of the marina from the Crow’s Nest

… to what we nicknamed secret beach (there was no one there the first day we went), (Ok, so there is a skiff and another group of people in this photo. This was our second day)

…. to the spring,… to discovering the beaches,… to gunkholing, to snorkeling, to fabulous dining, … and Bill and Venetia’s son joining us, …. we had a blast.

To conching, to iguana seeking, … to being on island time. Highbourne was a little slice of heaven as we waited not three nights, but six, for the wind to mitigate.

You’d think cruising your own boat in the Caribbean would be a boater’s dream come true. We have put up a pretty good facade thus far, but it has been nothing close to a dream come true.

This is not our first time boating outside the PNW, we have chartered in Australia, Thailand and Tahiti.

We’ve learned two feet of tide can make all the difference in transiting to an anchorage or marina successfully. In narrow passages, the current can deceive you. We’ve learned to read the various shades of blue and what depth they would give us; you cannot solely rely on navionics. We’ve had a steep learning curve.

We have not had a 24 hour period without hiccups. From the generators, to the AC units, to the inverter, to the bilge pump, to the AC units, to the generators, minus the inverter, repeat.

When at anchor, we have to run a generator 24/7 to keep our systems running, i.e. the AC units. Then it’s about putting enough load on the generator at all times, yes, that includes in the wee hours of the night stopping the water maker and flipping on the water heater, cockpit fridge or flybridge freezer, or a combination of them all.

We’ve learned we can overload our system (when we have not had the generator running for an extended period of time) easily and pop a breaker. We also quickly learned where those breakers are located forward and aft.

As we rack up hours on the engines and generators, fuel filters, water, antifreeze, oil, needs to be checked and refilled on a regular basis.

Our last boat sipped 3.9gph, this boat loves to guzzle fuel at 30gph. Every 5-7 days we are putting in two boat units for diesel ($4/g +++).

Docking here is different than in the PNW. To withstand hurricanes, they are not floating docks. For the high docks fenders are hung horizontally, rather than vertically. And they tend to be an afterthought. Dock first, get secure, adjust or put out your fenders.

We are part of a small group of boaters in this area. We’ve only met a handful of boaters on their own powerboat, that don’t have a captain or crew. Most are sailboaters, catamaran charter boats, mega yacht charters, or boats our size and up that have crew.

We’ve learned that a shakedown cruise in the Bahamas is not ideal. It may be a boaters paradise, but even Nassau had limited marine supplies. If you can’t Macgyver your way through and have two and a spare, you are $#*! out of luck. Back to Freeport or Florida you go.

At this point in time, we were hoping to be positioning for the canal. But whenever we have tried to P-L-A-N, it has been disastrous. We will be shipping her from Ft Lauderdale, back to her home waters, in preparation for the PNW boating season. And we could not be happier to write the check.

Tom was not too keen on going to Georgetown. If you look at navigating into and inside the Harbour, you might understand why.Followed a sailboat into the inner harbour. It’s always good to have a guinea pig!

The 65th anniversary of the Island Family Regatta, the largest in the Bahamas, was in full swing when we entered the harbour. A couple hundred boats anchor to watch the races and partake in the festivities. It is equivalent to Seattle’s Seafair. We had to go around the race course and between anchored boats.

Georgetown is the largest town in the Exumas, and it is the last (or first) provisioning stop in the Bahamas. Georgetown has the nickname “Chicken Harbour” because many cruisers chicken out and head back North. Count us in that category.

NOTE: the 2018 Waterway Guide has printed that there is Gas and Diesel at Exuma Yacht Club. This is incorrect, they were buttoned up tight. The closest fuel to Georgetown is at Emerald Bay Marina, at the new Sand’s development, an hour cruise at 12kts North of Georgetown.

Town was bustling. This was the best provisioning stop since Nassau. A well stocked store, and not one, but two, liquor stores. There’s a dinghy dock at the store, with free RO water.Georgetown was also our guest changeover day. Juan was counting down the hours until he was off the boat, and Bill and V brought us high spirits and positive energy.

We were happy to anchor in 20ft of water on the West side of Allan’s Cay. It felt like a luxury being in such “deep” water.

Lots of jet boats full of cruise ship passengers come to Allan’s Cay to see the iguanas from Nassau. We have also deduced that most mega yachts are charters out of Nassau, come to Highbourne Cay, and then go back. Highbourne Cay is the Equivalent of Dent Island in Canada. They are an exclusive marina at $4/ft, that frown upon people coming by dinghy to the resort. Juan’s favorite animal… sharks! Hanging out at the fish cleaning station in Highbourne Cay Marina.

The gunkholing around Allan’s Cay and Highbourne Cay was stunning.

The crossing to The Exumas is treacherous. We were told to not cross Yellow Bank until after 11:00am, because you are headed directly into the sun and you cannot spot the coral heads- in six feet of water. A rising tide is a bonus, too, giving you an extra two to three feet. Who would have thought we would be thankful for two foot tides?

See enough coral heads? We were thankful to follow a charter boat we berthed with the previous night out of Nassau Harbour. We were going to go at a snails pace, until she picked it up into high gear. We guessed we needed to grow some cohones and follow her. Who runs 22kts in 12ft of water with coral below you? The ones that do this all the time.

We soon lost Allure, as we were doing 13kts to her 22kts, but we were also thankful to catch up to Daybreak, a 100+ft yacht, between yellow and white banks. We had made it through the land mine successfully.

We had two nav’s going , as well as your traditional depthsounder and side scan. We made it safely and are ready for some gunkholing in Allan’s Cay, known for their (fat) iguanas.

Entering Nassau Harbour was quite the culture shock. It was bustling with marine traffic, and had three cruise ships at dock- one being the largest in the world: Anthem of the Sea. Atlantis looked like Disneyland. This was definitely a change of pace from the Berry Islands. We bid Emme adieu, had lunch at The Poop Deck, and spent the day provisioning for the Exumas. Tessa equated Nassau to Namaimo, but on a grander scale.

We were tucked between seven 100+ footers. We definitely felt small, but then Juan figured out they were all charter boats. The smallest ones went for $10,000 per day. Any takers? We’ll stick with this gal.