AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: In the Bahamas! – Exumas – Highbourne Cay to Staniel Cay

Mar 19^th – It was a warm windy and sunny day. The winds started to shift to the NW thus we moved 3 miles from our Highbourne Cay anchorage to Lobster Cay which is said to be protected from North winds. We headed over to the beach and found lots of shells and sand dollars and when we got back the boats were rocking and rolling since the winds shifted farther to the West than we expected. It looks like we’ll have to endure a rough night. By midnight the winds are supposed to shift to the North and then early in the morning to the NE. It can’t happen fast enough for me since this is not comfortable and you have to secure everything since things that are not secured end up falling over. At the moment Maria is trying to cook while balancing everything. The winds continued to pick up during the night and the boat rocked so hard that things were falling down. It was the worst rocking motion that we’ve ever had in any anchorage since we’ve started boating. We didn’t sleep much during the night.

Mar 20^th – It was a warm windy sunny day. The winds shifted to the NE in the early morning thus our anchorage finally started to get calm. None of the people on the boats got much sleep but we all decided to move farther south to Shroud Cay which is 14 miles away. The Shroud Cay anchorage is protected from NE winds thus we should get a good night sleep tonight. We went for a dingy run along a mangrove river to the Atlantic side and pulled the dingys up on an Exxxcellent beach. It was windy and wavy at the beach thus we took some pictures and then went for another dingy run to a more secluded and protected beach for some beach time, swimming and snorkeling. Afterwards we had a community dinner on our boat discussing our plans to move to an anchorage tomorrow in Cambridge Cay.

Mar 21^st – It was a warm sunny day with light winds. We left our Shroud Cay anchorage this morning and traveled 31 miles farther south in the Exumas to Cambridge Cay. A number of boats were anchored outside the mooring field thus we decided to take a mooring ball. Maria did a great job catching the ball so we could tie up. After we got settled we went for a dingy ride to a place called Aquarium which is a great snorkeling spot. This has been my best snorkeling spot so far since there were an amazing number and variety of fish of all shapes, sizes and colors and a few people snorkeling with us were feeding the fish thus they came right up close and personal. Afterwards we headed for another spot to snorkel over a plane that crashed in the area in the 1980’s. I dove down to look into the cabin, however it was difficult to stay down long enough to determine if the controls were still in the plane. One of our friends Judy tried to look in the water using a mask while sitting in the dingy however she lost her balance and fell in … she had everyone laughing! At cocktail hour we were invited to Jack’s and Judy’s boat with the Exuma Land and Sea Park Hosts to pick their brains about the area. They are “All In” boaters meaning that they’ve sold everything and live full time on their boat. They were very nice people and provided us with all kinds of good information. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this earlier however whenever you read the word “Cay” it’s pronounced “Key” in the Bahamas.

Mar 22^nd – It was a warm and sunny day. There’s lots to do in this area thus we’ve decided to stay another day in Cambridge Cay, however we moved off the mooring ball and anchored close to a beach. We went for a dingy ride with the others to Rocky Dundas where there are underwater caves for snorkeling at low tide, however it was too rough and no one was comfortable to snorkel near the caves as big waves were coming in. We then went by dingy to the Aquarium snorkeling spot and Maria actually went snorkeling! She had some issues with the snorkel but otherwise she did OK and we saw some amazing fish including Manta Rays, Baracuda and all kinds of colorful fish. We continued our dingy run in the area and then returned to the boats to pack up for a beach BBQ. We brought all the stuff to the beach and relaxed for a bit while a number of us went paddle boarding. Maria tried the paddleboard and did quite well and can’t wait for a lesson from one of our friends back home, Bryan, at his lake front home. Afterwards we walked along Honeymoon trail to the beach on the other side of the island. It was beautiful! After playing around on the beach for awhile we returned back to the other side and listened to some great tunes while we soaked up the sun. When the BBQ was hot we loaded it with food and had a great dinner on the beach. As the sun started to drop we headed back to the boats … I’m sure we’re all tired after a long day of fun and fresh air!

Mar 23^rd – It was a hot and sunny day. We got up early to leave our Cambridge Cay anchorage to move 17 miles further south to the Big Major anchorage in Staniel Cay. Once we arrived we ran into another Canadian Looper (“Hard Dock Café”) that we haven’t seen since Pelican Bay in Florida. We talked to them for a bit then went for a dingy ride to Thunderball Grotto which is an underwater cave where light comes through the top and lights up the thousands of fish that are swimming inside. Another incredible snorkeling adventure that I’ll never forget. On the way back to the boat we stopped by Pig beach to see the swimming pigs. They quickly surround anyone that has food for them. When we got back to the boat I changed into dry clothes then went for a dingy run to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to the dingy dock. We walked through the town and checked out all of the little markets and had lunch at the Yacht Club. Heads Up … Everything here is extremely expensive! We then returned to the boat and were invited to Pirates beach for cocktails with a number of boaters. Another action packed day … I’m exhausted ;)