AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: In the Bahamas! – Exumas to Eleuthera

Mar 27^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds. The winds finally dropped enough to allow us to travel today thus we decided to turn around and return to Cambridge Cay in the Exumas which was a 15 mile run with 4 other Looper boats. Originally we were going to top up our fuel in Staniel Cay, however the fuel barge was unloading fuel at the dock and there was a lineup of boats waiting to take on fuel thus we decided to wait until we cross to Eleuthera, which is also in the Bahamas. Since it was a bit windy we decided to head over to the beach for some beach time as well as to get some exercise by walking across the island on the Honeymoon trail to the beach on the other side. As the sun was starting to drop we headed back to the boats for dinner. My sunset conch horn set off a chain of boat horns blowing at sunset. We should have light winds tomorrow thus it will most likely be a snorkeling and drift diving day.

Mar 28^th – It was a warm sunny day. The amazing thing about the Bahamas is that the temperature seems to be the same every day with no humidity and no bugs. During the day it’s warm enough to go swimming but not too hot to make you sweat like Florida. The bad thing about the Bahamas is that the winds seem to be constant and there are very few days with low winds. We went by dingy to the beach and walked across to Bell rock and had a magnificent view of the ocean as well as the anchorage … it was stunning! When we walked back 3 of the dingys were stranded on the beach since it was low tide and we had to drag each dingy a few hundred feet to make it to water that was deep enough for them to float. After our walk we went to a nearby reef to snorkel and we were about to give it up because big rollers were coming into the reef. We went anyway and I was amazed at how little the waves affected us while we snorkelled. We saw some amazing coral as well as all kinds of fish. Then we went by dingy to a beach and walked around checking out the shells, sand dollars, etc … however you can’t collect any of these since we are in the Exuma Land and Sea park. Maria went kayaking with Brian from Valentine and did really well. Three of the Loopers – Valentine, Relax Now and Regalitta are leaving us tomorrow since they have commitments that they need to meet thus they’ll be crossing to Eleuthera. We plan to head farther north tomorrow with Hard Dock Café and spend a bit more time in the Exumas before we leave. Gerald and Barb from Hard Dock Café invited all of us to their boat for cocktails to say goodbye to the parting boats. We listened to some great tunes, danced a little and just enjoyed everyone’s company and wished everyone safe travels before we left.

Mar 29^th – It was a hot sunny day with low winds. We watched the 3 boats leave us for Eleuthera this morning and said our goodbyes. We pulled up the anchor from Cambridge Cay and travelled 15 miles north to Warderick Wells Cay which houses the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. On our way we passed Johnny Depp’s island but there was no sign of a rum drinking Pirate! The anchorage and surrounding area is stunning thus we plan to stay a couple nights to take it all in. We spent the day with Gerald and Barb (Hard Dock Café) by first taking the dingy to the park dock then we walked to Boo Boo hill and left a shell on the hill with Aqua-Fennatic on it then walked a bit farther to check out some blow holes. Afterwards we snorkeled and Maria found the biggest lobster I’ve ever seen …. It could have fed 2 people … but you can’t fish in the Land and Sea park. Gerald found a shark and Maria backed up a bit … she didn’t want to get too close. Maria got into the dingy after snorkeling on her own … Exxxcellent! Then the two dingys went for a cruise around Warderick Wells Cay, running through Exuma Sound, which finally got calm enough due to the low winds … An amazing dingy ride with amazingly clear water! After dinner we had a game of Euchre … the guys won the first game, then the girls and finally the girls won the tie breaker … it was a very close game … we’ll have to have a rematch!

Mar 30^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds. We are still at our Warderick Wells Cay mooring today. We went for a dingy ride with Hard Dock Café to the dingy dock and walked along a trail to Barefoot beach and continued deeper into their trail system over a bridge which led to a watery rocky path that a few of us crossed, however Maria didn’t want to take a chance since the rocks were not stable thus we turned around. We sat on the deck of the park headquarters for a bit since the view is amazing and we had a cool breeze to cool us down. Later we went snorkeling however Maria decided to relax on the boat since she said it was too windy. I saw lots of fish, as usual, and I saw a very large reef shark swim right by me … it surprised me and I kept my eye on it to ensure it wasn’t going to turn into something that would spark another JAWS movie! When I told Maria this she was extremely happy she stayed behind. As I was getting the BBQ ready for dinner I noticed that the bilge pump under the cockpit wasn’t working … another surprise job that I need to address tomorrow.

Mar 31^st – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds. We left our Warderick Wells Cay mooring today and travelled 23 miles north to Shroud Cay. The winds were 18 mph from the SE which made the seas lumpy. Things got better after we turned which resulted in following seas. I checked the bilge pump issue and for some reason there was no power at the pump. I tried a few things and then decided to temporarily wire the bilge pump to the generator battery which was close by. I turned off the switch at the panel for now and I’ll look for the root cause when we arrive back in the US since I’ll need to trace wiring and verify power at the 12V panel. We went for a dingy ride with Hard Dock Café down a mangrove river to the beach on the other side and I did some body surfing as the tide was dropping. On the way by a rock someone passed me a glass of wine … how nice! Wine while body surfing … a unique combination for sure. We ended the day with a Euchre game, guys against the girls, and the guys won! Now both the girls and guys have won 1 thus we need a tie breaker.

Apr 1^st – It was a hot sunny day and the winds diminished as the day progressed. We stayed in our Shroud Cay anchorage with Hard Dock Café and packed a lunch then headed by dingy to the beach at the end of a mangrove river. When the tide goes out the current gets very strong from the river to the ocean. We all went body surfing in the strong current multiple times, including Maria! If you stayed on the right side you would be caught in a current that would take you around in large circles. We met some great people that were travelling on a mega yacht called 11.11 which were extremely nice people and they had one of their crew members from South Africa deliver us a round of ice cold Bahamian beers … what a nice gesture! The weatherman is forecasting light winds tomorrow thus we plan to cross from the Exumas to Eleuthera.

Apr 2^nd – It was a hot hot hot and sunny day with no wind! I can’t believe it … it was the first day with no wind in the Bahamas! We got up early to pull up anchor from our Shroud Cay anchorage and travelled 53 miles to an anchorage in Rock Sound Harbour in Eleuthera Bahamas. On the way we stopped at Cape Eleuthera marina to get diesel, water and dingy gas. The water was so calm that it looked like you were looking through a window into the water. What a great crossing! After we anchored we went to the dingy dock to check out the town … it was HOT and everything was closed since it’s Sunday. We’ll check things out again tomorrow. Thus we returned back to the boat to catch up on internet related things including our blog. Finally … good internet!