Exuma Paradise

 We left Nassau on 12/27 for the Exumas with a full gas tank, a new battery (of four), fresh food and a favorable forecast. We were initially headed for Warderick Wells, center of the National Park, about  56 miles away. The trip would be over the Yellow Bank, with 15-25 feet of aquamarine water and light chop. The chop was not light at all with water crashing over our bow and top. We changed courses to head to Allan’s Cay to take 20 miles off. We found a beautiful anchorage in shallow water, right off a small beach.

The largest iguana that we saw - about 3 feet long.

Allan’s Cay is one of the northernmost frequented anchorages in the Exumas and known for its colony of iguanas. The story goes that the Spanish colonists eradicated these creatures off most of the islands, but did not come to Allan’s. We took our dinghy to the beach and began looking for life. We first spotted a large fellow, maybe 3 feet long, partially hidden behind a rock. Then more and more smaller guys started approaching from behind the jagged rocks.  

Iguanas came from everywhere as we departed.

These creatures have a reputation for biting, so we didn’t want to get too close. After observing them for a while, we headed back to the dinghy. We were then rushed by quite a few, presumably looking for hand outs.


The next morning we set off for Warderick Wells, the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, one of the highlights of our trip.  We had read that the mooring field in the park can be booked early and we needed to call by 9 o’clock to get a spot. We sped up our trip to make it in calling range by 9 and felt lucky to get a mooring reserved. Cherry, the harbor manager, guided us in, “Follow the darker water to the last mooring.”




On a mooring at the Exuma Land and Sea Park

View of our anchorage from Boo Boo Hill.

 




We slowly motored into absolute paradise. As rumored, the waters here are crystal clear and have every color of blue green from the palest aquamarine to deep sapphire.

 



After checking in with Cherry, we snorkeled in the Garden, seeing beautiful live coral and colorful fish. There are many reefs in the park that are identified on charts for visitors to explore.  We much enjoy having a camera that can be used underwater but the pictures never capture the full vibrancy of the color.




Notice that there is a fish swimming under the right fin of the string ray. 

Molly is etching our boat name on drift wood.



Placing our boat name on the pile.

Boo Boo Hill.

Later in the afternoon we took a hike through parts of the island. We walked on sharp, jagged rocks along a mangrove creek where we saw a young stingray and young turtle swimming in 5-6in of water. We hiked up to Boo Boo Hill where we followed the example of thousands of other boaters by making an offering to the sea gods with our boat name on a piece of drift wood.



One of many beaches we walked
with no footprints.

We spent five days and four nights in the Park, which encompasses a number of cays over 150 square miles.  The Park was created in 1958 with the support of volunteers.  This is a very special place, and one that we hope to visit again, perhaps, as park volunteers as the trails could use some work.   We already started volunteering by picking up some of the plastic that had washed up on Boo Boo Beach.  We were told that last year, cargo debris from the wrecked El Faro landed on the Exuma Islands, including millions of bags of M&Ms, bottles of Axe Body Wash, flea collars, cans of motor oil and medical supplies, including wrapped syringes. During our time in the park we snorkeled, kayaked through the mangrove, explored all the hiking trails on the Cay and celebrated New Year’s Eve on the beach with fellow boaters from the USA and Canada.

Banshee Creek with its mangroves.

The bridge on this trail seems only partially helpful!

View of Hutia Hill where we saw our first Hutia,
similar in size to a woodchuck.

Termite mound.

We want to moor here next time! 

English remains on the island.

Boaters tend to be very friendly, often exchanging information and sharing appetizers on each other’s boats.   There were a handful of cruisers that we saw three or four times over the course of a month or two even though very few travel on a planned schedule.  Two couples, in particular, we hope to visit in Canada.  Interestingly, the majority of boaters we did meet were from Canada.



One of the private island beaches we viewed from our boat.












After the Park we continued our journey south, motoring past some of the private cays owned by Johnny Depp, Tyler Perry and others.  We ended up anchoring off Big Major Spot in front of the famous “swimming,” wild pigs on the beach.  Some of the pigs are as large as a cow, and boaters take their dinghies ashore to see and feed the animals.  One needs to be careful since they can bite, raise their feet up on dinghies while looking for handouts and chase people down the beach.  One poor teenage girl ended up in tears as a number of pigs chased her as she held her bag of chips, one getting a small nip of her behind.  We didn’t understand why she just didn’t just drop the bag.  Bill wore a diving  glove and coaxed a couple of pigs in the water before giving them carrots. Hungry little buggers!



After running from pigs for 15 minutes,
one jumped on her leg, and she dropped
the package of chips.

Bill got the pig to go out another few feet before taking the carrot.

The most common topic for boaters is the weather.  This is particularly important in the Bahamas as the 40-70 mile stretches of open ocean between island groups become impassable with winds of certain speeds and directions and/or waves of certain heights and above.  Nearly everyone subscribes to some type of weather service.  On Sunday night (1/1) we compared weather notes over cocktails with our friends Ken and Merydie.  It looked like Wednesday or Thursday would be our “weather window”, the only days that we would be able to get back to Florida over the next two weeks due to high winds expected.  The next morning we putt putted to Staniel Cay for gas and water and then began the journey home.

Nassau and Paradise Island

Bill, here.  First Internet in a week, and Molly is very engrossed in reading her book.



Having fun even if we didn't find Johnny Depp.

One of the most popular islands for boaters near Nassau is Rose Island.  We anchored there for two days before motoring to Nassau, 7 miles away.  Here we went snorkeling for the first time alone (great job, Molly!) and visited a small cay where we were told the Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.  We took our dinghy to the beach and found that the island had a cement walkway from end to end.  I envisioned movie cameras being moving along the walkway while filming one of the battle scenes in the cove.  Alas, soon a Bahamian dive boat operator came by and told us that the small island had been used by a ferry boat.  We would have to go to the Exumas to find Johnny Depp. 

On to Nassau.  Nassau harbor is dominated by 5 piers that serve very large cruise ships.  Any boat entering the harbor must get permission from Nassau Harbor Control.  We were given quick clearance as we were entering from the east and our destination, Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island, was before the cruise ship piers.

One of the pools at the One and Only Club.

The gardens at the One and Only Club.

After entering the marina we were warmly greeted by our fellow Rosborough owner, John Conway.  We had connected a year ago through the Rosborough users group on Yahoo, and he was invaluable in helping with reservations and answering questions.  John is a resort general manager, and he and his wife have lived in the Bahamas for 20 years.  He opened the first Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island and now manages the One and Only Ocean Club, which caters to multi-millionaires as the Club has a minimum 10-day stay with the cheapest room at $2,300 per night.  Atlantis has 5,000 rooms whereas the One and Only Ocean Club has only 105.  He told us that the Club is the toughest job he has ever had as his guests, who have included Mariah Carey, Michael Fox, Magic Johnson and many other stars, expect perfection.



Paradise Island has beautiful beaches.

Paradise Island is a combination of Disney World and Caesars Palace surrounded by beautiful beaches.  The Island is roughly 3 miles long and a ½-mile wide.  Aside from multiple hotels, there are condominiums and large single family houses around a ritzy golf course.  The Island employs thousands of Bahamians, but most make the commute across the bridge from Nassau, the largest city in the Bahamas with a population of 250,000.  Tourism is the main industry throughout the Bahamas as its seas and beaches across thousands of islands are among the most beautiful in the world.  Residents are primarily the descendants of slaves who were left on the islands in the 1800s after the land proved to be very poor for raising cotton or any other crop.  English is the local language, and the US dollar is used interchangeably with the Bahamian dollar.  As a former British colony, cars are driven on the left side of the road, and throughout our travels we have had to remind ourselves on which side to walk or ride our bikes.  



Smaller mega-yachts near us..

Our berth in the marina gave us full access to the Atlantis, which was built on the theme of the legend of Atlantis and includes an extensive aquarium with fish of all kinds swimming through mythical ruins.  Its water park, which we visited frequently, includes one steep slide that vaults users through a tunnel surrounded by water filled with sharks.  Molly stayed away from that one!  One of the common pastimes in the Atlantis complex is to view the boats in the Atlantis Marina.  The Marina caters to mega-yachts, typically 150-200 feet.  These yachts are serviced by uniformed crew, who are constantly cleaning the already clean boats.  The boat owners seem to be competing for status.  Our friend John told us that it would not be uncommon for an  owner to fly in to Atlantis, have an elegant dinner on the visible stern raised deck of his boat, and then fly home the next day!  The tenders for these yachts are often larger than our little Salty Paws.




Our boat was decorated for Christmas.

My brother Bob and family (Nora, Max and Danny) and our daughter Caroline and boyfriend Noah flew in to Nassau and stayed at the cheapest hotel (Comfort Suites) on Paradise Island.  We enjoyed many activities together including an afternoon where we took our boat out off a nearby island to go snorkeling.  Everyone gathered on our boat on Christmas Eve for a great Yankee swap gift exchange. 

 

On Tuesday morning (12/27), after everyone else had departed, we walked into Nassau, witnessed some of the local charm and went to a well-stocked grocery store to stock up for the next two weeks.  Now it was time to depart for the expected highpoint of our trip, the Exumas.

The Berry Islands

The Berry Islands lie 80 miles to the east of Bimini and, while beautiful, are often ignored by cruisers heading to the more exotic Exumas.   On a recommendation from a local, we headed there from Bimini on Wednesday (12/14) across the plateau known as the Great Bahama Bank with depths of only 10-15 feet over light, sparkling turquoise water.  The sea was flat calm, and we sped along at 20 knots per hour over the turquoise.  We arrived at the northernmost two islands, Little Stirrup and Great Stirrup in 4 hours.  Both small islands are owned by large cruise ship lines and are promoted as “Tiki villages”. 

Two ships were anchored off the islands, and we saw passengers being ferried ashore for food, drink, sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, water slides, jet skiing, parasailing, and every imaginable island delight. So strange to see these manmade tropical islands virtually dropped in the middle of natural ones. We also saw large construction equipment and barges hauling sand to create new island paradises.

After anchoring some miles away we put our tandem kayak in the water and explored a lagoon on one side of the cay and saw rolling surf just over the rocks.  Sting rays, small sharks and large turtles swam near the kayak.  We then paddled over to a pristine beach on the uninhabited Hawksnest Cay, finding another conch and sea fans for my collection. The conch had a dime sized hole, indicating it had been discarded after being harvested for its meat.

We took our chairs up to the bow of our boat, watching the afternoon turn to night with a beautiful sunset.  Then the super moon rose over the water.  Everything in paradise was perfect, or so we thought.  Unbeknownst to us, the boat had been invaded by hundreds of no-see-ums.  During the night I was badly attacked, while Bill was unaffected. Over the next couple of days, Bill was on the war path to get rid of the remaining invaders, but it was many days before I didn’t look like I had the worst case of poison ivy. Apparently some people are badly allergic to these tiny monsters, but most don’t seem to be.

Our next stop south of Hoffman’s Cay was a cove complete with a beach, coral cliffs and crashing breakers on the outside of the protection.  [That evening we would move because the swells were rocking the boat too much for comfort.] 
We motored ashore, combed
 the beach for more shells and took the jungle trail to the Blue Hole, a grotto, which is a large hole of great depth filled with water. 

 On Friday (12/16) we had planned to continue south to one of the three marinas in the Berry Islands, but in speaking on the VHF radio we learned that the two southernmost marinas are closed due to severe damage from Hurricane Matthew. In fact, one of them might have been closed for years, but the boating guide lists them as still open. The one remaining marina on Great Harbor Key was 20 miles orth of us and the only one within 50 miles in any direction. We were quite low on gas, so we had to backtrack to get fuel. This was a good lesson that we need to call ahead to ensure that gas is available. 

Great Harbor Cay proved to be a nice place to visit as the main village has not been materially impacted by tourists or the boating community.  We road our bikes through the village just as the uniformed children were getting out of school.  Everyone was very friendly but the children did get a good belly laugh when my front tire hit a pot hole and I fell off my bike.  We met more lovely couples in Great Bay Cay and we are all exchanging our cards, expecting to see one another again later in the trip, or maybe another year. Maybe some of our new friends will come to visit us in Maine!

The next morning we left with full gas tanks and headed back to where we had started the day before.  The wind had picked up from the SE, and the seas were rough, particularly in the guts between islands. We had read about Little Harbor Cay and were intrigued by a description of a little restaurant on the island called Flo’s.


Fresh conch being brought to Flo's.



Conch shells line the shore on both
sides of Flo's Restuarant.

This little restaurant has been in operation for many years. Flo’s  son, Chester, runs this little spot today. He likes at least 3 hours notice by radio that he will be having lunch or dinner guests. He and his assistant, Candy, then prepare conch or whatever local fish they have available and a rum punch that takes you away (I guess we’re already away!). The walls on this little establishment are covered with dollar bills, signed by previous guests, some apparently quite famous. The shore is littered with thousands of conch shells deposited over the years.  


Moored near us was the 42-ft sailing catamaran owned by Bernard and Claude, both French, now living in Ontario.  We enjoyed cocktails on their Bernard-made boat and over the next three days met several other boating couples, some retired but also younger couples who work seasonal jobs allowing them 6 months off a year to pursue their dream of cruising.  Thus far, almost all of the cruisers we have met in the Bahamas are Canadian.

We had a relaxing 3 day stay in this quiet anchorage with our new found friends. I had been terrified of going in snorkeling off the boat. As much as I had looked forward to it, when the time came, I was haunted by the words of the old pros. Every person I had spoken to had told me not to worry about the sharks. If a large shark swims up to you, just punch it in the nose and it will swim away. Yeah, sure! But…  the barracudas! Our friends Claude and Bernard agreed to take us for our first swim. 

 I felt safe with them. They have been all over the world and have are very comfortable in the sea. I finally got in with my brand new snorkel gear and instantly loved it. The water is crystal clear and about 78 degrees. We saw small colorful fish, lobsters, conchs and other little sea creatures. No barracudas! No sharks either, for that matter. 

Dinner with Bernard and Claude at Flo's

On our last night in the anchorage, we ate again at Flo’s with our friends. After dinner we walked down the reef trail to our dinghy and watched Chester cleaning fish. He was throwing the guts in the water and we could see 10 sharks circling, waiting for their tasty treat. Maybe not dangerous, but I had just as soon not have to punch one of these big guys in the jaw!

Preparing our dinner.

Sharks all around

Today we left with the sailboats to head to Nassau. After a short delay caused by running aground in this shallow spot at low tide, we set off across the deep blue to our destination. The tides and wind made for an extremely rough trip. Everything on the boat got soaked. We realized that the weather the sailors prefer is probably not the best for us. After drying out, we are now anchored off a cay about 8 miles from Nassau and Paradise Island, and will head there on Thursday (12/22).