Cat Island Detour & Back Up the Exumas

In the past two weeks, we ventured out of the Exumas to Cat Island, returned to the island chain via Farmer's Cay Cut, and started making our way north. We chose to backtrack along the east side of the Exumas, rather than venture someplace new like Eleuthera or the Abacos, so we could visit some beautiful places we rushed by on our journey south. The cruiser population has significantly decreased over the past few weeks. We understand why cruisers trying to clear south of the hurricane zone by June 1st moved on, but are surprised that more planning to spend summer in the U.S. didn't stick around longer. The weather has been lovely and we don't care much for crowds, so we are happy to still be here. Now for more details on our recent travels and future plans...

Mahi-Mahi caught while crossing the Exuma Sound eastbound to Cat Island

On April 14, we departed George Town and trekked 50 nautical miles across the Exuma Sound to Cat Island. We sailed northeast on a close-haul for eight and a half hours, only running the engine when the wind dropped below ten knots to ensure we reached our destination in daylight. In 6,000 ft-deep water halfway across the Exuma Sound, Mike caught a four ft-long Mahi-Mahi with a rigged ballyhoo on a trolling line.  

Mount Alvernia, Cat Island

Cat Island is located southeast of Eleuthera and northeast of Long Island. It is 48 miles long, ranges from one to four miles in width, and has a population of 1,522. We had one sleepless night at Cat Island anchored in a cove by Fernandez Bay Village in northern New Bight. Thunderstorms stirred up strong winds, and swell that wrapped around the cove's curved parameter hit us from a different direction than the wind. These opposing forces rocked Traveller all night long. We had better luck when we anchored a little further south by Fish Fry, which is akin to New Bight's "downtown." The Fish Fry beachfront is lined with colorful shacks that sell food and drinks. Across the street is a police station, a bakery, a place to dispose of trash for free, and the road that leads to Mount Alvernia. We walked a mile from Fish Fry to Gilly's Laundry Depot, a top-notch laundromat with new machines and great WiFi. Less than a half mile past Gilly's is New Bight Food Market, which was surprisingly well stocked. The most striking feature of New Bight is its friendly residents. Nearly everyone we passed greeted us with a smile, and several people went out of their way to initiate conversation. Children even stopped playing when we walked by to shout “good day!” 

The Hermitage on Mount Alvernia

On a rainy afternoon, we parked the dinghy at Fish Fry Beach and hiked up Mount Alvernia. At 206 ft above sea level, it is the highest point in the Bahamas. An architect and priest known as Monsignor Jerome built a monastery at the peak of Mount Alvernia in 1939. The monastery, called “The Hermitage,” has a very Medieval feel. To reach it, we climbed steep stairs cut into limestone and adorned with Monsignor Jerome’s hand-carved rendition of the Stations of the Cross. Deep in the brush at the top of Mount Alvernia, we found the cave that Monsignor Jerome lived in while constructing The Hermitage. On our descent to town, we plucked a couple of mangoes and papayas from roadside trees. Unfortunately, we later discovered critters living inside the fruit and threw it overboard.

Mahi-Mahi caught while crossing the Exuma Sound westbound to Farmer's Cay Cut

On April 19, we crossed the Exuma Sound once more. We covered 55 nautical miles in ten hours, sailing on a beam/broad reach and running the engine for five hours overall. Although the freezer was packed with Mahi Mike’s last conquest, he caught another one on the trolling line. Our attempts at manifesting a tuna failed again, but more Mahi-Mahi for the stockpile was a decent consolation. At 5PM, we passed through Farmer’s Cay Cut and anchored on the west side of Little Farmer’s Cay.

Yellow stingray at Little Farmer's Cay

We did a lot of snorkeling at Little Farmer's Cay, including “drift snorkeling” with the dinghy in-tow as current sucked us towards the cut. Yellow stingrays evaded us by slipping through narrow crevices in coral reefs, which we found interesting since stingrays usually hide by burying themselves under sand. We examined massive sea snails latched onto submerged rock walls and lying on the seafloor. Mike went on a lionfish massacre with his spear...I'll explain why...Hailing from the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific, lionfish are armed with venomous spines and will eat pretty much any fish or crustacean they can fit in their mouths. This invasive species has no natural predators in the Caribbean, although efforts are underway to train sharks to eat them. Lionfish can obliterate 75% of a reef's fish population in just five weeks. To exasperate the problem, lionfish reproduce at an insane rate in the Caribbean. Females release 30,000 eggs every three or four days, which is twice the number of eggs they produce in their native waters. 

Atlantic Triton Snail (left) & True Tulip (right) at Little Farmer's Cay

On April 21, we sailed three nautical miles north from Little Farmer’s Cay to Oven Rock on the southern tip of Great Guana Cay. We headed straight for Oven Rock Beach, which is distinguished by a big rock in the surf that resembles a kiln. We followed a hiking trail from the beach up a hill to Gemstone Cave. After checking for bats and monsters, we plunged into cold cave water with a flashlight and snorkel gear. We admired stalagmites and stalactites as a posse of shrimp escorted us to the deepest part of the cave pool, which is reportedly 70 ft deep. We hesitantly free-dived into the black abyss, taking care not to scrape or bang against razor-sharp rock. Then we bid farewell to the cave shrimp, headed back down the trail, and followed a detour to a large semicircular beach on the Exuma Sound. The beach was littered with trash and little bits of plastic that looked like colorful confetti. The scene served as a grim reminder of the negative effects of plastic pollution. 

Gemstone Cave by Oven Rock in southern Great Guana Cay

Swimming with shrimp in the cave pool

On April 22, we sailed three and a half nautical miles north from Oven Rock to Hetty's Land. Crystal clear water, flat calm seas, and robust coral reefs made for more excellent snorkeling. Mike pole-speared a triggerfish and a mutton/red snapper, bringing welcomed variety to our pescatarian diet.

Tiggerfish (top) & Mutton/Red Snapper (bottom)

On April 23, we sailed eight and a half nautical miles north along Great Guana Cay and anchored at Black Point. The purpose of this stop was to fill our water tank and dispose of trash (both tasks can be done for free in Black Point). The following day, we sailed another eight and a half miles north to Staniel Cay, where we topped off our diesel and gas. Unable to resist an opportunity to snorkel at Thunderball Grotto again, we anchored at Big Major Spot near Staniel Cay for the night.

Horizon power catamarans rafting up at North Shroud Cay

On April 25, we sailed 37 nautical miles NNW from Staniel Cay to Shroud Cay, which is the northern most island in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. We only put thirty minutes on the engine during our seven and a half hours underway, maintaining good speed on a downwind course by gybing back-and-forth. We anchored at North Shroud Cay, where we had solid protection from southerly winds. Traveller was the only monohull and we were the only crusty liveaboards at the anchorage. Our neighbors were four chartered sailing catamarans and ten multi-million dollar Horizon power catamarans in a charter fleet assembled for the owners' annual rendezvous.

Next to the anchorage at North Shroud Cay is the entrance to a stunning aqua creek, where we went on a winding dinghy ride alongside sea turtles through lush mangroves to a gorgeous beach on the Exuma Sound. We also took the dinghy to incredible snorkeling locations outside the northern boundaries of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, including a plane wreck east of Norman Cay and a huge cluster of healthy reefs southeast of Wax Cay.

Plane wreck east of Norman Cay

Yesterday, we sailed eleven nautical miles north from Shroud Cay to Spirit Cay. We made it in just under three hours, sailing on a broad reach with just the jib raised in light wind. An affable South African named Robin, who is sailing solo on a Pearson 33 (SV Watercolor), showed us the way to a calm cove with excellent protection from southerly winds that moved in last night. In this instance, Robin's Navionics chart more accurately reported water depths than our Aqua Map chart. After we anchored in the cove, Robin and Mike went snorkeling with their pole-spears. They did not catch anything, but successfully avoided 3.5 ft-long remoras eager to latch onto them for a free ride and protection. Remoras look like small sharks and suction onto larger marine animals (and occasionally boats or divers) with dorsal fins covered in flexible membranes that take the form of an oval. After snorkeling, Robin joined us aboard Traveller for dinner. It turns out that Robin has the same short-term plan as us, so we set out together on a 35 nautical mile run northwest to Nassau, New Providence this morning. The forecast shows winds blowing 15-20 knots from the SSE today, and it looks like we will broad-reach on a zigzag downwind course. A front is projected to bring westerly winds and thunderstorms later this weekend. We will anchor on the east side of New Providence until the front passes. After that, we will decide where to situate ourselves for a Gulf Stream crossing to Florida based on weather conditions. Although it is sad that our time in the Bahamas is coming to an end, we accomplished everything we hoped to do here and more.