We are Jonathan and Jayne, a live-aboard couple with our dog, Bella. Jonathan writes the blog of our adventures and I take pictures and add captions.
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After our two day stay in Warderick Wells, it’s time to leave the Land and Sea Park and keep heading south towards our eventual destination of Georgetown. Click any photo to enlarge in a new window.
Our first stop will be in Staniel Cay, the island where we spent our honeymoon almost 20 years ago. Staniel Cay has not changed a lot since then – the boating and tourist hub is still the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (SCYC). We pulled up to the fuel dock and topped off our fresh water tank and then picked up one of the nice new mooring balls the club has for $40 a night. We got a late lunch at the restaurant and walked around the town – the same two little groceries (the blue store and the pink store) from 20 years ago were still there and still in business. We got a couple of little things, and also picked up some marine epoxy at Isles General Store to hopefully finally fix a stubborn leak in our starboard hull. The next morning at slack tide, we joined a big crowd of other dinghies to snorkel the famous Thunderball Grotto, where the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed. The cave itself is very cool, and there are nice coral formations all around the outside. As the tide starts to come in, a very strong current blows right through the cave, so slack tide is definitely best. We did NOT go visit the famous “pig beach” at nearby Big Major’s Spot. Somehow this has become a huge tourist attraction – there are even billboards on I-95 in Fort Lauderdale about it. But I don’t see the draw of amphibious swine – except possibly as emergency provisions. We met up again with Waiting to Exhale and had cocktails and cracked conch at the bar before heading out.
Filling up the water tank. We took about 50 gallons and were charged $20. Oh and of course the dock now has a BellaGatto sticker 😁
Inside SCYC looking toward the bar. We saw a Fort Pierce Yacht Club burgee, which is where we were married 💙
SCYC serves up a fantastic cracked conch sandwich on a grilled brioche bun. It was amazing!
Sunset view from our mooring ball at SCYC. Still counts as anchoring out ⚓
Typically Jonathan is driving the dinghy because I am taking pictures. Jonathan says, "don't you have enough pictures of BellaGatto?" Um, never!
The entrance to Thunderball Grotto at Staniel Cay
It's not as easy to use a cell phone in a waterproof case as one would hope. Even though I water tested it before using it, it still leaked a little but luckily the Google pixel is somewhat water resistant.
Had to have one more slug of the wonderfully tender cracked conch with a couple of rum punches. I love to cook but it is much easier to eat fried conch out.
Bella is perplexed by these nurse sharks. I imagine she is thinking, "Are they dolphins? Should I be barking and trying to save my humans?"
The wind was forecast to pick up (again) from the east and southeast for the next 2-3 days, and we went just a few miles to the settlement of Black Point to find a more sheltered anchorage to wait it out. Where Staniel Cay is a tourist town, Black Point is very much a genuine native Bahamian town, and it welcomes cruising boats with open arms. We arrived just in time for happy hour at Scorpio’s, with 2-for-1 rum punches that definitely packed a punch. Over the next couple of days we shopped, did laundry, and had dinner out in this lovely little settlement. On night three, the wind shifted south and west enough that the chop from the banks wrapped around the point and our anchorage became sloppy and choppy.
Laundry day is a great opportunity to meet other cruisers and some of the locals. Our health visas require us to wear masks in public and we happily comply. Very few cases of Covid in the Exumas due to their strict protocols.
Bella is happy to be on a lawn with a stick to chew while we wait for our laundry.
The view from the shady pavilion at the laundry mat.
The tile still needs some work but I love the use of these conch shells for design. Bahamians are great for using what they have. Building supplies are expensive and not easy to come by.
Sunrise at anchor.
This coconut bread made by Lorraine's (cafe) mother is legendary. We now know why. It is a form of Bimini bread with a swirl of freshly shucked coconut and brown sugar in the center. We froze most of it to share with guests who will be joining us onboard soon. One cruiser said that it made amazing French toast!
Getting fresh water and getting rid of trash are two things we are always on the look out for. In Black Point there is a trailer at the government dock for cruisers to deposit their trash for a voluntary donation.
Pygmy boas are native in the Bahamas and we came across this dead one on a Bella walk.
The local kids playing basketball. It is nice to experience how courteous these young folks are to visitors to their island. Yes, ma'am, no, sir. None of them are walking around with their noses stuck in their phones.
Getting fresh produce can be challenging at some of the smaller cays. $17.50 for this selection and the cabbage was a little tired but after I removed the outer leaves it was good in slaw and sautéed. You have to shop with the mind set of seeing what they have rather than seeking what you want.
We got underway the next morning, once again looking for another place to get out of the wind and chop. We decided to head for Rudder Cut Cay, a bit over 20 miles. There is a small almost landlocked little harbor there which would have great wind protection, but we were told by a boat anchored nearby that it was very buggy at night there. We found another spot nearby, with the idea that we could sneak into the little harbor if it got really bad. Rudder Cut Cay and almost all of the cays for miles around here are privately owned, so you can’t really go ashore except on the beach below the high tide line for Bella walks. The magician David Copperfield owns Musha Cay and several others, and he commissioned an underwater sculpture of a mermaid playing a grand piano that made an interesting snorkel.
We have a lot of shelf stable food options due to limited refrigeration capacity and the high price of food in the Bahamas. Dinner tonight is 1/2 a canned ham and a box of cheesy scalloped potatoes with a bag of fresh spinach thrown in the mix. It was actually pretty good though salty.
Some weather rolling in at sunset.
A more populated anchorage just to the south of us.
Full moon rising.
Bella is very happy to be off-leash with room to run. Oh the sand on the boat is going to be epic after this romp!
Bella's new obsession is ghost crabs. Get it Bella!
What is left of the 'no trespassing' sign
A tired pup is a happy pup.
This is NOT my photo but it depicts the Copperfield underwater art installation. We took turns diving down to sit on the bench and pretend to play.
Our last stop before Georgetown was Lee Stocking Island. This island was the home of the Caribbean Marine Research Center, which closed down in 2012. The remains of the station are still there, including labs full of aquaria and offices full of files and paperwork. It looks like everyone just got up one morning and walked away. It made for a very interesting, if slightly spooky, walkabout. There are also a number of trails all over the island, including one to the summit of Perry Peak, which at 38 meters above sea level is the highest point in the Exumas. Bella had a grand time. We also got to meet up with Colin and Sonia on the Nina. I have known Colin’s dad Jamie for many years, and it was nice to chat and take advantage of their exhaustive local knowledge of the area.
Looks calm enough to take out the SUP
Starting to get the hang of this.
Feeling more confident and can go further from the boat now.
Sunset at Lee Stocking with some weather rolling in.
Dinner of pan fried pork chops and canned Italian green beans with bacon, garlic, lemon, and lots of herbs. We don't have a lot of canned veggies because seasoned cruisers will tell you if you don't eat it at home you won't eat it on the boat but they are one of the better canned veggies in my opinion.
We are going to try out our DIY $40.00 water maker to collect some rainwater.
We got about 25 gallons so we've already recouped $10 of our $40 investment 🤣.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center. This is the abandoned hyperbaric chamber.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center. Large cement ponds for marine life.
Ruins of the PerCaribbean Marine Research Center. Very eerie vibe here with notes of works in progress and to-do lists still in place.
Ruins of the Caribbean Marine Research Center.
This hike to the top of Perry peak provides stunning views of both the bank on the right and the Exuma sound on the left.
Straight up the trail we go.
Bella wants to get in that water so bad to cool off but the steep rocky cliff gives her pause.
Another great hike on Lee Stocking to the limestone cliffs on the Exuma sound side
That large blue polypropoline line on the left marks the trail up to the limestone cliffs.
Here we are in our anchorage. That tiny little dot in the upper left of the cove is us. We are frequently the smallest vessel and the only stinkpot.
The limestone cliffs hike
The limestone cliffs hike.
Up to this point, all the way from Nassau, we have been traveling on the shallow “banks side” of the Exuma chain hopping from cay to cay. From here to Georgetown, you MUST go out on the deep open water of Exuma Sound. After waiting here at Lee Stocking for three nights, the seas out on the sound dropped from 4-6 feet to 2-3 feet and we could brave the last 25 miles to Georgetown. We followed Colin’s recommendation to use Rat Cay Cut to get out on the sound, and once we did it wasn’t too bad. Two miles out in the sound, we were already in 2000 feet of water, and we put out our two trolling lures. After about an hour, Jayne heard the reel start to scream and shouted “FISH ON”! As soon as the fish jumped and we saw it was a nice dolphin, we went into a frenzy of activity clearing all the gear out of our tiny cockpit, pulling in the other line, and getting out the gaff. When we got it close to the boat, Jayne took over the rod and I gaffed the nice 12-15 pounder on board, threw a towel over it, and threw myself on the towel. When we got the fish subdued, we got back on course, got the fish fileted, trimmed and in the freezer to chill, cleaned up the bloody slaughterhouse of a cockpit, and had high fives all the way around. Pulling into Georgetown was a real mission accomplished moment. We anchored for the night in Kidd Cove just off the town itself and went in to check it out. You take your dinghy through a very narrow little cut into Lake Victoria, and right there is a big floating dinghy dock just behind Exuma Markets, the largest grocery in town. Everything else you could possibly need is within walking distance.
Heading out the Rat Cay cut into Exum sound.
Looking back at the cut it's interesting that they cay in the background acts as a natural jetty.
Oh baby, what a beauty. This will be dinner for 3 or 4 nights.
This is the color of the water where you will find dolphin and other pelagic fish.
This is the iconic Stocking Island monument hill.
We are in Elizabeth harbour now approaching our final destination of Georgetown. Bella is very interested in the activity around us.
This is the small boat entrance channel to Lake Victoria which is the hub for much of the commerce in town.
The straw market has several vendors. Not everything offered here is made in the Bahamas so you have to be selective if that's what you're looking for.
Tomorrow, we will head across the harbor to Stocking Island for the big Sunday pig roast at the legendary Chat & Chill beach bar. Yea! One month after leaving Satellite Beach, FL, We Are Here!!
