EXILE is back in the states

We left our slip at Ramora Bay (Harbour Island) on March 22nd and anchored one last time for this season near our favorite beach and spent the night. The next morning we sailed to Russell Island, anchored and took the dinghy in to enjoy lunch at the Sand Bar before leaving for the anchorage at Royal Island. After a peaceful evening we headed to Egg Island to explore. There we found shells, starfish, a sand dollar or two, a large pile of conch shells and some interesting buildings. Must have been a local picnic spot! After that we returned to Royal Island for the evening.

Royal Island is a popular anchorage and typically there will be 10-15 boats anchored there

We sailed to New Providence the next morning, a seven hour trip and after fueling up, moved to our slip in the Palm Cay Marina, a quiet place on the southern end of the island. New Providence is 21 miles long and 7 miles wide and Nassau is the chief city there as well as the capital of the Bahamas. There is considerably more going on in Nassau than any other island we visit. We drove there one day while we were in Palm Cay for almost a week waiting for a good weather window to work our way to the Berry Islands. Cruise ships, elegant hotels and marinas, tons of stores and restaurants are what draw many to Paradise Island, across the harbour from Nassau. Atlantis, although we only walked through the lobby area, is a huge resort that offers just about anything you could ask for. Personally, I prefer the more simple lifestyle... I'll walk an uninhabited island beach any day!

Atlantis

Artwork in Atlantis

On the morning of April 30th, we left Palm Cay, sailed to the west end of New Providence and anchored in West Bay for the evening before crossing the next day to White Cay in the Berry Islands.

White Cay is a pretty place to explore

We hiked paths, climbed hills and scoured beaches...

crawled under rock formations

And found sea fans and a full intact crab who had seen better days

April Fool's Day. We're no fools... we decided to head to Cabbage Cay, a short hop from White Cay, to explore that island which ended up having lots to see. A dinghy ride around the area provided lots of beautiful sea life. I have never seen so many starfish in one place! The one below had quite unique coloring. Most that we see are just orange. This one was spectacular!

We were all alone in this beautiful anchorage until another boat decided they needed to anchor behind us

Look at the colors!

Shallow water near the mangroves didn't keep us from going through to the deep hole in the distance

A single conch hanging out in the shallows

We found a baby nurse shark resting. Didn't see mom anywhere nearby...

Flo's Conch Bar is a well known establishment on Cabbage Cay in the middle of the Berry Islands, about half way between Chub Cay to the south and Great Harbour to the north. The piles you see onshore are copious amounts of conch shells.

Many turtles live in this shallow grassy area

Conch, conch, conch

We stopped at Flo's for a refreshment and exchanged pleasantries with some men who were bonefishing with a large group

 After enjoying a great day at Cabbage Cay we needed to move along so we would be in position to cross back to the states in a couple of days. We hoisted the anchor mid-morning and arrived at Chub Cay around three in the afternoon. We were very pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The last time we were there was many years ago and the experience was nothing to speak of. My parents taught me that if you didn't have anything nice to say, to not say anything at all. And I didn't. Until now. Chub was great! The marina was great, the people were great, the restaurant was great and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, even if for only a day.

Beautiful sunset from the restaurant balcony

Couldn't help but think of you Judith Wood. Go Gators!

On  Tuesday, April 3rd, we left Chub Cay to head to Cat Cay at the southern end of Bimini, a 10.5 hour day. We set the anchor for the night and planned our crossing to Miami for the next morning.

Cat Cay in the distance

The weather looked perfect for making our crossing back to Florida, so at 8:45 we set sail toward Miami. All was great until we saw the Miami coastline where an afternoon storm was taking place. We decided to wait offshore until it passed and headed in as it dissipated.

Time to go!

We arrived at the Miami Beach City Marina at 4:00 and our good friends John and Cherre scooped us up and took us to their home in Sunny Isles where we would enjoy dinner with them and our friends Clive and Terry. What a grand re-entry back to the US! We enjoyed several days with them and finally had to begin our journey around the Keys and up the West Coast of Florida.

The first night after leaving Miami, we anchored near Rodriguez Key, east of Key Largo. With our 5'9" draft, it's rather tricky finding places to anchor around the Florida Keys. We had to travel long days in order to get to a secure anchorage, especially since the recent hurricane had caused some severe damage to the area. The following day we sailed to Boot Key (Marathon) and anchored in the gulf since getting into the harbor would be an impossible task for us. The bridge is too short, our mast too tall and electric lines too low would light us up like a torch.

The following afternoon we checked out some of the damage done in the area, then anchored off of Ramrod Key for the night.

Key West. We arrived after a four hour sail and were comfortable in our slip at the Galleon Marina for four days. Plenty to do here, and we took advantage of that. Restaurants and shops galore!

Only in Key West! A tiki hut boat

Why did the rooster cross the road?

Why, to POSE for me, naturally!

The Marco Island Marina was next on our list. We stayed four days there and met some friends at CJ's on the water. We rented a car and visited Naples for the day, then returned to Marco Island for a great dinner in Old Marco at Cafe de Marco.

Arriving at Marco Island

After enjoying our time at Marco Island we headed to Ft. Myers and took a mooring at the Matanzas Inn Marina. It's not everyday you see a seaplane on a mooring ball!

An osprey nest atop a dead tree decorated with shells on one of the beaches we explored 

Dinner at the restaurant on Cabbage Key was fun and delicious. We'll anchor here again!

We finally reached our ultimate goal for this season and took a slip at Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda. It's a change of scenery from the Florida east coast and we are looking forward to getting to know this coast. We'll spend our summer as we normally do in Maine and return to our sailing adventures next spring.