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. 

Exuma, Eleuthera and Harbour Island

On March 1st we left our beautiful anchorage south of Black Point in the Exumas, stopped at Staniel Cay to replenish our supplies and continued on to Bell Island near the Exuma National Park. They had just that day begun charging an anchoring fee of $0.50 per foot of boat length within the park boundaries. There are rental mooring balls provided by the park which are often occupied. The beauty of the park (land and sea) attracts many. It only made sense that sooner or later there would be a charge to anchor. Money well spent in support of this one of a kind park! On that beautiful first night of March, we were graced by a gorgeous moon.

The next day we sailed the short distance to Compass Cay, which we have fittingly dubbed the natural aquarium marina. The water is crystal clear and it really is as though we are floating atop an aquarium loaded with fish, turtles, and yes, some nurse shark. We had arrived early, so we made lunch then hopped in the dinghy to explore some beaches. On one we saw a plane. On another Jeff found a Chinese buoy and decided to bring it back to the marina where he would hang it on one of the tree lined paths with all the other boat signs. We searched for more treasures and admired all of the beauty nature offers in and out of the water.

Crystal clear water

The deeper blue water is the channel between the light turquoise shoals 

On this particular beach Jeff collected conch shells and set them up on the hillside in the sun
where their gorgeous color would become a sort of beacon

The photo above and below were taken from EXILE'S bow while docked in the marina. The water is approximately 15 feet deep.

Compass Cay has "resident" nurse sharks who love to be fed. People come from various islands on tours
to see these guys and to swim with them. 

Jeff's sign

One of the many turtles who live in the Compass Cay waters

White herons fly away as we pass by while taking the dinghy for a spin around the creek

Looking back toward the marina through the window of what once was a home

We walked to the Low Tide Airport and found some interesting terrain, various shells and assorted creatures and plants. A small plane can land on this stretch of packed sandy terrain only at low tide, hence it's name. There is a "runway" bordered on each side by the small rocks that have been cleared aside.

Orchid growing in the crook of a tree 

This, I was told by a local, is a very rare type of sea biscuit. Rare, he said,
because they usually break before landing up on the beach due to their extreme fragility.
After checking online, this may also be known as a heart urchin or sea potato

The seas were going to be high for the next couple of days so we stayed put in Compass Cay and hiked to the ocean side of the island to have a peek. Sure enough the high winds brought some interesting finds to the beach... most of which Jeff threw over his shoulder and brought back to the marina. Turns out one of the buoys he found belonged to a fisherman in Maine. It was identified by posting a photo on the Maine Commercial Fishing Gear Facebook page.

Still amazed by the color of the water!

Buoy ID: Steve Lawrence, Kittery, Maine lobster fisherman

What a collection

When the seas calmed we headed out for Norman's Cay where we have found lots of sand dollars in years past. I think we were there a little earlier than before and weren't able to find quite as many small ones. We did find a good number of larger ones although we had to look harder. Most were buried in sand which makes perfect sense since that's where they like to live.

It was time to move on from the Exumas, so we crossed the Exuma Sound to the southwestern tip of Eleuthera. The next few days we spent at the Cape Eleuthera marina waiting out wind once again. The fronts, accompanied by high winds have been almost weekly this year, which is not the norm. I can't complain however, because it is generally warm with not much rain. We rented a car from "Friendly Bob" and toured the southern part of the island to areas we hadn't been before. Naturally we made it a point to hit the Rock Sound grocery store (which actually stocks some fresh produce) since they are few and far between in the Exumas and Eleuthera.

A map of South Eleuthera

The boat was stocked and the winds were favorable so we made a dash to North Eleuthera, a 57 nautical mile run in 8.5 hours. We opted to anchor behind Meeks Patch, an unoccupied island not far from Spanish Wells, our next destination. I have recently heard however, that there are now swimming pig and duck occupants and that some locals are taking visitors to see them for a fee. What has happened to the quiet solitude once there? Now there are at least three islands with swimming pigs to attract tourists. The next day we hired "Bandit", a local pilot whom we've used before to assist with traversing the Devil's Backbone, a minefield of coral heads. We have done it in years past alone, but why bother when you can have a stress free trip and great local entertainment! More about the Devil's Backbone here. We arrived in Harbour Island mid afternoon and took an inside slip at Romora Bay. Our friends Robin and Bob Hunter would be flying to North Eleuthera two days later, then hop on a water taxi to Harbour Island, a 10 minute ride. We had two golf carts to visit various beaches, restaurants and shops during their stay. Several visits to the beautiful pink sand beach and other nearby beaches for shell and sea glass hunting filled our days.

Getting closer to Harbour Island 

Sunset at Romora Bay

Great music on Sundays

We thought it would be a fun idea for Robin & Bob to visit another island while they were here so we all hopped aboard the water taxi to Eleuthera and hailed a cab for the ride across the island. Once in the car Jeff suggested a detour to see the Glass Window Bridge. We have seen this from the sailboat and it's like looking through a window from the calm Exuma sound to the Atlantic Ocean. The local cab driver told us he could remember as a child, walking across what was just a footbridge and how the waves could be incredibly strong. He said the bridge had actually been pushed more than a foot from the force of the waves, generated from "The Perfect Storm". Unfortunately, people have been washed off the rocks near the bridge, sadly one man a few weeks ago.  A story by Marvin Hunt

Beach fun

First day's haul

Second days haul. It's an amazing place!

Great beach for swimming and snorkeling

Robin and Bob

Dinner at the marina on the eve of their departure

And they're off, riding a local water taxi to catch their flight on Eleuthera

We walked another beach and found more living starfish than ever before. Here are a few.

Another beautiful sunset

Tomorrow we will be leaving Harbour Island and work our way to Nassau, spend a day or two there, then continue on to the Berry Islands where we will continue our adventures.