We had a calm day for moving from Royal Island over to the Exuma chain. It took us from the deeper water on this side of the Flemming Channel, over the shallow Middle Grounds. There were a couple of 7 foot depths but mostly 9 to 15 feet, which was plenty of water.
The Exumas are low-lying islands, with mostly short trees and scrub, lots of sandy beaches, reefs, and innumerable options to anchor for the adventurous sailor. There are also a lot of secluded, privately owned islands throughout the chain.
The shallow Exuma Bank is on the West side, and the deeper Exuma Sound is on the East side. There are “Cuts” where you can cross from one side to the other, depending on tides, wind, and how deep your draft is.
There were 12 or so boats already at Allen’s Cay, as it’s a good first stop when arriving in the Exumas. It was a very pretty anchorage with quite a few juvenile Conch scattered around…no keepers though!
Late afternoon, a Canadian flagged Catamaran arrived at Allens Cay and went to anchor in the shallow area in the middle of the bay. They ended up hard aground on the sand bar. Todd buzzed over in the dinghy to help try and push them off. In the end, they had to wait a couple of hours for the tide to come in before they could reanchor. They reported having had a little glitch with their GPS. ( The marine environment is very hostile to all electronics) It’s pretty hard to read the water in late afternoon light too.
That night, the wind picked up as forcasted, and a few boats behind us were dragging and reanchoring in the wee hours. It’s pretty much a given with cruising that the dodgy conditions show up after dark!
After a restless night, we were happy to be heading on the next morning to an anchorage in the Exuma Land and Sea Park at Shroud Cay. There is a fee ( under 30$ for our boat) to anchor in the Park, or for a bit more, you could grab a mooring ball.
We hadn’t visited any of the Northern Cays on our trip north last spring, so we were keen to stop at 2 or 3 others on our way down to the Georgetown area.
The Northwestern end of Shroud Cay offered a tranquil anchorage with pretty water and lots of room for the 3 boats there. Swims were had, and a good night’s sleep followed…