After enjoying the relative civilization of Elizabeth Harbor, we headed up to Staniel Cay in the Central Exumas. This was a lovely laid back island with many small private islands around it, as well as several anchorages.
It was also home to the Thunderball Grotto, used as the feature site in the James Bond movie of the same name. We actually had the place to ourselves when we snorkled there, which was apparently unheard of. You enter by snorkeling through and under a rocky tunnel that opens up into the Grotto with a high ceiling and “skylights” overhead. There was an abundance of colorful fish of various sizes waiting expectantly for a snack. Unfortunately, I had neglected to bring the stale bread I had been saving for the occasion, so we were all a bit sad!
A Westerly wind was due to start blowing the evening we arrived, so we had threaded our way through the anchored boats and back into the shallow lagoon near Big Major Cay. One of the big benefits of having a catamaran is that you can comfortably drop the hook in three feet of water. (Now that we are used to doing it, that is!)
After getting settled, we decided to buzz in and visit the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a sundowner. At the back of our minds, we thought there was a good possibility of running into an old cruising friend from our first Mexico cruise. Roger was managing one of the private islands in the area, and we thought it was quite possible he would show up at the pub on a Saturday night.
Sure enough, our mate Roger came through the door about 30 minutes later. It was really good to catch up and hear all about his exploits over the past 15 years. He was just the same, and introduced us to several of his fun and interesting friends that were with him.
After the weather improved, we headed up to some of the Cays in the Central Exumas. We met up with another couple who knew the area well, and they told us about a plane wreck that was a good dive site on a slack tide. Something to put on our list when we return for sure!
There was quite a lot of thunderstorm activity still forecast for the Exumas, so we sailed over to Eleuthera, catching a nice Mahi Mahi on the way. The anchorage at Tarpum Bay had poor holding, and after 3 tries to set the hook, we moved a mile up the coast to Ten Bay that was more secure and picturesque to boot.
It took a few hours of visual piloting to cross the Exuma bank, on our way up to Spanish Wells the next day. Depths were mostly around 10 feet with 4.5 feet in the shallowest area. At one point we passed over a big nurse shark that was easily visible in the clear water.
Once again, we were looking for shelter from a north-northeast wind so we headed to a good anchorage just off a little island called Meeks Patch. Before the wind started, we had time for a leg stretcher on shore and a quick snorkle around an old fishing boat. The other fun thing we did was to visit the swimming pigs on Pig Island. This was actually just a section of beach on the west side of Meeks Patch. They really swam well and would do a few tricks for a piece of hot dog ( turkey we presumed!)
We were antsy to get going after the 2 day blow, and got underway for little Abaco as soon as the seas calmed down. We spent the night at Lynyard Cay, then made our way up to Manjack Cay. It was here that we finally caught up with some old Westcoast sailors Terry and Norm that we’d been chasing for 4 months.
We’ll anchor around the Little Abaco Cays until we get a good window to head to Georgia for hurricane season.
I definitely love this post because you two are in more familiar places to us. So glad to hear that you’re catching up with some old friends. The water colors are spectacular. You’ll be at your destination soon so we can catch up on all your adventures this year 🤗! Continue safe traveling.
Great adventures. Be safe and beat the hurricanes northward.