Exumas -- Highborne Cay Anchorage

 

 

 

 

     We left Atlantis on a pretty calm day and headed for the Exumas.  Crossing the Yellow Bank raised concerns about shallow coral heads and shallow water.  However, the coral heads were clearly visible and easy to avoid.  I never saw less than 10 feet under the keel all the way through the "middle ground" of the Yellow Banks.  What a relief !!

 



      Reaching Allen's Cay, the first thing one notices is how clear the water is.  Judging depth is difficult as it appears to be quite shallow but is really pretty deep.   The spots we wanted to anchor in, SW Allen's Cay and N. Allen's Cay were occupied with other cruisers so we moved south to a great anchorage off Highborne Cay.  There were several boats there but most were just anchored overnight and moved on every morning to points south.  The first day we did dingy over to Allen's Cay, saw the Iguana's on the beach and checked out the water for places to swim and snorkel.

 

 

View from a hilltop on Highborne Cay -- Looking SW

 

Exuma Sound -- Very Rough

 

 

Lokking North from our anchorage.

 

First Lobster --  Speared this very large lobster off the entrance to the Highborne cay marina.  Had a great lunch that day.

Atlantis !!

  While at Nassau Harbor Club Marina, we met several other cruisers, including a family from NY who told us about the Atlantis Marina. Price per foot per day was $4.50 BUT that included day passes to everything on the resort. Just visiting Atlantis costs about $100 per day per person if you are not staying at the resort, SO we decided to splurge a bit (actually a lot) and spend two days in Atlantis before heading to the Exumas. WOW, what a marina and resort. The following pictures will not do it justice.

 

 

 

Entering Atlantis Marina from Nassau Harbor Channel

 

 

Marina Entrance

 

 

Large Yachts, Mega Yachts, and us !!!

 

 

 

View from our assigned slip at Atlantis Marina

 

 

Mavourneen From Atlantis Lobby Entrance

 

 

 

Atlantis Waterpark -- Huge and lots of fun !!

 

Underwater passages wind through the entire resort -- Sharks cruising overhead

 

Another Shark

 

 

 

Another shark -- sharks everywhere !!

 

 

On To Nassau !!

 

     We left the Berry Islands just as a cold front was approaching.  It was leave now or wait another three days.  The weather wasn't really that bad, but the 30 NM trip to Nassau was a "slog" through 5-7 foot waves.  Mavourneen handled the trip beautifully, it just wasn't much fun for the occupants.  Approaching Nassau, the first thing one seas is Atlantis. 

      We were only planning to stay a few days in Nassau but my anchor windless motor decided to "ark and spark".  Fortunately, it worked fine in the Berry Islands but it needed to get fixed before heading to the Exumas.  Sooooooooo, I had to send it off to Florida for repairs and wait another four days to get it back and installed.  It's called boating !!!

 

(Sorry Pics not in order)

 

 

Entering Nassau Harbor passing the cruise ship terminal

 

The Nassau Harbour Club Marina.  Nice place, they are refurbishing the Hotel, the pool is great, and the staff is most helpful.  Several crewed yachts call this marina home and book charters from here ( most average over $100,000 per week PLUS expenses like fuel, food, etc if you want to go somewhere) 

 

Great pic of Atlantis entering Nassau !!

 

Nassau is a very conjested place.

Exploring Deserted Beaches

 

Beaching the "dink" on Cabbage Cay

 

Mavourneen at Anchor

 

Bettilynn looking for whatever !!

 

 

 

Berry Islands -- Anchored Out

 

After a few days at anchor off Bullock Harbor, we headed South in the Berry Islands.  Our original destination was the cut between Devil's Cay and Hoffman's Cay and an intent to hike up to a "blue hole".  After entering the cut, we discovered several other boats had the same idea and there was just no room for another boat to anchor.  So, we headed further South for about 2 miles and entered the cut at Little Harbor Cay and found a great anchorage between Lizard and Cabbage Cay.

 

 

 

Anchored just off Cabbage Cay

 

Little Harbor Cay Anchorage

 

Flo's Conch Bar

Update !!

 

 

New Friends !!  106Ft M/Y "Gallilee"

 

 

     Just before leaving Sunrise Resort, this M/Y came in.  We made friends with the crew, got some great cruising advice and we all enjoyed the Bahamian "Junkanew" festival in Freeport on Jan 2.  We left for the Berry islands on Jan 3, spend around five nights at anchor.  Three at Great Harbour and two night at a remote anchorage near Flo's Conch bar off Lizard Cay.  (I am having some trouble installing pictures on the blog but am working to correct the problem.)



As the weather began to deteriorate (winds and waves) we decided to slog it out and proceeded SE to Nassau in 5-7 foot waves.  Fortunately, we only had about 30 miles to get through it all and, once again, the boat performed great -- the ride was just no fun at all.  But, we arrived in Nassau, made arrangements to stay at the Nassau Harbour Club Marina and settled in for what we thought was going to be just a short stay.  Unfortunately, our anchor windless decided to do a bit of "ark and spark" so we are here for a short time longer as I had to ship the motor back to Florida for repairs.  We expect the moter back tis week and our plans are to spend a couple of days at the Atlantis Marina before heading South to the Exumas around 20 January.