The Northern Exumas

Our trip from Nassau to Allan’s Cay took us across the Yellow Banks--a ten mile stretch of shallow water filled with numerous coral heads. It is impossible to avoid this area as it stretches in a north-east/south west crescent just below the island of New Providence (Nassau) and must be traversed in order to reach the Exuma Islands. I was a little anxious, that we would be crossing them on a low tide. But the sun was behind us--making it very easy to see the coal black corals against pale turquoise water, Vince stood “watch” on the bow as I steered the boat and we only had to alter course 5 times in order to avoid them.

Since we were one of the first boats to arrive at Allan’s Cay we had our choice of prime anchorages and dropped our hook in a beautifully protected stretch of deep water just off the beach where dozens of iguanas come to sun themselves. As soon as our boat was secure we launched the dinghy and motored over to shore where we coaxed them out of their hiding places with pieces of lettuce which they greedily gobbled down. We then found a trail leading through brush to the broad beach on the Atlantic side of the cay and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the island. That evening, as I prepared dinner and listened to news on CBC we learned of the earthquake in Haiti and heard a “Sunamai Alert” for the islands of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. The stress of this possibility and the fact that we believe Vince ate tainted food, kept him up most of the night with nausea and he was in no shape to leave the next morning. He slept until 11:00am and, although still feeling ill, insisted on pushing on to Shroud where we could securely tie up to a mooring ball. Here, he could safely convalesce without having to worry about the boat and we knew that many others would also be in this place should we need real help. The next day he was 90% recovered and so we set off for Hawksbill Cay--a beautiful island we had never before visited but which also had mooring balls should Vince suffer a relapse.

Hawksbill was gorgeous. Only 2 other boats were there and we found a long stretch of deserted beach almost a mile long with no footsteps on it at all. At this Cay’s southern tip we discovered an enormous swimming lagoon edged with dozen of rocky islets separating it from the Atlantic. In most places it was only waist deep. There were dazzling white sand bars to walk or swim out to, mooring balls for dinghys and an incredibly thick sand beach along which to stroll. After a comfortable nights sleep, the next day found Vince completely restored to health and so we headed off on the short 5 mile passage to Emerald Rock at the Exuma Land and Sea Park where we found most of our boat buddies enjoying themselves. At the highest point of land here at Warderick Wells is a huge cairn made of driftwood and small planks bearing the names of boats and crew who made the trek to this spot known as “Boo Boo Hill”. Vince had made a sign for us while home in Canada and he climbed the hill and placed it along with the rest. He had carved the name “Fortnight”, Vince & Linda Weeks, 2008,2010 into the wood and varnished it in anticipation of returning here this year. While he was performing this pilgrimage to the Boo Boo shrine, I elected to sit on the verandah of the park’s headquarters where I spent the afternoon visiting with various friends from boats we had met along the way. That evening there was a big bonfire on the beach but we decided to make it an early night and catch up on sleep. A big blow was coming in ahead of a cold front the next day and we needed to get an early start to make it safely to Sampsons Cay Marina where we planned to hole up for the weekend. We left just after sun-up and were bucking 3 to 4 foot seas and winds gusting to 27k on the nose most of the way. But by early afternoon we were safely tucked in a slip at the gorgeous Sampsons Cay Club along with “My Whim” and “Dana” ready to enjoy the next phase of our adventure.