Unexcused Absences Southern Exumas - Part 1 (he said)

Southern Exumas – Part 1 (he said)

by Kent 14 Mar 2016

March 6 – March 12, 2016. This passage through the southern Exumas finally felt like I imagined our Bahamas cruise would be. We only had the engine on for 10 hours, and cruised fewer than 50 miles, but we visited some incredible, unspoiled, beautiful anchorages.

Our first stop after leaving Big Farmer’s was Rudder Cut Cay. This is yet another “someone-once-had-big-plans-but-now-there-are-only-ruins” island in the Exumas. Except that this one was recently purchased by David Copperfield, and is part of his growing compound of islands in the southern Exumas.

Kayaking near Musha Cay

The most famous of his islands is Musha Cay, which some say is the most exclusive and luxurious resort in the world. Our anchorage at Rudder Cut was about half a mile south of his resort, and it certainly did look spectacular. We kayaked through the mangrove swamp and around all the little cays at the north end of Rudder Cut, just across a shallow turquoise sandbar from Musha. We also dinghied over to Dove Cay (another in the David Copperfield portfolio of islands) for a picnic lunch and a rare afternoon of relaxing.

Faithful dinghy loaded for a day at the beach

“Miss Adventure” at Rudder Cut Cay

The sandbar between the two lobes of Dove Cay

From Rudder Cut we moved a whole hour south to a sweet anchorage at Little Darby Island. The anchorage is “sweet” because to get there your boat needs to draw less than 4 feet. You enter by rounding a point on Little Darby with only about 7 feet of water, then briefly enter some deep water with treacherous coral heads on either side, pass through the very narrow cut between Big and Little Darby, then cross a 4.5 foot deep sandbar for maybe 500 yards until you reach the anchorage, which is a beautiful circle of 12-foot-deep water that could hold maybe 3 boats.

The Exumas

This anchorage “between the Darbys” is a very protected spot, suitable for any wind direction, but of course you can’t go ashore because the islands are privately owned. From the boat we had an open view of Goat Cay to the south across an exposed sandbar. Goat Cay is yet another island in the southern Exumas owned by celebrity entertainers, this time Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (what, was there a special “island sale” a few years ago in Entertainment Weekly?) This proved to be a fantastic place to windsurf, with 25-knot winds and butter-smooth water.

A little sailin’ for my sanity

We spent a couple nights here, and our only boat-neighbor was Our Turn, a small hybrid sport-fish/trawler owned by Bill and Debra. We actually saw their boat at Rudder Cut Cay a few days ago but didn’t get a chance to meet them. The first night we shared a nice happy hour on Our Turn, and the following night we hosted dinner onboard Miss Adventure. Bill and Debra have been coming to the Exumas since 1982, and have seen several different owners pass through Little Darby. Currently, the house on the hill overlooking the anchorage appears to be in ruins, but it certainly must have been a beautiful place when it was last renovated.

Friday we took the shallow “inside” route, through the Pimlico Cays, a couple hours south to Williams Bay on Lee Stocking Island. From there it was a short dinghy trip to a trail that led to Perry’s Peak, the tallest hill in the Exumas at 120 feet above sea level. Not quite a mountain, but after the northern and central Exumas it was nice to see some vertical relief.

View from Perry’s Peak, Lee Stocking Island

On the way back to the anchorage we saw a strange cloud of sand under the water. We pulled in close to investigate, and discovered an enormous stingray beating the sand with his “wings” in about 4 feet of water. As our motor came close, other rays uncovered themselves from being half-buried in the sand, and suddenly there were over a dozen large stingrays milling about. And as we slowly motored south, more stingrays rose up from their naps in the sand to the point that the water was teeming with rays.

A pile o’ stingrays

Back at the beach near Williams Bay, we walked up a short ridge to the “ocean” side for a look at the rough water and the blowhole. Lots of day-trippers here on the powerboat excursions earlier in the day, but after 3pm the place was deserted.

The ocean side at Williams Bay

From Williams Bay the next morning it was a short cruise over shallow sand flats to the settlement of Barreterre at the northern tip of Great Exuma. There aren’t many more people than in the settlement on Staniel Cay, but these folks are connected by road to the rest of Great Exuma, so things looked a bit more prosperous. A tiny cay accessible by foot at low tide was piled high with conch shells, evidence of the Bahamian’s (unfortunately) successful war on conch.

Barreterre

After a visit to the local market for eggs and limes, we hoisted anchor and motored back around the northern tip of Great Exuma, then pointed Miss Adventure south towards the Brigantine Cays and Jewfish Cay. Our anchorage between Jewfish and Bowe Cays was only a few hundred yards north of the Tropic of Cancer, so we will officially cross into the tropics tomorrow (although the rest of the Bahamas certainly seem like the tropics). Most cruising boats don’t make it to these parts because they are inaccessible to boats drawing over 5 feet, and it’s not directly on the way to or from anywhere. It was interesting to be completely alone.

Sunset from Jewfish Cay

From Jewfish Cay we will head due east to Long Island, so I’ll pick up the story in my next post.

Bahamas 2016 Cruise – Southern Exumas 1

Engine Hours: 10
Generator Hours: 30
Miles Traveled: 49
Marina and Mooring Fees: $0

Bahamas 2016 Cruise – Total Numbers

Engine Hours: 109
Generator Hours: 214
Miles Traveled: 637
Marina and Mooring Fees: $1,200 (includes one month of parking on Grand Bahama during the holidays)