Anchoring out in the Berry Islands-Priceless! Travel to Spanish Wells. March 26-29

So we left the nice folks and marina at Great Harbour and moved SE to Hoffman Cay along with our buddy boat Putz'n Around.  Our route took us past the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines "beach day" islands of Little and Big Stirrup Cays. 

Heading through some skinny water to our anchorage. Notice the Bahamian courtesy flag flying along with the Great Lakes Grand Banks Cruising Club burgee.

 

It was a short trip as the crow flies, but a long way around to get back to the anchorage point.  Many from the marina have dinghyed out to this anchorage spot for day trips so it is only about 10 miles through the shallows by dinghy, but 32 miles around in deeper draft vessels.  But what a spot!  Deserted beaches, a blue hole to explore and even swim in, and a short  dinghy ride to the famous Flo's Conch Bar.  The weather was hot, the water was warm and the holding was excellent.
The view from the beach at our anchorage. (panoramic shot)

It is only a short hike to the blue hole from this beach.  Julie and I hiked up there twice.  Many jump off the rock cliff to swim but some of us in the older crowd (read Tom) went down a trail to a rocky ledge to take a dip.  It seemed more salty than the ocean and one could really float in that water!

 

 

 

On one trip to the beach we saw this feeding frenzy on the minnows along the shore.  Scott actually scooped one out to use as bait for fishing later!  Fishing with his bare hands...I thought for a moment I was watching Swamp People!  :>)  What a guy!

Scott hailed Flo's on the marine radio (they say hail them 24/7/365) and made reservations for six as he also invited Bruce and Marie (Felix) who were anchored just south of us at Fowl Cay. We each took our dinghy a little after high tide so we could get through the shallows on the way there (4 mile trip). Who would have thought our Easter dinner would have been a great lobster (Julie) and conch fritters (Tom) served with family style rice and beans and cole slaw?  Oh and the rum punch is famous.... Only three people live on Little Harbour Cay, the site of Flo's.
Here we are with Bruce and Marie (Felix) and Scott and Brigitte (Putz'n Around) along with the staff at Flo's.

The piles of conch shells is enormous along the bank in front of Flo's, evidence of just how many conch fritters must have been prepared here!

 

Trying to beat the low tide back to the anchorage.

Oops...I guess the tide went out.  Needed a shallower draft dinghy!

 

On Monday we motored about four miles to get about a mile south to Fowl Cay where we could exit at low tide for our next destination, Spanish Wells.  It was a challenge finding a suitable hold as there were already 4 boats in the small anchorage and we took a spot in the channel which meant we would swing 180 degrees with every tide change. And every type of boat reacts differently to the wind, currents, etc as a mono hull sailboat was to our port (or starboard depending on the tide!), a large power cat to our starboard bow and of course shallows as well.  Long story short, all went fine. 

 Five beaches within a short dinghy ride.  What a spot.

Looking out over the Atlantic on White Cay:

At one point in the night (around 1 AM) the wind affected the sailboat (as he was more out of the tidal current) and his stern was only 15 feet or so off our port side as we were held parallel with the channel by the falling tide. But as the wind died he too went with the current and we could rest easy.
We were invited by Bruce and Marie to Felix for cocktails on Monday night.  A beautiful new 51' Leopard power cat.  What a lot of room aboard!  Very nice.  Thanks for the hospitality and company crossing on Tuesday Bruce and Marie.

 

In the morning no one could get a cell signal strong enough to check weather so we went with what we know from Monday and our visual on the ocean which looked pretty calm.  Sum Escape, Putz'n Around and Felix all departed around 7:30 for the 65 miles across the Northeast Providence Channel to the marina at Spanish Wells. 
Leaving early morning.

 

Portions of our route were 12,600 feet deep!  One doesn't feel so bad about pumping 40-50 gallons of black water overboard in that much water! (Remember there are no pump out facilities in the Bahamas....at least we haven't come across any yet).   The water is so deep blue!

 

Here is a short video of the marlin Scott hooked (5-6 feet) but got away.  You can see it jumping off the left side of the screen if you watch it in full screen mode..

We have to keep pinching ourselves that we are really doing this in our own vessel.  But patience and no schedule really pays off when you can traverse open ocean in 2 foot waves (OK maybe an occasional 3 footer and a bit of a washing machine, not the ocean swells we were hoping for) or less.  Here we are coming in to Spanish Wells. Beautiful.

We met a boat neighbor here from Wisconsin who has been coming here for 10+ years and renting a home.  He gave us a ride to the grocery store (golf cart) so we could get some fresh produce.  What a friendly island!
We will likely be here until Saturday and hopefully anchor out Sat night and travel to Great Abaco on Sunday.  At least that is what the weather looks to bring right now.
OK, off to get some maintenance arranged on the boat (oil change and replace faulty oil pressure sending unit), perhaps find someone to look at our AIS and explore this wonderful new location now.

Still in the Berry Islands March 21-26 (now updated with pictures)



Our new slip at the marina.  Close to the laundry and showers (think free water in these showers versus 50 cents a gallon on board)



Weather was near 90 a couple days with just a sprinkle or two all week. The refrigerator has a hard time keeping up as we don't run the A/C to much given the 75 cents a KWH price!
The week was spent exploring the island by bicycle and dinghy.  We rode basically every road on the island!  My guess is the island is about 9 miles long and we rode the street from end to end. 

Also rode into the town of Bullock Harbor and did some grocery shopping.  There are two stores there plus one here at the marina so we were able to find everything we needed.
We went to lunch at Coolie Mae's and enjoyed great food and a great view from the porch.  Here is a view from the dinghy of the restaurant.

 

Getting to the end of the road.  The captain had to throw stones at a snake in the road to make sure it was dead and not sleeping in the sun before we went past it!



One morning we went exploring Turtle Creek at high tide.  Yes we actually got up early to do this.  We must have seen 30-40 turtles.  and they are FAST when they want to be!
Early morning dinghy exploration.

The beach on the east side of the island was great for walking.

 

The island power plant (diesel).

 

 

 

 Oh, and Bardot beach was just around the corner from the marina.  A nice spot to just chill out.

 

 

 

Haven't done any snorkeling yet as the waves have been a bit large for our liking. We took the dinghy almost all the way to the cruise ship anchorages one day.  Again, this was a high tide run as the route is basically mud at low tide. Today (Saturday) we are leaving the marina for anchoring out for a few days.  Then we plan to go to a marina in Spanish Wells and island near Eleuthera for a few days, then on to the Abacos.  All this is weather dependent of course, as the crossing to Spanish Wells and then to the Abacos is open ocean for 60 miles or so.
We'll add some pictures in a week or so assuming we have a better internet connection.
Thanks for following our adventure.

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas March 17-20, 2016

Our crossing of the Bahama bank from Bimini to Great Harbour (97 statute miles) was again just perfect.  Flat seas, partly cloudy skies and no issues. Patience was the key....waiting for a favorable day paid off. We like "boring" cruising days like that! 
Here we are leaving early

We cruised at 8.5 - 9 knots with our buddy boats Job Site and Putz'n Around except for a brief "blow out the turbochargers" 10-15 minutes so it took a little over 9 hours. Most of the way the waters were 15-20 feet deep and we could clearly see bottom.  I saw a large barracuda at one point.  A little later, Scott was dragging a couple fishing lines and caught one about 2-1/2 feet long. 

Arriving at Great Harbour Cay Marina:

It was nice to arrive at the marina and especially to receive this greeting from all our friends at the long time annual St Patrick's Day party hosted by Pat and Vickie.  We miss you all!

The marina here (Great Harbour Cay Marina) is very protected with a number of turns coming through a rock cut.  The staff is very friendly and helpful.  The marina is completely booked and we will have to move slips perhaps a number of times in the 10 days we are going to spend here. 
Carole and DeVere aboard Job Site have to be in Nassau for a guest drop off and pick up on 3/24.  Given the wind and wave forecast for the next week, they wisely decided to leave on the 20th to be sure they are there.  They will then continue on to the Exumas and we will hopefully rendezvous with them again in the Abacos in a few weeks.  Thanks for all the "tour guiding" on dinghies DeVere!
A shot of Job Site leaving:

We had all originally planned to do the Exumas with them but have decided to explore the Berry Islands, cross to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera and then on up to the Abacos with Scott and Brigitte on Putz'n Around. We'll just take it a few days at a time and see what develops. We do have a month booked in Marsh Harbor, Abacos starting April 15 where we will welcome Denise and Dave (Julie's cousin and husband) from the Seattle area aboard! We look forward to having them aboard and exploring the Abacos for a week with them. We'll hit Nassau and the Exumas next year if we come back to the Bahamas.
On Thursday we dinghyed north toward the cruise ship "private island" (Little Stirrup Cay also known as Cayo Costa I believe) but the waves got too big to make it all the way there.  So we enjoyed the sights along the way and stopped at a small beach for a while.  The water is so clear it is invisible.  So unspoiled!

In the afternoon we dinghyed south and on high tide went through Shark Creek a winding cut through the mangroves which is mud at low tide (about a three foot tide here).  One shark was seen by Scott and Brigitte.  We hope to go back and take another cut into Turtle Creek to see, you guessed it, turtles.  Again this has to be timed with high tide and the winds need to be favorable for the western side of the island.

Had to take the bimini top down to get through!

 

The other side.

 

The island began to be developed in the 1960's and had a championship 18 hole golf course, clubhouse (now in ruins) a beach house, and the marina and townhouses, etc.  All the "rich and famous" came here and the realty company had a DC-3 to fly prospective buyers in for the sales pitch.  The 70's brought the drug trade unfortunately. We observed a drug plane wreck from the 70's in a few feet of water. 

From what we have been able to find on the internet, this island had a pretty sophisticated operation for "square grouper" (marijuana bales) in the 70's. Planes would drop them in the ocean then Cigarette style "go fast" boats would run the stash to the mainland Florida.  In fact one of the drug lords, Harry "Rock" Hoffman, was wanted in Michigan they say. He settled here with his wife and children. Trade shifted over the years to cocaine and didn't really end until convictions in 1991.  One yacht and her owner and passenger was stolen and neither the yacht nor occupants were ever found.  Clearly the law abiding home owners were troubled by all this, but couldn't really do anything.
Today the golf course is sort of open but not well maintained (and only 9 holes I think).
 

 

 

On Friday night they had what they called "chill and grill" where you could order chicken, ribs, steak or lobster and a choice of two sides for $10-15 per plate.  It was all grilled on site by locals and was delicious.  The marina tries to put some sort of social event into each day.  They have really increased their occupancy over the past couple years from what we hear on the docks.  It is definitely the only game in town. 
We took dinghy rides on Sat and Sun too just exploring.  Not sure what this creature is but we found him crawling along in the shallow beach waters. 

 

We also walked over to the other side of the island to see the beach there, probably only 3/4 mile or so one way.  Wow!!  It is white powdery sand and 3 miles or so long. We will be going back there for sure! 
The weather has been really hot hitting the high 80's and even 90 on one day.  Monday, the winds are expected to be up and temps will cool to the high 70's for a few days it appears. 
More later when we move to another marina although we are not sure where that will be.  We will not be moving until the winds die down, probably next Saturday.  We will be anchoring for a few days then so we will not likely post again for a couple weeks (unless the marina fixes the slow internet here).