We left Shroud Cay at 7:55 am and head north toward the west side of Norman's Cay, then turned NW toward Nassau. We could sail all the way, except we dropped the Genoa temporarily while crossing the Yellow Banks. The seas were large, so we needed to be careful of coral heads, which were quite visible in the waves.
We docked at Nassau Harbor Club at 2:30 pm.
We finally decide to move on and leave Cambridge Cay. Watching the weather forecasts, we found some windows for crossing the banks and starting our progress home. We picked Shroud Cay as our jump-off point from Exumas to Nassau. Today we sailed from Cambridge Cay to Shroud Cay.
We made it back out the channel from Cambridge Cay without hitting the reefs, then turned out the big channel toward the Banks. The wind was NNE at 15-20 knots, but we could sail with a reefed main and Genoa. We averaged about 7-8 knots over the ground and the wind increased to 20-22 knots gusting to 26. We increased our reefs and continued on.
We furled the Genoa as we turned into Shroud Cay. We anchored close to shore and were greeted by a single White-tailed Tropicbird. I did not see any more of the birds that evening, but in the morning we were treated with an aerial display of several Tropicbirds. Photo below.
We only stayed one night before heading off to Nassau.
We like Cambridge Cay so much that we decided to stay 4 days. Of couse, the strong approaching front with West wind and North winds had a little to do with it. Cambridge offers several exceptional snorkeling and exploration spots. We spent each day dinghying to different locations then hiking, swimming, or snorkeling. One of our favorate spots was the Sea Aquarium, which is next to O'Brien's Cay, a 1.5 mile dinghy ride from our boat. The aquatic life we amaing and worth the trip. The dinghy ride back was a bit wet in to a strong SSE wind. We stopped along the way to explore other spots and other nearby cays and passages.
I will count 3 days. We dinghied somewhere every day, but some were just hops to shore.
The photo shows S/V Moorglade, another boat and friend from Hampton Roads. We were traveling separately, but crossed paths several times.
Big Major is a very nice anchorage, which I hope to visit again. We only stayed one night, then headed north to Cambridge Cay. The conditions were fantastic and we sailed with Genoa and main at about 7 knots through the water. We could sail as far as the Rocky Dundas waypoint when we had to turn east into the wind toward Conch Cut. The tide was going out against the wind, so the seas in the cut were a bit rough. We did not go out the cut, but turned north into the Cambridge Cay anchor just before the cut entrance. The channel is a bit tricky with reefs and rocks on both sides.
We took a mooring in Cambridge Cay to support the Exuma Land and Sea Park. There is plenty of room to anchor, but we wanted to help support this park for our tiny donation.
After several days in Staniel Cay, we decided to head out and get moving again. We went back to Big Major which is very close to Staniel Cay. In fact, many people prefer to anchor at Big Major and dinghy over to Staniel.
On our return voyage back north, we decided to go back to Staniel Cay, because we liked it and we now had a functional dinghy. I wanted another try at the Thunderball Grotto. We had a short (2 hour) but fun sail in 15-18 knots of wind from the ESE. Once anchored at Staniel Cay, we dinghied into shore for supplies, etc.
We stayed here 5 days, so I am counting the sail to Staniel and 4 days of dinghy excursions as 2 day. I was out in the dinghy everyday, even in the rough winds and currents.
We stayed late in the morning at LIttle Farmers, waiting for the tide to rise. I wanted to try taking Flight Risk through the back channels. When the tides seemed hight enough, we took off, but about 30 minutes later, we hit bottom. I finally figured out where to find deep water and we made our way to Black Point. It was a short sail of only 1.5 hours.
We stayed in Black Point 2 days
We took a quick trip out Galliott Cut and back into Farmers Cut to reach the Little Farmers Yacht Club. We took a mooring here and dinghied into the yacht club and met the owner Roosevelt Nixon. We made an order for lunch, then dinghied into the center of town. On the way, we saw dozens of Green turtles of all sizes and ages. The turtles are protected in their main harbor. We joined Roosevelt for lunch and listened to his stories. Afterwards we dinghied to various snorkeling spots for the afternoon. This day included both sailing and power boating.
We hung around Rudder Cut Cay most of the morning, looking for snorkeling spots in our dinghy. We also examined the rock formations from the dinghy. Around 11:30 we set off to the north on the bank-side which was a bit shallow for Flight Risk. We passed Cave Cay and checked out Big Galliott Cay anchorage as well as a spot south of the Big Farmers Cay, but neither of those seemed very pleasant. We sailed back to Cave Cay and anchored on the west side, which was more protected.
Heading out the Adderly Cut, we turned to 333 degree on a nice broad reach. We had a beautiful sail and dropped the anchor behind Rudder Cut Cay. Once settled we dinghied around the area to explore.