Another adventure on the Cat

After lots of discussion, research and anguish we left New Bight this morning (I think it was Wednesday 3/30) to visit another anchorage that would hopefully be less crowded and get us further up the island. Our concern was about the weather.

Today was forecast to have storms with changing winds as a front passed over but more importantly was a front expected to pass early next week and bring north and west winds.  On most of the Bahama Islands winds from the north or west are hard to find shelter from.

We really enjoyed our stay in New Bight and could easily have stayed there. But, the anchorage constantly had lots of boats coming and going. When we came to Cat Island, in fact when we came to the Bahamas we wanted to find secluded anchorages but most we’ve found while not crowded have had many boats. While New Bight anchorage had far less boats than many in the Exumas, more than 1 is too many. So we decided to move on.

After looking at the weather and based on some other cruiser recommendations we decided to go to Alligator Point and anchor on the north side of the peninsula because of the forecast for SSE winds. Since it wasn’t that far we decided to motor and tow the dink. Actually, winds would have been mostly dead behind us and we needed to put some juice into the batteries since there hasn’t been much wind or solar the past few days.

The trip was uneventful and we anchored in close to the north shore of alligator point. As we hoped we are the only boat anywhere around here. There isn’t even a road or houses anywhere close. Just what we wanted.

The weather however was still undecided so we ate lunch and watched what was going on.

It became apparent that no storms or seriously bad weather was imminent so we took off to find some snorkeling. We dinghied to a beach out by the point that we noticed coming in and headed for the coral heads. What a treat!!!! The reefs were full of schools of fish that were active and present in great numbers. I was hoping to find some lobsters but they were no doubt cleaned out by the locals. I did find a small conch by one of the reefs. We even saw a small barracuda that was eyeing us and then swam away. What a treat to find on the path less traveled.  Some of the best snorkeling we've found.

Unfortunately this anchorage doesn’t have wifi or TV like New Bight so after a shower and dinner we simply enjoyed the stars and got ready for an early rise tomorrow so we can head over to Little San Salvador and Half Moon Bay which is owned by Holland America Cruise Lines so they can take their passengers there and pretend they have a real Bahamian experience. We played with our Iridium Go and PDAnet modem over BTC to get some updates but we’re waiting for wifi to communicate.

The skies have cleared and the wind has come up so we will be good for the night.

On to Half Moon Bay.