Two parts of Nassau and one part of the Exumas

We arrived in Nassau on the 27th of January to pick up 2 friends that were interested in experiencing what it's like to cruise. After spending a nice night anchored off Rose Island Beach we motored in to Nassau for a few nights while we prepared for our 10 day cruise. Friends Rod and Gina Thomas came for a visit to escape the cold Wyoming winter for a short time. Rod and I worked together a few years back.

Nassau is an interesting dichotomy for many reasons. Some cruisers despise it and refuse to come here while some of us think it's not so bad. Those who avoid it claim they do so for reasons of crime, violence and claim its a gritty town. The US State Department had even issued a travel warning a few years back. But, in my mind Nassau is about the same as any tropical third world city. Better than some and worse than some. It's not even as bad as cities in the US that folks like. Despite these shortcomings Nassau has much to offer. The affluent playground of Paradise Island is like Miami Beach with casinos. Nassau has fun restaurants, great stores and probably the best availability of marine supplies anywhere in the Bahamas. It's even fun to watch the cruise ship travelers be ferried about in an assortment of excursion boats. On any given day there are usually 4 cruise ships in the commercial port. Unfortunately, many of these travelers think that once they'e seen Nassau they've seen the Bahamas. But the Bahamas are so much more.

First order of business was to provision. Right across the street from the marina were we stay is probably one of the best stores in the Bahamas. Solomon's Fresh Market almost feels like Whole Foods when you walk in featuring lots of fresh produce, organic selections, large choice of cheeses, a deli and fresh bakery. So we loaded up on what we needed for the 10 days or so we would be on the boat in the Exumas.

Our first night out in the Exumas with Rod and Gina.

Sunset over Allen's Cay.

We left Monday with a nice tailwind. Surf was up so we opted not to go through the Yellow Bank shoal because the rough water makes it hard to see rocks and coral heads that would be crossed so we went a bit longer route bypassing the shoal and sailing on just the headsail. We could have used the spinnaker on such along run but about midway through we would need to jibe it and that's no fun so we went slower but more comfortably. With the sun winding down we opted to head into Allen's Cay instead of Shroud Cay for our first night since we had never been there. Allen's Cay has some very unique Iguanas and some very tame birds. After visiting the critters we headed to Shroud.

The beginning of our spinnaker run to Shroud Cay.

When we left Allen's Cay we were pretty far downwind so we decided to raise the spinnaker for the 18 or so mile sail. But, as we traveled the wind came up more to our beam so we pulled out the main and cranked in the spinnaker and really sailed well. Some other boats that were coming down from Nassau that we knew were hard on the wind and surprised to see us with a spinnaker up. Reaching with the spinnaker with the wind on the beam is really fun but tricky so I hand steered to turn off when the wind came up but otherwise keep the boat at a fairly constant wind angle. One of the folks on one of the boats commented that they were going to take a picture of us with the spinnaker up but they couldn't catch us.

Scenes from Warderick Wells.

The weather wasn't really nice while we visited Shroud Cay but was a little nicer when we visited Warderick Wells. From there we had a very nice sail into Big Majors Spot where we enjoyed snorkeling, our guests visited Pig Beach, we snorkeled "Thunderball Grotto" (so-called because it was used in the James Bond movie of the same name) and enjoyed the Superbowl Party at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

At the Super Bowl party we met up with friends Bob and Kathy Lyon from Sea Lyon along with our friends Rod and Gina for dinner.

The beach on Cambridge Cay.

At this point it was time to turn and head back toward Nassau. First stop was Cambridge Cay where we snorkeled the Aquarium and plane wreck sites by Johnny Depp's island and walked across the island to a fabulous beach. Next day we had another fantastic spinnaker run up to Hawksbill Cay where shallow water kept us out of the main anchorage and we dropped the hook far from shore. Hawksbill has some fantastic beach scenery and some colonial ruins.

The beach on the Bahama Bank side of Hawksbill Cay.

The beach on the Exuma Sound side of Hawksbill Cay.

A mermaid and her dinghy on Hawksbill Cay.

The next day it was a motor back to Nassau to beat some heavy weather moving in but we had one more night to anchor and we returned to Rose Island and it's beautiful beach and reefs to snorkel. The reef there has some of the best coral I've seen in the Bahamas. After our last night it was back for our second part of Nassau.

Sunset from Rose Island Beach looking over Nassau.

Back in Nassau we said our goodbyes and moved on with preparing for our continual move south. While here we are stocking up on provisions and other items we need to get us at least to George Town and Jamaica. Time for maintenance and engine servicing. Our trip here happens to fall on our 22nd wedding anniversary so we are enjoying our last nights in civilization for a while and heading to the tropics.

Enjoying another late night dinner at the Green Parrot while listening to a local band playing tunes to a reggae beat.

After a busy day of errands and boat chores time to celebrate our anniversary at Lucianos of Chicago in Nassau.

Toasting 22 years.

Wind looks good for sailing back to the Exumas on Sunday as we now resume our trip south headed to the Caribbean after one more day in Nassau getting ready for departure.