Still Pretty
On December 28 we departed Staniel Cay to sail North back towards Nassau. We stopped a a sandspit on the way to let Queso run and the humans always like a chance to stretch their legs as well.
We anchored at Hawksbill Cay and the next day had a great walk to the other side of the island. The trail was marked by hanging beach litter. There were ruins from the Russell family who were loyalist of the American Revolution and granted land in the Bahamas. Big cisterns/sinkholes were visitable as well. The beach at the end of the trail was vast with actual surf. Lots of trash washed up on this side and each of picked some rope to hang our litter of choice and we helped further mark the trail on our way back to the dinghy.
On our dinghy ride back to the boat we spotted three dogs with only one having a collar, swimming around the island to the beach we had just departed. According to the Exumas sailing Facebook page, these dogs have a home on a neighboring island and swim over at low tide. They did appear to be very happy. The mutts in the Bahamas are called Potcakes.
We sailed onto to Nassau to dock at the Nassau Yacht Haven Marina and have our last meal together. We ate dinner at the marina restaurant called The Poopdeck. The next day Addy and the Flemings flew back to California. There were some tears shed as we hugged our goodbyes. I returned to the boat to immediately plan a trip out to Humboldt in February to visit Addy knowing I would not see her for Spring Break. The crew team races and trains during their Spring Break.
The New Year was brought in at Nassau where we anchored near the north side to be close to provisioning and a Starbucks for Jo use as her study spot for four days. Sadly this area of Nassau is deemed unsafe after dark despite it being highly populated and a port for many cruise ships. Almost every business had their own security guard, even Subway and the gas station! There are bars on the windows of both residential and commercial buildings. The streets and buildings are in disrepair despite the huge influx of tourist dollars. Nate and did a long walk to the Queen’s Stairs from our dinghy dock and spotted a few gems.
The Queen’s Staircase was carved from solid limestone rock in 1793 by 600 slaves to serve as an escape route from the fort above. We didn’t have any champagne or midnight hollering, but we did celebrate MANY miles sailed in December.
Nassau is not cruiser friendly, at least near the northeast part of the island. Tour boats and jet skis are continuously passing by anchored boats at very high speeds with very loud music. The no wake zone is not enforced. This makes the area not peaceful and relatively unsafe, this includes the marinas. The dinghy docks require locking or you have to pay a dock fee where there is security.
On January 2nd we headed out with our sights on Highborne Cay and back to the Exumas. This cay is the setting of a great nonfiction book I read a few years ago and I was excited to visit in person.
We had a very rolly night as you can see from the anchor map below. So rolly that I felt a but seasick before bedtime. We were also anchored right next to the seaplane path and thus moved to the other side of the inlet in the morning. Nothing quite like waving at plane passengers in their windows.
A delicious lunch was had at Exuma and it was fun to see some of the old buildings from the book. Nate went for an ocean swim and had to cut his swim short when he discovered he was being followed by a bull shark.
