Allan's Cay Excursion to Ships Channel Cay in the Exumas

Allan's Cay is a good northern anchorage in the northern section of the Exumas available to sailboats coming from New Providence to the Exumas.  We stay there a week and each night 4-6 sailboats come in and anchor and most leave the next morning. A few of us stay to explore.  We take an excursion to Ships Channel Cay and hike the high country, about 150 feet at its peak, drift over shallow reefs snorkeling, and explore the nurse shark breeding area. 

Fair Winds crossing the White Banks between New Providence
and the Exumas.  Full sails! 

Fair Winds heeling to the wind

Jean and Gordon on bow of Fair Winds to
check anchor as we arrive at Allan's Cay. 

 We dinghy 5 miles to Ships Channel Cay where excursions from Nassau and the cruise ships come to snorkel and have lunch with the sharks.  We land at a beautiful white beach and hike up and up to 150 highest point. 

Beach at Ships Channel Cay

One of excursion boats from Nassau and the cruise ships

The trail on Ships Channel Cay

Margaret and D on the trail 

Up and up, down and down

Cactus on the trail and view of the lush island

Curly tail lizard on trail. They are friendly,
letting you feed it leaves. One sat on D's knee. 

Overlooking the beach at Ships Channel Cay

We dinghy past the bluff overlooking the reef on Ships Channel Cay

We explore the nurse shark breeding area on Ships Channel Cay. The season is March through June, so we are safe, its only February!!  We see rays and conch and even find a secured Powerboat Adventure vessel.

Clear shallow water of the nurse shark breeding area

We find lots of conch. Margaret holds a conch that is
one of the more mature ones, with a beautiful color and full lip. 

D walks the sandy flats of the nurse shark breeding area at low tide. 

We explore Leaf Cay across from Allan's Cay. The wind blown bushes show the harsh conditions for survival.  The beaches on the Exuma Sound side are coral rock and sandy coves.

Wind swept bushes on Leaf Cay

Sandy beaches and rocky points of Leaf Cay on the Exuma Sound side. 

Weather! Storm brewing but for now, the sun shines on the water.

We anchor side by side and mostly have the anchorage to ourselves. Each night a few sailboats come in for the night and leave the next morning transiting to Nassau or down the Exumas.

Fly Away and Fair Winds at anchor at Allan's Cay

D dinghies past Fly Away

D dinghies past Fly Away and Fair Winds

Jean and I snorkel over some reefs when I spy a lobster.  Jean checks it out, and declares it a keeper. Gordon brought his gear, gloves, tickle stick, and net. He jumps into the water and tickles it, but the lobster is no dummy, and withdraws deeper in its hole. Gordon dives again and with 2 hands grabs and pulls the lobster, but once again, as strong as he is, he is thwarted, needing to surface to breathe.  D, totally unprepared, enlists the help of a passer by, a young VietNamese/Chinese man, who enthusiastically jumps in to help, but unfortunately, he can't swim and has never had snorkel gear or fins on before. D heads back to Fly Away to get the big guns, a Hawaiian sling. He dives 3 times before success, and the lobster is ours for dinner.  

D holds the lobster that took all four of us, plus one passer by, to catch. 

Dinner that night - as our friend Harry would chant before dinner - Yummm!

 

Allan’s Cay, Exumas

Allan’s Cay is famous for it's iguanas. The Exuma iguana is considered one of the world’s most endangered species and exists nowhere else but the Exumas.  It is a vegetarian and if it bites your finger you feel no teeth. They are beautiful, photogenic, exotic, and prehistoric looking. 

You aren't supposed to feed the iguanas. Daryl feeds the iguanas left over fruit from breakfast. Hundreds of Powerboat Adventure tourists feed them, too!

How many iguanas?  We counted over 50 on this small beach one morning. 


More pictures of the photogenic iguana. They are good posers!

Nassau and West Bay, New Providence

January 26, 2016 we are anchored in West Bay, New Providence Island (Nassau). We hire a driver, Mario Cooper, 242-455-7221, for the day to  pick up Jean at the airport, go to immigration to extend our cards, reprovision our groceries, supplies, and fuel. Mario is amazing and helps us to get it done all in one day, then we are off for the Exumas. 

Aerial view of Berry Islands

Provisions on the dock, waiting to be loaded 

on the dinghy, then onto Fly Away

The amazing Mario, driver extraordinaire, drives 

on the left side of the road freaking Gordon out

Where coconuts come from

Lobster condos on Jaw's Beach

Conch lined road in Clifton Park 

The cliffs of Clifton Park

Lyford Cay house built into the coral
Sean Connery is one of its residents

Peter Nygard, Canadian and women's fashion 

designer's home and play ground

Sailing on ...

Chub and Frazer’s Hog Cays, Berry Islands

January 15, 2016 we arrive at Chub Cay and Frazer’s Hog Cay, the most southern of the Berry Islands. We stayed at the marina during Hurricane Joaquin in September 2015. The cays are separated by a small creek. Chub Cay has a thriving marina with active construction on infrastructure – water, communications; and homes – colorful, single family residences on the water. The marina was purchased from receivership by a Matagorda, Texas, businessman, George Bishop, who has Geo South, at least that’s what his jet has on it!!

Typical house being constructed on Chub Cay

Frazer’s Hog Cay has the 5000 foot airstrip and airport that Jean flies out of on a 6 seat airplane to Nassau where she connects to Orlando. Dan Scott is the airport employee who helps with a big smile, a Tiger Woods smile, in booking, guiding, loading and flagging the flights. He also drives the van.

Six seat airplane to Nassau on a 5,000 foot
typical Bahamian island airstrip

We eat at Saulie’s restaurant at the airport.  Saulie is a native of Chub Cay and making a real go of the restaurant business. He has decorated it with local pictures and painted it fresh in Bahamian colors. Great cheeseburgers with secret barbecue sauce.

Saulie, of Saulie's Airport Restaurant, and Jean and Gordon
 in front of satellite picture of the Berry Islands. 

We anchor behind Frazer’s Hog Cay for 48 hour blow with gale force winds (>34 mph) before it calms, and we sail southeast to Nassau, New Providence, to pick up Jean and continue our sail.

Little Harbour and Bond's Cays, Berry Islands

Beautiful lizard in our path to the cottages at Bond's Cay

In January from our anchorage at Alder Cay, we dinghy to Flo’s Conch Shack on Little Harbour Cay to the north and Bond’s Cay to the south.  We have rum punch with Chester at Flo’s and hike the island paths that he clears to the east coast and watch the swells crash against the coral outcropping.

The famous Flo's Conch Shack welcomes us to Little Harbour Cay

Inside Flo's Gordon and Daryl get rum and goombay punches

On our hike of Little Harbour we find Darth Vader 'Wilson'
and place him to mark the trail

Bond’s Cay is being developed by Shakira, the singer, and other performers. We meet Stephen, the builder, and he invites us up to an open air bar, On Our Own, with a deck and fire pit.  He is a gracious host and serves us wine and goombay punch, but because he didn’t know we were coming, he had no fish, lobster or conch available. We are ok with that. We meet his girlfriend, Katherine, the gingerbread mermaid, who is from Canada and she gives us a tour of the facility – bar, 2 bathrooms, 2 showers, and 4 cabins. 

Host and builder Stephen holds a lucky 6 pointed starfish

On Our Own bar has a pit fire and open air deck

  Back at Little Harbour Cay ... we do more exploring. We find starfish, fast turtles, and beautiful coral beaches secluded by shallow water.

We love our twin dinghies - they are SO fast!!

Jean and Gordon reach across the coral span

D and Margaret on coral

The weather is forecast to shift to the south so we must find another anchorage and head south to Chub Cay.