Black Point

By Capt. Scott Buckley

Location: Great Guana Cay, Bahamas

We left Roberts Cay on 30 Jan and headed to Shroud Cay.  There were no mooring balls available, (a recurring theme down here is the early bird catches the mooring balls) and anchored down south of the mooring field.  The wind piped up overnight and some of the boats found that uncomfortable.  Kooky Dance road well at anchor.

The next morning two boats of our group decided to leave (SV Alice Mare and SV Sole Serenade) and Kooky Dance and Signara stayed another day.  The weather was good and I swam and snorkeled around.  The water however was cold.



It made me sad to see our little group of traveling companions breaking up but each boat has their own plan and agenda.  SV Alice Mae needed well protected anchorages, Sole Serenade had to be back in the USA at the beginning of March so they were pressed to work their way south quickly. 

But I had a feeling we would meet up again somewhere.

Working our way South

We were a little frustrated with running from the weather and the fact the water was too cold to enjoy with any degree of comfort.  We made the decision to work our way well south to warmer water and plan to return to these island later in the year when the weather starts becoming more settled and warmer.  We planned to sail the next day for Staniel Cay.  SV Alice Mae was in that area and SV Sole Serenade was headed to Black Point Harbor.
We planned to head to Staniel Cay the next day and bypass a couple of islands.  We pulled the hook at Shroud Cay and set off.  as we passed by Hawksbill Cay the winds had increased to 25 knots and were climbing to 30 knots.  We were towing the dinghy and I was concerned if something happened to the dinghy in the growing sea it would be difficult for us to do much to save it.  I suggested turning back and going into Hawksbill Cay.  Soon the sea were so high the first mate concurred with my suggestions.  As we were going in we passed another vessel heading out.  We told them of the conditions we encountered but they thought it would be OK.  A couple hours later we watched them return to Hawksbill next to us.  Little was said like; "I TOLD YOU SO".  Another boat called us and said they were having some sail troubles and did Hawksbill look OK to put into to set out the high winds.  We told them to head on in.  That vessel was SV Sunshine with Alicia and Gary on board.  We met them that afternoon and they were a delight.

The next day we set off for Staniel Cay but after getting started changed our plans to get all the way to Black Point Harbor where SV Sole Serenade was anchored.  We had heard a lot of good things about Black Point and it was farther south so we were game. 

We arrived at Black Point about 3PM with winds from the SSW which were "on the nose" so we were motoring and not sailing.  The approach into Black Point was pretty easy and we anchored down next to SV Sole Serenade.

The evening we went into town and met some more cruisers and reconnected with Jimmy and Sue of Serenade.

 

Black Point

Black Point is a pretty amazing place when it comes to Cruiser services in the out islands. There are 3 restaurants, a big new laundry, RO water, trash collection and 2 dinghy docks with some nice benches to hang out at in the evening. 

We have enjoyed happy hour at Lorraine's and Scorpios.  We have done our laundry and taken on 12 gallons of water. 

 

Early tomorrow 5 Feb we plan to head to Farmers Cay for the festival of the 5 F's.  The weather may not be so great but if we can get a ball we will likely stay.  

 

 





Nassau to Roberts Cay

by Capt. Scott Buckley

After the front passed thru Nassau we planned to sail to Roberts Cay.  There was a lot of discussion at the dock about destinations and I finally said I was headed to Roberts Cay because of the short distance and the likelihood of an early arrival.  Being new to the Bahamas I am reluctant to make an after dark arrival into these anchorages.  It turned out everyone else decided to do the same thing. 
We left Nassau Harbor and headed to Progee Rock about 4 nm out to the east from Nassau.  After Progee Rock we laid in the waypoint to Roberts Cay at about 25 nm.  The sailing across the bank was excellent with SV Kooky Dance leading the way.

We got to Roberts Cay and quickly launched the hard rowing dinghy.  I checked the set of the anchor because the wind was expected to increase thru the night.  Tamera and I decided to do anchor checks every 2 hrs unless a watch seemed necessary based on changing conditions.

I felt pretty good at finally arriving in the Exumas.  There were times I had doubts that we were up to it and that we may never get there this year.  I rowed around the anchorage yell "I'M IN THE EXUMAS".

 



The water was crystal clear.  We explored the island and inland canals by row boat.   We would only stay hear one night and head to Shroud Cay the next day for better protection.

SHROUD CAY

By Tamera – First Mate

Latitude 24’ 31. 3 N

Longitude 76’ 47.5 W

We arrived at our second Cay –Shroud Cay. But first let me tell a little bit about our trip from Roberts Cay to Shroud Cay. 
We left Roberts Cay at 09:15 and arrived at Shroud Cay at 12:35 – it was a short little hop to an even more beautiful spot in the Exumas.  This is the first time we sailed with the dinghy tied on the back and I truly believe I kept hearing weeeeeee coming from the dinghy since it was going so fast…faster than it ever has gone before.

Scott enjoying the sail to Shroud Cay
The skies were blue behind us and a little cloudy ahead of us….the rain showers passed ahead of us and we arrived to beautiful skies and awesome blue water.

This is our anchorage in Shroud Cay the first day

Again Scott quickly took care of the anchor but this time he jumped in the water, it was just too inviting and COLD. 

Of course our flotilla had to play in their dinghy too – everyone was very excited to be here.

Then we went exploring the Cay.



There was a little canal that went up into the cay and it was awesome.  Lots of mangroves, sea grass and of course beautiful clear water.
I know you are all going to be shocked but I (Tamera) forgot to take a photo of sunset the first night in Shroud Cay…..I guess I was pooped from all the exploring.
After a bit of a bouncy night some of our buddy boat pals decided to move further South to hopefully find a less bouncy spot.  We opted to stay at Shroud Cay and we were able to more around the corner to a mooring ball.
Who would of ever thought that moving around the corner would be even more beautiful, but it was.


It was sad to watch some of our buddy boats sail off without us but each boat had their own agenda.  Some boats are only here a month and wanted to head South quickly while others could not tolerate to bouncy conditions and had to move more inland to a mooring ball.  We are here for several months and did not want to miss all of the great islands so we opted to take our time and enjoy this dream that we have waited so long to come true.
Soooooo were are off to explore this new spot……
We are back from exploring and here is what we found……

More beautiful water……..
and a trail that leads to a water well, I would not drink from it because it’s brown…yucky.


And we got to see Kooky Dance in crystal clear blue water

AND my favorite photo of all…..Scott in the water.

More highlights when we reach our next destination…..for now we are off to have a sundowner with the crew of Sonara – Joy and Craig.

ROBERTS CAY

By Tamera – First Mate

FYI – Cay is pronounced Key

Latitude 24’ 47.70 N

Longitude 76’ 50.30 W

We arrived in Roberts Cay at 16:20 on the night of January 29, 2015.  WE MADE IT TO THE EXUMAS!!!!!!!

This has been a dream of both Captain Scott and me for a very long time.  There are many times we were not totally sure this would happen…and now this dream has come true. Roberts Cay is just a place to drop anchor and take a rest.  Scott quickly got the dinghy in the water and took our “looky” bucket to be sure our anchor was secure.  FYI – a “looky” bucket is a bucket with plexi-glass in the bottom so you can see down into the water clearly. We were in 16 feet of water and Scott could see the bottom like it was 2 inches away.

Jimmie on SV Soul Serenade had never seen the looky bucket so Scott had to share his toy.

After anchor was all set and excited chatter among the “Alice Mae Flotilla” members settled down we all had adult beverages and enjoyed our first Exuma sunset.

The next morning we are all off to our next Cay – Shroud Cay.  There is some windy weather heading this way and Shroud Cay has a little more protection from the wind and waves.

So were off…….this is Alice Mae right behind us.

Paradise Found…..Bimini and Nassau Bahamas

By First Mate – Tamera Buckley

After a uneventful crossing of the Gulf Stream we arrived in paradise.  We came across the Gulf Stream with Sailing Vessel Alice Mae (crew David and Alice Woods).  We left Marathon FL at 14:00 on January 20, 2015 and arrived in Bimini at 12:00 January 21, 2015. We sailed within VHF radio distance and along the way we added two other boats to our flotilla.  Soul Serenade (crew Jimmy and Sue) and Sonara (Crew Craig and Joy).
Alice Mae                                 Soul Serenade                       Sonara
 
As we arrived in Bimini Mother Nature had one little squall she wanted to throw at us….we waited about 10 minutes for it to pass then went into Bimini with nerves a shaken. 

Arriving at Bimini with Alice Mae in the lead boat…..


We stayed at Blue water Marina and got to know the other two boats (Soul Serenade & Sonara).  We also made friends with the crew of OZ (crew Toby and Dana) and they decided to join us on our journey across the Great Bahama Banks.
OZ

We decided to leave Bimini on the next weather window which was on January 25, 2015.  We decided to make it an overnight journey so we left of the 25th at 09:00 and arrived on January 26, 2015 at 05:35.
We had a great trip across the Great Bahama Banks and an easy passage through the NW channel.  The seas got a little bit of rock and roll attitude around midnight and stayed that way till we got into Nassau Harbor.
 


Of course mother nature and wildlife did not disappoint…..

Here we are in Nassau…..these are the daily views we get from our “back porch”

 

So far it has been a great trip and we have made some wonderful new friends.  We will be in Nassau until Friday (January 30th) and then we will be off to another great island or two or three….
Internet will be spotty while we are in the Bahamas but when we find at hot spot we will update our position and photos.
Last Shot………A few photos of Bimini……..