Meeting Friends at Abrahams

Stage 3 Bahamas 

Providenciales to George Town, Great Exuma Island: 25 - 29 Jun 09

Alone at Abrahams Bay

Happily, this was not a direct sail but a cruise within a cruise; hopefully, the start of many, as the Motleys gunkholed their way north.  Happy to be jus’ cruzin’ the Bahamas Banks! 

Our first port of call after crossing the Caicos Passage was the remote island of Mayaguana, which has a lucky population of about 400.  We anchored in a coral strewn Abrahams Bay, 2nm from any settlement.  It didn’t matter however, as the local fish had an adopt-a-boat program well in hand.  Our constant companions were Bazza Couda and Steve Ray. (Apologies to family, friends and any famous personages!)  Steve, with at least a 6 foot wing span, happily snuffled around WJ3.  Bazza’s toothy grin did nothing to inspire our confidence – perhaps it was the 5 foot of fish behind the grin!  We were also not keen on his up close & personal inspection as we snorkeled around the boat!  The sheltered reef system supported quite a lively, shallow aquarium (5-8 ft depth) inside the large bay with lots to see, including the famous conch (said conk).  Cap’n Snorkel found a cut in the reef, and on exploration, declared it better than his expensive wall dive! 

Steve & Bazza looking a bit wonky.
THEY were in the water.  WE were not!

Conch is a large shellfish, which now, thanks to overfishing, is indeed rather rare.  There is also quite an art to “cracking” the shell to release the animal before a messy cleaning job.  The white flesh is quiet chewy (like abalone), unless it is beaten thinly, almost translucent, before cooking.  Locals like to dry the flesh and call it “Bahamian ham” – a staple in those times when the little local freighters with supplies can’t make it into port.  Conch shells are beautiful but seemed to have the dubious honour of being made into rather kitsch tourist decorations.  We left the conchs we found safe within the confines of their Abrahams nursery….

Conch long conked out...

Keeping our yellow flag up, we moved on to the next anchorage of West Plana Cays, tiny uninhabited coral atolls in the middle of nowhere.  Again we were on our own (no coast guard copters buzzin’ us here!).  We negotiated our way into a small anchorage with the bluest of blue water and incredible visibility – at least 120 ft.  How do we know?  We could see our anchor underwater clearly from the back of WJ3.  Large bommies protruded up high from a white sandy bottom in 25-30 ft of water and we happily fossicked around fantastic purple fans and lime green corals.  All the while with our escort, Bazza’s smaller cousin, Boris.  Boris had a retinue of camp followers…a gang of teeny remoras, swimming rather too close to his big, charming grin!

Rain over West Plana Cay

Our next stop, with the best of intentions, was to be Atwood Harbour on Acklins Island.  Described as a tricky entrance – the cut was only 200m wide, we gingerly followed way points in.  Whoops!  Hit bottom, giving our keel a bit of a scraping and Cap’n a bit of a fright!  So it was we withdrew (rather quickly), changing plans and heading directly for Rum Cay.  Our timings would be out for Clarence Town, Long Island (and its fresh food!) now and the thought of heaving-to in these dark, reef scatted waters waiting for daylight did not appeal to us.  We slowed down to ensure an early morning arrival at Rum Cay.  The only excitement was seeing something big off the port bow in the late afternoon.  Was it a smallish whale?  Perhaps like the ancient mariner (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) we were starting to have hallucinations….

Conception Island Lagoon

We waited briefly in Rum Cay for cloud cover and threatening rain squalls to pass over us.  Rum Cay is said to be the hub for yachts transiting from the Bahamas to the Caribbean and back.  We were one of two yachts at anchor – very quiet, and the swell was not conducive to snorkeling so we moved on.  Next beckoning stop was another pristine anchorage, Conception Island; a mere 14nm from Rum Cay.  Here, in this lovely marine park we were able to find a sunny protected anchorage safe from blustery south westerlies. 

Conception offered very safe snorkelling

And inspiring mangroves (no mud necessary)

Conception is a ring of an island around a pristine mangrove lagoon.  Forget the mangroves you’ve seen at home, these are crystal clear waters, not an ounce of black mud anywhere!  Our first expedition (What ho, Mr Livingston!) was dingying into these backwaters, taking Bruce for a bit of a spin up shallow creeks and down into wild-life infested lagoons.  Our first sighting was a large (6-7 ft) reef (or lemon) shark, keen to find a tasty turtle snack no doubt!

From: Wheeland Cut, TCI   Lat/Long: 21 51N  72 18  Date/Time: 25/6/09: 0715

To: George Town, Exumas  Lat/Long: 23 31N  74 45W  Date/Time: 29/6/09: 1450
Time Taken: 256nm (52hrs)  Distance (this year): 1322nm (296hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 2271nm  (464hrs)   Fastest Speed: Not noted**
Weather: Winds SE to SW 5-15kts; Seas 2-4ft; Swell SE to SW
(**Monument Beach anchorage off Stocking Island in Elizabeth Harbour)