We departed Elbow Cay early heading down to Bell Cay where we could get better protection from the north winds and waves.
Running southwards down the Exuma island chain you have to skirt along the reefs and sand bores (underwater sand dunes) that extend out from the island chain. Its very easy to detect the shallow and deep water along the route. We are in the "deep" 20ft waters that are royal blue. Off to the east are the shallow 3ft waters over sand that are turquoise in color. Interestingly the sand ends in a distinct drop-off from 3ft to about 15-20ft.
Poor Rivah had to share the cockpit seat with our new Yamaha outboard. Sue gave her some cushions for her head to protect it from the prop blades. We are waiting to mount the new outboard on our dinghy when we launch it after arriving at Bell Cay.
Bell Cay is a private island where you can't go ashore but it provides a great anchorage spot for protection from north and west winds. But to get to the anchorage you have to pass through either of two very narrow and shallow channels from the north or south. We went in through the south channel with a bit of nail biting as the darker waters (meaning deeper water) didn't quite match either of our charts onboard. Ultimately we passed about 20ft off the rocky reef shore where the deepest water appeared - successfully.
Here's the view from our anchoring spot looking out to the east into the Atlantic Ocean. With an easterly wind, this anchorage spot would be untenable as the waves would roll in through the opening but with the northwest winds we were experiencing it was fine and much better than Elbow Cay.
This view is why we cruise to the Bahamas. The waters are crystal clear and every view is serene.
Sunset over Bell Cay behind us to the west. We shared the anchorage with one other boat, a Canadian sailboat who departed the next day leaving us alone in the anchorage.
The next day the winds were down some and we decided to explore one of the outer small islands along the ocean shoreside.
The new outboard is mounted and we are following the breaking-in instructions for the first 10 hours of use. We are supposed to cruise at half throttle for 2 hours which turns out to be very fast and only doable on flat waters. No more struggling to get up on plane, the boat jumps up on plane with this new 15hp engine.
Not much on this island which is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean - sand and rocks and scrub plants. Sue was disappointed that there were no shells here. The water views are spectacular though.
Another view of the anchorage area.
We took the dinghy up through the northern cut where there is a sunken airplane (1960s Piper Cherokee) and a coral garden but the waters were quite rough up there and we didn't get any photos. The views are more of the same that you see here.
Another sunset over Bell Island. Tomorrow we will head out for Big Majors and Staniel Cay as the wind will shift over to the easterly trade winds.
Just another day in paradise.
