Exumas from Harbour Island

boatbum

boatbum

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We made the passage from Little Harbour down to Royal Island and Spanish Wells. The cages were well rattled so we opted to pull into the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven for the night before hiring a pilot to get around the backbone.
As it turned out we had 2-3 out of the N.E. combined with chop of 1-2 out of the S.E for confused seas. The closer we got to Ridley Head the more the chop turned into Swell.
So when we got along we said the heck with calling a pilot and we went around Royal to Spanish Wells. It was about 8.5 hours of rolling.

ANYWAY

When the wind lays down again we are going to move South for a while and I am reconsidering the plan yet again. We drove the length of Eleuthera in a car yesterday and stopped in at several places including Cape Eleuthera. We were going to work our way around to C.E. and sit for a window over, but with the forecast http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/north_eleuthera_airport we decided being stuck at Romora Bay was a much better place to hang out. It's all out of the East and it's pretty quiet down at C.E..

So everyone stays West of Yellow Bank and avoids the coral?

Having been through the backbone I am wondering how bad the coral is down that way.
 
The Yellow Bank is not that big a deal. It just scattered heads and patch reefs that are easy to see in good light.
I don't see the point in going all the way to Cape E. and crossing from there. Unless you want to skip some of the upper Exumas.

I'd just go from Current Cut to the Exumas.

Who did you use as your guide into H.I.?

If you are going to be in H.I. for a while I would suggest heading over to the Bottom Harbour Club over at the Whale Point/Bottom Harbour area for a change of pace from H. I. .
 
We used Woody and he did a fine job. No less than 7 under the transducer the whole way and that was mid tide. When we had the car we tried to drive over to the bottom club and the road did us in before we got there :D It was an older Lincoln town car and I didn't want to hang it up on the oil pan.
 
i'd go down El. west coast in the bight to Cape E then cross to Warderick Wells. No point in doing the detour around the Northern Ex. since you'll be coming back that way anyay, may as well cruise along Eleuthera. it's about 30NM from CE to Warderick, swells shoudl be more on your stern and be less rolly than on the beam.

on the way back, you can stop at Normans, Shroud, etc...

from Nas to the EX, i usually avoid the Yellow Bank since it only adds a few miles, but Charmer draws a lot more than you do.

btw, on your way back, I assume you'll come thru the Berrys, skip chub and go Fraziers. was there 2 days ago, there are moorings and a lot of nice beaches and sandbars to explore. Not as nice as the EX. but worth a stop.
 
Pascal that's what we thought originally but we considered that the El. shoreline is just that, a shoreline and if we wanted to we could see twice as much by picking a set of stops on the way down and a different set on the way up. If C.E. had a little more going on I'd be up for it but having driven along all of Eleuthera now, well, I'm not as inclined to travel that way. If I was going to fish, perhaps.
 
That is they way I like to do it too. Skip some stops on the way down the chain and pick them up on the way back.

If you were going down Eleuthera on the Bight side I'd suggest stopping in Governors Harbour for a look around if you wanted to break the trip up.

There is good diving and fishing around Cape E.. But otherwise as you saw it's quiet. Which of course some people like.

I'd second hitting The Berry Island Club on the other end of Frazier's Hog Cay from Chub. http://www.theberryislandsclub.com/

Here is a picture from one of the last times I was there. Just hanging out with the guys.

Dscn0175.jpg


Great afternoon was had by all.
 
We are thinking that would be the way to go. Chub wants 4.25 a foot!
 
There is nothing in chub to justify the price... And not a lot to do with the tender anyway beside some snorkeling on the reef by mama Rhoda On the bird cay side, you have a lot more to explore

There are so many good spots in the exumas that you can pick different ones on the way back but plan on spending at least 3 or 4 days around staniel. The anchorage by by majors is very nice and within tender distance of SCYC. Don't bother with Sampson it s like chub (and outrageously priced electricity) but the sand bar maze in the lagoon is worth the dinghy trip from big majors. And don't miss sandy cay, great sandbar extending off the tip
 
We're sold on Frazer's, now all we have to do is get South. I'm thinking that 10-15k of wind out of the East is not an awful thing as far as crossing from Flemming to Highbourne.
Anyone with a sense on that? I know the Sea of Abaco can mix up at that wind speed but by and large it remains quite passable at 1-2 feet of chop. Does the bank South of Flemming rise up more than that? Looking at the wave height predictions I tend to question them because they don't seem to include any reduction for land mass. No shadow effect so to speak.
 
10-15 should be no big deal. And you do get some lee even though the islands are low.
 
Ok, so this is how it went. First of all we are in a 43x13.5x4 Hatteras that rolls like a hog in a beam sea. Following is no fun either. We looked over Windfinder, WxWorx, and PassageWeather and there was consensous of about a meter on the beam to the West end of Yellow Bank. So we left for Highbourne from Spanish.
No problems and it was bumpy, a little spray on the enclosure all the way to Fleeming Channel. Cool. Since the predictions included the area we just traveled we went through the cut and headed as though we were taking the conservative track around Yellow (see danmapes.blogspot.com for the garmin data) Bank. Fleeming was pushing us back with tide so I figured once we got West of the channel it would lay down.
Not.
We rocked, rolled, pushed, and shoved all the way to Nassau since it became obvious Highbourne was not going to work via the direct line from Fleeming (visability and damn rough on the beak) nor was it going to happen the long way around either. We pulled into Nassau (5 bucks a gallon diesel) and went out to eat and we didn't stop rocking in our chairs all night. It took a nights sleep to settle the sense of balance down. Deb swore she was never going to the Exumas, and wanted a plane ticket home.
A few drinks out with dinner, a nights rest, and a good forecast, and we eventually found our way to Highbourne. Today we slogged it out with 2 foot on the beak again getting into Compass. Absolutely love this place. We're laying low for a while since it's gonna blow again for a few days.
Lotso salt on the ol' tub but she done us proud.
 
Sometimes you just have to compromise with Muther Nature and let her do her stuff. Sounds like you were well within the "safe operation capabilities" of the vessel, though you were getting outside of the "comfort envelope". All the more reason to drop the hook ( or secure to the dock ), kick back and relax a bit. If every day were perfect, it would ( eventually ) get boring, and having to "fight for it" a bit makes it all the more special.

"We're laying low for a while since it's gonna blow again for a few days."

Sounds like an excellent plan. Don't forget to "groom the horse and give her a bit of sweet feed" for conveying you to your present comfortable lounge chair... :)
 
We were lulled into the notion this would work by the forecasts indicating things were pretty much the same on the bank and on the North East Providence channel. I was concerned it was not going to be the same due to the amount of fetch once on the bank and upwind of the barrier reefs, rocks and islands.
I know one small cruising tug that is happy we reported on the conditions. The mistake here was not turning around and going back out Fleeming to stay on the good side of the barrier.
 
Yes I like those old Hatts but there is no doubt if you really do other than ICW cocktail cruising with them stabilizers make a world of difference. But being "stuck" in Compass Cay is not to tough a duty. :-)
 
At this point we're thinking Staniel ain't so bad either. Compass Cay has made it to the top of the list of all of the places we have tied up at. Staniel is nice, but it's just not Compass. When the island owner charges 8 bucks a head for a dink landing fee that keeps the island quiet, and shakes your hand upon arrival and leaving, well, it says quite a bit.
 
quote:
Originally posted by boatbum

....When the island owner charges 8 bucks a head for a dink landing fee that keeps the island quiet, and shakes your hand upon arrival and leaving, well, it says quite a bit.

Click to expand...
Is this on Staniel or Compass Cay?
 
No charge for landing a dinghy in staniel

Never been to compass i always chicken out due to depth although I m sure they have 6+ draft boats in there.

$8 a dink sounds like Samson cay... They also have the most expensive power I ve ever seen... We ve seen close to $200 a day!!!

I love staniel... so much to do within a few miles and the bar is the best!
 
That would be Compass. They have no restaurant there so people merely come to walk about and leave trash. You do not pay the fee if you are a marina guest. It only applies to people that come in by dink.
Staniel, has a charge for trash, where as Compass does not for marina guests. Choose your poison. It's expensive to stay at either facility, no, any of the facilities in the Exumas.
Imho, Compass is a great stop to walk about on, and the fish are all over the place in the marina area. Make sure you have everything you need, and you will enjoy this stop as well as Staniel.
 
Compass was 60 bucks a day for a 50 amp cord. Staniel is metered at .75 a kw. Highbourne was 50 bucks a day for a 50 amp. Sampson, we don't know but we had lunch there and even though they did not have half of what was on the menu my burger was good and the conch salad was as well.
 
Did you go to the other side of Compass and enjoy the great beach over there???

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