With the watermaker fixed and the Christmas blow giving way to calm conditions, we set out from Chub Cay for our ultimate destination – the Exumas. There are several routes, but in general the first day involves crossing the deep water to New Providence island, where Nassau is located, while the second day involves crossing the east side of the Great Bahama Bank.
When the Brain Takes a Vacation
As we prepared to depart the dock at Chub Cay Marina, I started up the Port engine. All good. Next Starboard… Nothing. You could hear one quiet ‘click’ when I pressed Start, but otherwise the engine was dead. This was a very expensive marina and we needed to get underway. Panic that we were stuck and anger that something important on this damn boat was broken again.
We assumed it was the starter motor. Brenda began googling how to jump it while I began testing voltages. I read in the Leopard forum that a bad ground can cause this, so cleaned that all up. After an hour of this, we were lost. Brenda posted our dilemma to the Leopard Facebook group and almost immediately our broker and friend Michelle responded with her husband Pat. They got on Facetime and walked me through the diagnosis. After quite awhile, Pat mentioned that I should also trace the wire going into the bulkhead, which leads to the battery switch next to the bed. Battery Switch! Oh no! I remembered. Two nights ago, on Christmas Eve, we had lightning in the middle of the night. Half asleep, I rolled over and turned it off to “save the engine” and went back to sleep. I never would have remembered if Pat hadn’t mentioned it.
Thanks to both of you for helping and not laughing too hard (at least while I was still on the phone).
New Providence
Once again, our route was directly into the wind. Another day of motoring. We would typically preserve fuel and only use one engine, but with the late start and a desire to arrive at the anchorage in good light, we pushed both engines and averaged 8 knots. At 2:30, we arrived on the west side of New Providence and dropped anchor in Clifton Bay next to three other boats. Winds in the high teens were expected that night, so we were all nestled into the northeast corner of the bay.
On the north end is Nygard Cay, on which is a 4.2 acre private resort that looks like a Las Vegas version of Swiss Family Robinson. The Resort World site here says it starts at $35,000 to $40,000 per night! The property is apparently locked in legal problems due to the owner, Peter Nygard, being accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking. I little bit of Google leads to some pretty salacious reading.
Highborne Cay, Exumas
There are several routes over the Bank from New Providence to the Exumas, all of which require some care due to shallow water and submerged obstacles. They are divided into the Yellow Bank, which are the routes from eastern New Providence, and the White Bank, which are the routes from western New Providence. While the Yellow Bank routes are shorter, we opted for the easier White Bank. As our plan is to slowly explore down the entire Exumas chain, we aimed for the most northern destination – Highborne Cay.
At roughly 40 nautical miles, it’s important to leave early and maintain speed. It was a beautiful sunrise and the weather was calmer than forecast. We were even able to sail half of the distance while maintaining 7 knots.
On most of our all-day passages, we setup the fishing pole and troll. For us, this means letting out a lure and then reeling it in again upon arrival. Apparently some people catch fish this way, but that hasn’t been our experience. Until, fish on! Sigh, it was a Barracuda. Those aren’t known for good eating, so we threw him back. Undeterred, we tried again. Two hours later, we hooked another! After much searching, we concluded it was a Cero Mackerel.
In a tribute to the power of watching too much YouTube, I had a pretty good idea how to filet it despite this being my first time. Because Brenda won’t eat seafood (yet!), I got four fantastic meals all to myself. Once curried, once blackened, and twice simple garlic and butter. One of the best fish I’ve ever tasted.
We approached Highborne Cay mid afternoon and were surprised to find it relatively crowded with both large yachts and private vessels. This is a primary destination for yachts out of Nassau and includes one of the rare marinas in the region. Seeking relaxation and hiding from winds, Highborne Cay would become our home for the next week.
