Day 265 Sunday, March 12, 2023
Nassau Harbour Club and Marina, Nassau to Highbourne Cay, Exumas
Although this is Day 265 of our adventure, it is also DAY 100 TRAVEL DAY! It's hard to believe that we've spent 165 days exploring the places we are in. To be fair though we did spend 40 days in Clearwater Florida and 38 days in Stock Island Florida. That's 2.5 months where the boat sat still. Truthfully our count should never be close. That would mean that we are rushing our adventure.
Today we head to an anchorage at Highbourne Cay. First thing on the agenda is to refuel before we head out. We took 150.6 gallons at $5.75/gal, 10% VAT included. VAT is the Value Added Tax that is added to most every purchase in the Bahamas.
We could admire the mega yachts while we were getting fuel.
Our travel day was sunny and pretty calm. We left the dock at 08:30 and were joined by Witness. They decided to travel south with us instead of sit several days waiting for good weather to travel north. Winds blowing from the north are never good for travel in the Bahamas.
Beautiful homes line the Nassau Harbor
We scouted out anchorages weaving our way through the shallow waters around Allan Cay. Allan Cay is known for the rare and endangered Rock Iguanas. There was already a lot of boats in the limited anchorage so we moved over to the bay at Highbourne Cay.
We anchored, rafted to Call Me Curly in 12-13 feet of water, and then dropped our dinghy. Witness anchored closer to shore -- they have a dog that probably appreciates a chance to go to shore.
The dinghy motor is protesting, not wanting to idle. Jerry spent some time trying to work out the kinks. We enjoyed calls to family, our yummy leftovers and then Wizards. As usual, Grant wins.
We planned to spend an additional day at anchor to check out the iguanas but the winds have changed so we will be moving on tomorrow.
Day 266 Monday, March 13, 2023
Highbourne Cay, Exuma Islands, Bahamas
We had a very windy and rolling night. Jerry didn't sleep. We were going to move on but the seas were too rough. Instead we re-anchored closer to shore, separately from Call Me Curly, hoping for calm. It was. Highbourne Cay has a resort and marina on the private island. Boats at anchor are not allowed to use the private beach but can come in via dinghy to the marina to get groceries or go to their high end restaurant.
Our new anchorage was much better but we did try several times to see if we could get into the marina. Witness decided to move on despite the rougher seas.
Day 267 Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Still no vacancy at Highbourne Cay Marina. Should we move to the other side of the island or try to move on? We made the decision to move on to Normans Cay or beyond, depending on the wind. We traveled the Exuma Sound side (vs. the Exuma Bank); the seas were calm at 1 foot.
We passed Norman Cay and Warderick Wells both recommended sights to visit and traveled on to Staniel Cay, taking advantage of a great day. Staniel Cay Marina has both slips and mooring balls. We didn't have a reservation but hoped we could snag one of the first come, first serve moorings. Our friends on Phil-N-Wild, Anna Dee, and Donna Lynn have been at Staniel Cay for a few days; we passed them on mooring balls. We didn't have any luck with our search for one. 
Phil-N-Wild on mooring ball
The entrance into Staniel Cay is subject to the wind and waves from the west (Exuma Bank) and the current developed on the east side of the Cay. As a result we rode huge swells, huge breakers and swift current into the waters around the islands and Cay as the water mixes from each side. Pretty impressive. 
Once through the entrance to Staniel Cay
Boat docked at owners home!
We ended up anchoring along with several boats "between the Majors", Big Major and Little Major Islands, not far from the marina. This area was quite protected from all sides except the north. Our anchor set hard and we felt confident we would be good for the night. Grant picked us up by dinghy and we enjoyed boat tales on Call Me Curly.
Day 268 Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Anchorage between the Majors
Terrible night at anchor. Jerry spent the night on anchor watch up in the fly bridge. We knew that our anchor was going to hold but he was concerned that other boats anchors could drag or we could swing into each other. Certainly an advantage to a mooring ball -- no worries about your anchor or swinging into others. Winds picked up overnight and boats all around us were resetting their anchors. Our anchor alarm went off a couple of times; Call Me Curly had to reset their anchor.
Only bonus was that the rain and thunderstorms rinsed the salt off the boat! The fly bridge canvas has decided to leak so Jerry got wet doing anchor watch. Because of our stressful night we decided to change anchorages. So did lots of boats!
We moved to Pig Bay near Pig Beach, hoping to be calmer. LOTS of boats but plenty of room for us.
Can you see the pigs on shore?
We had a gray, rainy day and weather predictions aren't good. Bahamas are still experiencing a wintery weather pattern of North- Northeast winds, which aren't very favorable for travel. Since we can't get in the marina it is important for us to have a good anchorage. Our anchor set well and we can see the pigs on Pig Beach from here so hopefully this will be a good spot; 40 knot wind gusts are predicted for tonight, fingers crossed.
Jerry checking our bridle.
We decided to finally celebrate making it to Staniel Cay and the Exumas with a steak. It was so windy that Jerry couldn't light the grill. We had to use the generator and cook it on the stove. We decided to do shared anchor watches, taking turns while the other slept. Jerry is pretty tired after so many sleepless nights. Our friends on Call Me Curly had another terrible night. Their bridle snubber broke which allowed their boat to swing around. They struggled to install a makeshift solution in the wind and rain while boats around them were concerned that the boat was dragging and would hit them. Lots of concern voiced on the VHS radio. The winds finally calmed from around 11:30 to 3am and then picked up again, although not as bad.
There was a kite surfer enjoying the strong winds. It was getting so dark I don't know how the dinghy following him could see him. I tried to get a pic of him but hard to see him through the door.
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