After a quiet night tucked in behind Lee Stocking Island in the beautiful Williams Bay, we woke early to take advantage of some decent winds in order to continue northwest. We opted to avoid the sand bank we bumped along the previous day getting in and hugged the tree lined shore to get to the cut; it worked it out MUCH better, we managed to stay deeper. No touching the bottom this time! (There are those that have run aground….and liars.)
Heading out Adderly cut and into the Atlantic, we turned Northwest and were met with steady SSW winds at about 9-12 kts giving us about 6 kts with the main and jib out. We sailed comfortably for thirty or so miles up the Exuma Island chain, passing through Big Rock Cut then into the Staniel Cay area. It was a bit tight moving through the channel south of Thuderball grotto on the southern shore of Big Major’s, past the marinas. The water is deep enough, but dredged only very narrowly. With several boats transiting back and forth to the docks and the bay, it gets a little exciting at times. Once through the mayham, we found a good anchoring spot west of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club in about 2.5-3 meters of water with a sandy bottom. We opted to let out a bit extra chain with the dark clouds on the horizon and increasing winds of the approaching storm.
We spent the next 36 hours aboard waiting out the storm which brought downpours and 30+ kt winds. We were fairly well protected but had a bit of fetch which created about 2ft of chop at times and bounced us around. The anchor held well, though we forgot to bring in our American Flag in that was hanging off the back. It disappeared at some point during the evening. It was a sad realization for Kevin since he had flown a decade of Navy missions with that flag throughout his Naval Career.
Staniel Cay
Staniel Cay is often considered the heart of the Exumas and is an immensely popular destination despite it’s small size. Being only 75 miles from Nassau, it is not difficult to get to by boat or air, Staniel Cay Airport (MYES) which has small puddle jumpers coming and going regularly. The Cay has two marinas, the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and Happy People Marina, plenty of mooring balls and lots of anchoring space so options abound that make it a great place for exploring the surrounding Cays.
The island is known for this stunning turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. The village itself, while one of the most populated of the Exuma Cays is quite small comprised of the two marinas and attached resorts, some residential housing, three stores (the pink store, the blue store and the Isles General Store), a few small restaurants, the primary of which is the Yacht Club.
Pig Island
Our first outing once the sun came up was to take Nugget around to the western side Big Major’s Cay, an uninhabited island that is populated only by swimming feral pigs. Yes, this is the official home of the world-famous “Pig Beach”. How they got there is something of legend where some suggest they were brought to the island by pirates or sailors who were going to come back to eat them upon their return. The pigs subsisted on vegetation and food waste from passing ships. However, they were most likely left there after residents of Staniel Cay abandoned raising them and moved them off their island in the 1990s. Not nearly as exciting though. Either way, what started out as a few pigs left behind, they multiplied and became quite the tourist attraction.
You can tell these pigs are fed well and know exactly where their food comes from as any new boat approaches their shoreline, including our little dinghy, they rush out to be the first there to see what you have to offer. Kevin was not a huge fan and stayed in the dinghy. I got out and went ashore to see the little piglets roaming by the trees. Watch your step, there is a lot of poop! And we heard they bite. I didn’t get close enough to find out, but were reminded to be very careful getting to close especially when feeding them. Bonus, there were a few sharks hanging out with the pigs as well. The tour boats coming in would hollar “Sue-eee”…It was clear the pigs new exactly what that meant…tourists with fruit.
It’s definitely worth a stop to see, but we will likely check this one off and move on down our bucket list.
Thunderball Grotto
Perhaps one of the biggest draws in Staniel Cay is snorkeling in Thunderbolt Grotto. The Grotto is a limestone cave that was the setting of the 1965 James Bond Film Thunderball and used again as a filming location for Never Say Never Again and Tom Hank’s 1984 hit Splash.
It’s fairly easy to access with two dinghy moorings just outside the western entrance to the cave. Due to the very narrow entrance we planned for a slack time low water entry. We followed the rope in through the small crevice opening and found ourselves entering a colorful fish bowl of clear fairly shallow water filled with snappers, angelfish, parrotfish and lots of very friendly sergeant majors.
Once surfacing we were in awe as we looked up into a large enclosed grotto with large vaulted ceilings and a large opening at the top with the sun filtering through the water creating a beautiful mesmerizing effect.
We took the less traveled underwater exit than the opening we came in, diving a few feet under water and going out a small opening leading back out to where our dinghy sat. We’ll definitely be back to check out this stunning spot again in the future. Highly recommend.
Note: When snorkeling in here, while is prohibited, some folks jump from the hole of the ceiling into the grotto which can be extremely hazardous to themselves and snorkels below. Please don’t do this.
Island Life
This being one of the more populated areas on our trip up the Exumas, we decided to stock up on some eggs and fresh fruits and veggies. There are 3 option to chose from on the island and buyer beware, they only restock every couple of days, so the gouge is to keep an eye out for the restocking boat to pull up to the pier, head in and wait until they open. Our first stop was the Pink Store, the shelves were practically bare. We came back two days later, the same day as the ship, and they were full of good stuff. But it didn’t last long! We ended up using both pink and blue stores in order to get everything we needed.
Probably the busiest and liveliest spot on the Island is the Staniel Bay Yacht Club, a nautically themed bungalow type bar and restaurant with pool tables and satellite TV, which was especially great since our stop coincided with NCAA March Madness…yes, we are those Americans 🙂 It was also St. Patrick’s Day so you can imagine a small bar full of world travelers and cruisers taking advantage of the special of the day, 2 rum punches for the price of one…you can image how that progressed, or should I say deteriorated quickly!
On our way back to the boat, we stopped by the marina office where the steps lead down to the water and you can find nurse sharks feeding and sometimes siddling up for some pets. I’m sure that was our best idea after a few rum punches. Afterward, we headed back to the boat to sleep off the fun and get ready to head on to the next adventure.
NEXT STOP: Shroud Cay