the exumas!

Counting Stars at anchor at Ship Channel Cay

It was a short trip from New Providence Island to Ship Channel Cay in the Exumas.  This is the northernmost island of any size in the Exumas.  Most people pass it by on their way to a first Exuma landfall at Allans, Highbourne, or Normans Cays.  As we motored into our anchorage, we were amazed by the gin clear water, the sand below littered with sea biscuits and sand dollars just waiting for us to dive for them.  Brian and Eoin jumped in with masks and snorkels to go check on the anchor and returned with hands full of them.  Although we have found a few sand dollars and sea biscuits elsewhere in the Exumas, we haven't seen anything else quite like Ship Channel.  We stayed there for two nights, enjoying the sunrises, sunsets, and some really great snorkeling.

With a north-northeast wind forecast, we needed to move to an anchorage that was more sheltered from that direction.  At first we tried Long Cay because it was recommended as a good place to shelter from north winds. Unfortunately, when we got there and anchored we just felt too exposed.  So we raised the anchor and moved a short distance to Lobster Cay, a small island that is oriented east-west, and tucked ourselves in close to shore.  When Eoin, Isla, and Brian got in the water to dive the anchor, they were surprised to see two large barracuda.  Barracuda are not dangerous to humans, but they are also clearly not afraid of us, which can be a bit disconcerting.

After making sure we were securely anchored, we lowered the dinghy to explore a bit.  On the north side of the island we found a nice beach to play in the sand and snorkel.  We were surprised at how many fish we saw in the shallow water just off the beach!  We stayed at Lobster Cay for two nights, then the wind shifted back to the prevailing easterlies, so off we went again, this time to the north end of Normans Cay.  For two nights we had the anchorage to ourselves while we snorkeled and explored the beaches.