The morning we left Highborne Cay the nurse sharks were still hanging out in the shade under our boat. Unfortunately for them it was time for us to move along. We weighed anchor and motored a short 5 miles to Saddle Cay or Little Norman’s Cay. Even though Saddle Cay is only 5 miles away it feels like a completely different place. We were the only sailboat in the cut, which made it feel like we had the whole world to ourselves. The water was amazingly clear. It had just enough deep water to swing at anchor without worrying about touching the bottom. But, close enough to swim to the islands…when the current wasn’t ripping. Another good thing about this anchorage is the current. It doesn’t facilitate swimming in the middle of the channel but it swings the boat quickly during the tide change. We pretty much stayed above our anchor the entire time. When the tide would switch Unwritten Timeline would do a 180 degree flip with the current. The close in islands blocked all the wind. It was the smoothest anchorage we would have in all the Bahamas. We almost never felt a wave, even during the turn of the tide. As beautiful as the landscape was the mosquitoes were just as terrible. Do not venture out of the boat at dusk. You may be found the next morning a desiccated carcass along the beach after the mosquitoes drain you of all the blood in your body. I made the mistake the first night of taking Sophia to shore right at sunset. When I returned my entire back was covered in welts from the mosquitoes getting their nightly feast. We made sure to use all the screens we could and didn’t go out at night any more while we were there. They were ferocious.
While the days at Saddle Cay were perfect the nightly bugs helped us make the decision to leave after a few days. We wanted to check out the Nurse sharks at Compass Cay, so early in the morning we set out on the Atlantic for about a 40 mile trip further down the islands. We arrived at Compass Cay just before sunset and got the anchor down under a beautiful moonlit sky. The next day we took Sophia to shore for a walk and headed to Compass Cay marina to see the nurse sharks. We walked around the marina but didn’t stay too long. It is really geared for tourists with expensive food and drinks and a landing fee for tenders. Since it was early in the season we didn’t get charged the landing fee and the marina wasn’t packed with tourists so it was pretty nice. But there is really only the marina and the nurse sharks around. Since we already had our own sharks and remoras at Highborne Cay we decided to keep on moving South after just a day.
Another short jaunt would see us at Big Majors for the pig beach and Thunderball Grotto.
While the days at Saddle Cay were perfect the nightly bugs helped us make the decision to leave after a few days. We wanted to check out the Nurse sharks at Compass Cay, so early in the morning we set out on the Atlantic for about a 40 mile trip further down the islands. We arrived at Compass Cay just before sunset and got the anchor down under a beautiful moonlit sky. The next day we took Sophia to shore for a walk and headed to Compass Cay marina to see the nurse sharks. We walked around the marina but didn’t stay too long. It is really geared for tourists with expensive food and drinks and a landing fee for tenders. Since it was early in the season we didn’t get charged the landing fee and the marina wasn’t packed with tourists so it was pretty nice. But there is really only the marina and the nurse sharks around. Since we already had our own sharks and remoras at Highborne Cay we decided to keep on moving South after just a day.
Another short jaunt would see us at Big Majors for the pig beach and Thunderball Grotto.