It’s island hopping time baby!!! We’re leaving Stocking Island and the George Town area to head north for a deeper taste of the Exumas. In this episode we pull up anchor at Black Cay, sail 30 NM in Exuma Sound, cook Mahi tacos, swim with stingray, and anchor in the most beautiful location – Pipe Cay.
This was some of the most relaxing sailing we’ve ever had!
I mean sailing to Deltaville in the Chesapeake was great, and finding our way through uninhabited islands in Abacos was awesome. But this Exumas Banks sailing was pure bliss!!
This sail was calm, and even when it was blowing 12-15 knots, Cadence did what she does best – sails smooth and mostly upright.
So we walked around playing house, making tortillas, and grilling fresh caught Mahi!
Before arriving at our destination, we had a wonderful day of sailing from Black Cay. Seas were 2-4 foot and the breeze was low teens. It made for great sailing and Mahi fishing!
Cadence Loves to Sail in the Deep Blue on a Beam Reach! So does the family.
And for catching Mahi, cedar plugs were the consistent winner in the Exumas Sound. We exclusively used the Mahi colored cedar plug (bright green and blue).
Click the lures to view them on Amazon.
Sailing the Exuma Banks from Great Guana Cay
After entering Galliot Cut, we sailed alongside an Amel 50 (just like Delos!) for an hour to our anchorage for the night. This anchorage was home to several other sailors, and we wished we had time to go ashore. There was a nice beach and Oven Rock itself looked like a cave begging for human exploration.
We’ve learned the charts are often generous with depth in the Bahamas. In other words, we sailed across the 2-4 foot spots you see on the map above. And we never saw less than 7-8 feet below our boat.
But we did inch through slowly under sail just in case the chart was accurate. A little soft sand never hurt anyone.
Episode 138 picks up in the morning as we prepare coffee for the sail to Pipe Cay.
We had about 20NM to go from Oven Rock. That’s the perfect distance for a day hop. Leave after coffee and arrive for lunch!
Though, in today’s sail, we had lunch underway because the wind was light and the sail was slow.
Pipe Cay, Exumas – A Great Anchorage
When we arrived at the anchorage, the first sight was a mega yacht. It was likely 100+ feet in length paired with a 30-foot center cockpit tender and a pair of jet skis. And the big waterslide. The waterslide is an inflatable slide that goes from the third deck all the way down to the water!!
Crazy.
Just past the mega yacht was our spot with no other sailboats in sight.
The anchorage easily had room for 4-5 more sailboats, but we were thankful to have it all to ourselves for a little alone time.
Thanks for visiting our blog and reading all the way here to the end!! Drop us a question or just say hi in the comments down below.
Cheers,
Matt
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