We have been moving down the Exumas fairly quickly to make George Town by Feb 12 for Wally to catch his flight home. Having an agenda around a visitors travel plans can be quite challenging, as we don't always know where we'll be - when. However, it was great to have Wally with us and we will see the Exumas again on our way back up. We lift anchor by 08:15 and have a great sail down to Rudder Cay - one of David Copperfield's island. We have timed our arrival at Rudder Cay for high tide as the charts indicate 4'6" depth...we're in the water 5' deep (our hull draft). With high tide we see no less than 7-8' as we make our approach.
 |
| Julie at the piano 20ft down |
We are anchored by 11:45 in 8.5' of water (should be good at low tide when the water drops three feet) and we all go out snorkeling again on the hunt for lobster. We find a full size stainless steel grand piano with a mermaid leaning on the bench...David Copperfield put it in about 15' of water just off his island for whatever reason. We snorkeled a long time and far from the boat so I walked ashore for a moment and suddenly saw a large dog up the beach coming my way...I ran back in to deeper water like a scared school girl...the dog stood guard as we snorkeled by. No lobster to be seen but lots of other fish; Johnny found one conch which offers me my second attempt to crack the shell properly and cut him out...great success this time and made a great tasting conch salad for happy hour on Johnny's boat. Johnny has a very comfortable 47' catamaran.
 |
| Johnny's boat - Vaiata |
We only stayed one night at Rudder Cay as we had a weather window for the 33 mile passage in Exuma Sound (the ocean) to George Town. On our way out of Rudder Cut we had current against us...necessary to avoid a rage. The wind didn't cooperate, we were on a close reach (heading as close into the wind as possible) heading further from the shore line, but the wind clocked to the SW and we were able to head towards Conch Inlet to Elizabeth Habour...and George Town! Vaiata was with us all the way; both dragging a line but no luck at catching any fish. It was an easy entrance in to Conch Inlet. We can see a couple hundred masts a few miles down by George Town anchored in Elizabeth Harbour. The harbour is fairly shallow in parts - only 7 feet deep and there are several different areas to anchor.
 |
| They eat right out of your hand |
 |
| Beach Volleyball every day at 14:00 |
 |
| Famous sign in front of Chat N Chill |
 |
| View of Volleyball Beach from BoomDeYada |
We make our approach towards VolleyBall Beach where most of the action happens. Traversing through the anchorage we find a couple of open spots and BoomDeyada and Vaiata drop anchor in 12' of water, only 600 feet from the beach...we are here!
VolleyBall Beach has a bar called Chat & Chill, 3 volleyball courts, a rope swing, hammocks, a conch shack that makes fresh conch salad for $10 (they keep fresh conch in the water ready to be used). The scraps from the conch are saved for tourists to feed the Sting Rays that eat right from your hand. At 14:00 every day there is fun volleyball and socializing. Chat & Chill serves 3 oz. drinks and excellent ribs, chicken and fish meals. Across Elizabeth Harbour is George Town where there are two fully stocked groceries (most of the time), Scotia Bank and RBC bank, a hardware store also several shops and bars...everything one would need. The annual Cruiser's Regatta with racing and several other activities happens in a few weeks.
 |
| View from inside Chat N Chill |
No comments:
Post a Comment