Tuesday morning March 23rd turned out to be a perfect day to set sail for the Exumas. We had 15-20 knots of wind with crystal blue skies that would make it easy to read the water as we cross the Yellow Bank to Highborne Cay. The Yellow Bank is a very shallow few miles of the Great Bahama Bank. In places it is only 9 feet deep with coral heads that can be as shallow as four feet. Don't want to hit one of those! We took it slow with Sue on the bow as lookout.
We made it through just fine and arrived at Highborne Cay in mid afternoon --- 40 miles southeast of Nassau.
Highbore Cay is a pristine 500 acre private island with a very spectacular harbor and a small quant marina. It is referred to as the gem of the Exumas. There are nine beaches surrounding the Cay. The longest is 2 miles of powdered white sand and no one in sight.
The island has had visitors and inhabitants for hundreds of years. The remains of a shipwreck, believed to have sunk in the 16th century, was discovered just north of the island. It is considered one of the oldest and most significant wrecks in the Bahamas.
No, this is not a picture of the shipwreck...
Unfortunately, the water is still a bit too cold to snorkel, wish we had wet suites. I think we will try and pick up a couple of them in Georgetown. Although swimming with the sharks may not be a good idea anyway...
There are lots of Nurse Sharks around the Cay. The locals say they will not bother you, and that you can actually grab onto their fins and they will pull you around. Yeah...RIGHT.
We took the dingy and explored a few of the other Cays. One was Allen Cay which is known for their wild iguanas. It was like something out of the movie the Birds except with iguanas. There must have been 20-30 of them on the beach when we landed. Some were the size of a small cat (10-15 pounds). Oh yea -- they do bite!
We stayed in Highborne Cay for two nights and then headed to our next destination. WOW, what a spectacular place it is!
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