Nassau to Allen’s Cays
After the debacle with our roller
furling we were more than ready to leave Nassau on Wednesday. At least we now knew our way out of the
harbor. Chris Parker told us that Friday
would be a better day for our crossing to the Exumas but we didn’t want to
wait. The various cruising guides had a
number of cautions in them about crossing the Yellow Banks 2 hours
outside Nassau. The guides all recommended crossing the banks with the sun high over head. The Yellow Banks have a
number of coral heads on them.
Experienced cruisers told us the coral heads were no big deal – you
could see them easily and most of them we would clear with a 5 foot draft. The cruisers were right. The coral heads were a menacing black color
that reached right up into the waves over them.
The heads were few and far between.
They were easily spotted and easily avoided. We did feel very accomplished negotiating the
banks on our own and finding our way into Allen’s Cay by ourselves. It took us less than a half hour to get into
the water after we anchored. The water
was incredibly clear. This was our first
swim in the Bahamas.
On the little nearby beach we
could see iguanas waiting for tourists to feed them. They never had to wait long. As soon as anyone landed on the beach a bunch
of iguanas would start moving down the beach.
We visited the iguanas the next morning but didn’t think it was good to
feed any wild animals.
There were strong current in the
anchorage – strong enough to pull one of the anchored boats up onto a
sandbar. When we left the beached boat
was getting help from other boaters. I
wonder what you do if you go hard aground at high tide?
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