Beautiful house on Little Pipe Cay with its own beach. I'm sure it would be a very expensive place to vacation.
It appears that the island also has its own chapel.
Pretty Little Lighthouse on Pipe Cay
After a couple of days at Sampson Cay where we got to see Diva and My Sharona for what we think is the last time in the Bahamas, we said goodbye and continued on our trip North.
Here is My Sharona as we left the anchorage.
My Sharona at anchor
After leaving Sampson, we anchored one night off a little island called Norman's Cay. There are a couple of cottages for rent on the beach, with a nice bar and restaurant behind, all beside a small runway. The island had once been a refuelling stop stop for drug runners. In fact, there is a small airplane that landed short of the runway (used by a drug runner)in the water at the end of the runway that people snorkle around. The restaurant was decorated in old dark rattan mised pieces and I half expected to see Ernest Hemingway pull up a bar stool and order a beer.
Small planes visiting Normans Cay righ by the restaurant and bar. A lot of people fly over from Florida and back just to visit the island.
From Normans Cay to Cat Cay is a two day trip. We spend the first night out on the Bahama Bank. There are set cruising routes, and we find a spot where it is shallow, say 10 feet, on a sand bank near the route and drop anchor there. This time we stopped near the Northwest Channel marker, which is at the NW corner of the Tongue of the Ocean. The first day we traveled 102 miles, we got in around 7 P.M., in time to watch the sunset, and the second we traveled 79 miles and arrived around 5.
It was a quiet night out on the bank, not as quiet as we’ve had before, as there were several other boats around us that were anchored for the night. We had traveled past Nassau, going around the West end this time rather than passing through the harbor on the East end. At this end of the island, we saw several partially constructed resorts – a story that is repeated all over the Bahamas we are sad to say. We also saw their power plant and a brewery, we think the one that makes Kalik Beer. We also passed a fishing boat that was anchored off the West end.
Defunct Incomplete Resort
Another Incomplete Resort
We believe this was the Kalik Brewery
Nassau Power Plant next to the Brewery
Just after passing Nassau, we entered the deeper waters that are part of the Tongue of the Ocean, so we dropped lines to fish for Mahi Mahi, etc. We did catch one, a beauty, but it got away when we were trying to net it – Oh Darn!
After our night on the bank, we arose early and were underway around 7 for another long day. We continued in deep water for a time, but by the afternoon, we were past the tongue of the ocean and in water about 17 feet deep growing shallower till we anchored in 10 feet of water near Cat Cay. The water had continued to lay down as the day went on, so it seemed almost flat when we got near Cat Cay. I was able to clearly see the bottom and took these photos of starfish that were everywhere. We also saw a mattress, a pinched pleated curtain, and a large piece of silver construction insulation.
Approaching Cat Cay, not much above sea level
Bob had been conversing over the radio with the folks, George and Sue, on Lady Belle, over the radio. They have a 49 foot Endeavor Power Cat. There aren’t that many power cats out here, so it was nice to compare the boat’s features. They invited us over for dinner when we got to Cat Cay. Bob took shish kebabs and Sue fixed rice and beans, cole slaw, and fresh tomatoes. We had a pleasant evening and enjoyed seeing their boat, quite different from ours yet similar in size.
Nice flat calm seas the way I like it!
Sue had injured her ring finger, they think it is broken, while in the Jumentos, where there are no doctors or villages of any kind for that matter. She has been living with it taped up and is waiting to have it looked at when she gets to Florida. Getting medical care isn't particularly easy for cruisers.
Sunset Reflection
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