Hawksbill Cay, Big Major Spot Cay, Staniel Cay

January 20, 2020 - January 25, 2020

Our plan was to grab a mooring at Warderick Wells Cay, the main island of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. However, we were unable to contact them via VHF before the office closed at noon to be assigned a mooring.  We were near Hawksbill  Cay with its beautiful sandy beaches.  We tried to get in close to the island where we saw a sailboat anchored, but our depth sounder continued to warn us that we were about to go aground so we anchored about a half mile out.  I dove on the anchor to make sure it was dug in well.  After lunch we took the dinghy into the beach.  The sand was soft and continued out in the water as far as you could see.  Swimming was wonderful as the sandy bottom fell off gradually, almost like stair steps.  The only other people on the beach were from a large power boat (an excursion boat) that had set up chairs and umbrellas for the guests.  So we shared the long beautiful beach with about six other people. I did some more swimming when we got back to the boat and then took a nice hot shower.  What a wonderful day!

Notice the water slide on the excursion boat!

The long beautiful beach at Hawksbill Cay

We left our anchorage at 8:30 am headed for Big Major Cay (pronounced key).  We had decided to skip Warderick Wells and hit that spot on our way back up the Exuma chain of islands. It was a perfect day for motoring (calm winds and bright sun) and we encountered numerous boats on our trip (about a dozen).  We anchored at Big Major at 12:45.  The most exciting part of the trip was when two dolphins (with my encouragement) joined us, swimming and diving in our bow wake.  In my excitement I neglected to bring my camera to the bow.  The water was crystal clear and I could see the dolphins as they looked up to me under water the whole time they were there. I always cheer them and tell them how beautiful they are as I have read that they appreciate communication from other mammals and I feel like that keeps them with us longer. What a treat!

Who’s really the captain of this vessel?

The sight of the beautiful water
never gets old.

At Big Major there are several beaches one is well known for the swimming pigs that live there.  When we first arrived several rowdy excursion boats were at the beach, but later in the day we ventured over to feed the pigs carrots ( their favorite).  A mama pig came up to our boat and consumed all of the carrots we brought. She seemed to be used to skittish humans, as her big crooked teeth were a bit scary, so she just opened her mouth and I popped the carrots in.  As we pulled away from the beach I saw six or seven piglets run out from the brush to great their mom.

Rainy Days at anchor by Big Major Cay

Excursion boats bring dozens of tourists to
visit, feed, and swim with the famous pigs.

This mama pig loved the carrots I fed her.

This baby pig was just too cute!

Pigs headed out to the tour boat
to entertain and be fed

Here I am feeding a pig with big ugly teeth!

We took the dinghy all the way to Staniel Cay, which has a small settlement with  a legendary yacht club bar and restaurant. We found a spot to rid ourselves of the garbage we had accumulated and went to the bar for some drinks and conch fritters.  We struck up a conversation with the fellow next to us who was a Bahamian and talked about the horrendous destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Abacos (our new friend lost a vacation home in Treasure Cay, but all of his family was safe in the Exumas during the storm).We returned to the boat before dark and enjoyed the sunset.

A view of the harbour on Staniel Cay.

Can you see the fun swinging couch
on the front porch the house?

The Yacht Club Bar had a great atmosphere.
Love the clock!
The top picture is of the 007 crew that used the
near by Thunderball Grotto in the 1965
 James Bond film and frequented the bar.

Colorful burgees (identifying vessel flags)
hang from the ceiling of the bar.

It rained during the night and we woke up to cloudy skies, an unusual occurrence.  It continued to rain on and off until 10:00 am. After lunch we took the dinghy into Staniel Cay to explore what the grocery stores had to offer.  We visited the “blue” store and the “pink” store and bought some Bahamian bread (still warm) and some diet sodas (hard to find in the Bahamas).  By then the sky had clouded over again and we decided to forgo a Kahlik (Bahamian beer) at the Yacht club and head back to the boat where we ate a nice big slice of warm Bahamian Bread with plenty of butter.

This welcome sign and church
are behind the town dock
where the mail boat brings supplies.

A sign guiding us to the "pink" store

What to do in Staniel Cay

Some beautiful foliage in front of the "blue" store

A limestone outcropping in the harbour

Wednesday proved to be a very shitty day in paradise.  Around midnight the wind picked up to 25 knots and blew from the WNW where we had little protection.  Sleep was impossible with all the clanging, pitching, rolling and worries running through my head.  In my frustration, around 3:30 am I got up and sat on the settee reading and waiting for sunrise.  The wind continued for 24 hours.  We couldn’t do much of anything, but sit in the cockpit and read, complain, and try to rest.  When I went below I was tossed around the cabin by the boat movement and feared seasickness.  Not fun. Consequently meals were whatever I could slap together in the cockpit.  By 4:00 pm the wind had died down to under 20 knots and we ventured to get the motor off the dinghy and locked on to the stern motor mount.  The waves were still 3-5 feet, ahhhhh.  I climbed in to the dinghy, with great difficulty while Bob tied the dinghy across the back of the boat.  I hooked the motor lift to the engine and proceeded to loosen it from the dinghy all the while pitching and rocking in the waves.  Once the motor was loose Bob started to haul it up to the mount.  Normally, this is an easy task as I guide it into place, but not in these conditions.  The motor banged around on its way up even though I did everything I could to keep it steady.  Finally, the motor was successfully locked into place.  The wind continued to howl  until around midnight when we could finally get some peaceful sleep.

The wind created these waves crashing on the shore.

You can see the white caps and
the boats bobbing around.

Thursday morning was glorious.  After a good night’s sleep the anchorage looked like paradise once again.  The wind was still strong, but it had clocked around to NE where we were well protected by the island.  After lunch we took the dinghy into Staniel Cay to check out the third grocery store where we could get our propane tank refilled. We had to wait until 4:30 to pick up our filled tank and decided to kill the time at the Yacht Club Bar.  After a couple of Kahliks and an order of onion rings we decided to walk around the island while we waited to pick up our tank.  The only issue was that we also had to pick up ice at the office and they closed at five.  We just aren’t used to this kind of stress (LOL).  We located the laundry mat/ liquor store (a great combination as you can sit at the bar and have a drink while doing laundry).  Back at the yacht club we viewed the numerous nurse sharks (a couple were very large) swimming around the fish cleaning station area waiting for a free lunch.  We picked up the ice and then the propane tank and headed back to the boat.  Unfortunately, the some of the ice melted on the way.

Our plan on Friday was to snorkel Thunderball Grotto, but it rained off and on all morning delaying our adventure. I cooked a great lunch and then we headed back to the grocery store to have our second empty propane tank refilled.  It was sunny on our return trip and once back at the boat I jumped in for a swim.  It is just so beautiful here! Once I was back on the boat and showered Bob noticed a nurse shark that was hanging around the boat.  He stayed with us all evening.  Wonder if he wants to make friends?


Thank you for reading my blog.