Like we said, we understand the appeal of a stop like George Town, but we were anxious to leave all those boats and friends in Elizabeth Harbour behind us in search of more Bahamian adventure. Heck, we’re cruisers! Leaving our spot in the anchorage, we passed this big girl, very pretty with her two-tone outfit.
After experiencing the comradery of George Town, we wanted to venture a bit off the beaten track and head to the Jumentos Cays and Ragged Islands. First destination is a small – that’s right, you can’t see it – island called Water Cay. Conversations with other cruisers noted it as a good staging point. So, after navigating through a small cut in the Exuma chain called Hog Cut by Hog Cay (remember that name), the water was shallow, but we hit it at high tide and never saw the “dry water”…which was good, cuz Susie needed to exhale.
Just outside the big harbor, we waved at the folks on their adventure cruise aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion. Further down the Exuma chain, that cabin caught our eye because it has a big ol’ stone chimney! In the Bahamas! After that, we only saw one sailboat, and it was headed in the opposite direction.
It was a 6.5 hour cruise to Water Cay in the Jumentos Cays. History? Well, “jumento” is Portuguese for “ass or donkey”. That is all I got. Just wasn’t able to find any history as to how they got their name.
After anchoring, we were greeted by the local Welcome Wagon – a large ray, lazily swimming by.
Let’s go explore!
We’ve sort of made a game of trying to be in the picture and point at the focus (typically our boat). We have dozens of misses, but we are getting closer!
All good adventures must come to an end. Capt Todd navigated safely through the rocks and coral for our return to the SaltyMare.
By the time we headed back to our boat, the anchorage had gotten busy. More than 20 boats came in from the south!
We’d been told the fishing boats frequently anchor in the north anchorage of Water Cay, which, in turn, brings the sharks. Sure enough, as soon as we lifted the dinghy from the water, we had a curious visitor.
All settled in for the night, a-n-d, cue the conch horn.
Our Travels 