Search

South Cat Cay, Bahamas

sailawayblog
Jan 10, 2016
3 min read

Our first anchorage in the Bahamas – Hooray! 30 knot winds and a cold front – Boo!

We arrived to the Bahamas after an exhausting day in the Gulf Stream, and motored to South Cat Cay to make our first anchorage.

Just in time for our arrival at South Cat Cay, Mother Nature sent over a vicious cold front from the US. A cold front in the Bahamas means crazy strong winds, upwards of 25 knots. Strong winds means no travel for sailors, and you better make your way to a protected anchorage ASAP, set your heaviest anchor or two, and be prepared to wait it out on a bumpy ride.

We spent the first two days of the cold front unable to use the dinghy. With wind gusts upwards of 30 knots, we were concerned the wind could flip the inflatable, which would sink our outboard motor and flip us overboard. Losing the dinghy motor would be absolutely detrimental (not to mention what might happen if we were thrown overboard), and it was a risk we weren’t willing to take, so for those two days we holed up on the boat, not able to go to shore. To fill the time as the wind howled around us and we rocked in the swells from the cold front, we worked on boat projects, watched every movie we have on board (3 total), read several books, and drank rum.

Also, this cold front forced to take the opportunity to train Ruca how to go potty on the boat deck, being unable to take her to shore. It is something we’d need to train her to do in future anyway, since some of the voyages we have planned may take longer than 24 hours at sea. She resisted for almost the entire first day, and was very confused when we told her to “go potty” on the square of green turf on the bow. The boat has very much come to be her home, and being such a good girl, she knows not to potty in her home. By the end of day 1, she couldn’t take it anymore. She went potty on her green turf, and we praised her with treats to let her know she was not in trouble. After that point, she was less confused and continued to use her spot, but she still whined at the dinghy, wishing to go to shore instead.

Once the winds calmed enough to take the dinghy to shore, we spent a week or more hiking and combing the beaches on Cat Cay. The island had pristine white beaches on the leeward side, contrasted with pine tree forests and jagged rock cliffs on the ocean side. The water was so clear that it was impossible to judge the depth, and an absolutely gorgeous turquoise blue. Wildlife was everywhere, with conchs every couple of feet, and stingrays who swam right up and nibbled our hands looking for snacks. We harvested conch and coconuts, dived for lobsters, and fished.

We didn’t see another person during our weeks at the Cat Cay anchorage, except for one boat full of friendly Bahamian fisherman, who anchored next to us for two nights during the strongest part of the cold front. We were happy to see them, because if locals choose to anchor in the same spot as us for bad weather, we can be assured it is a safe, strong anchorage. The fishermen were braver than us, and took their fishing dinghies out every day in the strong wind to catch fish and lobsters. Swinging by on their dinghy one day, they brought us a bucketful of red snappers as a gift. With huge smiles and welcoming waves, they said, “We brought you a fish meal!” We thanked them for the fish meal, and wished we had something to give them in return. We didn’t have anything good except rum, and we figured they likely already had plenty of that. We fileted our fish meal, fried them in coconut oil, and were grateful for our Bahamian fishermen neighbors.

Feeling relaxed, renewed, and a little stir crazy, the weather lightened up and we decided it was time to move on to our next destination. With another big crossing in our future, we were headed south, onto the Berry Islands just in time for Christmas!