Bahamas Spring 2017

[capttonyf]

We're heading out Saturday 6/17 to Atlantis for two nights then down to Staniel Cay on the 19th. We'll be there for a week or so. If anyone is around, we'll be the boat with 5 kids on board. Also if anyone is crossing from Lauderdale Saturday morning let me know and we can keep tabs on one another.

Tony

 

[Pascal]

We re heading back out to the exumas early July for most of the month. If you need to refuel in Nassau, the hurricane hole fuel dock is often busy but you can refuel across at harbor central, west of the bridge just past Bay Street Marina, same price as hurricane hole, bigger dock, no wait. Few people know about it.

Got back from Bimini yesterday.... worst than ever. Get more and more dirty everytime we go. Best place to clear is cat cat... in and out in 20'. I hate clearing in NAS as sometimes you have to wait hours for customs and immigration to show up

 

[tonytrakovich]

We are heading to the exumas july 15ish. Maybe try clearing in cat. Never been there before. What is the name of the marina? Do you normally stay the night? We have to be at Palm Cay by the 19th. 20th leave toward exumas. Probably end up as far south as Compass with Bella. We will do all of our running around with the Everglades.

 

[Pascal]

It's Cat Cay club marina. You can either pay $100 just to clear or spend the night (I think it's $3 a foot) We just stop to clear and go on across the bank. It s well worth the $100 as we re usually in and out in under 30 minutes

Depending on the apeed we run at we either anchor off bird Cay for the night (behind chub) or go on straight to Nassau. Couple of weeks ago we miami at 8am, cleared in Cay Cay and arrived in Normans Cay by 7pm...

Have you been south of Staniel? There are some nice spots too where fewer boats venture

 

[capttonyf]

We re heading back out to the exumas early July for most of the month. If you need to refuel in Nassau, the hurricane hole fuel dock is often busy but you can refuel across at harbor central, west of the bridge just past Bay Street Marina, same price as hurricane hole, bigger dock, no wait. Few people know about it.Got back from Bimini yesterday.... worst than ever. Get more and more dirty everytime we go. Best place to clear is cat cat... in and out in 20'. I hate clearing in NAS as sometimes you have to wait hours for customs and immigration to show up

Thanks for the fuel heads up. We've been pretty lucky with our HH fuel timing but I know it can take awhile somtimes. Are there any Draft Issues or is it pretty open? If it's the dock I'm thinking of I was there a couple years ago. Is it by the Poop Deck Restaurant or the Mail Boat loading dock?Tony

 

[Pascal]

It's on the other side of the poop deck, west side of the bridge. Plenty deep. First marina is Bay Street with three tee heads and the last dock is the harbor central fuel dock. There are some shallow spot across room Bay Street Marina so just come in near the mailboats and along the tee head. Easy to read

Bay Street. Marina btw is one of the nicest and best run marina in the Bahamas and maybe east coast. Modern docks, friendly staff, good security, restaurants on site. And half the price of Atlantis. Unless you have kids that have to go to Atlantis it's a much better option. And the fresh market has a free shuttle for provisioning.

 

[Fanfare]

Cat Cay Club Marina is my favorite place to clear. The one thing I want to caution you on is trying to keep to a pre-determined schedule while cruising the Bahamas. Especially trying to meet guests at another island, while on a tight schedule. Summer weather is far more predictable than springtime, but if the winds are up you are going to have to make unpleasant choices to go or no-go. I still remember a voyage on your exact route where we really got beat up trying to meet scheduled guests. Only the fact that the wind was directly East let us get there at all. Once past Northwest Channel Light solid water soaked us on the flybridge, nobody was safe to go below, and my professional captain was seasick the whole way. Two years ago we were scheduled to meet our grandchildren at Staniel Cay. Weather had put us behind schedule, we had the shallow banks from Spanish Wells to cover, and the light was bad--the clouds made it difficult to see the coral heads. Fortunately North Eleuthera has an airport (most island air strips are private). It was a judgement call--I hated to spend the money, but I chartered Watermaker's Air to fly them in to us rather than endanger the boat.

This year we cleared at Cat as usual. As I stated in an earlier post I am usually exhausted by the Gulf crossing and its preparation so we generally stay the night at Cat. We had a really nice dinner at the little public restaurant. I have been impressed by the improvements the club has made in its facilities. The gift shop and the surprisingly well supplied little market are nice. It's great to savor arrival in the Bahamas.

You can arrange with the dockmaster to prepay your dockage and electric bill which will permit you to leave for Nassau at dawn. We go hull speed across the shallow banks to Northwest Channel Light, passing about 1 pm, then speed up for the 40 miles of deep water to Nassau, arriving about 3.

Don't forget to leave time for boat stuff to break. They do. You can get some stuff in Nassau. Most other places you are best off to hop a plane to the USA, get your part, and fly back. Take a copy of your cruising permit to show Bahamas Customs. Sometimes they let you off on paying the duty on your new part.

You will have a great and memorable trip.

 

[Pascal]

I hate the NW channel.... unlike the Gulf Stream you never know what you re going to get. Sometimes if we don't have to stop in NAS we stay closer to andros and cross the tongue at an angle getting on or off the bank south of the conch spit.

An alternative is to have people fly to Gtown. If the sound is rough you can run the bank to barraterre and pick them up at the government dock. There is about 6' MLW coming in aloi get the shoreline all the way to the dock itself. It's a good alternative. There is a lot to explore in the area especially Lee Stocking. The pass along pigeon key has 7' MLW to move fro to the bank side to the sound side

 

[tonytrakovich]

Well day two in Bahamas. Had a great crossing from Hillsboro inlet to Cat Cay. Stayed at cat cay for the night. Clearing there was a breeze. But if you ask me, Cat is not worth the stop. $5/ ft plus $0.90/kw for elect. Plus $0.43 / gal for water. You can use the restaurant but you can't use the pool. Hardly anyone there. Next day off to Chub Cay. We draw just under 6' and kicked up a lot of sand leaving Cat for a few miles. It was low tide. I have heard people say skip chub. I have to disagree. They are open and looking good. Floating docks, pool, restaurant, and nice staff. We are having a great time and will stay tomorrow night also. And cheaper that Cat.

 

[Pascal]

I don't care for marinas and pools. Why travel all the way to the Bahamas to get into chemical loaded water . We never stay at Cat, just clear there. In and out in 30' usually. Being a private club their price is meant to discourage visitors, I m just glad we can clear there. W crossed on Friday evening, dropped the hook behind gun after dark, cleared in the morning and arrived in the Exumas Saturday night.

The area about 4nm east of Cat is indeed shallow with 6 1/2 MLW. Got to take it slow there at low tide. It's all sand though, no coral, no rocks.

Glad to hear chub is back. Options are good. If we stop I need the berrys we usually anchor on the east side, off bird cay. Nice spot to explore