Making our way back north

I think I glossed over Nassau a bit on our way down. It was a pit stop to get provisions and parts. I would be remiss in not mentioning the excitement of the Nassau inlet we experienced though. This experience was one of the things that led us to go to an anchorage on the west side of New Providence on our way back north. So…It is possible to head into the inlet on the east side or the west side. We were worried about shoaling on the east side with our deep draft so we entered on the west side (we since discovered from local knowledge that we were ok with depths on the east side and that’s how we left Nassau-MUCH more pleasant). If you enter on the east side you have to notify port authorities as that is the side that cruise ships exit and you don’t want to be coming in as they are coming out. We, of course, timed it perfectly that a cruise ship was coming out right as we got there and had to wait as we were in a hurry to get into our slip. At least we got a cool show, watching the pilot boat pick up the pilot from the ship and zoom back past us after the pilot had steered the ship out of the inlet.

Once we got to the inlet we had to navigate through two bridges with a height of 70 ft, according to the local charts (21m to those outside of the US and Bahamas). Our air draft is 67 ft (20.5m) so we were really hoping the charts were accurate! This is where the mayhem began. The bridges are not a nice straight line, instead they are wonky and you have to do a bit of a zig-zag to get through them. To add to this, there is absolutely no order to people going in and out of the inlet and it certainly is not regulated as a no wake zone. These were the choppiest waters we have ever gone under a bridge in. I wish I had taken photos or a video of all the motorboats speeding past us and cutting in front of us but I was too busy holding on for dear life (ok maybe a slight exaggeration) with one hand as I attempted to put lines and fenders out on both sides of the boat with the other. Usually I only put lines and fenders on the side against the dock but the dock master didn’t want to give us a slip assignment until we were in his sights-great! Once in we were able to relax a little bit, got greeted by a stingray, went out for some very tasty food and FRESH VEGETABLES (I had run out of these while at anchor in the Berry Islands and was excited to not be eating my veggies out of a tin). Plus we got the part we needed and met some great people, so overall a win!

The west end of New Providence was a totally different experience. We anchored in a little bay with many other sailboats who had stopped there to rest and wait out some east winds before going to their next destination. The anchorage was fringed by palatial properties and then a public beach and a National park. The public beach turned out to be a party beach. Lots of music and grilling! The first day we were there we thought there was an event going on and dinghied in with Kata to see what was happening. Turns out it’s just a busy beach full of locals and people from other boats in the anchorage heading in for sundowners!

Heading north from New Providence we decided to go back to the anchorage over by Hoffman’s Cay so that we could go see the blue hole we missed on the first go around. Soon after dropping anchor we got in our dinghy and went over to the nearest tiny island to take Kata for a walk before heading to Hoffmans Cay. Kata was ready for a good explore and she lead the way all over the island.

After dropping Kata back off at the boat (we didn’t know how dog friendly the trail to the Blue hole would be) we dinghied over to the beach that was known for the best access. Upon arrival at the beach we were immediately invited to join a group of sailors from various nearby boats that were grilling venison of all things! We said we would join them as soon as we got back. The trail out to the blue hole was remarkably well cleared for being an uninhabited island. We weren’t sure if somebody was employed to come out and clear the path or if regular sailor visitors just took matters into their own hands. A blue hole is very, very deep, roundish body of water, in a bank or island, that formed during one of the last ice ages in a similar manner to limestone caves. There are a number of blue holes in the Bahamas, many of which are on Andros, which we hope to visit some day. The blue hole on Hoffman’s Cay was eerie. The water was a deep dark blue with a skirting of turquoise and it was surprisingly warm. I’m not sure why I assumed it would be cold. I guess not much in the way of marine life survives in them but it certainly looked like something that would house some mythical creatures of the deep. To get to the hole we had to climb down into some limestone caverns full of Stalactites.

As promised, we joined the impromptu beach bbq on our way back and watched another stunning sunset while enjoying good conversation and food. On our dinghy ride back to the boat I pointed out some sea turtles and then a school of large fish that were quickly swimming under us. Very soon after I pointed out the fish, two quite large shadows followed after them. I was certainly pleased to have a solid dinghy separating us from the Sharks during their hunting hour!

Back at the boat we settled in for an early night to be ready for an early morning departure back to Freeport.