This is the time we have been waiting for as we have sat in George Town way too long for our liking. The hustle and bustle of George Town is not my cup of tea……I prefer the remote, the quiet, the untouched surroundings. The anchor is up and we are off at 0800 and passing Elizabeth Island where we “eye” a peculiar looking (almost official looking) vessel. While we were thinking it may have been military, it was not. Our trip along the Elizabeth Harbor we would see some spinnakers flying as folks were making their way into George Town from various places, possibly Long Island, Cat Island or even the Jumento Cays. Once at the North Channel Rocks, we would typically (in the past) head for Hog Cay Cut but this year we will be going through the Comer Channel as it accommodates our deeper draft of 6 feet. As I see that beautiful blue water I simply take a deep breath and all is well!
Our first stop will be at Water Cay which is in the Jumentos Cays. Water Cay is home to a fishing fleet. They have a specific anchorage that one is likely not to anchor in as they do clean their fish there as well as the anchorage gets a little loud. That is quite fine as there are at least two other places in which to anchor and we chose the middle one.
Our first evening with an anchorage all to ourselves? This is quite unusual, especially this year. The number of boats has been mind boggling to us. The number of new sailors or new boaters is quite unusual as well, but with COVID and more folks working remotely, the ability to work from a boat in these waters is quite appealing. I will say that we are shocked at how many families with children we see this year. It use to be that you would see us old retired folks in these cruising waters in the winter months, but I would say that the number of young people and/or families may be larger than the number of us older cruisers. The mindset today is to do it now with your family while you can enjoy and then, if not working from the boat, they are cruising for a couple of years and then going back to work when they need or when the children need to get back into a school atmosphere.
So we woke to a show of sharks, actually three, circling our boat. I told Cooper this was not the day to ”jump ship”. LOL. But we were sure to see there was no way for either Cooper or Jaxon to slip or fall into the water. We would be heading a little further down the Jumentos Cays to Flamingo for our second stop. It is not too far down the way, but always a favorite of ours. Greg likes the snorkeling we have found here so we will drop anchor and the dinghy and enjoy.
Next we are off to Hog Cay in the Raggeds. Home to the Hog Cay Yacht Club. Admission into the club is just taking the initiative to venture this far and remote. If your jerry cans are full and your fridge and freezer follow suit, it is worth the trip. When we arrived we were perplexed as there we only four boats in the harbor and not a sail boat to be seen. Yes we had four trawlers, three Nordhaven and one Outer Reef. We were in shock as we had heard it had been a very crowded anchorage. As we have learned…..give it some time. What was also strange is that none of the folks that seem to always be here were present. It was like we were learning all over again. We sure miss ”the gang” but have had fun getting to meet some new folks. Cindy, Sam and their dog Saba on “Bookend”, a 60 foot Nordhaven, have been great hosts.
