Little Farmers Cay to Samson Cay

We have successfully avoided Georgetown this year. Many, if not most, boats cruising the Bahamas make Georgetown their destination before returning to the US or Canada. It is a beautiful harbor, a good place to reprovision and there is plenty of shelter for anchoring. We are told there are normally over 350 boats there during the winter season. They have a lot of organized activities, and have a regatta as well. Most seem to like this set up and go back year after year. I suppose it could be fun, but we decided early on to pass on it this year. I'm sure we will make our way there at some point in the future and check it out.

We also decided to enjoy the Exumas slowly our first time around. We will cover more territory next year. We were going to go from Little Farmers Cay to Cat Island, and then work our way up through Eluthera, but the winds didn't cooperate when we wanted to go. There is always next year.

After leaving Rush Bay Rush, we sailed back north a bit to Little Bay. This was our second stop at Little Bay. We love Little Bay. The sand is fine, and the water is incredible. Sometimes there are a few boats anchored there because it is right around the corner from Black Point. We stayed there two nights. On  day one there were two other boats there, but the next day, we had it all to ourselves. We walked the beach, swam, and snorkeled.


After a day at Black Point to do laundry, we went to the northwest side of Bitter Guana Cay. When you land on the beach, the iguanas come running at you. They are protected and they are used to being fed. They look more like Komodo Dragons to me than they do iguanas. They are somewhere between the size of a dinosaur and chameleon.




It was another pretty anchorage, although there was a bit of a swell.


We also took the dinghy to the beach on the southwest side of the cay. We saw iguanas there too, but they were much smaller, and some had racing numbers on them.


From Bitter Guana Cay, we moved north to Samson Cay. There is a nice (pricey) marina here, as well as a small grocery store, and the first Internet we've found that is fast. We are anchored out front along with fifteen or twenty other boats.




We finally got to snorkel at Thunderball Grotto.

It's about a 3 1/2 mile dinghy ride from Samson Cay, but the winds were light so we didn't get too wet on the way over. Thunderball has a cave which has several tunnels to get in or out. There is a hole in the top of the cave which lets sunlight in. The current there is strong, so the idea is to get there at either low tide or high tide. We have not been able to figure slack current yet. It doesn't happen at exactly low or high tide. Don't ask me why not--does not make sense to me. Anyway, at low tide you can swim through a short tunnel with about 16 or 18 inches of air above your head. If you go at high tide, you have to go under water. We went at low tide through the chicken entrance, and then out another entrance, and snorkeled around the outside as well. It is really pretty cool. 

As soon as this front passes through, we will make our way north to stage for crossing the Gulfsteam back to Florida. We haven't decided whether to leave from Rose or Athol Island or from the northern Berry's. Our plan is to enter Florida at the Lake Worth Inlet.