Arrival at Rat Cay

Ambler Isle
V and S
Sat 21 Mar 2009 16:40
23:43.63N 076:02.471W

What a terrible name for such a beautiful spot! Although we'd been in this
area before, we never anchored off Rat Cay before. There is a 360 degree
panoramic view of small islands surrounding our bay. The biggest is
Barraterre. A small settlement is there, and we were there several years
ago. That time we went into the small grocery and found the clerk sound
asleep in his recliner. He never awoke the whole time we were there.
We stayed at Lee stocking Island two days. Although the Caribbean Research
Center there offers tours, no one answered the VHF. So we had a work day.
After lifting the dinghy into its flybridge cradle, Valt lubed the davit
crane cable, changed the outboard engine oils, and changed out the prop. Ten
boats shared our little anchorage.
Thursday we headed back out the Adderley Cut to the Exuma Sound. We cannot
take the inner Exuma Bank route from here: it is too shallow for us. The
ocean was very rolly with big swells out of the NE. We'd hoped to fish, but
could not. After 10 miles, we reached the Rat Cay Cut and once inside found
immediate calm. The anchorage was empty. On the VHF radio (aka Snoop
Radio) we overheard the catamaran Baccagato with Morgan and Bonnie aboard.
We met them at Litle Farmer's Cay. They'd anchored the other side of the
bay
Their shallow 3 foot draft allows them to take the Exuma Bank route. I
think we will have a rest day today.



P.S. If I put only destination waypoints, many of our routes show us
crossing land. To try to clarify our trip, I have begun putting in marks
where we turn, too. This results in journal entries with only lat and long
coordinates, no text or pictures. Let me know how this works.