22nd Mar - 1st Apr 2013 - Cambridge Cay (Little Bell) Cay, The Exumas, Bahamas
Nimue
Mon 1 Apr 2013 23:33
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The words
“VPR” on our Bahamas Explorer nautical chart warned that due to movement of the
sandbars, the chart may be slightly inaccurate! So back to visual
navigation to ensure we followed the colour of the deeper water! As we
skirted around the many rocks using the forward looking sonar and changes in
water colour, we finally came to Kiss rock (aptly named, as we did stay very
close to it), after which we turned into a beautiful anchorage at Cambridge Cay,
also known as Little Bell Cay.
  Cambridge (Bell) Cay and the anchorage
(marked by the white teardrops)
 The numerous snorkelling sites
The anchorage was already full, but we
managed to pick up one of the available mooring balls at $15 a night. Once
settled we took a 1.5 mile dinghy ride to the sea aquarium in “O’Briens Cay”,
where the snorkelling around the wall was absolutely magnificent. No
sooner out of the dinghy and we were surrounded by the most beautiful fish,
decorated in all sorts of colours and stripes – quite amazing. Then to the
“airplane reef” where we viewed a sunken plane through our friends ‘looky
bucket’ (as the name suggests, it’s a bucket with a see-through bottom) and
we’re definitely going to invest in one, as it’s also useful to check the lie of
the anchor! We had been invited by the other anchored boats for cocktails
on a nearby beach, which always means you take your own drinks and a plate of
appetisers to share. We introduced ourselves to a couple who were on a mast less
catamaran! It turned out they weren’t quite sure of the height of their mast as
they went underneath one of the bridges in Nassau!
  The people of this dinghy landed
taking advantage of low water in Cambridge Cay. Rising Star and
Narsilion arriving at Blue Yonder
With my ever growing confidence in
snorkelling, we took another long dinghy ride. at slack tide, across a lumpy cut
to the snorkelling area known as “Rocky Dundas”. Here we were able to view
the caves with stalagmites and stalactites and also to see the pristine Elkhorn
coral located just outside. Being even more adventurous, the following day we
swam out from a beach to “Joes Reef” where we saw some more amazing Elkhorn
coral. Finally, we did a drift snorkel across the cay, where Michael was
able dive a few feet to pick up sand dollars, which more often than not, break
apart as soon as they are handled. We actually managed to keep a couple in
tact! The anchorage thinned out after a couple of days, so we moved off
the buoy to a suitable spot to anchor and enjoyed a few more days in one of our
favourite places, including riding out another front with Rising Star
and Narsilion. David on Blue Yonder had left the
day before, and then we said our goodbyes to Val & Lisa and Joe &
Cherie, as we too departed for Georgetown on Great Exuma.
  A stroll across the Cay to Bell
Rock
  The Park Warden arrives to collect his
dues for the mooring buoy
  Looks like the whole anchorage has made
their way to the beach for cocktails and owners dinghies nicely parked on the
sand
 Rounding Bell Rock as we leave the
anchorage (where masts can be seen)
With the wind on the beam, we then had a great 65nm sail south in the
deep Exuma sound in 18 knots of fresh north easterlies to Georgetown. With
my new found confidence in ‘trolling’ fishing, I put out a line from the stern
and within an hour had caught a 4ft, 20 pound Dorado (aka, Mahi Mahi or, Dolphin
fish). Of course, Michael persuaded me to fillet the fish underway, thus to
avoid any mess and the appearance of nosy sharks in the anchorage? This
was not an easy affair and after pinning myself to the back deck, I was pleased
when I eventually produced some nice large fillets. Then a call on the VHF to
Motu, already in Georgetown we suggested we had Fish Taco’s for
dinner that night. We would bring the fish, if Marja on Motu
would arrange the rest, which she duly did. After anchoring in Sand Dollar
Beach, we took the Dorado fillets across to Motu, where Steve grilled
them to perfection and we all enjoyed a great meal.
  The beautifully coloured Dorado and Anne
bracing herself on the stern, whilst filleting the fish
 The freshly prepared fillets, ready to
be cooked to make fish tacos
The anchorage at Sand Dollar beach was
about a mile away from the dinghy dock in Georgetown. Except in calm winds and
seas, the long dinghy ride to dock was horrible. In anything more than a
slight swell we soon began to realise that our new AB dinghy was not quite up to
the job and we were having a job to stay dry and
comfortable..........urrrgh! We spent a few days getting to know our way
around this jolly town and we were able to undertake some re-provisioning in the
well stocked, but rather expensive Exuma Market.
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