Casstaway Cruising Chronicles – Part Two: When Pigs Swim

From Emerald Bay we began to make our way back north on Sunday, March 31, planning to eventually stage our return crossing to Florida from Riding Rocks, a point at the far south of Bimini. Looking at weather windows we hope to cross around April 11-14, but said weather plays havoc with even the best laid plans and Todd spends a significant amount of time each day reviewing and analyzing weather, wind, and sea condition reports.

The Oven at Little Farmers Cay

Our first stop was just north of Little Farmers Cay on the south end of Great Guana Cay. A quaint anchorage marked with a large rock formation called The Oven. 

The next morning we headed toward Staniel Cay and our two night anchorage at Big Majors Spot, home of the swimming pigs. Quite a popular destination with lots of tour boats and mega yachts bringing folks to beach bum with the pigs. Not to be left out of the fun, we tried to time our shore visit to miss the rush. I can’t say the pigs were warm and fuzzy, but they were certainly enthusiastic. We fed them carrots and celery.

This little Piggy went to the seashore

After our stay at Big Majors Spot, we returned to Shroud Cay, one of our favorite stops on our earlier trip south. We chose Shroud Cay because it would be a good spot to once more wait out a weather front – predicted high winds and possible rain. But the weather gods decided to play nice and give us a beautiful day to just be lazy and enjoy some funning and

Sunning

sunning. It was five o’clock somewhere and I worked on my tan lines.

and Funning

We did not return to the Highbourne Cay Marina, site of past hijinks, but instead anchored out, along with about 30 of our closest boat friends – quite the popular spot. While at Highbourne we had a second near encounter with a sailboat – she came in after dark, with no running lights, and attempted to anchor almost on top of us. Todd had to stand on our bow with a flashlight and urge her captain (politely of course) to find his spot elsewhere. Where do these people come from?

We had planned to spend two nights at Highbourne, but with winds expected to pick up further we packed up and
headed out around 0900 the next day to make the approximate eight-hour journey to West Bay on New Providence. Winds were nice but on our stern, so we motor-sailed with the genoa up for a few hours then gave up and pulled her in as the winds diminished.

Our two nights at West Bay brought wind and scattered showers, but we made the most of our time, working on our remaining float plan, running the water-maker, and catching up on our blog posts. We also booked an upcoming stay at the Great Harbor Cay Marina as a fun “last hurrah” before we make the Gulf Stream crossing back to Florida.

The next afternoon, Monday, April 8, we pulled into our slip at Great Harbor Cay Marina. The marina is considered an excellent “hurricane hole”, buried somewhat inland and well protected from all directions by land and lush vegetation. But that landscape makes the entrance cut almost impossible to see from the water until you are almost on top of it. Thank goodness for GPS and navigation charts. The cut is also extremely narrow.  It was beautiful and a much different landscape than the slight, rocky cays that were the norm everywhere else we had travelled. A quick first stop at the fuel dock, where I backed-in beautifully even though Todd expressed his initial skepticism. Which I ignored. 

Our marina neighbor Jack Nicklaus

Great Harbor Cay Marina was lovely and our three night stay too short. We made friends with a power-boating couple from Colorado and enjoyed swapping stories over both coffee and cocktails. We also met a sailing couple from New Mexico who initially shared a ride to the grocery with us and later joined us for lunch at Carriearls, a lovely and unique boutique hotel and restaurant with delicious food, a nice view, and a colorful history. 

One of the dining rooms at Carriearls

View from the “cocktail couch” at Carriearls

We spent one late evening drinking wine in the gazebo and listening to one of the marina staff sing and play guitar. Todd grilled delicious pork chops. We also accomplished the more mundane – bought a few groceries, including some delicious homemade craisin bread, did laundry, and gave Casstaway a good washing with free gray water.

Thursday night was another open water anchor, this time in the Northwest Channel. Winds were gusty so we rocked and rolled quite a bit, but otherwise uneventful. I think we are getting pretty comfortable with this blue water anchoring stuff.

But oh no, our plan was foiled when we got to Riding Rocks and discovered it to be very aptly named – rocky waters that are completely unsuitable for anchoring. And unfortunately, our nice weather had changed drastically for the worst. With no suitable spot to drop anchor we had no choice but to head to Orange Cay in very rough and windy conditions. So on we went.

By the time we arrived at Orange Cay it was twilight, winds were high, and waters were rolling – and while Orange Cay offers a sandy anchorage it provides virtually no protection from the wind. A VERY rough night. Even so, by 0500 we were pulling the hook and ready to make our crossing.

Twelve hours later, we made our way through Angelfish Creek and dropped the hook at Pumpkin Key. Back in the USA!

Side-note – Pumpkin Key is a private island near Key Largo that just happens to be for sale for $95M!