Dodging Mishaps and Coral Heads in the Bahamas

hemcclain
May 7
5 min read

When you arrive in the Bahamas by boat, coming from the murky, opaque waters of the Gulf coast of Florida, a new dimension seems to make itself apparent to you. The incredible sensation of seeing everything underwater just as clearly as you can see things on land - this was the first thing that impressed us about the Bahamian islands. After crossing the Gulfstream in the deepest blue water we had ever sailed, we arrived in Bimini in the late afternoon, the sun reaching perfectly over our shoulders as we navigated our first Bahamian inlet by sight - visual navigation is required for pretty much all Bahamian inlets since they aren't marked like American waterways, and they are an obstacle course of coral heads, shifting sandbars, and underwater rocks. Luckily, you can see just as clearly in 20 feet of water as you can in 5 feet. Navigating the inlet wasn't too bad and we were relieved to arrive at Brown's Marina, where I had booked us a slip for overnight. As we were attempting to dock on the T-head, the outermost slip on the dock, backing against a strong current and with wind pushing us into the dock, I went to throttle up in reverse and felt the throttle lever suddenly snap uselessly forward - the throttle cable had broken! The boat was starting to blow sideways, perpendicular to the intended slip, laying up against pilings which thankfully protected us from hitting the boats in the adjacent slips. With some helpful hands on the dock, we were able to pass some dock lines that helped us to lever against a piling and pull backwards into the wrong slip. We were relieved to be safe and tied up but now had a big problem on our hands - we would not be able to leave the dock until the throttle cable was replaced, and we had no spare. Amazingly, a local fisherman we met at the marina was able to have his wife in Freeport purchase a new throttle cable and put it on a plane to Bimini, three days later.

We spent our time waiting exploring Bimini and marveling at how you didn't even need to snorkel in order to see the underwater life. Looking down from the deck of our boat was like being at an aquarium - a busy mix of sharks, colorful fish, sea turtles, tarpon, conchs and rays were constantly patrolling underneath our slip.

It would end up being a week before we had a good weather window to cross from Bimini to Andros and then on to New Providence before sailing to the Exumas, but we never bored of watching the wildlife and marveling at the clear water.

One of two large sunken ships in Andros that we snorkeled on.

The weather was so calm by the time we left Bimini that we anchored overnight while crossing the Great Bahama Bank. It felt surreal to anchor in only 14 feet of perfectly calm water with absolutely no land in sight - like anchoring in the middle of the ocean.

The Exumas are a spectacularly beautiful chain of islands in the central Bahamas and a favorite of cruisers - sometimes navigating between the islands felt like being on a busy interstate for boats, especially since we mostly followed the well-established charted navigational lines in order to avoid running aground on the shallow banks between the islands. Arriving in Highbourne Cay, we found good but pricey provisions and convenient fuel before heading south to Warderick Wells. Warderick is part of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, where fishing and even shelling is illegal, so the fish and wildlife are plentiful. There we met up with our friends Justin and Megan, who had been cruising the Bahamas for months already. Together we snorkeled, explored the hiking trails, and enjoyed having white sand beaches to ourselves.

Boo Boo Hill in Warderick Wells, where cruisers traditionally leave an offering. Luckily the crew of another boat named Altair had left this sign there for me to pose with!

When a mooring ball became available, we moved our boat to the narrow, scenic mooring field for which Warderick Wells is famous.

With Justin and Megan, we then moved to Big Major Cay, where we continued our beachcombing and snorkeling. A highlight was snorkeling the Thunderball Grotto, an incredible underwater cave system where diving scenes in two James Bond movies were filmed. At low tide you can enter the caves which are teeming with fish and colorful coral. When you exit the other side, a strong current carries you right back around the outside of the caves to where you started, so you can easily go through again and again.

Big Major Cay also plays host to the famous swimming pig beach. We approached warily, having been warned plenty of times about the pigs biting people, but when they saw that we hadn't brought them food they mostly left us alone. Some other people came by in dinghies to throw watermelon in the water and were so swarmed by swimming pigs they sped off without getting out of the boat.

The pigs are afraid of neither people nor sharks - we laughed as we watched them stepping right over a nurse shark in order to reach watermelon floating on the waves.

One night in Big Major, we were enjoying homemade pizzas on Justin and Megan's boat when Justin went to check on something outside. He came back inside immediately and announced that our dinghy was missing! We had tied it on to the back of their boat with two separate lines - both of which were still attached. Also attached to the lines was the towing eye, which had somehow become completely unbolted from the front of the dinghy. It was around 11PM on a dark, moonless night, with 15-20mph winds and choppy waves, and we had no idea how long it had been since the dinghy got loose. While Justin and Ian hopped in Justin's dinghy to begin searching, I used their radio to make a 'pon pon' radio call announcing to the harbor to keep a lookout for the dinghy. Within seconds a random Good Samaritan had joined our search party in his own dinghy. While he searched the islands two miles west of us, Justin and Ian worked their way on a chain of rocky islands that extended north west from Big Major Cay. After about 45 minutes our Good Samaritan announced that he had found the dinghy - still afloat off the shore of a rocky barrier island. Justin and Ian made their way to him and towed it home. To our relief, it was completely unharmed, having beached itself on a sandbar that kept it from dashing on the nearby rocks or floating farther out to sea.