Crew Log for January 24th – 26th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Warderick Wells to Cambridge Cay
• Trip Distance of 12.5 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,843.6 NM
• Departed at 10h00, arrived at 12h00
The wind had shifted through the night and we were finally enjoying a nice quiet anchorage for the first time since arriving at Emerald Rock. As we settled into our morning routine and planning our day’s events, we got a radio message informing us that our buddy boats were all heading down to Cambridge Cay since things got uncomfortable for them in the main anchorage. We briefly thought about staying for another night at Warderick Wells, but decided to take advantage of a good sailboat day and work our way south. And, are we ever glad we did!
Winds were out of the north east, which was perfect to take us to Cambridge Cay. It was a little over 12 miles and we could sail almost the entire way. We decided to avoid Coles Cut, where we ran aground the last time we came here, so we took a wide route around Bell Island and came in towards Cambridge Cay cut. Nomad was ahead of us and had been radioing a sailboat that seemed be struggling inside the cut, so we furled the jib and slowly made our way towards Cambridge, keeping a close eye on the sailboat for any problems.
Nomad is a 41 foot Norhaven trawler, crewed by Jim and Rene from Wrightsville beach, NC. Jim owns a bike shop and is an avid surfer and Rene is a former photo journalist, who continues to take amazing pictures. We hadn’t formally met yet but chatted with them on the radio a few times coming from Warderick Wells.
We don’t have a furling main sail, which means dousing the sail requires going on deck to pack it away. It has become obvious to us that the one upgrade we are really missing, is either a stack pack or a furling main. The stack pack is a relatively simple fix and likely something we’d consider when we get home. Rather than risk dousing the main in the swell, we opted to leave it up until we were safely inside in the anchorage.
We proceeded towards the cut, which was very rough and unsettled given we had wind against a falling tide. We turned towards port and carefully made our way through a narrow channel that has a rock outcrop on the starboard side and a shallow sand bar on the port side. Navigating the channel takes you close to the rocks, so we had to be extra cautious given we still had a full main up. Once you clear the current, it is like someone flipped a switch and the conditions instantly become calm.
We dropped the main on the backside of Honeymoon Beach. A charter catamaran was anchoring in the middle of the channel so in addition to trying to straighten the sail out, we had to try and avoid hitting them, or worse, running aground. We anchored next to the mooring field and raised the main again to try and get it better organized.
As I was struggling with the sail, a 40+ foot tender was hovering around our boat, keeping a safe distance. My mind immediately went to, “what does this guy want?” and so I will admit I was getting a bit cranky. How wrong I was. It turned out, the tender was from the super yacht anchored in front of us. The captain, on behalf of the owner, wanted to invite us and the rest of the boats in Cambridge Cay, for hors d’oeuvres and drinks with the owner, who happened to be on board. We couldn’t believe it!
MY Usher is a 154 foot super yacht, owned by Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy, a cloud based and mobile software company focused on business intelligence. Mr. Saylor also happens be the fourth largest holder of BitCoin in the world. When I asked his colleague, who was a crypto currency investor, how things were in the BitCoin world, he said it was “an up and down year”. Apparently, more down than up however, given that Michael Saylor’s BitCoin losses were US$1 billion last year. Google reported his net worth to be in the range of US$6 billion.
Usher was supported by a 54 foot motor yacht that, in addition to providing additional crew quarter space, also carries the watertoys and doubles as a dry tender when the weather is bad. Their day-to-day tender is a 40 foot center console that they tow behind Usher. Mr. Saylor told Judy he had 8 boats in total, but Usher was the biggest. The boat is based in Miami, Florida and Saylor dredged the channel next to his Florida home to allow him to “park” the boat behind the house. When we were in Annapolis, we actually saw Usher on the dock at Ego Alley. It turns out the Captain is from Annapolis and his girlfriend lives across from the crew of Anodyne. Small world.
Mr. Saylor and his friend Eric were the only people on board other than the staff. There are 12 full time staff on Usher and 12 more back at the house in Miami. I asked the Captain and some of the other staff whether they had ever watched “Below Deck”, a reality TV show that focuses on the yachting industry. For those who had, life aboard Usher was apparently not as dramatic as the escapades on Below Deck. Seems reality TV is not so real after all. The Captain has been in the industry for over 30 years, but only took over Usher recently. His main focus was to address high staff turnover. They subsequently developed a number of educational supports and pay bonuses for staff who stayed for the entire year.
Usher was renamed after Michael Saylor purchased the boat from Ed Herbst, founder of Martin Oil. Herbst has been referred to as the PT Barnum of the oil business, for his unusual marketing strategies. When Herbst owned the boat it was called, Mr. Terrible, apparently because a Wyoming city council member (who owned a competing gas station) was overheard saying "If we let that terrible Herbst in, we'll all go under!". If you looked closely, you could still see Mr. Terrible figures everywhere around the boat.
Happy hour consisted of a selection hot and cold hors d'oeuvres prepared by the chef, along with a full bar service, set up on the rear sundeck. I didn’t do a head count, but I think the crews from all 10-12 boats in the anchorage showed up. Why on earth won’t you? Mr. Saylor, Eric and the Captain joined us for the entire 2 hour visit. Apparently, the get together was Mr. Saylor’s idea. He was interested in meeting “real sailors”, living on their boats, off grid. The Captain told us their entire trip was squeezing Usher in places bigger super yachts couldn’t go. He wasn’t sleeping well though, since there was less than 2 feet under the boat and little to no swing room in a tight anchorage.
Judy had asked our host if he’d ever been to Nova Scotia, which he hadn’t, so of course Judy started to promote the Province. Mr. Saylor was very interested in the idea of taking Usher to Lunenburg and the Bras d’Or Lake. Maybe we'll see Usher in Nova Scotia in the future.
After the sun went down, our host suggested the Captain show us around the boat. They took us through the common areas, roof top spa area, the ships bridge, galley, guest rooms, mechanical and engine room and Mr. Saylor’s own private quarters. You’ve never seen a v-berth like this one. Complete with a stain glass sky light and hand hammered copper tub and an office work space. It was easy to forget you were on a boat.
All the staff took amazing pride in their respective work spaces. The Captain told Judy he never touches a hand rail when he walks through the boat because he knows someone will need to polish it. The engine room was absolutely spotless, and the pride of the ship’s engineer.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to spend a couple of hours on a super yacht and were very appreciative of our host and his staff’s hospitality. What an experience!
Back on Elizabeth M, the current where we were anchored was quite strong and the boat twisted and turned most of the night. The boat beside us was on a mooring ball, and their bridal was so twisted in the morning they had to get in the water to untangle it. We decided to re-anchor, away from the current and closer to the beach. Problem solved.
The anchorage was still abuzz following our evening on Usher. We went over to the beach where we met Tony and Gina, who we briefly met the night before. They are from the Ottawa area and were on a trawler. Tony was retired, but Gina was still working full time. We had a brief chat before she had to “get back to work”. On our way back to the boat, we met 4 couples from the same sailing club in Ontario who had chartered a catamaran for the week. They had just arrived that morning so they missed the happy hour on Usher, and I am pretty sure they were sick of hearing about it from everyone they bumped into.
Later in the morning, Judy went for a paddleboard before joining Anodyne and Nomad on a trip to Rocky Dundas, a popular snorkeling spot, while I tried to catch up on some of the Crew Log reports. In the afternoon Judy and I, along with Anodyne and Nomad all dinghied down to Honeymoon Beach, a beautiful sand beach where the water drops off dramatically a few feet from shore. We had a relaxing afternoon floating in the deep, calm, clear water. There was also a nice walk through the palm trees to a dramatic beach on the ocean side, bordering Cambridge Cay Cut.
To say our visit to Cambridge Cay was memorable, would be an understatement. We were in an amazingly beautiful part of the Exuma Cays, got a brief glimpse into life aboard a super yacht and we made some new friends. We still have to occasionally pinch ourselves to make sure this isn’t a dream.
We were headed back to Staniel Cay to reprovision and wait out some bad weather that was expected in a few days where we meet a solo sailing legend, who mistakes us for famous YouTubers.
But more about that, next time.
Additional Photos:
Thanks Heather.
Awesome you guys. Had the pleasure of being on a lovely sailboat in the Caribbean in my "youth" but nothing like that! Seem like lovely people though. Keep on enjoying, as I am sure you will!