Crew Log for January 11th – 15th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Bell Island (West) – Bell Island (East)
• Trip Distance of 2.4 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,762.1NM
• Departed at 07h30, arrived at 08h30
Ironically, having to spend the night on anchor on the west side of Bell Island after running aground the night before, turned out alright. It was very calm and we didn’t even notice a lot of swell. Willow, who had anchored where we planned to shelter, reported having a very uncomfortable night rolling in the swells and easterly winds. However, we were confident that the anchorage was the best choice for the westerlies, forecasted for the next day or so.
We negotiated Cole’s Cut without incident, making sure we “hugged the rocks” and weaved our way between Bell Island, Pastue Cay and O’Brien Cay. We didn’t notice a lot of current working our way through there, but received a call from sv Dagny to ask us if it was manageable. As we rounded Bell Island, we were happy to see Willow on anchor. There were also a number of other boats, a short distance to the south, anchored and moored in Cambridge Cay.
Bell and Cambridge are both located within the boundaries of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Created in 1958, the Exuma Land and Sea Park was the first of its kind in the world and continues to be one of the most successful marine parks. It is a “no take” zone, which means fishing, conching and shelling are all strictly prohibited. There is no access to potable water or provisions within the park boundaries and internet and cell coverage ranges from poor to non-existent in most areas.
The park maintains and rents several mooring fields scattered throughout the area and anchoring is permitted for a fee. Moorings are on a first come first served basis and tend to fill up quickly in the more popular areas.
The 455 sq km (176 sq mile) park extends from Shroud Cay in the North to Bell Cay in the South and includes 16 major cays and several smaller ones. Several of the cays were privately owned prior to the creation of the park and remain so today. While some are accessible to the public, many are monitored by sophisticated security systems and landing on them is strictly prohibited. Johnny Depp was one of the park’s most famous residents, having purchased Little Halls Pond Cay, after falling in love with the areas while filming Pirates of the Caribbean. A recent report suggested he may have sold the Cay to author JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame.
Canadians may also recall a famous visit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family made to the Bahamas back in 2017. The trip was widely reported since it violated the expense rules. The trip also raised questions who the Trudeau family visited while in the Bahamas.
Bell Island, where the family vacationed is owned by Aga Khan IV. The Aga Khan claims to be a direct descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad and has an estimated net worth of more than $13 billion, making him the world’s 15th richest royal. Most of his wealth comes from regular donations from 15 million of his followers, estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The Aga Khan founded and manages one of the largest private development networks in the world, which might explain Trudeau’s visit. The Aga Khan has been referred to as, “the world’s most well-connected man”.
Security cameras cover most of Bell Island and the shoreline has signs indicating the island is private, and asks “intruders” to respect their privacy. Staff can be seen patrolling the beaches daily, although other than a couple of friendly dogs, their deterrents seem to be limited to reasoning and persuasion.
Shortly after we dropped anchor, we were joined by sv Dagny who had hailed us earlier to ask about currents in the approach to the anchorage. Dagny is a Saber 420 owned by Allan, a former air traffic controller and Bev, a former teacher, from Cornwall, Ontario. We immediately connected with them and quickly appreciated that they were an invaluable source of information and encouragement. They shared their knowledge and expertise freely, a trait I would come to respect even more as we made our way through uncharted territory.
We wondered if we had rushed to get down here too early, a couple of days before the front moved through. However, our concerns that protected anchorages would fill up quickly were confirmed as 5 – 6 others boats came into the anchorage a short while later. Until the winds shifted however, it would be a rolly anchorage.
We, along with Willow, decided to dinghy over to Bell Island and walk along the beach below the high tide mark. We weren’t there for more than 15 minutes when a side-by-side 4 wheeler came down the beach towards us. The lady was very nice and reminded us that the island was private. She did confirm that technically, there was nothing she could do to prevent us from strolling along below the high tide mark, but reiterated her request that we respect their privacy.
As we spoke, I detected a french accent, and so I asked if she was from Canada. It turns out she was from Montreal, and she, along with her husband, managed the island. As one would expect she was rather coy about who she actually worked for, although I did manage a grin, when I asked if our Prime Minister had visited lately. In addition to working for the Aga Khan, she also worked for Richard Branson, managing Necker Island in the BVI’s, although was very quick to point out they left before the fire.
She was excited to be headed back to Montreal the following day for a ski vacation. In the meantime, since there were no guests currently on the island, she asked that we restrict our movements to the beach areas and not to wander in land. It was a very friendly exchange, which Willow observed as, "very Canadian”. All was good.
Before the weather got really bad, we decided to dinghy down to The Aquarium, a popular snorkeling spot a few miles to the north on O’Briens Cay. As the name suggests, the Aquarium is like snorkeling in a giant fish tank, filled with hundreds of tropical fish and other sea life. It is a popular spot with the tour boats so it is busy at times, but well worth the visit. Afterwards we explored the area and found our own private stretch of beach. It felt amazing to be the only people on a mile long sand beach in the Bahamas!
As we made our way back to the anchorage, we noticed several more boats had arrived. We were pretty happy to see the 14th boat come in, thinking that 13 boats on Friday the 13th wasn’t good luck for riding out the storm. We experienced our first real squall that night, but by the time I got myself soaped up on deck to take a shower, it was over. The wind really started to pipe up around midnight and got over 35 knots on Saturday. Luckily everyone’s anchors held.
We were pretty much restricted to the boat, since getting into the dinghy would have been challenging, so I made bread and Judy made cookies. We also got to video chat with Mom and family back in Truro, which was really nice.
The following morning, we decided to dinghy over to Cambridge Cay with Willow to go for a hike up the hill on the headlands, on the sound side. We met the crew from 3-4 other boats on the beach and shared stories about riding out the westerlies. Stuart and Chuck were on sv Long Gone, from Deltaville and had been married for 57 years. There were also two couples from Maine, including a young engineer who was working full time from the boat. The other boat was a young couple from Jacksonville. She worked as art designer from the boat. Starlink has apparently been, in their words, "a game changer", for working, full time liveaboards.
We came here mainly to shelter from the west winds, and despite running aground on the first night, it was a great stop. We got to explore some beautiful places, we met a number of really interesting people, who we hope will remain lifelong friends and we safely survived our first big tropical storm.
The winds gradually died down through the weekend so we decided it was time to move on. It had been more than week since we provisioned, so we were starting to run low in fresh food, although we weren’t going to starve by any means. Willow headed to Staniel Cay the day before and planned to stay there for the week while Kay works. We decided to head that way as well to restock and explore the famous Thunderball Grotto and visit the Swimming Pigs.
But more about that, next time.
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