Rudder Cay to Black Point to Highbourne Cay to West Bay to Hoffman’s
I would say that we both fell in love with Rudder and Musha Cay. It is a gorgeous area on the Exumas. I loved the snorkeling, the sea glass beach and also the tidal flats. We could snorkel and dive right under our boat but the current, at times, was challenging and one day we realize we needed to move our boat forward to unwrap us from a coral head. After a week at Rudder we decided it was time to head North on our trek back towards the US. On April 2, we left for an inside cruise to Great Guyana Cay, Black Point Settlement.
Morning Dew set off first, traveling in the Exuma Sound on the outside. We waited for high tide to sneak through the skinny water on the inside. It was another gorgeous cruise. The scenery was breathtaking the whole way. Truly, the pictures don’t do it justice!
We arrived at Black Point at around 4:30. It is a large harbor with gorgeous gin clear water. There were about a dozen boats anchored here.
The Bahamas is social distancing and at times on complete lockdown. Only one person per family is allowed to grocery shop. Eddie donned mask and gloves and went ashore to find freshies. He came home with some fruits and veggies to tide us over for the week + You are only allowed outside of your home, into your yard for 90 minutes of exercise per day. I did some swimming and relaxing in the water.
April 6th was Eddie’s 66th birthday. Morning Dew brought over presents and a b-day cake and we played on House Party with the kids. I think it was a birthday which he will always remember!
Birthday sunset!
Surf and Turf Bday Dinner!
Singing Happy B-day on the flybridge while social distancing with Morning Dew and then others in the anchorage yelling Happy Birthday!
And then the messaging changed. The Bahamas was getting more cases of Covid-19 and the Out Islands were discouraged from letting cruisers come ashore for provisions. Each Island Administrator seemed to interpret things differently. In Black Point, they came on the VHF and said, cruisers are welcome to come shop at Adderly’s grocery store. Further south on Long Island they wouldn’t allow anyone on shore. Morning Dew decided to leave and head to Highbourne Cay to begin the journey home. Now the messaging said the following:
🚤⛵️⚠️ UPDATE FOR PRIVATE VESSELS ⚠️⛵️🚤
Under the current 24-hour curfew emergency orders, now extended until April 30, all domestic inter-island traffic by air or boat within The Bahamas remains temporarily banned.
The emergency orders will, however, allow foreign pleasure craft currently anchored or moored in The Bahamas to depart DIRECTLY FOR THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, making only the absolute minimum necessary stops in order to ensure safe passage.
Vessels returning to the United States are permitted to re-fuel at fuel docks, but ARE PROHIBITED FROM DISEMBARKING ANY CREW OR PASSENGERS. All private vessels departing The Bahamas must do so expeditiously, with minimal stops or delays.
FULL LOCKDOWN PERIODS
Please note that vessels will NOT BE ABLE TO RE-FUEL or make use of fuel docks DURING THE FULL LOCKDOWN PERIODS the Prime Minister of The Bahamas announced on April 6 (see below for details). Vessels can still transit through Bahamian waters on a direct route back to the United States, but cannot re-fuel.
We urge any and all U.S. citizens on private vessels to return to the United States as soon as possible, ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE NEXT FULL LOCKDOWN period begins at 9:00pm on Wed, April 8. Do not wait; the time to leave is now. Depart as soon as weather and provisions allow you to do so safely, or be prepared to remain in The Bahamas for an indefinite period of time.
It bears repeating: restrictions to movement in The Bahamas continue to evolve rapidly, and WE CANNOT PREDICT if, when, for how long, or HOW SEVERELY MOVEMENT through The Bahamas MAY BE RESTRICTED further. In every instance, all vessels must follow the directions of the Bahamian authorities.
FULL LOCKDOWN SCHEDULE (when vessels can still move directly towards the US, but cannot re-fuel):
- 9pm on Wednesday, April 8 - 5am on Tuesday, April 14
- 9pm on Friday, April 17 - 5am on Monday, April 20
- 9pm on Friday, April 24 - 5am on Monday, April 27
Once more, private vessels departing The Bahamas must avoid any unnecessary deviation on the way to their final destination. Crew and passengers are PROHIBITED FROM DISEMBARKING and MUST REMAIN ABOARD their vessel. The emergency orders only allow stop-offs for re-fueling or to receive provisions essential for safe transit, such as food and water, outside the full lockdown periods noted above.
At first we didn’t go with Morning Dew. They met up with sailboats Sirena and Sailitude and were going to travel together. Shortly after they departed, I could see Eddie was having second thoughts. After 5 days at Black Point, on April 7 we lifted the anchor to cruise to Highbourne. It was an uneventful cruise. Maybe the only thing a little exciting was when this big boy , 279’ Bold, crossed in front of us. I was at the helm and steered to port to get out of his way. Then he also steered to port. Eddie called him on the radio and their Capt said “Captain we will pass port to port.” I couldn’t imagine how that was going to happen until he literally did a right turn and crossed in front of us! This is him passing on our port side. I guess when you are 289’ long you go wherever you want!
Bold, 289’, commissioned in August of 2019, cruises at 24knots!, modeled after naval designs with a ton of windows! She can sleep up to 16 guests with a crew of 21.
Catching up to Morning Dew. She looks gorgeous underway.
The gorgeous full moon over Highbourne Cay.
The next morning we cruised to West Bay on the west side of New Providence. LOL we set out to buddy boat with the 3 sailboats but it was rolly at 6knots and I asked Eddie to speed up. Once we were at 7.4knots it wasn’t quite as bad and we were on our own, no buddy boating. We had an uneventful cruise, went on the outside of White Bank to avoid the scattered coral heads and out into the tongue of the ocean. The water was a deep, beautiful blue when it was about 1400’.
We arrived at West Bay on New Providence first and it was filled with mega mansions on one side and industry on the other. We weren’t planning on being here too long and it serves as a great jumping off point for cruising back to the US. The water was crystal clear and there was a National Trust park with beach access for Gerri the wonder pup, right in the anchorage. Except we were on full lockdown, not allowed off our boats!
This is where obsessively trying to figure out the weather to do a crossing amped up to high intensity! The sailors were talking about an overnight. We were unsure. Then we figured we could anchor on the shoals. However, Mother Nature was not in our favor. Finally, Keith talked Eddie out of leaving for home and instead suggested we come hide out in the Berry Islands.
Full moon over New Providence. We said goodbye to Pam and Steve & Gerri and prepared to lift the anchor in the morning.
Morning Dew set off first, traveling in the Exuma Sound on the outside. We waited for high tide to sneak through the skinny water on the inside. It was another gorgeous cruise. The scenery was breathtaking the whole way. Truly, the pictures don’t do it justice!
We arrived at Black Point at around 4:30. It is a large harbor with gorgeous gin clear water. There were about a dozen boats anchored here.
The Bahamas is social distancing and at times on complete lockdown. Only one person per family is allowed to grocery shop. Eddie donned mask and gloves and went ashore to find freshies. He came home with some fruits and veggies to tide us over for the week + You are only allowed outside of your home, into your yard for 90 minutes of exercise per day. I did some swimming and relaxing in the water.
April 6th was Eddie’s 66th birthday. Morning Dew brought over presents and a b-day cake and we played on House Party with the kids. I think it was a birthday which he will always remember!
And then the messaging changed. The Bahamas was getting more cases of Covid-19 and the Out Islands were discouraged from letting cruisers come ashore for provisions. Each Island Administrator seemed to interpret things differently. In Black Point, they came on the VHF and said, cruisers are welcome to come shop at Adderly’s grocery store. Further south on Long Island they wouldn’t allow anyone on shore. Morning Dew decided to leave and head to Highbourne Cay to begin the journey home. Now the messaging said the following:
🚤⛵️⚠️ UPDATE FOR PRIVATE VESSELS ⚠️⛵️🚤
Under the current 24-hour curfew emergency orders, now extended until April 30, all domestic inter-island traffic by air or boat within The Bahamas remains temporarily banned.
The emergency orders will, however, allow foreign pleasure craft currently anchored or moored in The Bahamas to depart DIRECTLY FOR THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, making only the absolute minimum necessary stops in order to ensure safe passage.
Vessels returning to the United States are permitted to re-fuel at fuel docks, but ARE PROHIBITED FROM DISEMBARKING ANY CREW OR PASSENGERS. All private vessels departing The Bahamas must do so expeditiously, with minimal stops or delays.
FULL LOCKDOWN PERIODS
Please note that vessels will NOT BE ABLE TO RE-FUEL or make use of fuel docks DURING THE FULL LOCKDOWN PERIODS the Prime Minister of The Bahamas announced on April 6 (see below for details). Vessels can still transit through Bahamian waters on a direct route back to the United States, but cannot re-fuel.
We urge any and all U.S. citizens on private vessels to return to the United States as soon as possible, ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE NEXT FULL LOCKDOWN period begins at 9:00pm on Wed, April 8. Do not wait; the time to leave is now. Depart as soon as weather and provisions allow you to do so safely, or be prepared to remain in The Bahamas for an indefinite period of time.
It bears repeating: restrictions to movement in The Bahamas continue to evolve rapidly, and WE CANNOT PREDICT if, when, for how long, or HOW SEVERELY MOVEMENT through The Bahamas MAY BE RESTRICTED further. In every instance, all vessels must follow the directions of the Bahamian authorities.
FULL LOCKDOWN SCHEDULE (when vessels can still move directly towards the US, but cannot re-fuel):
- 9pm on Wednesday, April 8 - 5am on Tuesday, April 14
- 9pm on Friday, April 17 - 5am on Monday, April 20
- 9pm on Friday, April 24 - 5am on Monday, April 27
Once more, private vessels departing The Bahamas must avoid any unnecessary deviation on the way to their final destination. Crew and passengers are PROHIBITED FROM DISEMBARKING and MUST REMAIN ABOARD their vessel. The emergency orders only allow stop-offs for re-fueling or to receive provisions essential for safe transit, such as food and water, outside the full lockdown periods noted above.
At first we didn’t go with Morning Dew. They met up with sailboats Sirena and Sailitude and were going to travel together. Shortly after they departed, I could see Eddie was having second thoughts. After 5 days at Black Point, on April 7 we lifted the anchor to cruise to Highbourne. It was an uneventful cruise. Maybe the only thing a little exciting was when this big boy , 279’ Bold, crossed in front of us. I was at the helm and steered to port to get out of his way. Then he also steered to port. Eddie called him on the radio and their Capt said “Captain we will pass port to port.” I couldn’t imagine how that was going to happen until he literally did a right turn and crossed in front of us! This is him passing on our port side. I guess when you are 289’ long you go wherever you want!
The next morning we cruised to West Bay on the west side of New Providence. LOL we set out to buddy boat with the 3 sailboats but it was rolly at 6knots and I asked Eddie to speed up. Once we were at 7.4knots it wasn’t quite as bad and we were on our own, no buddy boating. We had an uneventful cruise, went on the outside of White Bank to avoid the scattered coral heads and out into the tongue of the ocean. The water was a deep, beautiful blue when it was about 1400’.
We arrived at West Bay on New Providence first and it was filled with mega mansions on one side and industry on the other. We weren’t planning on being here too long and it serves as a great jumping off point for cruising back to the US. The water was crystal clear and there was a National Trust park with beach access for Gerri the wonder pup, right in the anchorage. Except we were on full lockdown, not allowed off our boats!
This is where obsessively trying to figure out the weather to do a crossing amped up to high intensity! The sailors were talking about an overnight. We were unsure. Then we figured we could anchor on the shoals. However, Mother Nature was not in our favor. Finally, Keith talked Eddie out of leaving for home and instead suggested we come hide out in the Berry Islands.
Full moon over New Providence. We said goodbye to Pam and Steve & Gerri and prepared to lift the anchor in the morning.
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