The Berry Islands 4/8/22
Nico and I are now in the Berry Islands, a narrow chain of small, mostly unpopulated cays at the edge of the Bahama Bank. It was a 50-mile crossing from northern Eleuthera which we quickly did with 18-23 knots behind us. Not as many people sail these cays because there aren’t many towns or much protection from winds other than from the east. It is also VERY shallow! We arrived on Tuesday, entered a wide passage, and anchored next to Soldier Cay where we had enjoyed our visit three years ago.
This time the wind was stronger and we had a pretty good swell. After a rolly night, we decided to head to the next cay early the next morning to take advantage of the high tide. Even so, we entered the shallow channel and found the water depth was 5 feet, exactly what Far and Away draws! But we didn’t hit. Then, at the next tricky spot, we were supposed to hug the rough, coral shore, keeping just 20 feet off. The strong wind was blowing us right onto it, with a steep chop, so Nico tried to keep us a little further away. That’s when we hit. It was a bad place to get stuck so he threw the wheel to port (left), towards the shore and the channel and we powered off, bouncing once or twice. I was at the bow, ready to hurl the anchor to prevent us from hitting the coral wall. We made it - and that was at high tide. In order to get out, we will have to come back the same way. All this was before breakfast.
The wind started to abate by mid-day so we were able to inflate and put the dinghy in the water to go ashore and explore Hoffman Cay. No one lives on the cay and we were struck by the variety of wildlife we encountered. A pelican, the first we have seen since entering the Bahamas, flew right over our heads as we landed. Walking into the blue hole in the interior we saw a variety of lizards - one type with slight blue stripes and another with a curled up tail. We also saw a good-sized black snake curled up on the edge of the blue hole.
We heard a variety of birds and saw a warbler. It was a minus tide (extra low) when we got back to the beach and we found a small conch, many sea biscuits that camouflage themselves by sticking shells and weeds on top of themselves, sea cucumbers, a very active brittle star, and a variety of corals and sponges that were exposed.
We motored to a lagoon and found it filled with about thirty sea turtles in a variety of sizes. We couldn’t get the dinghy up the narrow mangrove river so we waded and Nico fished. There were so many small fish - mangrove snappers, stonefish, sergeant majors, schools of needlefish. Several herons worked the shore.
The island felt rich with wildlife but that hasn’t been the case in many areas. We have been surprised by the lack of species on land. Another impression is that the coral seems more degraded since we were here many years ago and even worse than when we were here three years ago. On the other hand, turtles have come back now that there is a ban on spearing them. (For centuries turtle has been a traditional Bahamian food, but no longer.)
We have had great luck with gathering conch. They are heavily fished and we always take fewer than the limit of six per vessel. They are so beautiful and worth the huge effort to clean them. They give off copious amounts of slime and it has taken Nico a while to get the hang of extracting the animal. But he has!
Our next anchorage was off of Devil's Cay. It was by a cut to the ocean and the current was so powerful. There was a very strong wind so the spot had a wild feel to it. We had some great snorkeling, fishing (no luck), and walks on some gorgeous small beaches.
White Cay
Off to the Bight of Abaco next!
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