Swift

Great Harbour Cay Shelling Beach and Soldier Cay

Boat at anchor, shelling beach, Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas
Independence at anchor off the Shelling Beach, Great Harbour Cay
February 24th & 25th, 2017
After 3 nights at Great Harbour Cay Marina, we departed and sailed 25 miles in 3 hours to get to the other side of Great Harbour Cay. It was a very sporting sail at 8 knots (very fast for us!) 
Our route: Great Harbour Cay Marina, all the way around to the other side of Great Harbour Cay, then to Soldier's Cay
It was really lovely to be back at anchor after being neighbors with a men's only fishing trip. Men think that women can talk, but no one is as energetic at full time communication than men on a fishing trip! 
Sea Turtle in the Bahamas
Sea turtle 
Boat dog running on the beach
Hastings running on the beach
Dinghy on the beach, Bahamas
Petite Cay, an island just off the Shelling Beach anchorage
The Shelling Beach is a truly beautiful slice of heaven! Sadly, it is only tenable in west winds, so after one night it was time to move on. We sailed for 2 hours to reach Soldier Cay, 7 miles south. 
Catamaran sailing in the Bahamas
Sailing in light winds
Catamaran and monohull at anchor, Soldier Cay beach, Berry Islands
The anchorage at Soldier Cay
Soldier Cay beach, Berry Islands
The beach at Soldier Cay
We took the dinghy and our handheld depth sounder to sound out the 2 miles from Soldier Cay to Hoffman's Cay. We saw a few 4 feet depths at mid-tide (we draw just under 4 feet) and were un-impressed by the scenery; however, the protection against the forecasted 25 knot east winds would be better. 

We wanted to travel the next day at the 7AM high tide, which would give us poor lighting for spotting shoals. Traveling by sailboat requires a non-stop list of pros and cons. 

So, should we stay at beautiful Soldier Cay or press on? 

You Might Also Like

5 comments

  1. Ah, to be back at anchor. Move on, but wait for decent light, around 10am or so. You want the sun above or behind you when there are a lot of shoals and reefs. Unless you have a trustworthy track in and out iffy areas, I wouldn't trust it. But, I'm sure you know this already. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, we went right at 7AM - if we had waited a few hours the tide would have been much lower. But we had 7 feet the whole way, and it's just sand bars so we wouldn't have injured ourselves. All's well that ends well - and the next anchorage didn't have a surge so it was definitely worth it!

      Delete
  2. Siting here listening to Chesney.Boats. Vessels of freedom. Harbours of healing.
    And saw Hastings running free. Perfect. So happy to see your freedom and his healing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Siting here listening to Chesney.Boats. Vessels of freedom. Harbours of healing.
    And saw Hastings running free. Perfect. So happy to see your freedom and his healing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How sweet and perfect. So wonderful that Hastings made it through his dark time over the winter and is totally back to himself. He will be 12 in two weeks!

      Delete

Flickr Images