Allan's Cay

Phillip left in a taxi Mon. am at 7:30 1-7-08. We will miss him. We showered and settled up at Nassau Yacht Haven. The 10:30 am departure was not too bad but we were bucking a stiff current and it was not until noon that we cleared the eastern entrance of Nassau harbor.

The guide books are full of warnings about coral heads in the Yellow Banks. The old timers here scoff at these danger. but I chose a detour. We had a lovely sail south then turned southeast after the waypoint. Now it was a 18 n. mi. beat into a stiff wind and chop. The main problem with voyaging in the winter is the early sunset. By 5 pm were running out of daylight. Finally we cleared into Allan's Cay and threw the anchor down at the first patch of sand. Five minutes later it was pitch black.
The wind was whistling and strong current running. The rocks were only 150 feet away. I spent a cold anxious night on anchor watch. The dawn revealed a stunning scene of blue and green water running between the cays. Still it took all day for our nerves to calm down. There was just so much new stuff all at once--using the new anchors and chain rodes, launching the dingy off the foredeck, getting the outboard off the stern and onto the dingy, etc.

About Wed. we were ready to explore. The Allan's cay group is unique in being the only location for the Allan's cay iguanas. Every guide book advises against feeding the iguanas. Everyone does and the iguanas expect to be fed. They were mad at us! Soon a tour showed up with 30 tourists and 2 large bags of grapes. A great time was had by all.

Later we went to SW Allan's Cay which was less than 1/2 mile away. We had the entire island to ourselves. The iguanas were less aggressive. The water beautiful and shallow. It was magical.