Adventures of the Yacht White Pepper: Cave Cay, Glass Cay and George Town, Exumas

Looking East at Cave Cay Cut

Musha Cay

Ordinarily the run from Black Point to George Town along the Exuma chain is an uneventful 46 mile run sometimes with an overnight. White Pepper managed to turn this trip into a three day adventure.

It has always been the policy of this blog to emphasize the positive aspects of cruising. Otherwise travel literature would turn into a “litany of misery” ( quote from Mark Twain. ) This trip, however, was harrowing. On the leg from Black Point to Cave Cay the water belt broke and the motor overheated. After a scramble I was able to replace the belt, but the motor and transmission never quite recovered.

We anchored at lovey Cave Cay which is private. There is an upscale marina, the Safe Harbor Marina. Musha Cay is just a half a mile away. Musha Cay is the property of the magician David Copperfield. Between Cave Cay and Musha Cay is Cave Cay Cut. This is the last deep water cut between the Great Bahama Bank and the Exuma Sound on the way south to George Town. Cave Cay does not get any respect from most of the regulars who use Galliot Cut two miles to the north. White Pepper wanted to try a different path. We had to wait until late morning for the current to clear the cut. Clearing the cut was uneventful at slack water. By 11 am we were off to George Town 31 miles to the SE. A wonderful, gentle southerly breeze made for a power reach under full sail—135% Genoa and main. White Pepper had the most delightful, sparkling sail until 2 pm when the wind stopped. Ordinarily this would be no problem for a cruiser, who would power up the engine and motor on. No such option was available for White Pepper with a crippled motor.

It was Jan who came up with the plan for an emergency landing at Glass Cay. Glass Cay is more of a day stop at the northern tip of Great Exuma Island, but the weather was settled. Indeed that was the very reason we could not proceed. We made an uneventful passage of the Glass Cay Cut and spent a pleasant night anchored over 9 feet of sand. The morning brought a predicted SW wind-- but much stronger than anticipated. Or at least unanticipated by NOAA because there were several kite boarders there enjoying the breeze. We waited until late morning for the wind to behave, but it never did respond to commands from NOAA to lay down to predicted values. We had a very anxious moment getting the anchor up because the motor failed again. We had to sail out of the anchorage. The newly installed electric winch for the main sail halyard was the hero of the day. It got the main sail before I had to re-anchor.

By early afternoon the breeze had clocked to the west and northwest building to force 4, 16 to 20 knots, with higher gusts. White Pepper was scudding along at 6 to 7 knots on the short trip to George Town 14 miles to the SE. This is hull speed for her, and reminded Jan and I of racing on Corpus Christi Bay. About 3 pm we were able to sail the familiar doglegs of the northern entrance to George Town known as Conch Cay Cut. Any joy at returning was tempered by having to actually sail the boat to the five precise way points that make up the entrance.

We passed by hundreds of anchored yachts in the phenomenon that is the “village” of George Town cruisers that Jan and I have grown to know. The tally on the last day of Regatta was 302 boats. Finally we skidded to a stop at the Sand Dollar anchorage. We anchored under sail which is no easy task when there is a crowd. Sand Dollar is our favorite "subdivision" in the "village." There were only 50 boats around.

In addition the hot water heater was affected by the overheating and is leaking. This will need to be addressed or we will not have fresh water. How much damage was done by the overheating will determine whether White Pepper will be able to continue cruising or will have to return to Florida. However, for the short term we are safely anchored in a safe and familiar place with friends.