April 10-12. An Unexpected Change of Plans: Heading South Once Again

Last night we started to plan a rough itinerary to start working our way north when Harry had the thought that maybe we should try to get to the Jumentos and Ragged Islands.  The Jumentos and Raggeds are a long chain of rocks and islands that start 30 miles, as the tropic bird flies, south of Great Exuma and George Town. The Jumentos starts in the north and stretch about 35 miles to a six mile gap open to the ocean, after which the Ragged Islands begin. While 30 miles isn't a great distance, the difficulty of getting there (not being a tropic bird), and to a larger degree getting back; coupled with the fact that the only inhabitants, a total 70, are in Duncan Town at the southern most of the Raggeds, not many cruisers venture there.  We had a goal of visiting some of the more remote islands this trip, so this seemed like our last opportunity. This morning, after talking to a couple local cruisers to clear up some questions on the route, we decide to go for it.  

While it would be nice to say that we sailed straight to the first of the Jumento Cays, nothing is that simple.  The route we have to take requires us to take one day to sail 40 miles ESE back to Thompson's Bay on Long Island, then another day sailing W for 24 miles to cross the Comer Channel, then head south for another 24 miles to arrive at our first Jumento - Water Cay. And would would have to follow that same route to get back at the end of the trip.

Thompsons Bay - We left Sunday morning about 11 and with NNE wind of 15 knots, enabling us to sail the entire way to Thompson's Bay. We arrived at 4:30 and Sarah suggested we head to Tiny's Hurricane Hole, a known sailor's hangout, for a drink but also to meet up with some other cruisers that might have more input for us on the Jumentos. This was spot on as we met Will and Sheri on the Contana catamaran "BillyK" who had lots of previous experience in the Jumentos and were headed there themselves. After plying them with questions it was starting to get a little dark so we headed back to Juno, deciding to spend another day and night before striking out. The next morning while getting ready for the day Sarah noticed that a man with two dogs in a dinghy was having engine problems.  Harry got in our dinghy and zipped over to tow him back to his boat.  He said he wasn't worried and had a radio to call for help, but was grateful nonetheless for a tow back to his Tayana 38 sailboat, Spirit. Having done our good deed for the day, we were prepping to head to town when another dinghy stopped by. This was Erin and Cara on an Island Packet 38, Vela. They were taking it on themselves to restart a Monday tradition in Thomnpson Bay for the cruisers to meet on the beach at 5:00 for sun-downers and to socialize. With that on our schedule for the day, we headed to Salt Pond.  This trip ashore to the settlement of Salt Pond was much more brief as it really just gave us a chance to stretch our legs and maybe pick up a couple of things at the market. Finishing that we returned to Juno to mix up our Piña Coladas, and head to Cruisers Beach. There we met sailors from 5 other sailboats. It is always interesting to hear of others trips to get ideas for future adventures. The social dimension is also welcome as much of the trip is spent with just the two of us either on Juno or off exploring an island.

Gathering on Thompson's Bay with other cruisers

Tuesday morning we were ready to head to Water Cay, the first island in the Jumentos with a good anchorage. For us we had to first transit the Comer Channel.  This is a 24 mile funnel-shaped channel with shallow (0-2 feet) sandbanks stretching 2 miles on both sides. The depths in the channel range from 12 feet down to 7 feet at low tide. There are excellent waypoints with only one course adjustment needed mid-way, so in theory very straight forward. However, with only 14 inches to spare under our keel (yes, we were going through at low tide to arrive at our destination by 5:00), and not having any idea how far to either side of the routes that there is still sufficient depth, we were extra alert when the depth gauge closed in on 7 feet in case it would go below that. The water was beautiful to either side and with a 12 knt easterly wind straight behind us, we only needed the jib rolled out to move us along. We did see the 7 foot areas but never less than that. Breathing a sigh of relief at the end of the Comer we turned to the SW for the final 24 miles to Water  Cay.

Our route through the Comer Passage

Water Cay - We arrive at Water Cay at 5PM to pull into a small fairly protected anchorage at the northern end of the cay. The only other boat at the cay was a fishing boat that was anchored about a mile to the east.  Will had warned us that the fishermen clean their catch in the shallows near this spot so there are numerous sharks attracted to boats arriving, notably one large Bull Shark. No matter, this was a sleep only stop so we could move further south to Raccoon Cay in the morning, another 40+ mile leg. The wind was still up as the sun began to set, giving us waves wrapping around the end of the cay and into the anchorage, arriving sideways to Juno, causing some uncomfortable rocking. So we rigged up swell bridle to turn the bow more into the waves slightly to reduce the rocking. The rocking wasn't gone but had reduced enough to enable us to sleep reasonably well that night.

Tomorrow, we sail past the rest of the Jumentos and onto Hog Cay in the Raggeds where we had quite a surprise upon our arrival.