On Friday, April 8, winds were southerly and light to moderate enabling an overnight anchorage at Tropic of Cancer beach on Little Exuma, about 6 miles SE of George Town. This beach had been a favorite of ours from our last trip and can really be visited only when winds are southerly and light as it is exposed in all other directions. While there was noticeably more development on shore, we were the only boat in the anchorage. Crystal clear water, a cave to snorkel and explore, and a long stretch of beach didn’t disappoint. We were treated to a close up view of a mother dolphin and calf swimming around Juno as the winds died down around 6 pm. At night we heard pigeons cooing on the nearby cay and could see the mast head lights of the 150 or so boats anchored to the north of us in George Town, about 6 miles to our north.
As a front was arriving mid-day Saturday April 9th bringing a change in wind direction (moving NW to N to NE), we decided to return to Georgetown/Stocking Island and Sand Dollar Beach for better protection. We started out from Tropic of Cancer beach with a SE wind and sailed nearly the entire way back to George Town until we spotted a heavy rain cloud coming our way. We quickly doused the sails, and motored west thereby missing the worst of the rain which arrived with the NW winds around 11:00 am. The rain only lasted 15 minutes which was one of the longest showers we have experienced while in the Bahamas, and is always a welcomed event as it helps wash the salt off the boat. We found plenty of room to anchor under the protection of Sand Dollar beach and dropped the hook by noon. After lunch, we went ashore for a short hike on Stocking Island selecting silver palm fronds to be plaited into baskets, and passed through two quiet beachfront resorts- Kahari and the Peace and Plenty- that occasionally host special events for the cruising community, had a quick swim at Sand Dollar beach (but no sand dollars were found), and then back to Juno for dinner and travel planning for the coming weeks.
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