With the 35 knot winds finally abated we headed east to the Exuma group, along with another dozen or so boats who had all obviously been waiting for the weather to clear.

Rainbow over cruise liners in Nassau Harbour the day we departed – thanks for the photo Jessica (Last Waltz)

It was nice to be crossing the sea within sight of other sailing vessels.

Perfect weather for a 5 hour sail

Most of our previous trips to date had very few other boats moving at the same time. With the 35 knot winds that had kept us harbour bound finally abated we headed east to the Exuma group, along with another dozen or so boats who had all obviously been waiting for the weather to clear. Sailing was perfect, and before we knew it (well, after about 5 hours which is a short trip when sailing) we were setting anchor at the amazingly beautiful Highborne Cay, just in time for an afternoon snorkel on the nearby reef.

There is a lot to do around Highborne Cay. In addition to snorkelling, on a nearby island a dinghy ride away a colony of iguana’s lazed about the beach.  We spent a great afternoon there with the crew from Last Waltz (Jess, Jessica and 9 year old twins – Isabella and Emeret) who we had met on our second day here.

It was so much fun for the kids to be able to spend time with other kids. We also shared a couple of meals, movies and a few to many rums!

At the Highbourne Cay marina, we found a pack of sharks hanging off the dock waiting for fish to be cleaned. Interestingly, they gathered less than 30 metres from the swimming beach where people were swimming, stand-up paddle-boarding and kayaking!  .

Always beholden to the weather we knew it was time to move on when the weather changed and we spent a very rocky night after what had been mirror flat conditions for our first couple of days. Next stop was Shroud Cay for the night.  It was a slow trip into the wind, motoring all the way, so once we arrived we hit the nearby beach for some water football.

We also attempted to explore a narrow creek leading to the Atlantic side of the island, however a couple of wild dogs barking madly at us from a very close shore put an end to that adventure!