Update

On the 22^nd of March we crossed from Rock Sound Eleuthera to Highbourne Cay in the northern Exumas. Winds were very light so we had to motor sail the entire way. We passed through Highbourne Cut headed north and dropped anchor for the night. The next day we pulled anchor and headed for Allens Cay. We stayed at Allens for a couple of days, checked out the endangered iguanas, fished and relaxed.

From there we headed south to Norman’s Cay which used to be owned by a drug lord back in the 80s.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/business/cay.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman%27s_Cay

From Norman’s we headed to Black Point on Great Guana Cay. We spent several days in Black Point and further south along the island, waiting for the winds to calm down. Then from Great Guana we headed 40 miles south to Georgetown.

Halfway between Eleuthera and the Exumas this bird showed up and took a tour of our boat:

Very nice marina on Highbourne Cay halfway through the cut:

 A couple of shots of the anchorage west of Highbourne Cay:

Dea Latis anchored off of Allens Cay:

Iguanas at Allens Cay

http://www.iguanafoundation.org/s17-115-Allens-Cay-Iguana.aspx

We were able to get a few nice lobsters while at Allens Cay:

Approaching Normans Cay:

Drug plane that crashed during the early 80s:

Parking ramp and runway built by the drug industry in the 70s and 80s:

We found the overgrown stairway to the drug lords house. It’s more of a compound than a house. The house and surrounding buildings looked like they were pretty nice 30+ years ago, now everything is vandalized. The property is so overgrown there was no way to take any decent pictures:

After rummaging around we took a ride up the east side of the island and into Normans Pond. Entrance:

We took a ride down this river in the south of the pond:

Someone placed conch shells in this cave, looked like a sharks mouth with conch shells for teeth:

We caught another barracuda…

We moved down to Black Point, this is the anchorage:

Cruiser’s happy hour:

Conch fritters and rum punch:

I went snorkeling and got some conch to put in the freezer:

Cleaning is always fun:

Beautiful shells:

Another shot of the Black Point anchorage:

We left Black Point and headed outside for Georgetown but were turned back by the weather. We turned around in eight foot waves and headed back to the west. Once back on the inside we headed south and dropped anchor for a few days. We had three beautiful beaches all to ourselves for three days.

Stingray cruising by the beach:

One of our “private” beaches:

Happy hour on the beach every night. Wine, cheese, crackers, and sunsets. We made fresh lobster and crab dip one night, mmmmm:

Crystal clear 78 degree water:

I went out looking for some edible fish but found the coral covered in lionfish:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/lionfish/

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/stories/lionfish/

http://smithsonianscience.org/2013/04/lionfish-an-invasive-species-invade-the-atlantic/

I got 17 lionfish in about a half an hour. Booooring:

So back out looking for fish and lobster. Got one lobster on the last day of the season:

And a beautiful grouper!

We spent a few days at anchor and finally got our window to Georgetown. We have been here for a few days and will catch up as soon as we can.