Wednesday May 11: Great Sale Cay

     Wednesday morning we headed over to Great Sale Cay.   This is a small, uninhabited island whose main claim to fame is that it’s a stopover for cruisers coming and going to the Bahamas.   We planned to use this place as our jumping off spot to cross to the US tomorrow evening.  It’s a little over 23 nautical miles from Foxtown, about 45 nautical miles from West End, a popular check-in destination on Grand Bahama Island.  We arrived mid-afternoon to a large, wide harbor with one other boat anchored.  We chose a spot on the other side of the harbor.  Dan had spotted something ashore he wanted to check out.  He donned his skin diving gear and set off, and I opted for a half-hour’s worth of laps around the boat.  The water was murky here - the guide book calls it “fish mud”.  This is bonefish territory.  Bonefish like to burrow, and they tend to stir up the bottom.  After all these weeks of very clear water, it was odd to not be able to see the anchor chain, let alone the bottom.   Dan found a nice piece of driftwood, and we both had a good swim.  In the meantime, four more vessels pulled into Great Sale and anchored near the other boat.

Great Sale Cay

     After quick showers from the sun-shower bags, we weighed anchor and motored across to join the fleet.  Dan jumped into the dinghy and went from boat to boat to do a little meet ’n’ greet and see what other people’s plans were.  Three of them were also crossing to the US, and though one of them was also going to Fort Pierce, none of us were planning the same route, nor were any of us leaving on the same day.  The other two vessels had just arrived and were heading further East in the morning to begin their Bahamas adventure.  Lucky them!

     It’s hard to believe this leg of our cruising year is almost over.  We have enjoyed the Bahamas so much!  We shared a small bottle of champagne as we watched the sun go down.  

Sunset, Great Sale Cay