Feb 16-19, 2023 Lee Stocking Island to Rat Cay to Little Farmers Cay

It's pretty easy to get really lazy at Lee Stocking. We spent 6 nights at Lee Stocking just chilling. We think it was 6 nights, but in truth we lost track.   For two days now we've been saying we'll move on the next morning, but I guess we listened to the siren song and....didn't.   The cove is sheltered enough that the waves gently rock you, enticing you to nap. The island itself has the road system & paths left over from the research station days, leading through the brush to discover the ruins of a once grand house, or, as we visited this morning, a beautiful wild oceanfront beach. Waves were rolling onto the dunes in big turquoise curls occasionally crashing with a roar.  Sam got to run free, sniff everything, and try to catch the small lizards that are everywhere.  Even though they got away every time she still walked away with a happy smile and wagging tail. It's the spirit of the chase that matters.

There was laundry done by hand and hung across the boat to dry. Some great meals. Mostly just daily life on the boat. Four other boats spent the same days doing the same things in the same place. 

But we did finally pull up our anchor and sail about 5 miles south to Rat Cay, another  lovely leeward beach around the corner from Exuma Sound.  We watched dozens of sail & motor yachts beating into the waves on the Sound, trying to get to Georgetown on the first reasonable wind to do so in many days.  It's nice to be anchored and know that we don't have to join them working so hard to get somewhere.

When we arrived at Rat Cay we were the only ones here, but through the afternoon five other boats joined us. On the beach we met a lovely young couple from Quebec, Ann, Raman, and  and their 14 month old son Milo, who was delighted to have a dog to pet for a while. Sam and Milo ran and played till both were exhausted.  Lois went into full grandma mode and enjoyed playing with Milo in the sand.  Later they kindly brought by a fish for our dinner that had been speared by Raman about 200 yards from the boat, fresh as fresh can be. Coincidentally the Washington Post had a recipe that was a good fit, so we tried it, and it got 4 stars on the Brent scale.

Batch number two of stove top cinnamon rolls comes together nicely here.

Rat Cay is a 10 out of 10 beach and very fine snorkeling, but also a bit exposed to the swells coming off the deep.   As night falls and the tide rises we hear the ocean waves breaking over the nearby rocks. Second Star is gently rolling on the ocean swell that makes it through the shallow reef.  Later in the night the wind changed direction and gave us another roller coaster sleep.

Early the next morning we pulled anchor and headed out across the shallow Exuma Bank.  After a bit of pondering the destination is set as Little Farmers Cay which lays generally north, a straight line distance of about 20 miles. 

 A reasonable mariner has a choice of a deep water route or a more shallow bank side route, both of which travel  more or less direct to Little Farmers Cay.  Second Star takes neither of those, instead opting to meander across the shallow waters in the lee of Lee Stocking Island, taking a narrow pass through the Brigantine Islands and onto  the very shallow far side has of the Exuma Bank. 

As the Brigantine chain fades behind us there is no land in site for miles. To the east lay the islands of the Exumas, through which we have recently traveled, but they are far enough away to be beyond the horizon. To the west is literally 100 miles of uncharted shifting sand bar.   Beyond the sand bar are the deep waters where the Gulf Stream flows, and a bit further southern Florida, or possibly Cuba depending on the slight variations in heading.

We are moving north by northwest with the wind over our shoulder.  Very pleasant sailing.  Here, far from the normal paths that most boats use to shuffle through the Exumas, we are completely alone.  We will not see another boat or signs of human habitation for the duration of our path on this side of the bank.  The water here is shallow. Our charts have limited cartographic information, with large sections marked to indicate no reliable depth information available.  We will be watching our depth sounder closely.  

 The lower left number on the gauge above the compass is the depth.  The 6.5 feet shown is actually quite comfortable as the bottom is mostly sand with only occasional rocks.  Some are of the rocks are actually turtles, but most are rocks.  We want to avoid rocks.  Some places are more shallow, and some places have more rocks, so we will keep a constant watch and steer away from trouble.  

After miles of solitude we turn to the east and gradually Little Farmers Cay appears.  We we get closer we count sail boat masts.  It appears a number of boats have gathered here.  Second Star drops anchor in about 4 feet of water confident that anchoring shallow will keep other boats from crowding the spot we have staked out.  

Ty’s Beach Bar is the close by and there will be steady but light traffic, mostly dinghies, coming in to water.  We too stop for a sip on the deck at Ty’s.