Idyllic Islands - April 7th & 8th

Double Breasted is a group of small cays, totally uninhabited, with beautiful white sand beaches and gorgeous blue water. Our choice of anchorage is a small slough which can only be navigated on a rising tide with good visibility, as the controlling depth is about five feet. We draw 4.6 feet!Just to make matters interesting, there's a really strong current that flows through the cut where the Bahama Bank and the Atlantic meet. So we wanted to wait for slack water. We arrived about 40 minutes ahead of low tide. The seas were choppy and confused with southerly waves left over against a west wind. We thought we might set an anchor to wait for slack water, but with the bottom washed clean by the current it was a no go.

"Well, let's just go for it!" Peter finally said, and my adrenalin level spiraled up a few notches. It's not that our lives were in peril, but the narrow channel passes over several shallow bars and runs at places about six feet away from the rocky shore and I was the one who would be standing on the foredeck calling out the shallow spots.

As I directed Peter from the bow where I could clearly see the bottom, I remembered our last visit here when we were greeted by a rather close brush with a waterspout. The rocky coral outcroppings to our port seemed menacingly close. But it immediately became obvious that we had enough water under our keel and that all was well. We could clearly see the bottom and we had no trouble finding our way through the maze of shoals.

Once inside, the anchorage offered us full protection and peaceful isolation. Only two other boats were in the entire area and none in our anchorage. We carefully placed our anchors up and down current in anticipation of a wind shift. We knew to make sure they were well set because on our previous visit here with cruising friends several years ago, we awoke to discover their boat nestled among the rocky outcroppings on the lee shore. We had spent the better part of a day kedging them off!

The setting sun, limned the coral and mangroves with golden glow. Nearby a lone cattle egret in full breeding feather seemed out of place among the rocks and mangrove roots. He stayed nearly immobile on his branch since we first arrived as if awaiting the arrival of a his bride-to-be or perhaps guarding a nest.

The wind died as the sun settled behind the narrow island. Millions of stars pierced the velvet sky that night, and it seemed as if our little boat was a world unto itself.

We spent the following day bird watching, exploring the beaches and puttering with the dinghy through the several channels that run among the small cays. In our opinion this is one of the most beautiful spots in the Abacos.

After a second peaceful night, we got up early so we could catch the tide on the way out. How much easier it was to exit following the magenta line of a GPS track we had created on the chart plotter on our way in! A short motor sail brought us to our next destination, Grand Cays.