It’s a cruiser’s nightmare, trying to beat the weather to catch a flight or pick up visitor’s at the airport. And in the Exumas this is a real problem that many people face.
If you are cruising the Exumas, you probably know that most of the islands are accessible from the Banks side, protected by the easterly Tradewinds. Until of course you get to Rat Cay Cut. Rat Cay is about as far south as you can get on a sailboat that draws 3 1/2 feet or more, without the astounding headache of navigating poorly charted shallow waters approaching high tide without running aground.
From Rat Cay Cut its about 17 nautical miles from Georgetown, Exuma on the Sound side. You will enter Georgetown through Conch Cay Cut which is wide so you don’t have to worry about getting pushed into any rocks if the tides and currents aren’t in your favor. Rat Cay Cut on the other hand is narrow and north facing. The benefit of it being north facing, is that during the prevailing easterly winds, the north facing inlet offers you a little buffer against those waves that stack up during the easterly trade winds. When the winds really stack up in cuts like Rudder and Adderly farther north of Rat Cay, a “rage” can occur. Nothing big enough to tip your boat, but the force of those stacked waves can overpower your boat and push you into the rocks. In some cases the weather just won’t let you leave. But if you have a plane to catch, a family emergency, an injury, or just need to pick up some friends visiting, then you have to get to the airport, weather be damned! Here I will share with you an escape plan in bad weather:
Barraterre
Across from Lee Stocking Island, a beautiful anchorage south of Rat Cay Cut, are the Brigantines. Another lovely destination in itself, but very shallow and only navigable approaching high tide. (I say approaching high tide because you definitely don’t want to run aground at high tide. Then you will be waiting 12 hours to bump off. But if you run aground approaching high tide, you can simply wait a few minutes and float off.
From the Brigantines you can sail to Barraterre, and rent a car right on the dock there, and get to the airport about 20 minutes away. If the weather is really bad, there are a few water taxis that will pick you up at your anchorage as far as Lee Stocking or the Brigantines, and possibly further, and take you to Barraterre.
I believe Elvis Water Taxi and A1 Water Taxi both offer this service, and if you get on channel 16 in your anchorage, I know you can find others.
Check out our off the beaten path cruising itinerary for the Exuma Islands!
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