Bahamas Day 9

No Name Cay

After four wonderful nights at Powell Cay, we hauled up the anchor on Saturday, February 8, taking advantage of the light winds to practice sailing off anchor. 

What does this mean exactly? During our normal anchoring procedure, Lucas is at the helm with the engine on and I’m on the bow running the windlass. The windlass is the motor that pulls the anchor chain back onto the boat. I slowly bring up the chain, while spraying it down with fresh water, as Lucas with Pierre’s help steers Alaya in the direction I need to bring the chain up correctly. 

It is possible, although we don’t do it often, to do this technique without the engine running, to “sail off” anchor. In this scenario, you raise the mainsail while the boat is still anchored. Then, using the windlass, pull in the chain as the mainsail helps keep the boat pointed close to the direction of the wind. Once the anchor is fully hoisted, you turn the tiller and the mainsail slowly fills with wind and you sail away. Easy, peasy, sure…

It actually was easy that morning in Powell Cay. There is something very peaceful about leaving a beautiful anchorage without the dulcet tones of Pierre in the background. 

Lucas turned us towards our next destination – No Name Cay. Despite its name, there is a lot going on at No Name Cay, well, two things going on…

1. A common stopping point before crossing the Whale.
2. Pigs. Pigs on the beach in front of a bar to be specific. 

First, let’s talk about the Whale. The Abacos, where we spent all our time this winter, are a series of small islands in the northern Bahamas. All of these islands are located on the Little Bahama Bank. The bank is a magical place that I have raved about in previous posts. It is 10 – 15 feet deep for miles and has very few hazards to navigation. The northern edge of the bank is protected by reefs, which prevents the ocean’s swell from entering the bank. The southern end is Grand Bahama Island, which again keeps the ocean swell out. In nearly all of our island hopping, we can stay within these protected bank waters. The one exception is “The Whale,” a cut between No Name Cay and Whale Cay that is completely exposed to the open ocean. The trip between islands is not long, only eight miles or so of sketchy areas but if the weather is wrong, it can be very treacherous. All of our friends and cruising guides were very clear about the risks. 

The Whale divides the more remote western islands of the Abacos (Manjack, Powell, Green Turtle, etc.) from the more populated eastern islands. So far, we have spent all of our time on the western side of the Whale. That Saturday, we decided it was almost time to cross the Whale.

Now let’s talk about the pigs. I’m not sure why or how, but swimming pigs are an icon of the Bahamas. There are a few places to see various groups of pigs, it seems every region of the Bahamas has at least one spot. In the Abacos, No Name Cay is the place. There is a small beach bar on the otherwise uninhabited island that hosts a herd of beach pigs. Feeling like we couldn’t pass up this hokey tradition, we sailed the fourteen miles from Powell Cay to No Name Cay. 

On our way, we noticed a familiar-looking boat and realized it was our friends Bob and Maureen on SV Hannah. We hailed them on VHF and discovered they were also heading to No Name Cay. Talk about small town sailing stuff. We made arrangements to meet at the bar after getting settled. 

Lucas found us another good spot to lay anchor. I launched our anchor in the crystal clear waters and watched it set. We were so close to the beach that we could see the pigs! After a quick lunch on board, we headed out in Margaret.

The pigs, while gimmicky, were really fun! They didn’t seem bothered by people at all, we pet them as they nosed around for snacks in the sand. There were a couple standing in the water but we didn’t see any actually swim. They mostly seemed to go into the water to use it as a toilet. How civilized.

After spending some time with the pigs, we were very thirsty, so we walked up to the bar where we joined Bob and Maureen for some fruity cocktails and beer. I first met Bob and Maureen in the laundry room in Norfolk, VA in November 2023. And now we were drinking together surrounded by beach pigs. What a life.

Happy with how our afternoon had turned out, we pet the pigs one more time before heading back to Alaya. We had a few hours before sunset and decided the water was too enticing. We jumped in off Alaya and practiced a few more halyard jumps. We are really getting used to this Bahamas life. 

We went to bed early that night, excited and nervous to transit the Whale in the morning.