The Life of Brad: March 2026 - Sailing Exumas, Bahamas - Incredible. Iguanas, Pigs, Sharks, Floatchella!

This month was all about the amazing waters of the Exuma Island Chain leaving Nassau to Highbourne Cay, Shroud Cay, Warderick Wells, Little Pipe Cay, Staniel Cay, Rudder Cut Cay, Lee Stocking Island (William's Cay) and George Town. Plus I attended Floatcella at Shroud Cay. Absolutely great sailing and scenery going down and up the Exuma chain.

Captain's Log 2026.03.01 - Anchor: Clifton Bay, Bahamas 25 01.326N 77 32.907W - 17 Nautical miles

Notes: Manual port anchor up in 10 min, waited for cruise ship "Adventures of the Sea" at West entrance to Nassau. All motor, low wind. Used Starboard windlass to drop anchor to hold then dropped port bigger manual anchor and all good.

Very nervous to move the boat solo for the first time including pulling and setting anchor.

Chau Fort Montague

Just blown away by the water, especially when it's calm.

Waited for that monster
to get in to harbour

Happy chappy celebrating with a bbq!

definitely works best on
low wind days

Goulding Cay - afternoon cruise out to try my hand at lobster hunting and anchoring a dinghy (luckily I bought the anchor)

about 2 miles out in roughish
sea with 15 kts cross wind

Anchor holding well

Checked out Jaws Beach 300 metres from the boat.

Peace

Pulled old speaker wire
That's two speakers, wtf

Tank must come out to get
at the pump

Issue with second water pump

found plastic in pump diaphragm

and here's where it came from

Stow away Kermit from
Marathon FL still here

Figured out my pressure cooker

Rented a car from Virgo for $50 for the day to go to marine shop and pick up Roger my crew for the next week. It's a good deal as a taxi from airport is $50 one way. Virgo will pick you up and drop you off for free.

Captain's Log 2026.03.07 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Highbourne, Bahamas 24 42.897N 76 49.968W - 55 Nautical miles "East Pound"

Notes: Bow line all the way back to prop and jammed up. Had to jump in with rope around waste, scary. Pounded in to a strong East wind at 16-18kts tws; lost fender off bow trampoline, then lost 3 rods from trampoline, jammed and ripped furling line, knocked out mast lights. Took on a bunch of water over the bow and in to the lockers. And water in battery compartment, how?

Bay buddies -
Flipflop Chris/Lauren
Gemini Max/Amber

Passing the island power plant

Roger ready to go

Going more South then we wanted

Trying to go East in to a heavy 18 kts East wind

Had to go into open ocean under
the boat to cut free a prop motor
that was fouled by a line from
the front of the boat.

Crap day - East Pound

Video explaining the crap day...

Sea water in the battery area

Sea water dripped through
softly closed hatch

Lost 3 of 4 poles for trampoline

Captain's Log 2026.03.08 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Shroud, Bahamas 24 32.805N 76 47.576W - 13 Nautical miles

Short jump over to Shroud from Highbourne. Discovered pin on main carr fell out which happened with a bang (turned out we broke a tension pole on 20kts tws not the pin at all).

Chau Highbourne

Roger enjoying the manual anchor lifting

Depth based water colour

Great breakfast underway

throw some rain on us too

Shroud Cay inside the Land and Sea Park
which they charge $0.50/ft...geez

Captain's Log 2026.03.09 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Warderick Wells, Bahamas 24 23.049N 76 37.814W - 17 Nautical miles

Before leaving pumped out 500 liters from the fore lockers! Used head sail and second reef on main to avoid the missing pin in lower batten carr. Some very shallow spots on the trip.

Nice to raise the waterline
up 3 or 4 inches by pumping
out 1100lbs from the bow

Quick morning snorkel at Shroud to check it out since we had a shorter day ahead.

Brought my spear for hunting
and protection

big open bay

not much to see

On to Warderick Wells...

chau Shroud Cay

A few tiny islands to avoid

lots of fancy boats

Small 95ft yacht,
$90,000 weekly charter cost

Got in the water 2nd time of the day. Trip is moving fast...

always life in these spots

some fish life, yeah

Anchor looks good.

Took a run over to Doug and Shelley's well rebuilt salvaged 1999 PDQ 36 that originally cost $12k. They took 2 years and put 60-70k in to it and now have a top end PDQ36 (diesel version).

Me, Shelley, Doug and Roger

Tidy panel

mine feels more open with
lower fridge

Really lovely mooring ball area

Sliding door, easier than mine

Not my style though as you can only come in
and out the one way and costs $40 for a ball

Captain's Log 2026.03.10 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Iguana Beach(Staniel area), Bahamas 24 08.546N 76 25.065W - 21 Nautical miles

Notes: Tablet GPS flaking out. Nice sail 8 kts on 18kts of wind. Replaced carr pin with 5/32 cotter pin to one below batten.

The Staniel area is famous for a few things, Iguana Beach, Thunderball Grotto (James Bond) and Pig Beach. Plus party nights at the Staniel Yacht Club, but this cay is probably the pricy for those reasons. I would come back later in the month to catch what I missed.

The shallow spots are breathtaking 4-5ft

Figured out magnetics in tablet
messing with compass

This looks promising

Iguana beach anchor

I oddly really loved this

Lots of personality

Thunderball Grotto like many things in the Bahamas is named after a movie that was shot there. This James Bond set was very nice and I can see why they filmed the intense underwater scuba battle here. Due to current its best to go at slack tide like many things in the Bahamas.

Captain's Log 2026.03.11 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Rudder Cut Cay, Bahamas 23 52.280N 76 14.353W - 24 Nautical miles

Notes: 6-7 kts on 17kts of wind. Port engine died, vibrating, no go...

Explaining anchoring sort of...

Little cave/cove in Rudder

Art inspiring

Love them turtles

Best snorkel so far in Bahamas

Roger!

Captain's Log 2026.03.12 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Williams Cay (Lee Stocking Island), Bahamas 23 45.580N 76 05.234W - 14 Nautical miles

Notes: Autopilot sensor was being confused by katadyne pump motor in storage box with in 1m distance due to magnetic field. Shallows near Pimblico cay down to 1.7ft from keel. Easy motor to Lee Stocking Island.

It's pretty shallow...Like 4 or 5 ft!

Snorkel earlier in the day...

People buying up islands - "Keep out"

Look at these beautiful rays

Natural camouflage

Conch

Captain's Log 2026.03.13 - Crew: Roger H - Anchor: Honeymoon Beach (George Town), Bahamas 23 31.288N 75 45.727W - 25 Nautical miles

Notes: Went through Rat Cut at 10am, no wind, easy. Buddy boat "NoMoya" lead the way. On Exuma Sound small rollers direct on bow at 8kts of wind. 30 minute squall.

Here we go

Nice day for a Cut - Rat Cut

Out in the Exuma Sound

Going need to fix that.
Broke a tension pole

Breaky at Sea

Soft sea state

little squall coming

Just about there

Deeper anchorage 15 ft or more

The supply boat "Mail boat"

All the anchor lights on masts lighting up like
a city. Blue lights and fake flames. Pretty Cool.

Little chat about George Town/Victoria Lake. Can't say George Town lived up to the hype, but maybe I'm living a different life then most cruisers.

Victoria Lake

George town a little pricier than Nassau if that is possible, haha. To be fair meat isn't that pricey, but fruit is ridiculous. Two main stores around Lake Victoria; Shop Rite the cheaper spot for the locals (which isn't much cheaper but has different cheaper versions of basic stuff like oats) and Exuma Markets right beside the dinghy dock so should of course be more expensive (pricy brand name items). Bahamas also has VAT at the cashier added to bill like USA and Canada.

beans in milk...

$10 usd for 2lbs of oats

Chocolate chips, 300 grams $8 usd cheapest

I found corn tortillas! $4usd

When you are at sea for a while everything
becomes reasonable

Thanks Alex for fixing
spliced anchor light wire

Make shift anchor light;
solar light and water proof bag
lifted each night by main line

Look at those dagger boards.
Sign of a fast boat here
in Honeymoon Beach

Big storm one of the nights

This family sailed off
without using engines
Love to see that

Repair mission for tension pole that broke with a little too much wind on too much sail - reef Brad! Good news is that could have been much worse. So I pulled the pole out of the cabin after conferring with Simon Slater the designer and owner of the PDQ company back in the 90's who explained what had happened.

Made my way 3 miles in dinghy to Brown's Marine Store (well kinda) then got out at a private residency of William and Arden and family who let me leave my dinghy at there beach front house then even gave me a ride to Omar's mechanic shop to do the stainless steel welding (or at least welding). Once at Omar's he did the work, only $70 and while he did it lent me his van to go get new bolts at Brown's Marine store. Definitely a laid back place. Omar is a nice Jamaican fellow who married a Bohemian girl 20+ years ago.

Side note: The bolts at Brown's were about the same price as USA. So I bought two, Stainless for $1 each, nice.

Easy to remove ceiling

bolt needed too

Lost after beating into 3 miles
of sea...just go to shore...

Cruising the Queen's highway with Omar's van for a km or 2.

That's at least
double the price
in USA

Omar's shop

Got it!

Parking at William and Arden's

Brown's marina access from
the water to get some gas

On the way back with the wind and waves behind me I stopped at a recent sailboat wreck to check it out. Amazing that no one cleans these up, they just sit there. This is the case around the world.

Brown's dock

Fits perfect!

It was a good day

Chat n Chill Beach and Volley Ball

able to paddle in too

Volley spot, cool posts made from sail masts. Found a few players.

The Hunt! Lead by Alex and Karly we all headed out to the Exuma Sound to find some fish and lobster. Two other killers Dustin and Mark joined as well in a posse of 4 dinghies that beat in to the South wind to get out to the hunting zone and beat back to the boats when the wind shifted to North. A good haul and wild experience to be out in the open sea checking over your shoulder for sharks as the bits of blood from the spearing mixed in to the ocean water. Total trip was around 6 miles.

Karly and Alex ready

Pick up Dustin

Traverse the shallow bank to get out to sea

The things you would never do by yourself

Back in action

Lots of "Structure" which is good for hunting

Alex is an animal! Down at 30 ft

Mark and Dustin with a lot!

Good times in George Town

Captain's Log 2026.03.23 - Buddy Boat: Fairwind (Alex P, Karly Z) - Anchor: Rudder Cut Cay, Bahamas 23 52.379N 76 14.523W - 40 NM

Notes: Fairwind an O'Day 34 going 6.5 kts and my PDQ36 only going 5.5 kts. Through Rat Cut 1 hr before high tide with no issues.

So cool to be Buddy Boating with Alex and Karly on Fairwind. I had time before heading East and really wanted to see the Exumas again which I knew I would so this trip back North was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Through Rat Cut

Back to Rudder Cut Cay

Karly and I trying to find the piano "Musician" statue. Alex was trying too, but far from us. Was a quick current so we floated with it and the dinghy. None of us found it on my second time at Rudder!

little nurse shark

Captain's Log 2026.03.24 - Buddy Boat: Fairwind - Anchor: Big Majors North (Staniel Cay), Bahamas 24 11.395N 76 27.617W - 27 NM

Notes: Head sail and main, soft sea state. Again Fairwind left me in the dust. Weird.

Up early

I'll catch up

Sapodillas kinda look like a kiwi
Definitely not good until ripe

Nice resort

Bed still wet from East Pound

Cruisers Beach is the one on the right full of
paraphrenia of cruisers over the years

Alex kicking my butt

Great dinghy bay at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

Side Story: Met Clifton at the bar who was captaining a tender for Wolf of Wallstreet Jordan Belfort's super yacht. This was the smaller of the two dinghies for the boat at 53 ft and I think worth $3 million? Main yacht is 150 ft or so.

Engines; 600 hp each

Much more fun when the sea is calm

Check out the rough sea. I turned back thinking no way my buddies went out in these conditions. But they did...they are in their late 20s, hahaha.

Thought to go hunting, but
the sea wasn't calm
out beyond the sheltered bays

Captain's Log 2026.03.26 - Buddy Boat: Fairwind, Ona (Lukas) - Anchor: Little Pipe Cay, Bahamas 24 14.109N 76 30.237W - 4 NM

Notes: 7 kts on 12 kts of wind. Tight anchorage between rocks and mega sailing catamaran ($3 MM) and deep. Anchor didn't set at first as I was in a pocket 5 ft deeper than the other boats so Simon from Ona had to ride over on the dinghy to help retrieve my manual anchor and I was able to move up and reset it.

Good bye Big Majors,
great spot

Little Pipe Cay only a short trip from Staniel

High current hunting. After everyone else headed back I stayed with my dinghy so Alex could collect the whole ocean dropping him off and picking him up after he would float and hunt for 15 min. We were out there for 2 hours extra. Had an amazing dinner with everyone that night!

Hi Karly

One shot and Karly nailed two fish

Tough to get the spear out
with all the current

Killing Alex's catch, hiya!

Captain's Log 2026.03.27 - Buddy Boat: Fairwind - Anchor: Shroud Cay (Floatcella), Bahamas 24 32.761N 76 47.546W - 28 NM

Notes: 6-7 kts on 12-15 kts of wind, smooth sail.

A little breakdown of the tight anchorage I got myself into in Little Pipe. Thanks Simon for the help.

Chau Little Pipe

Back to Shroud

A party event planned by Sun Chill and others had 10 boats rafted up in Shroud North for a awesome weekend of fun including a float down the river which I missed my first time here.

Water so clear the boat looks like its in the air

On day 2 after recovering from smoking myself out the first night it was on to the dinghy raft up then down the river. Jumped in Mitch and Avi's dinghy from Edmonton "Miocene, it's sailboat life!". Thanks Mark for getting me back to my boat the night before!

Bringing a Sun Chill float took a bit of space

Motored to the Exuma Sound

Felt like more people than the night before!

Even with all the chaos you
can still get some peace

Yet another place Jet Skiers aren't welcome

Mitch towed me back to boats
That was nuts!

Captain's Log 2026.03.29 - Buddy Boat: Mesmariah (Mark K) - Anchor: Warderick Wells, Bahamas 24 23.028N 76 37.604W - 20 NM

Notes: Good start until elbow to Warderick where wind picked up to 20 kts sailing 8 kts and Bang snapped my traveller. Even had one reef in! *Washers over time move a lot and shear bolts off.

Chau Shroud

Sailing South with Mark and company on
his boat Mesmariah

This super yacht has a full size halfcourt basketball court!

Side Story: The plan was to get back to Staniel, but the winds picked up on the Warderick corner and a traveller bolt (two actually) sheared off! It wasn't catastrophic, but knowing Mark and another great skilled buddy Harry were at Warderick I decided better to stay the night and fix the issue which took hours as one of the ends of the bolt was very stubborn. Thanks to Harry and Mark for help and perseverance.