Exuma trip this summer?

Make sure you stop at the "Yellow Rocks" between Exuma and Nassau. Great diving that is far enough away from both islands that it doesn't get much traffic except for crossings. I have been very luck in lobster season snorkling in that area. Watch out, some of the rocks are just a few feet underwater, but it is very easy to visually navigate as the big rock are spread out and there is pure white sand between them.

Thanks for the tip. I see on my charts a region called "Yellow Bank". I assume that is the same thing?

do you have any waypoints or routes to this area?

Randy
 
Yes, that is the location right in the middle of the passage. However, I will look up to see if I have the numbers for the rocks/reefs themselves.
 
Not sure if it is taboo to post numbers on this forum, but this is already published as an obstruction on the public charts I have seen and just wanted to add it to the conversation to make sure we are all talking about the same thing.

N24 55.000 W77 05.000
 
Not sure if it is taboo to post numbers on this forum, but this is already published as an obstruction on the public charts I have seen and just wanted to add it to the conversation to make sure we are all talking about the same thing.

N24 55.000 W77 05.000

no problem posting numbers.

here is my electronic chart of the area in question. as you can see, the Yellow Bank has numerous un-exposed coral heads throughout the Bank as well as the "Middle Ground". The coordinates you gave me is shown as the small black square just NE of the words "Yellow Bank". the purple line is our preliminary route until more information is obtained.

NassautoSailRocks-1.jpg
 
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below is a satellite view of the area just NW of Sail Rocks. Sail Rocks is at the bottom right of the photo. The scale of the phot is shown in the bottom left.

As you can see, there are a number of dark spots spread throughout the picture. I believe these are coral heads that we need to be aware of.

satviewofsailrocks.jpg


I also came across this post on another forum that pertains to this area....

The Yellow Banks begin about 11-12 miles southeast of Porgee Rocks where the depths suddenly go from 20’ to 12’ at low water, and the bottom is sprinkled with dark coral heads and small patch reefs. A few of these heads have only 3’-4’ of water over them but they are easily seen and you will have plenty of room to maneuver around them. Plan to arrive on the Yellow Banks no earlier than 1100 for best visibility. Earlier than this and the sun will be low and right in your eyes and you may not see the heads until you are almost on top of them.

Heads are quite a bit more numerous on the routes from Porgee Rocks to Sail Rocks southward through Allan’s Cay. The heads are thicker and shallower the closer you get to Sail Rocks through Ship Channel Cay. The heads are clearly visible in good light and easy to steer around in 10’-15’ of water. Generally the heads on the Yellow Bank are deeper south of a line from Porgee Rocks to Allan Cays while north of that line the heads tend to be shallower. North of a line from Porgee Rocks to Ship Channel is where you’ll find the truly shallow heads, some of which lurk only a few inches below the surface.

Like xxxxx posted, deeper draft vessels can steer a course of 180° for 11 miles from a position 2 miles to the south-southeast of Porgee Rocks to cross the area where the Yellow Banks and White Banks meet. From this position you may then take up a course of 113° for approximately 21 nautical miles to Allan’s Cay. The heads here are more infrequent and generally have more water over them.

We draw 6.5' and recently did this exact trip 3 times over the last 2 months. We never saw less than 8.5' and most of the time it was 9+. I would follow the recommended explorer chart routes as they are spot on. You will need to cross the yellow banks with good visability as there are a number of coral heads that are very obvious with good visability. Most of the larger heads are charted, but you still must keep a lookout. It is an easy passage in settled weather, I would avoid it during a blow as the chop can build and reduce visability.


Randy
 
Looks like that's gonna be a tough crossing. I've been looking at those coral heads for a month now trying to figure out how I was gonna get through there.

Jack
 
Looks like that's gonna be a tough crossing. I've been looking at those coral heads for a month now trying to figure out how I was gonna get through there.

Jack

From what I understand from everything I read and all the charts I've been looking at, the area between Nassau and the Northern Exumas hold steady at a minimum depth of 9' - 12' except at the coral head locations. According to the charts and the sat photo, the coral heads are far enough apart that in good conditions, can be dodged.

When you look at the sat photo and look at the scale of the photo, you can see there is plenty of room to go around the coral heads. I think the key here is good conditions for the trip.

Mike has a friend who spent time at Sail Rocks and should be able to help us get there safely. Hopefully, we'll get some good info and be able navigate the way with no issues.

Randy
 
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...The coordinates you gave me is shown as the small black square just NE of the words "Yellow Bank"...


Well I can tell you two things:

1. That little black square and the area around it produced enough lobster for 8 people to have lunch and a really good curry lobster dip for pre-dinner that day. Needed to put some on the grill and some in the oven to get them all cooked at the same time for the big lunch. Caught all lobster free diving with a Hawaiian sling and spear per Bahamian law.

2. We crossed it in the middle of the day in a 40' sailing cat with a 20' beam and hand no issues navigating by sight around the rocks with a spotter on the bow with a hand held radio back to the helm.

The photo below is another lobster dinner we had on that trip in Little Harbor in the Barry Islands near the famous "Flows" restaurant. Just to get you more excited for your trip.
 

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Ok I'll start. I'm leaving the 3rd from Hillsboro inlet at 6 or 7 am with an ETA of 4 at Atlantis. It will be Marcia, Sarah, Sean and myself. We are staying at Atlantis. My intentions are to leave Atlantis the 5th and follow what itinerary Odyssey has.
We will be back on the East coast by the 11th or 12th.

Jack
 
We are planning to leave Friday, July 2nd. Our boat will have Anya, Nick (who just turned 16 yesterday!!) and myself. Our plan is to spend Friday night at Cat Cay or on the hook behind the Cat/Gun Cay cut. There is a possibility we will leave Thursday and spend two nights there, but most likely, we'll leave Friday. We plan to spend as little time as possible in Nassau and as much as possible in the Exumas from the time we leave Cat Cay until the following Saturday. We would like to be back to Nassau on Saturday July 10th and spend 2-3 nights there, then motor home on Monday or Tuesday, possible spending a night along the way or stopping at Bimini Bay for a night or two.
 
We will have Ken, Chris, Heather, and Caitlyn with us. We are planning to leave Cape Coral AM the 1st to Marina Del Mar, Cat Cay the 2nd, Atlantis the 3rd and 4th, Waderick Wells the 5th & 6th, Compass the 7th and 8th, Atlantis or someplace cheap the 9th, Bimini the 10th (and possibly the 11th) Marina Del Mar the 11th (or 12th), and then back up to Cape Coral.

This is going to be a blast!

Ken
 
Ken,

While we can't make this trip <living vicariously by reading the posts>, we will be at Marina Del for most of July. Maybe we'll get the chance to Hi

Thanks
Larry
 
Ken,

While we can't make this trip <living vicariously by reading the posts>, we will be at Marina Del for most of July. Maybe we'll get the chance to Hi

Thanks
Larry

We will be there July 1 and leaving for Cat Cay July 2.

Ken
 
Leaving Baker's Haulover with nephews Jason & Ryan on July 3 to Nassau. Stopping in Bimini first.
 
By the sounds of it we will all be at Atlantis the 4th. I think that would be a good time to do a Captains meeting. We can go over final areas we all want to visit and coordinate them.
I will be talking with About time and Missnmountains Wednesday to see if I can catch up at Cat and run over with them.
Anyway we are almost there time wise and I personally can't wait.
One suggestion if you have not already done so is check out your Dincs. They are a neccessity where we are going.
Any one have a NM distance from Nassau to Sampson? My stuffs all at the boat in Lighthouse point.
See you all soon.

Jack
 
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By the sounds of it we will all be at Atlantis the 4th. I think that would be a good time to do a Captains meeting. We can go over final areas we all want to visit and coordinate them.
I will be talking with About time and Missnmountains Wednesday to see if I can catch up at Cat and run over with them.
Anyway we are almost there time wise and I personally can't wait.
One suggestion if you have not already done so is check out your Dincs. They are a neccessity where we are going.
Any one have a NM distance from Nassau to Sampson? My stuffs all at the boat in Lighthouse point.
See you all soon.

Jack

Jack, We are ready!! The weather looks so so on Thursday, but doable for our trip around to key largo. It looks perfect for the trip across to Cat.

I have a buddy that just got back from two weeks of (don't say it).. sailing the exumas. I got quite a bit of intel. The thing he said that concerned me was that the currents can get very strong. His 15hp dink had a hard time going against them. Our dink may be an issue as it is only has a 4HP. I bet yours will not be an issue.

Basically he said motor the boat as close to where you want to dink and anchor. And use the current charts to plan slack.

LET GO TO THE EXUMAS!!!

Ken
 

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