Port #4 – Highborne Cay Exuma

Day 1 = Arrival at Highborne Cay – Easter Sunday, Apr 9th

Note = Many of the photos are actually videos, not sure why they are not showing “play arrows”. Click on each photo, if it’s a video, it will play.

Our trip from Nassau Bahamas to Highborne Cay Exuma was great.
The winds were below 10mph, and it was an effortless 4 hour/38 mile trip.
I was thinking during the voyage – that I could not think of any better way to spend Easter.
As Lou Gehrig said ” Today – I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth !

The arrival in Highborne Cay was exciting.
We passed about 20 boats in the anchorage outside of the marina on the way in.
Their average size was 200-300ft, a mega yacht parking lot. (sorry no photos, was busy talking to the marina).

Upon entering the marina, our first observation was – that we are maybe the oldest boat here, close to the shortest boat, and most other vessels have engines worth more than our beloved Mahi Mahi.
It reminder me of when me & Jonell were at Bahia Mar Marina in Fort Lauderdale with Gettin’ Looped”

But guess what – we are all here in the same marina, enjoying the same beautiful water, independent of wallet size.

There are only “30 Slips” in this Marina.
We were extremely lucky to get this slip for 6 nights with bad weather coming.

I called the marina about a week ago and made a 2 day reservation.
I called back about 5 days ago and extended our stay at Highborne to 6 days.
The forecast for the next week is not favorable, with more high winds & RAIN (UCK).

So our plan now is a 6 day stay, moving on to the Exuma Land & Sea Park on Saturday.
This will put us significantly behind schedule, but we don’t want to repeat the Chub Cay to Nassau ride.

You can see in the Top Line of the Windfinder Chart – that the stinkin’ Wind is starting up tomorrow (Mon) & not letting up until Saturday (Yuck).
The forecast is also showing many days of Rain (Double Yuck).
So it might be a slow week for the blog.



The good news is – Highborne Cay Marina & Resort is incredible.
I thought that the Palm Cay Marina & Resort in Nassau was great – 9 of 10 Rating.
The Highborne Cay Marina & Resort is an 11 of 10 Rating.
It is soooo beautiful – the photos don’t due it justice.
Here are some shots from our initial walk around







During our walk-around, we met a very interesting person named Christine.
Christine is from Ontario and lives right on the Welland Canal waterway.
She is working as a Stewardess on a vessel owned and operated by a Mom/Pop Canadian couple.
The SS-Bonarparte is a 1964, 82ft Berger.
The Canadian couple & Christine do about 20-30 one week cruises a year.
They keep the vessel somewhere down here in the Bahamas.
This week, they were entertaining a family of 5 people.

After our initial walk-around the Marina & Resort, we cleaned up and headed to dinner at the Zuma Restaurant.

The ambiance at Zuma was excellent, the food was great, and I enjoyed the treat of being able to watch the last 9 holes of the final round of the Masters while eating dinner.
I had maybe the best Snapper that I have ever had & Nellie had a Cornish Hen.



The day ended with a wonderful Easter treat from our 37 year old daughter Ashley.

Ashley lives in Fairfax California, but sent this beautiful memory of her & my dad coloring Easter Eggs a long time ago, when Ashley was a young child.

It was a great way to end Easter Sunday.

Day 2 = Mon Apr 10th

Well, the weather man was again – not exactly correct.
Most of the weather outlets forecasted light rain 12p-3pm & heavy rain 3-6pm.
We had some heavy rain at 7am, then a lot of clouds, some heavy & dark, but no rain as of 6pm.
It seems that the forecast changes very quickly in this area.

We hung around the boat most of the morning working on some projects & locating our upcoming anchorage at a place called Warderick Wells, in the Exuma Land & Sea Park.

By Noon the sun was breaking out, we were project free & ready for some fun.

We spent about 2 hours swimming. lounging in the water, and having drinks on the beach.
WE HAD THE BEACH ALL TO OURSELVES !

After swimming & lounging on the beach, we went for a walk to the pier located at the entrance to the harbor.

HOLY SHARK !
Evidently, they feed the sharks about 2pm every day.
We were told that when they are first fed – it is quite the frenzy.
We arrived about 2:30pm, and the Sharks were becoming very docile.

I know that I said – one of the reasons I came to the Exumas was to “Feed the Sharks”
But today, at this location – I think that I will pass !!!
Someone mentioned Bull Sharks – I will be studying intensely, the difference between the Bull & Nurse Shark.

Monday ended with another amazing dinner from Deena – Mississippi Pot Roast.
No Jerry Scheller, we did not tell Deena how to make it.
It was just a coincidence that she made the same dish, with the same recipe, that we recently came to love in Fort Myers.

Deena had pre-made & frozen 15 meals for 4 people, back when she was in Marathon Key, before we joined the Luck’s for the trip.
Thank God for that, we can’t afford frequent trips to the Zuma Restaurant $$$$.

Day 3 – Tue Apr 11th

Guess what – the weather man was Right today.
We woke up to Rain & High Winds !

It was a very low-key day, the blog post will be a bit boring today.

We spent the day ; trying to make new reservations for upcoming stops, walking around lookin’ at BIG ships, lounging on the beach again, & watching a mega yacht dock.

The morning was spent discussing the wind/wave forecast, and deciding when we would try to move to our next couples stops ; The Exuma Land & Sea Park/ Worderick Wells (est Fri/Sat) & Staniel Cay Yacht Club (est Mon/Tue).

The late morning/early afternoon was spent walking around and looking at the mega-yachts.
We have had some new additions since we arrived on Easter Sunday.

During the afternoon, we dodged the dark skies & raindrops – and salvaged a 3 hour period on the beach or under the gazebo right near the beach.
I spent about an hour by myself on the beach.




It was almost magical/or euphoric to sit there in solitude, being the only one on the beach, with the crystal clear water lapping up to my feet (honorable mention to Carla D’Arca for the memory).

About 4pm, we watched a mega-yacht enter the harbor.

Thanks to some detective work from Deena – here are the specs of the Norma Jean
Click the Link = Norma Jean
I can’t get the link to display in a new page, hit the Return button after viewing the Super-Yacht.

Our night-time activity included the Card Game Golf, that we recently learned from our friends in Fort Myers.

The rest of the week looks like more rain – “Carl, The good lord would never disrupt the greatest boating trip of my life”. (Bishop Pickering – Caddy Shack, 1980)


But we have seen the weather forecast change quickly.
And even rain days are usually not a complete washout day.
Keep the faith, we are in the Exumas !


Day 4 = Wed Apr 12th

Ok, it’s Day 4 at Highborne Cay and we are getting itchy to move !

Highborne has been a great place to hide from the very high winds (25mph).
We have been totally isolated from the East Wind in our little slip on the west side of the island behind trees & bushes.
The Mahi has barely rocked or swayed for 4 days (sooo nice).

We were supposed to stay at Highborne for 6 nights, but as I mentioned yesterday – the weather forecast seems to change daily.
Hopefully we are being blessed again, the Wind forecast now looks good for over a week, starting tomorrow.
The Rain looks better starting tomorrow, but with pop up showers – but Fri, Sat & Sun look Sunny (Yea).

Wind Forecast

Rain Forecast

So after a lot of Consternation, Talking, Planning, Replanning, calling Marinas, calling for Mooring Balls – we have developed our plan for the next week –

Thu Apr 11th – Sat Apr 13th (3 nts) = The Exuma Land & Sea Park, Emerald Rock Mooring Balls.
Sun Apr 14th (1 nt) = Compass Cay Marina
Mon Apr 15th – Fri Apr 17th (4 nts) = Staniel Cay Marina & Resort

Today is a real bonified SOAKER, raining pretty steady all day.
So this will be the end of the posting from Highborne Cay Marina & Resort.

But before we go – we have 2 bonus Video/Trivia for You ;
1. A Jerry Luck Accordion Video ( requested by Steve Lang).
2. A Boating Trivia Question.

A few days ago, one of Jerry’s friends (Steve Lang) asked if Jerry had brought his Accordion with him on the trip. We responded that due to the supplies that we needed for 4 people for a month, the Accordion did not make the trip.
WE hope that you enjoy the musical treat – this video was filmed in Key Largo in 2019.

Todays Trivia Question = Where did the term “Head” come from, that signifies the Bathroom of a Boat ?

For the answer, please pan down to the bottom of this post

Pan Down

Pan Down









Pan Down

“Head” in a nautical sense referring to the bow or fore part of a ship dates to 1485. The ship’s toilet was typically placed at the head of the ship near the base of the bowsprit, where splashing water served to naturally clean the toilet area.