Ragged Island Chain

Tags: Bahamas, Flamingo Cay, Ragged Islands, sailing, Water Cay

Date: April 9, 2018

After leaving Green Cay we went back to Georgetown in the Exumas to provision before heading out to the Jumentos a.k.a. the Ragged Island Chain. Once again it is a place where not many sailboats go and only about 70 people live on the islands, almost all of them in the southernmost large island, Ragged Island. We stayed at two islands in the northern part of the chain. The first was Water Cay where we spent six fantastic days diving and snorkeling (our next post will include pictures taken under water). However, we also found time to go for a short hike on Water Cay landing the dinghy on a small beach:

Here is Félicie making her way over a particularly rocky part of the island to get to the windward side of it:

The lizards on Water Cay also have curly tails:

We left Water Cay to sail the ten nautical miles further South to Flamingo Cay and decided to do a little fishing on the way. We had a large barracuda bite but as we were pulling it in a shark came by and took a bite. This is what was left of the fish when we finally got it pulled in:

Basically, everything behind the pectoral fins is missing, so about 60 % was eaten:

This is what the deck looked like after we managed to get the hook out of the barracuda - all that cleaning but no dinner:

At Flamingo Cay there is a small sea cave that has an entrance large enough to enter with the dinghy:

The cave also has a skylight and a shore side entrance:

Inside the cave looking towards the sea side entrance:

Flamingo Cay has several hiking trails which is quite unusual for a small Bahamian island. The following pictures show the views from the highest point of Flamingo Cay:

First towards the south:

Then towards the north:

Finally Amanda and the dinghy in the distance on the Western side:

On the Northern part of Flamingo Cay we found several small salt water ponds full of red shrimp swimming around:

Félicie beachcombing on Flamingo Cay:

Salt deposits from evaporated sea water in a hole in the rocks: