The area round Marsh Harbour, on the far side of the Whale Cut, is a lot more developed (if “developed is the right word in this context). There are a lot more cruisers hanging out in Great Guana, Man ‘O War, Elbow, and Lubber’s Cays, and in the small anchorages heading down to Little Harbour and the cut that takes you out and down to Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, and points south.
We left Marsh after a few days – the blow having blown – and headed for Great Guana Cay, which sports a lovely reef system, a cutesy village and a decent grill.
The harbor there was problematic, though. Winds were forecast out of the southwest, which meant that they’d be aiming right into the teeny little bay, and if they really kicked up we’d be on a lee shore with no protection to speak of. We thought we might pick up a mooring ball, but when we edged into the harbor we saw that the only one we felt comfortable with (because the bay is only about six feet deep in most places) had a fellow anchored right over the top of it. We grumbled a little and headed back out of the bay, checking the charts for anywhere that might give us protection from the southwest.
We found it in the lee of a tiny island called “Spoil Cay,” a few miles north of the Great Guana harbor. The bottom was grassy but our anchor set well. We dinghy’d over to the beach to take a look.
Spoil was evidently created a few decades ago when a cruise line tried to set up a base on Guana Cay. They dredged heavily from the Whale Cut south, and piled the dredgings in one spot off to the side. That spot is now Spoil Cay. It’s a nice little boomerang shaped Cay, not more than a half mile or so end to end.
It’s a lovely little island. No buildings or permanent structures of any kind at all, obviously, but some folks have left a picnic bench or two, and made some pyramid-shaped lean-to’s that look like those weird things in the Matthew McConaughey series True Detective. Definitely gives the isolated island feel. Lovely views of the area around Whale Cut, too. Nice spot, but not a lot to do. We spent a couple of days before heading back to try Great Guana again.
Sailing Perseverance 