Chub Cay is a private island at the south end of the Berry Islands. It has an expansive and stunning resort and marina complete with a white sand beach and impeccably maintained palm trees. If you’re dreaming of an island getaway – Chub Cay is it. Given that we stayed on the hook rather than at the marina, and spent a large portion of our time trying to fix our water maker – it was less luxurious, but still nice.
Getting to Chub Cay
This is definitely the hardest step for most people who are looking to relax on this paradise island. Lucky us – we have a boat. We set off motoring from our little anchorage at Hoffman’s Cay at high tide to make the passage through the shallows back to the Atlantic slightly less adventurous. Everything was pretty smooth except for the small inlet where our map on our chart plotter showed only 2-3 feet of water (not okay). I thought for sure I had charted an acceptable (read most likely passable) route, that definitely did not include 2 feet of water. I check the app on my phone – which is using the same software as our chart plotter and not that it shows the same area being no less than 7 feet. Interesting.
After a bit of stalling, we decide to gingerly approach putting our trust in the phone app. Actually though, we didn’t have another option without going much further around and we were so low on fuel that we were going to be running fumes. Large swells of 6+ feet were coming in through the inlet which added to the excitement. If the water was really shallow, it’s likely at the bottom of a wave we could hit bottom. On the plus side, the next big wave would likely lift us up and allow us to quickly back off into deeper water again, at which point we’d be able to turn around. There’s a lot of give and take in boating.
Fortunately, we never saw water less than 6 feet deep and we made it through the inlet unscathed. Once we were on the outside (e.g. back in the Atlantic), the waves continued to be pretty rough on us. We were moving so much, that the starboard engine was having trouble getting enough fuel intake as the small amount of fuel that was left in the tank was splashing around so much. We turn off the starboard engine, “unfurl” our jib and continue motor-sailing with just our port engine on. This works quite well, as often times with a catamaran you don’t gain much speed using two engines versus just one (though steering can be more difficult).
Tangent: The jib is the forward sail and when I say that we “unfurl” it, I basically mean that we unroll it. Like many sailing vessels, we have a jib furler which is the long pole running from the front of the boat up to the top of the mast creating a triangle. This is essentially a giant roller that we can use to roll our sail out and away, which is much easier than having to raise and lower it. It reminds me of an old school projector screen or a roll-out awning over a porch. In contrast, our main sail must be raised and lowered, such that when it’s lowered, it keeps folding over onto itself into a sail bag which holds it. This is a similar method as traditional window shade blinds that you pull up and down with a string.
Once we got past those couple hiccups, it was another uneventful sail. Monster and I mostly manned the helm while Matt kept himself busy. It was a pretty relaxing trip.
Maker’s Air for the save
For those who do not have a boat to travel to Chub Cay with – you’re in luck, there’s an airport. It’s a very small airport, but small jets do fly in from places like Fort Lauderdale, FL on airlines such as Maker’s Air. In fact, I think my new favorite airline might just be Maker’s Air (sorry Southwest!). Besides just human passengers, Maker’s Air will also allow for packages to be flown on their flights.
We were looking to get a new part shipped somewhere for our broken water maker (another post on that shortly), and it could be delivered right here! In less than 48 hours and for a total fee of $75 ($25 for someone to take the package to the airport and $50 to have it flown here), we had received our needed part. That’s pretty incredible to get something delivered to a remote Bahamian island in less time than it normally takes Amazon to deliver something in the same state.
Unfortunately for us, even with that new part installed our water maker is still not working. Alas, a story for another time.
Sneaking onto the resort property
Word on the island is that approximately two days before we arrived, the resort decided to change its policy about welcoming visitors who are anchored nearby. Well technically, it sounds like said policy has changed a lot. A year ago, anyone was welcome to come ashore if they were patronizing the resort – buying a beer at the bar, shopping at the ship store, etc. Then early 2019, the policy was that you had to purchase an access card (minimum $100), but then that gave you $100 credit to use at the bar, restaurant or store. Right before we arrived, the policy was no one is allowed unless you’re paying to stay at the resort/marina. We would have loved to pay to stay at the marina, but at $5 a foot (plus $60 electric and $0.54 per gallon of water), it just didn’t make sense. They actually had hotel rooms cheaper than what we would have to pay to stay on our own boat – silly. But, I digress.
To add insult to injury, I actually saw a formal – typed hanging on the dock office wall – policy that described the $100 access card. They promptly tore that down in front of us, with a quick apology and smile. We were disappointed, but hey if they don’t want our money, we’re happy to keep it. We get back on our boat after filling up with much needed fuel and water and head over to our (free) anchorage in front of the resort.
The next day, though, we were back at the resort. Another part broke as we were trying to install our new part on the water maker – so typical. We head back over to see if we can take a peek at the marina store in a long shot that they might have a replacement. They don’t, but a kind soul on a large motor yacht does and helps us out – unbelievable! We stroll around the resort for a bit, just checking things out, and note that no one bothers us or asks any questions. So we decide to head back in later that night for dinner at the restaurant! It was delicious and nice to not have to cook for a change. Matt tried conch fritters – a local specialty, and I got the cheeseburger. Some things never change. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to enjoy the large pool overlooking the ocean, but that’s okay.
