Devils Cay

[CaptsWife]

Just an FYI. We were travelling south from Great Harbour Cay on the east side heading towards Chub Cay. Winds were good....good sailing although the waves were a bit bigger than forecasted. No big deal. We decided we would cut in at the north end of Devils Cay and anchor for a couple of days as the winds the next day were supposed to be at less than 5 knots (Friday, 2/02/18). Cool. We can explore via dinghy. And swim and fish and do all the fun stuff we're supposed to do as cruisers.

Waterway guide showed 18' - 24' of water getting into the cut. Our Garmin Bluechart showed 11' at mean low tide. We were at low tide, but everything we read said there was plenty of water. I did see waves crashing across the entire cut and said something to the Captain, but we thought it was just the way the water was converging into and behind the Cays. So we went in. And then we hit bottom. Rocks. All rocks. It was ugly. We eventually got through due to waves eventually pushing us, but.........those waves should have been a warning.

The next morning, before high tide, the Captain went out in the dinghy to look at the cut. Did we miss a deeper, narrow channel? No. There were rocks across the entire cut. And rocks don't fill in that quickly from a hurricane or two. How can the guides and charts be SO wrong? And how am I ever going to feel comfortable trusting them again?

If anyone wants to read the full account and you are on FB, look up our boat page as it is public. S/V Endurance.

I've really lost a lot of confidence in navigational aids.

[skipmac]

Where exactly did you hit bottom? I checked my charts, GPS, a couple of guide books and google satellite view. All show the cut between Devil's Cay and White Cay to be clear.

When you first passed the north end of Devil's Cay which way did you turn, north or south? Did you hit after you passed the north end of Devil's or due north of the Cay?

[skipmac]

If it works, I made a screen shot of the cut at the north end of Devil's Cay. From the satellite view it looks like the first section of the cut is deep water.

[CaptsWife]

We hit getting INTO the cut. If you go to our DeLorme tracking, you will see where we hit bottom. I think it is at 2:35 and 2:45. Go to https://share.garmin.com/JamesPlantz

We also hit bottom in sand after we got in, turning to port, but I'm not really concerned about that. It's the cut itself. The charts, the guidebook, said there was plenty of water when there was NOT. Not anywhere. At least not the depths that they were saying.

[skipmac]

From your track it seems clear that as you passed the north end of Devil's Cay you turned left.

You can see on your track on Delorme and the satellite image I posted that there is a brown line of shallow rock going northwest from the end of Devil's Cay all the way across to Saddle Back Cay, the area I think you are calling the cut and where you hit at 2:45 All my charts and guidebooks show shallow water exactly where you hit.

I think what happened is you mistook the gap between Devil's Cay and Saddleback Cay as the cut but the cut is the wider gap between Devil's Cay and White Cay to the north before you reached the place you hit ground. Instead of turning left into the area you saw breakers and hit bottom you should have turned right to the anchorage which is behind White Cay. The channel would have lead you to approximately 25 37N 77 44 W

[Pitchondesign]

I just checked your track. It shows you going into devil's Cay cut. The c map charts shows 7 feet at high tide with no swell. Active Capitan recommends avoiding this cut when there is any swell running and less than high tide. The preferred anchorage is between Saddleback and Fowl Cays.

[skipmac]

Here's a shot of the area with the Cays labeled and the course indicated in my guide books to the anchorage.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Pitchondesign

I just checked your track. It shows you going into devil's Cay cut. The c map charts shows 7 feet at high tide with no swell. Active Capitan recommends avoiding this cut when there is any swell running and less than high tide. The preferred anchorage is between Saddleback and Fowl Cays.

The track shows entering Devil's Cay cut but then turning left passing south of Saddleback. Fowl Cay and the anchorage are north of Saddleback.

I think they mistook the gap between Devil's and Saddleback as the cut when the actual cut they had already passed. Easy to do. I've mistaken one gap between islands for another myself more than once, fortunately without hitting bottom.

Bottom line, best navigation in the Bahamas is by eye. Always trust your eye before a chart. If you see breakers, brown or very light blue then it's probably shallow and don't go there until you have investigated more closely.

[brownoarsman]

I'm sorry you went through that experience. The anchorage behind Saddle Back Cay was my favorite in the entire Bahamas, it's gorgeous and the trip to the Blue Hole next door is a nice dinghy diversion.

As skipmac says, there are a lot of islands and small outcroppings in that particular spot, so easy to mistake the cut. Even so, the actual cut is lined on both sides by rocks as well (as I remember), so being a little bit off one way or the other could definitely cause this. If waves were breaking too, that could compound everything with the troughs being below MLLW.

[puffcard]

The main cut between White Cay and Devil Cay is deep, maybe 20ft. The second cut to the left is bad, 5ft low tide. Best come in between White and Devil turn right and go in top of Saddleback. You can anchor here or take right and go down the back of Saddleback, that's deeper than charted. Great place. Don't use the first anchorage, behind White, no room, lots of surge and thin sand on bottom over rock. You must trust your eyes in the Bahamas. NEVER GO ANYWHERE YOU THINK YOU SEE BREAKERS.

Active Capt has warnings on that cut to the left. I've only seen fishing skiffs use it. Glad you got thru.

[belizesailor]

Great example of why you should trust your eyeballs, those breaking waves were a strong visual clue to stop and reasses the situation.

Also, what were your zoom levels on the chartplotter at the time? Often you need to zoom in quite tight to see your position accutely in small areas.

At least you got thru OK.

[CaptsWife]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Here's a shot of the area with the Cays labeled and the course indicated in my guide books to the anchorage.

Thank you SO much for that screen shot. Now I see where we SHOULD have gone, although really, I don't recall being able to turn to starboard and get in there, but we really weren't looking that way, either. Thanks.

[CaptsWife]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Great example of why you should trust your eyeballs, those breaking waves were a strong visual clue to stop and reasses the situation.

Also, what were your zoom levels on the chartplotter at the time? Often you need to zoom in quite tight to see your position accutely in small areas.

At least you got thru OK.

I'm not sure how far we zoomed in, but that's a really good tip to remember for the future, thanks.

[skipmac]

Here's a screenshot from my Garmin plotter. Does not show deep water turning left on the north end of Devil's Cay.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by CaptsWife

Thank you SO much for that screen shot. Now I see where we SHOULD have gone, although really, I don't recall being able to turn to starboard and get in there, but we really weren't looking that way, either. Thanks.

I hope there is at least one good thing that comes out of your encounter with the bottom. Perhaps you can now renew your trust in the charts for the Bahamas.

But still, always believe your eyes more than anything on a screen.