Bahamas: (Exuma Bank) Yellow Bank passage with a 9'4" keel

[hpeer]

Four years ago we met a guy down there with 14’ draft, a German chap. He was taking the boat back to the Med to sell it.

[MicHughV]

I was down there one year when a guy pulled up in an older wood boat, I don't remember the make, but his draft was in the 8' range.
He was having a tough time down there.
I can remember helping him off a sand spit one time. He took a turn too close.
We had a helluva time of it. It took several of us to do it and for a while I didn't think we were going to be successful as he had pegged himself good. We could not back him off and ended up pulling him thru' the sand spit, after diving down and creating a furrow in the spit for his keel.

Yep, 9'6" draft is insane....a 14' draft doubly so...I wouldn't dream of cruising the Exuma's with more than 6-7'....just would not be worth the anxiety, but people do.

[MicHughV]

this attachment clearly shows the " ridges" I was talking about earlier on the bottom of the picture.
I whacked one of these myself....fun times .... but lived to tell the tale...

[kcj]

I saw bravo eugenia cruising the exumas last season. 14' draft. Saw her anchored overnight off north shroud, closer in than i would have expected , and down by big major..

So it has been done[emoji3]

[MicHughV]

ha, not for me.

The guy with the 8' draft was my guiding light to stay shallow draft.

We were fortunate that day. We had a twin engined trawler rigged to the bow of that boat., plus a variety of anchors, etc....I think there must have two dozen of us in that rescue operation.
I can remember that trawler captain telling us..." I've got 100 rpm left and that's it" and son of a gun..... that 100 rpm saved the day.

[Emouchet]

On the Yellow Bank depth is 12-16' depth on average.
Coral heads are easy to spot, as very dark areas, that can be easily detoured.


If you select your window properly, i.e. a sunny day, between 10am and 4pm you will have plenty of visibility. Worst case, put someone at the bow, and follow directions swiftly.


Most coral heads are around 3' to 4' high. It is pretty rare to locate heads that are higher.


They look impressive from the deck, because the water is so clear. Also, crossing the Yellow Bank does not last much time, may 30 minutes at 5kn if you do it perpendicular to the bank.


Who has ever heard of a boat hitting a coral head on the Yellow Bank ? Albeit during winter season, there are numerous sail boats crossing daily.


Another option is to enter the bank via Highborn, and stay south of the Yellow and White Bank until you reach Southwest Reef. Never read less than 12' on that route that I did in March, and no coral head.

[MicHughV]

all this talk about the Exuma's is giving me itchy feet....

[Roshni]

Hi. Did the exact passage with 8.5 feet last year 3 times. Oyster 9.5 ft also did same route. I used high tide for the shallowest part of the journey but always had 6 foot plus under keel. I used Navionics only. I did find on the internet cruising Exumas in deep drafted yacht routes which I based some of my cruising in the Bahamas on. Went from Nassau to Beaufort in gulf stream in light winds averaging 200 mile days, easy sailing. Have a good trip.

[Kd9truck]

I’ve got a 7.5 ft draft and now some how feel inadequate...

[Roshni]

Yes but better then 6.5 ft draft!!!!!!!! I always challenge myself to go places and only been defeated a couple of times, who wants to go up the ICW! 8.5ft with bulb. .....

[MicHughV]

some years back took a cruise to the Chesapeake Bay......headed into a small cove to anchor for the night...
next morning, found that I could not get out......a shallow bar across the entrance prevented my departure........not even at high tide.....still needed about 9" or so....
thought I was screwed, but a local crabber told me that SE winds tend to pile the water up in these coves and NW wind blows all the water out.......
had to wait several days for a good SE breeze to fill the cove up again...which came around 2 am in the morning, but I didn't care...I was outa dere !!
but there was some angst there at the thought of being a permanent addition to the shoreline...