We just sailed
Key West - George Town. Couldn't find much info about this uncommon
route, during the planning process, so I thought someone, down the line, might find this helpful.
We left KW with SW winds, 15 knots. S winds would have worked as well, or SSE, depending on how high you can point. Headed for the middle of Cay Sal bank, got pushed N of Cay Sal, and then made for a point about 5 miles SW of Croton Cay, which is a tiny spot of land about 7 nm SW of Curly Cut Cays, S of Andros. The
wind had totally died, so we motored. Never saw less than 9 feet on the
depth sounder. Two waypoints later on a magic magenta line (Navionics), we were in the Tongue of the Ocean.
We hung a left, once in the Tongue of the Ocean, and went up to Driggs Hill. They have a
Government Dock in the harbor. We called customs/immigration, located at the Congo Town
airport, and an agent came to us. The agent said we could stay at the
government dock overnight (no charge), but we had just had a torrential downpour, and he thought the mosquitos might be fearsome. Lots of good
anchorages in South Bight, apparently, but we are pressing on to get south of the
hurricane box....
We went straight across the Tongue of the Ocean, almost due east, to Staniel Cay. Not a ripple of a breeze to be had, so we motored across. The Explorer
charts mention the Decca Channel - corresponds to a magenta line on
Navionics - actually the bank is plenty deep at that point (20+ feet) - no tight spots on our way to Staniel Cay.
After several days at Staniel Cay (waiting for a part - great air freight
service from Watermakers Air), we went down the west side of the
Exumas. Nice east
wind. Spent two nights at
anchor off the Brigantine Cays. Skinny
water - our
depth sounder was reading 6-7 feet for MILES as we approached these small uninhibited islands. We explored New Cay and Brigantine Cay, and could have easily spent a week there (a cay a day), enjoying the absolute peace. Gorgeous.
Next stop: George Town. Went through Pudding Cut, just south of the Brigantine Cays, and then Square Rock Cut, out to the big
water. We read that even small freighters squeak through Pudding Cut - but not by the
route WE took! At high tide, we saw 5 foot depths, as we swerved back and forth in search of deeper water. Interestingly, when we reviewed our route on SPOT, using the
satellite images, we could see where the deeper water was - we were too close to Jimmy Cay - looks like there was deeper water south of our route.
Navionics depths were a few feet off in this area.
Wild and wet day sail down to George Town - 20 kn E wind and a nasty short chop. Now we're anchored off the Chat N Chill. Not much to say about George Town that hasn't already been said. That we're here in off-season is the understatement of the century. But it's beautiful and friendly, and IF you happen to need a vital
boat part, Reggie's Air
Service makes it as painless as possible.
Our route was recorded by our SPOT - you can take a look here:
Key West - Driggs Hill - Staniel Cay
Staniel Cay - Brigantine Cays - George Town
Seriously, a daytime passage would have been better, but a nighttime passage worked for us. I've read that some cruisers find Navionics 
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