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Exumas Trip Report - Moorings 403PC - May 2026 tmsxmsails 2 hours ago We just got back from our charter in the Exumas on a Moorings 403PC (Power Cat) and I figured I'd post a review.

It's long.

My wife and I have chartered St. Martin and the BVI multiple times and the previous two years we took another couple with us to the BVI. We have always chartered monohulls but based on the distances involved between Nassau and the Exumas, and a strange deal that made the PC slightly less expensive (more on that later) than the sail cat, we opted for power. It took all of my pride to go over to the dark side but all-in-all I think it was a good decision for us.

I watched countless YouTube videos and poured over the Cruising Guide so I was pretty familiar with the main stops and also with the unique challenges of navigating the skinny water and tides. I was confident but I have to say I was also a little apprehensive about tackling this area.

Before I get to the day by day, I'll do a little overview.

We really enjoyed the trip. The water and the views and the scenery were just fabulous. The boat was very comfortable and had plenty of fridge space. We enjoyed the electric grill and the top flybridge area was a great place to be. On the monohulls the generator noise can be a real problem but it was pretty quiet on the cat.

There were a few things that went wrong. The biggest issue was the chart plotter. At various times it would start to get laggy and then either freeze or just re-boot. This was a serious issue. Luckily, it never happened in a critical situation but I started rebooting it every day just to try and stay ahead of any glitches. I suspect it needed a firmware update but I wasn't about to attempt it while out there.

The other thing was that the water maker quit about halfway through the trip. We called service and they walked us through some basic resets and checks but in the end determined that it needed a new membrane (or a clean) and that was that. This caused a small amount of water conservation that I would rather have not had to deal with but it wasn't terrible.

Oh, the other thing that irked me was the game to contact the base. They give you phone numbers but don't tell you that they only really use What's App. So if you have your cell on just cell and no data, you can't contact them. Some numbers "worked" but others got a "not in service" response. I left a message on the one that worked but never heard back until I realized that they were probably calling through What's App and I had my data turned off. Grrrr.

While we had a great time, I don't think I'll be back. The weather and navigation potential for disruption is just too much of a potential total disruptor for me. I know bad weather can happen anywhere/any time but the combination of needing good weather to navigate practically anywhere is just too much of a restriction given a fixed schedule.

Okay, on to the trip.

We opted for the sleep aboard the first night so we could do our own provisioning. We rented a car from the airport and had lunch on the beach and picked up booze on the way to Palm Cay. Once we got on the boat and scoped out the storage and fridge space, we drove to the nearby Solomon's and got our provisions. We figured we would only be able to eat out once or twice during the trip so we bought a lot of stuff.

The Moorings base is tiny compared to the BVI. The office is just a couple of office rooms basically. There isn't really a "Welcome desk" or anything like that. When we walked in, we wondered if we were in the right place - it looked like back office rooms. Not a big deal really, just so different from the BVI operation. In contrast, the boat briefing and the chart briefing were the best I've ever experienced. Ashter (I think that is her name) was amazingly thorough and knowledgeable - really impressed.

When we were ready to go, a pilot got on board and took us out of the marina and to the outer channel. I prompted him for the best route through the Yellow Bank and he plotted a course between the White Bank and Yellow Bank and then to Highborne. I was so thankful I chose the PC because the winds were about 15-17 knots right on the nose. It would have been a real slog of a sail. The PC had a weird motion to it though - kind of hobby-horsing through the waves. Maybe that's a cat thing in general or maybe it was exacerbated by the high profile of the PC. I got used to it but it still felt odd.

Despite the wind, I was glad we had sunlight. One of the things that kept me up at night was the constant admonitions to "only travel in good light". Like, so if it's cloudy on our first day does that mean we have to stay at Palm Cay until the weather clears? At the end of the trip, it's even more of a conundrum. If you don't have enough clear weather to make it back over the bank (safely/confidently), you're bringing the boat back late (or you have to go back early if you see upcoming weather). There are so many different weather and scheduling permutations that it puts a real strain on how they should be handled and it put a stress on the trip that I didn't enjoy.

We were headed to Highborne but decided to detour to Allen's Cay to see if there was an opening at SW Allen's which is a little one-boat cove. Alas, there was a boat already there and the main anchoring channel was pretty full. I wasn't yet comfortable enough with the shallow water so we decided to head to the West side of Highborne. The wind was mostly SSE so we had a pretty rolly night there.

The next day we made a stop at Normans, anchoring out by the plane. We dinghied into the harbor and looked for the "new dinghy dock" but couldn't find anything that resembled a dinghy dock. Everything was way too high to get up on from a dink. Ended up going back to the boat to call them and ask where it was. Turns out you have to go to the dock that has a boat ramp in the middle of it, "beach" the dink on the ramp to get out, and then tie it up along the dock. Then, it's a long, hot walk to the store - and back. Meh.

We snorkeled on the plane for a bit and then headed to Shroud.

We got a little lost finding the proper entrance to the "Lazy River". It's not obvious on the chart in the guide - but it's clear as day on the chart plotter (which I failed to look at before setting out). We finally got to the Washing Machine and it was spectacular. Another somewhat rolly night.

Next day was a trip to Warderick Wells. I called them a little after 9:00 am to ask for a ball and they put me on the list and told me to call when I was close. When I did, they put me on the first ball inside the markers. I was really glad to have twin screws as there was another boat on the second ball and barely any maneuvering room to twist around and point back up the way I came in to catch the ball. It was also our first time catching a ball on twin hulls. Worked a charm though and we had a great time there.

Next was Brian's Cay and the Aquarium. We tried to snorkel right at the balls (where the tour boats go) but the current was so strong that we chose to go inside the "pond" and nose around the edge. It was a little overcast to the colors were a bit muted. The park rangers came by to collect the mooring fee AND the visitors fee - $76 total and that's on top of the fees I paid for Shroud and Warderick.

Next day we headed to Compas Cay and had a bit of an adventure. The Northern entrance is unbelievably shallow. We got almost all the way through and got down to 2 feet of water under the keel and I chickened out. I ended up backing up and going around the outside to the Southern entrance and even then there was a spot that looked really low so I decided to anchor kind of off to the side of the channel. We took the dinghy through the cut and into the marina to get a better feel for the way in. I was tempted to stay where I was but wasn't really comfortable that I might be blocking the channel if a really big boat tried to come through (I never saw any large boats go South so it probably wouldn't have been an issue).

We ended up going around and anchoring on the West side of Pipe Cay and had the place all to ourselves.

We had to start making our way back so the next day we did a big shot - on the outside - all the way up to Highborne. The wind was out of the East and building but we were avoiding major weather on the inside - for a little while anyway. As we got to Highborne the rains came and the winds picked up. I wanted to try Allens Cay so we came in on the Northern cut above Highborne and the seas were crazy. I guess they call it "The Rage". I couldn't see the bottom clearly enough to try to get into the Allens Cay area so I just anchored inside the big "U" of Highborne. Another rolly night.

The next day we headed to Rose Island for our last night. The Cruising Guide doesn't cover Rose so I had asked ahead of time how to get in. It's tricky. You have to do a zig-zag between a couple of reefs. The pilot gave me an overview and they told me the only place I was allowed to go is the first little "cove" on the West end. It took me several tries to get a good hold on the anchor with a couple of other boats watching me intently. No pressure.

The last day was dicey. I had to go back out of Rose, through the reefs, and then across to Palm Cay Marina through a coral head minefield (that they red-line and tell you to stay out of - except if you call them and ask them how best to get back). To top it off, it was partly cloudy and hard to see. Very stressful. You can't wait for better light because you have to get the boat back by 9:00 (to refuel and be able to get off by 10). Did I mention this was very stressful?

I'm glad I didn't wait though because it started pouring about 30 minutes after we got back. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to come back in that weather.

Refueling was fun... Ashter had warned us that the price might come as a shock. Yep, just shy of $2k to fill er up. Gulp.

I was expecting a thorough de-brief to match the first one but it was basically nothing. I mentioned all the issues and then we left.

So, a good time but I think I'll do something else next time.

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