Pudding Cut, Exuma, Bahamas

This is another of my piloting posts. It's meant for cruisers looking for information to transit an area that we find somewhat challenging.

On our way back to George Town from the Raggeds and Jumentos, we wanted to avoid beating eastward to Long Island through Comer Channel. Instead, we decided to head north-east from Water Cay, towards Rocky Point in the south western corner of Great Exuma Island (roughly around 23°35' N, 76°04' W).

From Rocky Point, we sailed north through Pudding Cut, to later exit to Exuma Sound through Square Rock Cut (which was an interesting experience in and of itself; of the hang-on-to-your-pants type of experience). Pudding Cut stretches north to south on the west side of Barraterre. Throughout the cut the charts report depths anywhere from 5 to 24 feet.

With our 6-foot draft, we transited the cut with extreme care and on a rising tide. According to the Explorer charts, the tide in the Rocky Point area is approximately 2 hours later than Nassau tides. We approached the cut area at 1045 on 3/May/2014, right around high tide in Nassau.

It is imperative to transit the cut with a good eye for reading the water. Visual Piloting Rules apply! It's not a straight shot north; we followed a snaking track based on what depths we were seeing and the color of the water. At times we even kept a bow watch.

The transit took 1 hour and 15 minutes, while the tide in Nassau was high at +2.2'. The skinniest water we saw was 7.3' in a shallow spot at the north end of the cut. Most of the cut is deeper than that, with 8 feet or more at the time we transited.

By the way, the distance between George Town and Water Cay in the Jumentos through Pudding Cut and Square Rock Cut is 75 miles. The route that goes on the east side of Great Exuma Island, through Thompson Bay and the Comer Channel, is 89 miles. In our case, coming back from the Jumentos on the more westerly route was hugely advantageous, since the wind was a healthy 15 knots from the south east the first day, and 10 to 15 knots from the south on the second day. The sail from Square Rock Cut to Conch Cay Cut wasn't the uncomfortable and slow beat we'd experienced the first time we sailed south east to George Town.