Three days of luxury at Cape Eleuthera Marina

Because we were expecting some high winds and heavy seas (too much for comfortable sailing in and out of cuts & anchorages), we decided to delay our voyage across Exuma Sound and enjoy a few days of (relative) luxury at Cape Eleuthera Marina on the southern end of the island. Furthermore, we would be able to look up friends of our nephew, Jack, who worked at The Island School in Eleuthera in its' formidable years.

Our friends, Mike & Mary on Dream Weaver thought our plan sounded like a good one so together, we weighed anchor  and proceeded to pick our way through the sandbars of Davis Cut. Having a 6 1/2 foot draft (vs. our 7 feet), Dream Weaver was very helpful taking first position and steering us away from low spots. We arrived at the marina around noon, finding beautiful white cottages at it's entrance with an inviting pool, overlooking the exquisite turquoise blue ocean and white sand beaches. Quintessential Bahamas and we had access to it for the next few days.

That first day, we hung at the pool, got laundry done and made plans to meet up with Chris & Pam Maxey, friends of our nephew and founders of The Island School. The second day, we rented a car with Mike & Mary and on the way out of town watched a kite surfer doing flips off the ocean waves. We would later find out, it was Chris!

Our first stop in the car was the Blue Hole in Rock Sound. It looked refreshing but we didn't have suits so we briefly watched the other families dare each other to jump in from the low cliffs and proceeded on our island tour. 

We drove through Tarpoon Bay to Governors Harbor, which was a spot I had wanted to stop in the boat but was talked out of by Mike, who has been to the Bahamas before and knew that the harbor didn't have holding. Andrew concurred. Driving through town on the harbors' edge, watching the choppy water splash up over the road and the boats lurching this way and that in the harbor, I was thankful to be sailing with such skilled seamen!

From Governors Harbor on Exuma Sound, we drove to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island in search of lunch with a view. We found La Bougainvillea restaurant & resort, the perfect spot for sharing grouper fingers and a chicken curry wrap.

On the way back to the marina, we went grocery shopping in Rock Sound and thought about getting a turkey breast for Thanksgiving but deciding it was too much for just Andrew and I, so we went for pork ribs. Mike & Mary had a similar thought but went with the turkey and invited us over to their boat for Thanksgiving dinner! What a great idea!! With the continued high winds, we had decided to stay another night in our slips and make our way to Exuma for turkey day.

That evening, Andrew & I were invited to Chris & Pam's for sundowners and to discuss a plan for a tour of The Island School the following day. It was great getting reconnected with them having met some 20 years ago!

The tour of the school was certainly one of the highlights of our visit to Eleuthera. Chris showed us the cistern supported buildings that our nephew Jack was instrumental in designing and building with a crew of college mates that he had recruited to help.

 

Chris told us about the program that Jack designed which took gallons of green cans full of vegetable oil from cruise ships and made it into biodiesel for use in the schools' trucks and boats. He explained the gardening system that used pigs to fertilize rotating sections of a pie shaped garden, and the hydroponic system that used fish poop to make lettuce grow! It was fascinating and fun to learn about this amazing organization that supports non traditional learning for students all over the world and to hear about what a legend our nephew, Jack is at The Island School.

Buddy boating with Dream Weaver thru Eleuthera

On Friday, Nov. 18th, we dropped the mooring in Spanish Wells to head for Eleuthera through Current Cut, where the Explorer charts say the current can run up to 10 knots and should not be attempted by sailboats against the tide. In other words, we needed to time our exit precisely! From the picture above, you can see that it is narrow but fortunately, we got thru uneventfully with good light on a flooding tide around 9am.

It was a clear, sunny day and we had plenty of time to get to our ultimate destination 16 miles away, so we took the time to anchor off of the Glass Window, a distinctive geological feature in North Eleuthera, where a bridge now breaches the narrowest part of the island that separates Exuma Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. After a perfectly timed squall, we could see from our dinghy, the waves crashing up against the rocks on the Atlantic side and creating a small waterfall into the Sound.

We arrived at Hachett Bay around 1300 and anchored off the Cafe Bar & Grill next to Mike & Mary on Dream Weaver, some Salty Dawg sailors we had met in 2019. Andrew and I took the dinghy into town to see what was there when we ran into them walking around with $3 beers from the Cafe. There and then we decided to make it our mission to stop at every bar we saw (since that was about all that was open) to get the Friday afternoon special. On the far end of town, we found a restaurant called Twin Brothers Seafood & Steak with lovely outdoor seating, where we made reservations (as if we had to) for that evening. The food was simple (conch fritters, fish, rice & peas) but very good!

Since it was supposed to be inclement the next day, we got up late, lazed around, went into town to the tiny grocery store and stopped by Dream Weaver on the way back to confirm dinner plans. We had a beef stew in the freezer that was made for our trip down and would have taken us days to eat so we were happy to share it with them. They had a nice, big covered cockpit which was important given we were expecting rain. And did it ever! Around 3pm the squalls started. We saw 20-25 knots on the instruments and lots of rain. Around 5:30, we saw a break in the squalls and made a run for it to Dream Weaver in the dinghy. We had a great evening telling sea stories and fishing tales and before retiring that night decided to make the ~ 45 mile run to Rock Sound together the next day.

We were up at 0800 and off the hook by 0900. Dream Weaver might say they gave us a head start but we think they just wanted to see if we would get out the narrow cut. They rolled out their in mast furling sails and we took the usual 30 minutes to hand crank our main up but it made for a beautiful sailing day in a steady 15-20 knots on a reach, the best yet! We went along for miles on the same pace and around lunchtime, decided to slow up and take pictures of one another, since we rarely get pictures of ourselves under sail. 

We arrived in Rock Sound and took a short walk about town but once again, not much was there. We had Mike & Mary over to reciprocate drinks and dinner, and revell in the great day we had and the new friends we were getting to know. 

Navigating cuts & currents in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera

On Sunday Nov. 14th, we left Man 'o War channel in the Abacos and motored for ~70 miles in dead calm seas for about 10 hours to arrive at Egg Island in Eleuthera. From there, we had to take the great circle route (with which we will be becoming very familiar) around Egg Reef, past Rocky Bar and around a wreck to arrive just before sun down in a quiet & protected anchorage at Royal Island, which we shared with one local fisherman. 

The next day, we crept (at 3 knots) into the harbor at Spanish Wells, a small fishing town at the north end of Eleuthera, where we saw 7 1/2 feet under our 7 foot draft boat! Once inside, we picked up a mooring from Bandit (a local pilot) and took a dinghy tour down the channel to find our friend Will's house and his favorite fisherman, Bernard. We didn't find the house. We found Bernard but he didn't have 'no fish' so we settled for frozen grouper from another fish market. 

On Tuesday, we rented a golf cart for $30 to tour the island and continue in the pursuit of finding Will's house. Our first stop was at Wood 'n Stuff Art Gallery, where a handsome, blue eyed Irishman named Austin, runs an arts & crafts program for the island kids. He teaches the kids how to carve wood (or copper when he can afford it) into the shapes of fish & coral and then nail them to pieces of wood to make these fabulous displays. We couldn't resist designing one ourselves and getting a signed artifact for the boat.

We eventually found Will's house tucked away in the causarina trees and some beautiful ocean views from the eastern end of the island.

Our original plan was to stay in Spanish Wells for 2 nights and then head off to other parts of Eleuthera but on the morning that we intended to leave, there was a cargo ship blocking our only way out! The evening before, a catamaran named Valentin with a German couple we had met at the Salty Dawg dinner in Marsh Harbor, had showed up at the mooring next to us and stopped by in their dinghy to say hello so we though we'd check in with them the following morning see what they were up to. After a brief radio exchange, we all decided it would be fun to ferry to the main island, where we would take a cab to the harbor taxi which would drop us off at Harbor Island, a supposedly bustling New England style village with renowned pink sand beaches.  

We never found the bustling village but we enjoyed a boisterous ride in the harbor taxi, an excellent coffee shop called Sweet Spot Cafe, the famous for some reason drift wood stuck in the sand and a stroll about town and on the beach.

On Thursday (11/17), we were still on the mooring in Spanish Wells waiting out some weather. We kept ourselves busy; Andrew dealing with the latest boat issue (a clogged sink) and me walking to town for a plunger and trying to figure out how to update the blog since my iPad died. We'd gotten to know Bandit (Jock) and his wife Caroline, with our daily visits to pay for the mooring ball. On our last day, after Andrew and I had a nice lunch of fish tacos and rum drinks at the Shipyard Restaurant on the point, they gave us some of their home grown avocados and invited us to come back and visit their beloved little town.

Our mission to support rebuilding The Abacos

We decided to make it our personal mission to spread what little money we can spare around the Abaco Islands to help with their rebuilding efforts after hurricane Dorian. Our first three days in the islands we did quite well with the mission by staying in a slip at The Abaco Beach Resort & Marina and enjoying the pool, beach, bar & restaurants. We celebrated the safe arrival of all of our great group of Salty Dawgs friends with an excellent dinner at The Bistro (on site at the resort).

On Nov. 8th, we made another significant contribution to the mission by filling our tanks with 105 gallons of diesel and headed off on an island tour. First stop was Man of War Cay, where we anchored outside of the harbor and took the dinghy in for a tour. There were sunken boats in the harbor and wrecks still tied to docks. Note: the boat name in the picture below... "Breakaway"!

We had dinner that night on the hook and the next day went into town to walk around, see the ocean views and visit the only two shops that were open: Albury's Sail Shop and a small grocery store. At Albury's, we made our contribution to this island with the purchase of one of their extraordinarily colorful and well made canvas bags. The ladies, who used to sit at their sewing machines in a large loft built over the water, now work tirelessly in an inland hut, still producing their wonderful products.

Next stop was Great Guana, about 7 miles away, where we appeared to be one of two visiting boats and the only non-islanders at the one open restaurant. Grabbers has been able to rebuild and  restart their bed, breakfast & bar business so we paid for the expensive (but good) Grabbers Rum Punch and conch fritters with a nod to our mission.

On Nov. 11th, we motored from Great Guana, back to Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island. We had to drop anchor twice to find a sandy spot that would hold. That evening, just as I was serving dinner, Andrew hollered for me to turn on the engine. A bright white light was pointed straight at us and we could see the port & starboard lights (never a good thing) on what appeared to be a large ship with it's engines going full throttle! Andrew tried to hail him over the radio and the calls went unanswered. We turned on the AIS to confirm that the ship was a little more than 1/4 mile away when the captain finally got on the radio and said he was aground in the channel. Phew... that explained the angle of his boat (pointed straight at us instead of in the channel) and the gunning of the engines!! Crisis averted, dinner was served. 

The next day we motored back to Abaco Beach Resort for some good old internet service (to download weather files), laundry facilities and a farewell dinner with Jon and his girlfriend, Marlina before they flew out the following day.

All in all during our mission to support The Abacos, we found the docks, grocery stores and private homes around the islands appeared to be the main things that have been rebuilt. Otherwise, there is very little infrastructure in the three islands that we visited but we did our best to help in some small ways.

Going south for the 2021 season

Oct. 27, 2021 we left Oxford, Md with our newest crew recruit, Walter L. Started out with 2 reefs in 20 knots of wind at 1630 but had both reefs shaken out before dark. Walter and I took watch, alternating every two hours with Andrew, while mostly motor sailing and dodging tugs or cargo ships. We arrived at Bluewater Yachting Center in Hampton, Va. at 10:30 am on 10/28 to join the 2021 Salty Dawg Rally to The Bahamas. 

Walter’s wife KC picked him up the next day and they proceeded to drive down to Florida making coastal stops along the way. Andrew and I continued preparations for the offshore segment to the Bahamas. We had two more crew joining us and all kinds of COVID protocols to go thru, not to mention getting the boat ready. We had to get negative antigen tests elevated to the Bahamian government website along with all of the passport & vaccination information for each crew member. Then each crew had to apply for a Health Visa on the site which was elevated to their personal page and had to be downloaded and re-posted on the Click to Clear site where we would apply for our cruising permit. Ugh, I can’t imagine the process for having animals on board!

Meanwhile, Andrew replaced the bilge pump that had crapped out on us and we re-packed the spinnaker which was twisted in a messy takedown. We did the last minute grocery shopping and technology testing and had identified a good weather window for our departure. All we needed now was crew. Our crack crew, Jon S.and Dick R. were scheduled to arrive the day before departure but the weather window was moved up and we were now planning to have them jump on board and leave immediately. On 10/31 at 1500, we left the dock for Marsh Harbor, Abaco, and got this picture of Norfolk, Va. just as it was getting dark.

We had an easy sail, averaging 7.5 knots during our 3 hour, two man shifts that night. Day 1 of our southbound adventure, we had the chute up and we’re passing boats that had departed the day before us. We saw lots of dolphin pods and enjoyed watching them play chicken with the bow of the boat. All was going well until the wind dropped out. That evening we motor sailed all night and saw only two other boats on the radar.

Day 2, we were still motoring! Caught a tuna around 830 am, filleted and ready to cook for dinner by 9am. Boat speed was averaging 7 knots and we were headed straight for the Abacos but still no wind. It was so calm, Andrew was hoisted up the mast to retrieve a batten that was coming out of its sheath (due to the flogging mainsail).

Day 3 was a beautiful sunny day with white puffy clouds and calm seas. Unfortunately, along with that came even less wind. Jon was so bored, he made himself a huge breakfast! That evening we saw the most amazing pink & blue sky!!

During the evening we played ring around the Rosie with another Salty Dawg boat on the rally. Taste of Heaven passed us on our starboard motoring at 9 knots, then we passed her on our port when she was sailing 3.5 knots and around and around it went all night. I think someone was bored. 

Day 4 - Flat calm. Still motoring. Everyone is bored! That night we creeped thru the cut at Man of War channel in the dark and dropped anchor in Marsh Harbor around 11:30 pm. The next day we motored around Point Set Rock and into a slip at Abaco Beach Resort & Marina. And so begins our next season with Billy Ruff’n sailing in the islands.