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.