May 7 - Kryss and I take a long walk in the morning to the Sound side of the Island and get to Pirate Beach which is a small secluded beach next to a tidal pool that opens out into the open Sound. It’s very pretty but the walk to it is up and down hills and longish, and it’s not for the fainthearted. On the way back we check out one of the two small grocery stores in town, and find that one of the two restaurants not associated with Staniel Cay Yacht Club is not open for dinner and that the other is tiny and under construction. In the later part of the afternoon after the wind is blowing somewhat heavy and the tide is running fast we take the dinghy to Big Major’s Spot, an Island just off Staniel Cay to feed the feral pigs that live there and swim out to boats to be fed. They are really large, spotted, and as ready to swim out to the boats as advertised. We feed them all of the cabbage leaves we’ve brought along and get good and soaked on the ride home. We are starting to see all of the cruisers that we’ve seen in other ports in the same places we’re staying at, kind of like the ICW migration in the Fall/Winter.
May 8 - We dingy out to the islets that contain the “Thunderball” grottos. These are the natural grottos that were used in the filming of the James Bond movie Thunderball and one can swim in, through and out of them at low tide. There is abundant fish life in and around them and they’re pretty, but no match in my mind for some of the “swim throughs” we’ve experienced scuba diving. Steve and Jane depart by air for Florida and now it’s just the two of us. There’s some heavy weather predicted for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we were told earlier that we could only have our current slip through Sunday, so we’re starting to try to figure out where we should “hole up”. Right now it seems like Big Major’s Spot, just a short ride from the marina might be best, but we’ll keep thinking about it. Took the dinghy to another general store on the other side of the island. It’s pretty primitive.
May 9/11 - Just hanging out these days. Brought laundry to woman who lives near town who does it for you. Kind of cool how all of these nurse and sand sharks and good size rays just hang out around the docks in large numbers because they’re fed every day. Kind of weird to be swimming off of the boat with these creatures all around. Takes a little mental getting used to, although people actually wade among them at the steps when they’re congregating to be fed in the afternoon.
May 12 - It’s our day to depart the marina for the anchorage at Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay and the strong wind system that they have been promising for a week now is finally upon us. We’re up early to leave on a high tide and all’s ready for our check out until I ask Kryss to test the bow thruster and it’s not working. One look in the compartment where it lives tells the story. A ground wire shorted right through and singed on of the life vests that was stored there. Not sure what caused the short but it’s not a pretty sight and I do not have an other battery cable (will add that to the list of what I’ll carry from now on). Am able to get one and install it and the bow thruster is working again (not comfortable with why it shorted like that, but there’s not much I can do about that at this time and again we’re ready to leave. It’s blowing 20/25 and gusting higher and it’s pretty low tide by the time I leave so instead of trying to cross the shallowest section of our exit route at low tide and fighting head winds to Black Point Settlement we bite the bullet and head into Big Major’s Spot where there are tons of boats because it’s got protection on three sides and good holding in reasonable depths, but it’s big enough to accommodate us too and we’re finally at anchor with the winds whistling around us. Anything not tied down blows away.
May 13/14 - We’re hanging out in Big Major’s Spot because of consistent reports of high E/SE winds. This is about as good an almost all around protection anchorage as we can find. Lots of large power yachts coming and going as well as some sailboats. Have 80ft. of scope out and long snubber and we’re riding nicely. So far 25-30 knt. winds that have been predicted have not shown up. Reading a lot, fixing little things, and will probably play some Scrabble today. Put dinghy in to explore Fowl Cay Resort and took a swim along the mini-caves created in the limestone where the sea has washed under them. Satphone is useless for Internet connection, but cell phone works because of proximity of Batelco tower on Staniel Cay. Lot’s of small boats coming and going from the yachts to Staniel Cay and lots of small boats coming from Staniel Cay to see the pigs.
May 15 - Leave for Black Point Settlement on Big Guana Island in blustery conditions. It’s only 10 miles and a lot of it is right into the wind so I don’t put the sails up. Anchorage all the way in is better than I expected and we anchor in water that goes down to 8 ft. at low tide quite close to the dinghy dock. It’s much quieter than Big Major’s spot. No big boats and not small boats zipping past all day. I really like it. To port is a large beach which extends far out as sand flats and between the beach and the town is a ridge lined with palm trees. Could almost be in the South Seas. When we tie up the dinghy there’s a large nurse shark under the dinghy next to us and a large ray glides by with a puffer fish just idling around. Walked through town. Went into Lorraine’s to make a reservation for dinner tomorrow night; went into the General Store to check out their wares (not much produce but supply boat is supposed to be in tomorrow; had some drinks at happy hour in Scorpio’s with a family from Germany with two early teenage children (Chris, Angelica, Charlotte and Max Rogge) and met some of the other cruisers on boats in the harbor. Town is much cleaner and better maintained than Staniel Cay.
May 16 - Walked all over the Island. Not as clean as first appeared and tons and tons of unfinished house foundations and partially constructed houses. Seems like a developer must have come in and started to build all over and then just ran out of money. There are discarded cement mixers and other construction devices all over. Finally get to a promontory where we can see the ocean and it’s calmed down for the time being after having been quite rough for a number of days. We buy provisions at Adderly’s General Store and have a nice dinner at Lorranine’s with the Rogge’s.
May 17 - It’s cloudy with intermittent rain and after lazing around for a while we decide to go into town to do the laundry because it’s closed on Sunday and we’re thinking of leaving on Monday. (It’s Saturday today).
May 18 - It’s sunnier and the wind is down and since the laundry is done we decide to begin the trip back up North towards the Abacos. It’s 35 nm to Shroud Cay where there seems to be good E/NE protection and the cruising guide says there are moorings. Well, there’s a stalled front just about where we are and looks can be deceiving. After a pleasant start with engine and jib (I’m waiting to see if our point of sail will allow for real sailing) we are beset with raging squalls with winds just under 30knt and torrential rain. Glad we didn’t put the main up we would have had to have put a reef in it in really ugly conditions. Anyway, it’s a really wet and cold and the seas are totally confused and not inconsequential and it’s a tough trip to Shroud Cay. I even take in some of the jib when the wind abates as I felt almost overpowered when the wind came close to 30knts and rounded behind us. Maybe Paul Parks or John Strater would have felt as though they were in their element, but I was somewhat daunted. As has become commonplace, when our course takes us along the generally prescribed route we are overtaken by large motor yachts who come so close as to seemingly have no regard for our well being. Some have their AIS on and some don’t. It’s really odd. Then, of course, out of the fog (oh yes, there’s fog in these squalls) comes a good sized trawler without AIS headed just our way. I alter course a little and there’s no harm done but I’m watching the radar as well as the plotter now (he didn’t show up well at all) and I’m worrying that all of the rain that’s getting on the plotter will cause it to malfunction, which would be a real disaster with the somewhat intricate inshore course I’ve plotted. Anyway, “all’s well that ends well” as Shakespeare wrote, and we motor into the partial shelter of Shroud Cay. We are unable to pick up a mooring ball in the heavy wind conditions prevailing so we anchor. The moorings really need very calm conditions or two people up forward to pick up. There is a quite small loop attached to a small float at the end of a short mooring line and you have to snag the loop and bring it up high enough to put your mooring line through. Not at all easy for one person on a boat with a high bow. Anyway, our anchor holds nicely in 10 ft. of sand and we’re secured. The winds is still blowing 15/20 knts and there is a surge which we did not anticipate, so it’s not the most comfortable anchorage on the planet.
May 19-21 We hang out with the wind blowing 20 plus every day and reports of big seas, with rain coming every hour or so and leaving as quickly as it comes. We explore the mangrove canals in the interior of the island with the dinghy. There’s a meaningful surge and the island is very low so there’s not that much protection from the wind and the anchorage is rocky, but the weather as it is, we really don’t want to be starting out to return to Nassau, which is our next destination. The large yacht anchored nearby has a helicopter landing and taking off a number of times, so we’re in “pricey” company.
May 22 - The winds have abated and the sun is out and we leave early for West Bay, Nassau. We motor sail most of the day as the winds are lighter than predicted but we do finally get a chance to sail without the engine for a couple of hours and it’s a real pleasure. We make West Bay at the end of the day and anchor for an early start to Hurricane Hole Marina on Paradise Island the next day so as to be able to pass under the bridges at low tide. All materials say they are 21 meters high (that should be measured at high tide) which is more than enough for us but they look so formidable and Kryss says it looks like we only have limited clearance, so I don’t want to take any chances.
May 23 - Up at the crack of dawn to get to Nassau at low tide because of the bridges and pull into Hurricane Hole Marina (Paradise Island) at about 10:00 a.m. Wait around a good part of the day for the people to come and do the break-in service on the dinghy but they finally arrive and do a very thorough job, so I’m glad I came back to Nassau for it. Go to the supermarket and meet the German family that we met in Black Point Settlement. Arrange to meet for dinner in one of the local “joints” under the bridge the following evening. Have dinner at an absolutely terrific Japanese restaurant near Harborside Marine on Nassau. It’s called Seafront Sushi and the sashimi is as fresh and flavorful as we’ve had anyway. Kryss has an exotic roll which is equally special and our appetizers of seaweed salad with baby octopus and minced conch salad were equally outstanding. Prices were very reasonable, so would recommend Seafront Sushi to anyone.
May 24 - We take small “ferry” to the cruise ship dock area in the morning and walk around downtown Nassau. Mainly high end jewelry and “souvenir” shops, but many of the buildings are interesting. Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas and the government buildings and courts are there. Have lunch at Fat Tuesdays on the water and generally have a nice day. Dinner under the bridge is better than expected, but no AC and hot as the devil. Drank three bottles of beer and sweated them out before I left. Even Kryss was guzzling beer and not feeling a thing.
May 25 - Leave for Spanish Wells (about 45 nm) in light winds and calm seas. We motor sail with jib only as winds are light and shifty but we make good time and get to Spanish Wells at a middle rising tide as planned since the last 10 miles into Spanish Wells and the entrance itself are both quite shallow. Seems like the wind is invariably on our nose or not far from it. It pours shortly before we get to Meeks Patch (an Island just outside Spanish Wells) and the visibility is de minimus for a while, but the rain ends and the sun comes back out as we approach the entrance. The entrance does not set up easily to the eye at all and the cruising guides are more confusing and inaccurate than helpful. Thankfully, just as we get there there’s a trawler passing us to starboard and heading in. I hail it on the radio and the captain tells me he knows the entrance well, so I just follow him in. The entrance is exceedingly narrow with shoals on both sides, and once in it doesn’t get any better. We get to the marina and are berthed without incident and now we’re in Spanish Wells. Turns out marina is “under construction”. It’s undergoing a major renovation and we are literally in a construction zone, with jack hammers, cement mixers, and backhoes operating, but the rate is relatively inexpensive and it’s the only game in town, so it is what it is. We take a walk around town and have dinner on the boat. Not sure what I expected, but Spanish Wells is not at all what I expected, whatever that was. The “harbor” is a very narrow stretch of water between the main part of the Island and a very small uninhabited barrier island. There’s a large fishing fleet docked along the road that runs along the harbor, and most of the businesses along the harbor are boat related. Apparently the Spanish Wells fleet catches 90% or so of all of the lobster caught in the Bahamas and is very successful. The properties are far better maintained than in the settlements in the Exumas and most of the population seems to be Caucasian. Spanish Wells was settled by Europeans who came from Bermuda and were shipwrecked on the “devil’s backbone” the reef that runs all along the North side of the Island.
May 26 - We take the high speed ferry that does a circuit from Nassau to Spanish Wells to Dunmore Town on Harbour Island to Harbour Island and spend the day walking around town. Harbor Island is a small island at the Northern end of Eleuthra. It’s not quite as exotic as the guidebooks say. They say it’s posh and a destination for the beautiful people. That may be so, but if it is, they stay in the resorts and the wealth of the resorts has not found its way to the island itself. We walk until we’re ready to drop, have a very nice lunch at Valentine’s Marina and take the ferry back to Spanish Wells. The ferry ride is the most interesting part of the day as it takes you around the shallow side of Spanish Wells, Eluthera and Harbour Island inside of the “Devils Backbone”. At times this quite large ferry is seemingly 20 feet from the beach, because that’s where the channel is. Cruising boats are told only to transit the devil’s backbone following a pilot and in fact we see a large yacht being led out of Dunmore Town and the reef complex by a pilot boat when we’re heading in. We eat on the boat again as the restaurant that was recommended to us by a catamaran that passed us on our way to Spanish Wells from Nassau (they were coming from Spanish Wells and tracking us on their AIS) is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
May 27 - The fresh water pump has been cycling on for a few days when it shouldn’t and I take the opportunity to trouble shoot it. I assume it’s the pressure switch on the pump (we have an in-line auxiliary), but unfortunately it turns out that the hot water heater is leaking. I trek to a few places recommended to me to try to find a shop that can fix or replace it for me and the best that I can do is a promise from one concern that they’ll come and look at it either the end of the day or the next morning (all of their techs were on projects at Harbor Island). Spanish Wells is really small. Anyway, we do some more walking around and actually more “waiting around” until late in the day the captain of a large power boat docked at the marina comes by to say hello and offers to help trouble shoot and maybe repair the hot water heater. We do some work on it and I feel better about prospects for its repair.
May 28 - Repair man actually arrives on time, water heater is removed and taken to the shop for pressure testing to find location of leak. I go along and it’s apparent right away, so we’re now waiting for the welder to come back to weld the leak. Spend most of the rest of the day waiting around for the welded water heater to be reinstalled, but what can you do? Weather remains nice, although we’re getting more intermittent rain showers than earlier in the trip. We have dinner at Shipyard Restaurant (the one recommended to us by the catamaran we passed on our way over here) at end of Island overlooking mooring field and channel out to Devil’s Backbone. We ask Al, the captain of Glory who was so helpful with the water heater, to join us. He’s quite a character. Was a tug captain and was involved in an incident where one of his crew lost his life when the tow they had dragged them under because its contents was misrepresented by the owners of the tow. Food is as good as the catamaran represented.
May 29 - Arrange for a day of scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing with a local captain tomorrow, and I spend most of the day cleaning, checking and arranging our scuba gear. I find one of my tanks is low on pressure and our local captain provides me with a fourth tank (mine’s buried in the lazarette) that I have to fill as well because he can only get it filled in Harbour Island. This is my first chance to try out our dive compressor and it seems to work fine, although reading the manual I find that I should have had spare filters and already have changed the one that’s in there. Nonetheless, the color indicator on the filter still shows the proper operating color and it’s all I have, so I fill the tanks with our compressor and it works fine. I “tasted” the air and it seemed fine. I guess I’ll find out for sure tomorrow. It’s a long day and it rains a good part of the day, but we’re ready to go tomorrow.
May 30 - Capt. James (Bahamas Ocean Safaris) arrives on time in a small center cockpit open boat that is well maintained and equipped. We dive Current Cut two times (it’s a major cut across the shorter arm of Eleuthra from the Spanish Wells bight to the interior Eleuthra Bank with the current running up to 6 knots and more at times. It’s a “famous” drift dive site going from 70 plus feet to 5/10 feet, but we don’t find it that full of life the day we do it and it doesn’t impress either of us. James is a good captain and follows our bubbles and is always right there when we surface. Next we dive a shallow wreck of a small freighter just off of the end of Little Egg Island. It’s a terrific dive. The wreck is just teeming with life and the water is very clear. The wreck is really in a lot of different pieces strewn out over a line in the ocean a couple of hundred yards long in from 0 to 25 ft. of water. I say 0 ft. because the very bow of the wreck sticks up out of the water about 7 ft. It’s one of the best dives I’ve ever done because of the water clarity and number of fish, including one incredibly large parrot fish and one incredibly large trigger fish. Both are much larger than any others that I have ever seen. After the wreck dive we fish for yellowtail snapper on the shallow reefs along the back of Russell Island. We catch 5 for dinner and then it’s further into the reef bank for some shallow water snorkeling. This is part of The Devil’s Backbone. It’s a multitude of reefs, some so shallow they break the surface at low tide, scattered among shallow sand strips. James puts us in the water next to one. It doesn’t look like anything from the surface, but as soon as you’re in the water, it’s spectacular. A huge variety of very healthy corals formations going from the surface to about 12/15 ft. deep with lots of ledges and “holes” for the numerous fish schools that are there, as well as numerous sponges and fans. It’s as good a snorkel as we’ve ever had too. After that we go back to the boat, rinse off the dive gear and fry the fish that are just out of the water. A really, really wonderful day.
May 31 - We’re supposed to leave the marina today for the Royal Island Harbor to use it as a “staging area” for leaving tomorrow for the Abacos. That is to say, we’ll leave for the Abacos from Royal Island Harbor rather than Spanish Wells and thereby shorten the trip by 8 miles or so. The day begins with no dock water pressure and a leak in the top of the port water tank, so certainly not an auspicious beginning. We get the office to fix the dock water problem and I plug the leak (good thing it’s in the top of the tank, and we leave for Royal Island Harbour (almost totally enclosed). We get “wacked” by one of the numerous squalls that have been passing through the last few days, but nothing serious, and it lets up before we have to make the passage between the rocks into the harbor. We enter the harbor through what I later learn is not the recommended passage because there’s a dangerous rock in the middle, but my plotter shows the rock and I just hug the shore where there’s still plenty of water to avoid it. We’re in and we anchor early afternoon. An hour or two later one of the squalls that we’ve been following all around us for the last few days starts right for us and it’s frightening enough for me to bring the life jackets out of the closet and into the saloon to be readily available. It’s like this white wall flattening the water and bearing down on us and all I can think of is the White Squall story and all that I’ve read about down spouts. Anyway, the highest winds in the squall are just under 30 knts. and only present for a very short period of time as the water is just pouring down. It’s unnerving, but not a “white squall”, at least not a bad one, and no harm is done. We get another one not long afterwards. The rest of the afternoon uneventful, but late in the day I see a large catamaran come in through the “other” entrance into the harbor. I had chosen the one I came in because it was so much larger than the one the catamaran came in through. That one was really narrow. Anyway, later that evening when it was good and dark we could see that there were red and green lights identifying the narrow channel, which sent me back to the Cruising Guide that confirmed that the narrow channel was actually the recommended entrance. That have been ascertained, I commit to leaving through the preferred channel in the morning and we turn in for the night.
June 1 - Well, it’s June 1 and we’re off to the Abacos. The “half” of our journey. It’s sunny but there are lots of those squall clouds around and the wind is predicted to be 10/15 knts. and that’s what it is. We leave early as the journey is long and it will be the first time we’re approaching a land mass from the lee shore side (the side the wind is blowing onto), and we have a somewhat narrow cut to go through to enter protected waters. Otherwise, there’s nothing between us and Africa to the East. I reef the main when I put it up because I am leery of those “white squalls” we had yesterday and after we get out into open water and pass the reefs on the back of the Egg and Russell Islands and make sure that we have the wind sufficiently abeam to sail well I put up the jib and we start sailing. It’s a straight shot all the way from the point past the Devil’s Backbone to Little Harbour Cut in the Abacos and if we’re not whacked by the squalls which are all around us it could be a fine sailing day. I leave the engine on to make maximum headway as low tide at our entrance cut is about 5:30pm and I do not want to get in at low tide. There’s no one out here for the whole 50 miles except two cruise ships, one going to Turks and Caicos and one going to St. Martin, and a small freighter and a larger container ship. At some point we’ve been making good progress and the wind freshens so I shut off the engine and we’re finally just a sailboat. Waves are 3/5 ft. with occasional swells that are well spaced and we’re romping along in sunlight, but always wary of the clouds and squall lines all around us. We pass through one little system that drops a little rain on us, but nothing much, and most of the time we’ve got sunshine. As we approach Little Harbour Cut we see smaller power craft. The wind picks up to 20 and it looks as though we may have to go through a squall line to go through the cut. The breakers on the reefs all around are a little intimidating, but I know that as we make the last turn to go through the cut that the wind and the waves will be more astern (a good way to go through the cut in my opinion), and I decide to take in the jib but leave the main up to give us stability and power when we go through the cut. It’s an easy choice because there’s a decent area of deep water just after we get through the cut where we can maneuver into the wind to drop the main. It takes a little doing to “thread the needle” between the coral heads on either side of the cut with the wind and waves up a bit, but the boat behaves beautifully and we’re “inside” in a flash (that is to say in the Sea of Abaco and out of the ocean swells of Northwest Providence Channel). We take the main down and motor to a lovely anchorage behind Lynyard Cay were there are four of more scalloped beach coves to anchor in with Lynyard Cay between us and the prevailing Easterly winds. The only problem with the anchorage is that the water close to shore is deeper than one one like for anchoring in an ideal world with 20 plus knt. winds. It’s over 20 ft. in most places, and while that doesn’t sound like much, it means putting down a lot of anchor chain to get a reasonable scope. Anyway, we anchor and watch the squalls come through carry winds over 25 knts. on occasion. Well, we’re here. We “made it” to the second major leg of our trip and we relax and have an early dinner as we started out at daybreak and it’s been a big day. We’re watching our position carefully with the depth and wind and it seems to me that our anchor might be dragging, particularly as we are yawing quite a bit, but it doesn’t seem as though we really moved much so we go to sleep with me figuring I’ll sleep with “one eye open” until I’m sure we’re firmly anchored.
June 2 - Well, my instincts are pretty good and at 12:30 a.m. when I get up to check it turns out we have dragged a meaningful distance, albeit into safe water and away from any other boats, but away from the wind and wave protection of Lynyard Cay. It’s pitch black out and the wind is strong and it’s not a happy situation. We agree to take turns sitting up to see if we drag any more because in the current situation it’s better to stay put if we’re not dragging any more than it would be to reposition ourselves. Neither of us gets much sleep and at 4:30 a.m. I realize that we have dragged a little more and I decide that as soon as it’s light we’ll reset our anchor. I doze in the cockpit to keep an eye on our position and when it’s light I wake Kryss up and we reset our anchor. We’re both exhausted from the long sailing day the day before and from being up most of the night, so we crash and sleep most of the morning away. We’re still wasted when we finally get up, so it’s a lounging around day. Kryss trims my hair and I feel like a new man. Predictions are for the winds to lighten tomorrow and we plan to take the dingy into the beach, and maybe over to Little Harbour.
June 3 - It’s cloudy and the wind is still blowing pretty strongly, but not as strongly as yesterday. We take a dinghy ride to the beach and walk over to the ocean side. We then take a further ride along the Sea of Abaco side of Lynyard Cay and meet Geoff and Renee Beiser on Moonfleet. He was raised in the Abacos (Freeport) and has roots in Ct. as well. He worked as a marine engineer for a marine survey concern and is retired. They come over for drinks before dinner and are very pleasant. Having trouble with the battery charger-seems like there’s always something. Anyway, wind is supposed to lay down tomorrow and we plan to take the dinghy to Little Harbor to have lunch at Pete’s Pub and look at the gallery. Pete’s father, Randolph Johnston was a famous sculptor who settled in in Little Harbor and worked there for many years. He and his family actually lived in a cave without power or water until he could bring both to the Harbor. There are moorings in Little Harbor but the entrance is too shallow for us.
June 4 - We go to Pete’s by dinghy with Geoff and Renee and a young couple named Grant and Tara that they met from another sailboat (Lady of the Islands). The harbor is almost totally enclosed so that there’s no waves or swell but you have to go through the substantial swell coming in from Little Harbor Cut to get there. It’s very small, very quaint and quite pretty. The food is excellent and reasonable and the “Blasters” that they recommended for our drinks were good as well. The place is very well run and it was crowded. After lunch we walked up the hill to look at the ocean, which was still pretty rough and there was a 26 ft. or so sport fishing boat at the top of the hill which must have been washed up there in a major storm. The gallery was interesting as well. The sculptures were well done, but very expensive, and there wasn’t much there that I thought warranted the prices. We take the long way back in the dinghy around Bridges Cay looking for a “blue hole” that Geoff thought was there, but we didn’t find anything. What we did find when we got back that there was another 1987 50 ft. Gulfstar anchored just a short distance away with a Stars and Stripes painted hull like ours. It’s finally hot and sunny, and if only the battery charger were working all would be very well.
Hope to have pix for you in a few days.
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