ELEPHANTS ON THE SEA?

Let’s see, where shall we get stuck this time? It seems that we get one or two good days for travel then a week or more when we have to stay put. I must say that I’ve been stuck worse places than Spanish Wells, Bahamas. I’ve seen the sea full of sheep—whitecaps everywhere. I have yet to see the elephants and really don’t want to.

We haven’t seen the rain and clouds that make up the big storm that hit the East Coast and drifted out into the Atlantic. We have, however, felt its impact. It kicked up huge swells that make their way down to the Bahamas. We want to head to the Abacos, 60 miles north of here. While the swells present very little problem on the open ocean, they wreak havoc when they meet the shallow cuts in the Abacos. The swells go from water that is thousands of feet deep to narrow cuts between the islands where the water is only about 20 feet deep. When that happens, there is only one way for the swells to go—up. They rise up in huge, breaking, elephantine mounds of water that can toss a boat onto the rocks in the narrow cuts.

So, we’ll spend a few more days at Spanish Wells. This tiny island off the north coast of Eleuthera was settled by loyalists who fled the US after the Revolution. The community is very industrious and it shows. The homes are well-kept and the streets are clean. There is color everywhere.

Alligators in the Bahamas?

A fast ferry takes you to quaint Dunmore Town on Harbour Island. The town is also well-kept and has become a tourist destination. It has a long history going back 250 years or so. While Spanish Wells is a Caribbean version of South Florida, Dunmore Town more closely resembles 18th century New England. The long pink sand beach and gentle Atlantic water are an invitation to sunbathe and swim.

No visit to any Bahamian locale is complete without sampling the conch salad. Marty on Harbour Island puts on a good show and whips up a very good conch salad. His personal touch includes cucumber and celery.

Then, you have Buddha in Spanish Wells. He has eschewed lime juice altogether and uses fresh squeezed OJ instead. His use of grated cabbage was a complete surprise and gave the conch salad a sweet crunch.

Both saladiers do a great job of mincing the conch into fine dice. That is very necessary since conch is quite tough. I’m beginning to think that I should abandon my quest for “the best conch salad” in the islands. There are just too many good ones and too many unique ones.

How does one kill time when stuck in a place like Spanish Wells? Cruisers are very social critters and find ways to get together.

Never accuse them of not knowing how to put on a good spread.

Then, there is rum to taste.

Birthdays to celebrate.

Beaches to walk.

Silly games to play.

And, of course, we salute the setting of the sun by blowing the conch horn.

The conch blowing champ is full of hot air!

ALL WET AT HATCHET BAY

“No! Wait! Stop! You’ll sink the dinghy!” So maybe Kathleen was feeling a bit amorous or something. “No, we can’t both be in the same stern quarter of the dinghy at the same time!” Water started pouring over the gunwale and seconds later we were sitting in the water. We had spent a very pleasant evening at happy hour with other boaters in the harbor. Then, we had a terrific time at “Da Spot.”

"Da Spot" Makes a really good conch salad.

So maybe we had a little encouragement from John Barleycorn to be a bit crazy. Even so, as enticing as the water was, I wasn’t interested in a swim at that time of night. I had to swim out to rescue the “dry” bag which turned out to be not so dry. At least we saved the conch horn and the SD card in the camera reluctantly yielded the contents of its electronic innards. The camera, alas, was a total loss as was the iPod. All this began a few days earlier in Rock Sound when I declared, “We’re leaving tomorrow.” We were expecting a serious blow and I didn’t want to be stuck in Rock Sound for another week. “Tomorrow” promised an easy ride up to Hatchet Bay which offered really good protection from the blow. Unfortunately, the ride didn’t start out so well. First of all, the batteries in the house bank were basically dead and then I couldn’t get anything from the engine battery. I had been flying a riding sail and it shaded one or the other of the solar panels to the point that they didn’t provide enough juice to keep the batteries charged. Then, there was a bad terminal connection on the engine battery. Two hours later, the solar panels had charged the batteries enough to start the engine. I figured that even with such a late start, we could make Hatchet Bay with daylight to spare. Light SW winds and smooth seas provided one of the most pleasant sailing days of the trip. Our last day in Rock Sound was spent with a rental car. We visited Tarpum Bay, a picturesque fishing village. Some years ago, an American artist made his home there and he built a “castle” for himself. Then we went to the Ocean Hole, a large, inland body of water that has a subterranean connection to the ocean. There are large numbers of fish—snappers, angelfish, parrotfish and others. They come in huge numbers when you toss bread crumbs on the water. Fishing is prohibited.

Kids here are much like kids everywhere. “Take my picture, take my picture!” We were besieged by a group of school kids. “OK, everybody get together over here.” “No, I don’t want to stand next to him. I don’t want him to put his arm around me!” “OK, you stand here and he’ll be over there. You kinda like him, doncha?” Sheepishly, with a little smile, “Yeah.” Coming into Hatchet Bay, I saw a couple of lines of crab pots. They caught me by surprise. I learned later that crabbing is a big industry here. Lightly steamed with melted butter they tasted great at the “Front Porch.” Lobstering is a big deal, too. Over a month in the Bahamas and still no lobster! You can usually count on somebody coming by the boat with, “Hey, Captain, wanna buy some lobster?” No such luck. We did come close. We were walking down the street when a guy on a bicycle called, “Wanna buy some lobster?” You bet! “How much?” “I give ‘em to you cheap.” So that means a dollar a tail, right?” Laughter. “No mon, can’t do dat. Six for $20.” “Deal.” “I’m behind Robert’s Grocery, stop by.” Later, we stopped by andf he invited us up to his place and called for his wife. She appeared carrying a big pot. “Look mon, you don’t even have to cook ‘em.” His wife gave him an if-looks-could-kill eye. He was going to sell dinner! We declined but it looked and smelled wonderful! While we were at Hatchet Bay, friends from s/v Kalunamoo showed up with friends of theirs, Roman and Olha on s/v Moya Mreeya. It was a pleasant surprise. I cruised with Bill and Maureen last year. We all had lunch at "Da Spot" with Judy and Don on s/v Nemo.