RED SKY AT NIGHT . . .

. . . sailor's delight!

           The trip from Spanish Wells to the Abacos was 1) exciting, 2) easy, 3) fun, 4) uneventful, 5)  and not so UNeventful. We had anchored at Royal Island and left before sunrise.  Kathleen was still recovering from some kind of infection that had taken a mind to give her a hard time and we almost returned to Spanish Wells.  In the end, we headed North to the Abacos and as the sun rose over Egg Island, we bid “Goodbye” to Eleuthera.

            Stiff southeast breezes drove us along at 7 knots, woohoo!  We did wing and wing for a couple of hours. 

That is such a peaceful point of sail; you hardly feel the wind and the boat hardly feels like it is moving.  Things went that way for most of the day until . . . yikes, squall!  Suddenly the wind veered and really began to blow.  So much for the slight chance of squalls.  Thank goodness I had reefed the mainsail prior to getting underway.  The thing about squalls is that you can really make time if you can put up with the discomfort and thankfully, they don’t last very long.

            At any rate, we came through the cut at Little Harbor and anchored off Lynyard Cay 10 and a half hours after leaving Royal Island.  The sunset was beautiful.  After a good night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast, we headed to Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island.

            We connected with Lee and Sherry on Alesto, a couple I’ve known for several years.  We rented a car with them and headed south.  We stopped at Pete’s Pub at Little Harbor and Cherokee Point.  Little Harbor was settled by sculptor/artist Randolph Johnston.  He and his family lived in a cave for a while.  If you time your visit well, you can be there on a casting day at his foundry where he creates his amazing sculptures.  Today, the tiny community consists of a handful of cute homes.

            Cherokee Point was settled by Loyalists who left the US in the 1780s.  It is a neat little community of a few hundred souls.  Their homes are well kept, the streets are clean and flowers abound.  The 770 foot wooden pier is a sight to behold.It spans sand flats where the water is only a foot or so deep at high tide and ends in water deep enough to allow dockage for boats.

  

            We were glad that we were too early for lunch at Pete’s Pub because we had a delightful lunch at Sandy Point—grilled lobster with a spicy butter sauce!  The restaurant, a modest place on the beach looks west over the ocean. 

The beach provided some of the best shelling yet.

            The ride to Marsh Harbor took us through one of the numerous forest fires that have plagued the island for some time. 

The low-lying island, like Florida, gets more than its share of lightning strikes which ignite fires that race through the Abaco pine forests.  Kathleen and I saw more of them the following day when we drove to Treasure Cay and points north.

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.

HIGHBOURNE FUN AND ?

            We must have walked a hundred miles on Highbourne Cay.  That’s no mean feat considering the island is only 3 miles long and maybe a half mile wide. 

            

We decided against a bus tour of the island.  Someone seems to have a sense of humor!  We followed a path which a sign promised led to a spring.

  Indeed!  We took a road named “Horseshoe Road” assuming that it would loop around and join another road somewhere.  After walking what seemed an eternity, we arrived at a cul-de-sac.  Only later did we learn that the road was named for the beautiful and secluded Horseshoe beach.  The shallow water off the beach is inhabited by scores of conch, all much too small to harvest.

            At the cul-de-sac, we found a recently bulldozed path that we hoped would not end in another cul-de-sac.  I was reminded of Dan’l Boone who, when asked, “Have you ever been lost?” replied, “No, but I was worried once!”  Happily the path took us near an access to the 2 mile white sand beach.  The surf was up due to the front coming through, but it was still refreshing to jump in.

            It wasn’t all fun and games.  The effluent hose from the head had become hopelessly plugged with mineral deposits and it was impossible to flush.  Yuck!  How to fix that?  Using a coat hanger and vinegar I was able to remove much of the blockage.  Then I filled the hose with vinegar and while we were hiking it further softened the stuff.  Using a hose attached to shore water, I was able to back-flush the thing.  Yay!  No need for a bucket!

Oh, yes, another door for my collection.!

            The trip to Rock Sound, Eleuthra was a pleasant ride in smooth seas and light winds.  Just as we were approaching the entrance to Rock Sound we hooked the best tasting grouper that we’ve ever eaten!  La dolce vita!