In which we start our winter cruise of the Bahamas.
We started December
anchored off Green Turtle Cay. To progress further down the Abacos,
one has to briefly exit the shelter of the fringing islands.
Unfortunately, the exit channel Whale Cay, has a fearsome reputation
in North Easterly swells, so there was a great deal of inertia.
Eventually, on the 1st, we seized the bull by the horns
and, with a flood tide to avoid wind-over-tide, we motor sailed out,
travelled 3 miles in the almost-open sea and re-entered, anchoring in
Bakers Bay. Following our new policy of stopping to smell the roses,
on the 2nd we sailed over to Treasure Cay to enter via a
winding channel. Our timing could have been better and we had to
slow down to avoid arriving on low water. We crept in with engine at
idle revs and never saw less than 1.9 metres. The harbour is private
and a charge of $20 is levied to even anchor so we paid the extra $10
(+tax) to pick up a mooring ball. Late lunch, and ashore, mainly for
laundry only to discover that they were closing in 40 minutes. Rapid
decision to do a wash and let nature do the drying. I did a couple
of water runs later and, in the morning, Elsie had a long luxurious
shower while I did a little shop and a book swap to justify the
expense. On exit, we stopped off to top up on diesel and then sailed
back towards Bakers bay. Spotting, on AIS, a couple of friends from
earlier in the week at Delias Cay, we continued east for a few more
miles and joined them, dinghying ashore for a convivial afternoon at
Grabbers beach bar. On return to Ruby, I took a dip in the clear,
warm water. The anchor was nicely set, the hull was clean but,
horror, the propeller anode was almost completely gone. It had been
replaced in Rhode Island and usually they last 6-9 months so,
possibly, the fresh water we had been sailing in over the last few
months had increased to erosion rate. I carry a small SCUBA set on
board but had been unable to get the cylinder topped up in the States
as it didn’t have a U.S. stamp and it only had a few minutes of air
remaining. So, in the morning, I drained it completely and it was
then round round to settlement harbour to get it topped off. We had
a pleasant walk round the village and along the ocean shore while it
was being done and returned to bad news: there was a fault with the
valve and air was leaking. He had half filled it for me but…
Green Turtle Cay
Great Guana Cay
Our anchorage was
fine for the existing wind but that was due to change to south of
east so we picked up and headed off on the 12 miles to Marsh Harbour,
the commercial centre of Abaco. Sails up, stop engine – no. The
bowden cable connecting the stop handle to the fuel pump had failed,
requiring me to put my hands on a running engine (theoretically
banned by Elsie after last years incident) to stop it. A temporary
solution of a length of cord rigged through the maintenance hatch in
the shower room was rigged and tested and we continued on our way.
Once again, we had managed to time our arrival for low water and, it
being full moon, this meant that depths were 20 cm less than charted.
It was a very slow chug round the harbour, with the depth sounder
showing just inches below the keel before we found a spot where we
could swing safely. Slightly annoyingly, the deepest spot was
occupied by a catamaran which could probably have been safe anywhere.
The following morning, we debated whether we needed to go ashore for
anything. No. The water was a little murky and I wanted to change
the anode so we picked up and motored the few miles to an anchorage
in the lee of Matt Lowes Cay. We found a spot that gave us good
protection from the wind and swell but there was a current running so
we moved ½ a mile to the north of Jack Cash point. I reckoned that
I had about 5 minutes useful air in the SCUBA pack, enough to tidy up
if there was a problem with one of the anode bolts, so decided to
give it a go using snorkel. I am not the world’s most confident
snorkeller, so only get about 20-30 seconds useful time on each dip
but, after about an hour, I managed to complete the 2 minute job and
the prop was once again protected.
On Wednesday, we
were joined by friends on Touterelle and Aura. We joined them for
sun-downers but otherwise had a thoroughly lazy day. We did stir
ourselves sufficiently on Thursday to dinghy ashore and walk the mile
or so into town finding a dive shop which reckoned that they could
repair the leak on my tank, so did an extra run to take that ashore.
I also went up the mast to investigate our VHF aerial. All looked
fine up there so the problem would seem to be inside the mast.
Friday started very
wet, with the wind from the south. It was forecast to turn
Northerly over the weekend, so we needed to move and, seeing a gap in
the weather, we picked up and headed back into Marsh harbour. I
dinghied ashore and, at the second attempt, collected my repaired and
filled diving cylinder. Then, as the clearance looked more certain,
we went ashore for a fairly major shop. The local supermarket,
Maxwells, was very well stocked – just 50% more expensive than in
the States. We even managed to find Weetabix, which had been eluding
us for the past month and also my favourite variation of tea (green,
de-caf, lemon). Sun-downers on board, joined by friends from Lady
Rebel.
Saturday started
with F4 southerlies but with a forecast an active front which would
bring the wind round to the north west and, likely, make our current
position uncomfortable. So, after another little foray ashore, we
heaved up and sailed, motor/sailed then motored for 9 miles, past our
previous anchorage, Matt Lowe’s and Sugar Loaf Cays and back to the
coast to achieve a straight line distance of about a mile. The
protection from the current southerly wind in our new position wasn’t
great so we hoped that the forecast was correct. It was. 2 hours
later, the wind veered 120 degrees, gusting up to gale force as it
did so. Torrential rain and a temperature drop of 5 degrees,
accompanied by distant lightening showed what a sub-tropical cold
front could achieve. 30 minutes later, Tortourelle and Aura appeared
out of the rain and joined us – we felt just a little smug
sympathetic.
Our AIS track round Marsh Harbour
Showers were
forecast for Sunday, so we sat and did little then, on Monday, we had
a pleasant downwind sail down to Little Harbour Bay. We now had a
dilemma: our next stop was about 60 miles away; each end would
involve passages to the East through unfamiliar, shallow waters –
best not done in the dark or into a rising sun. The wind for the
following 2 days was forecast to be Westerly, mostly F4 but
occasionally dropping to F2. If we left late afternoon and sailed
overnight, we would arrive, tired, before sunrise; leave when the
sun was high enough in the morning and we might have a late evening
arrival. A possible solution was a tiny bay at the south east tip of
Abaco: there should be protection both from the westerly wind and the
prevailing north-easterly Atlantic swell. So, on Tuesday, we heaved
up at 0855, headed out through Little Harbour Cut and down the coast.
Full sail, then a single reef, gave us a fine broad reach down to
Hole-in-the-Wall (rock arch now sadly demolished by a hurricane). We
worked our way in as far as possible, by-passing a wide sandy area,
to get maximum protection. Unfortunately, this put us in a mixed and
rock bed and although the anchor held well, we were not totally
convinced that it was secure. Even more unfortunately, the building
westerly sent a swell round the southern tip of the island so we got
little sleep. We were glad to get away at 8 in the morning and head
across. The wind was now almost directly behind us which made a
slowish passage under genoa alone but there was no hurry and we
dropped anchor at the western end of Royal Island at 14:20. ‘Follow
Me’, last seen in St Augustine was already there and we felt a
little guilty as our joining them encouraged 4 other boats to disturb
their isolation. They seemed to forgive us and we socialised a
little over the next couple of days. This included a close look at
their dinghy – a New Zealand catamaran design that incorporates a
low, flat, bow. Elsie is unable to recover into our dinghy from the
water, which limits snorkelling possibilities and this seems like a
potential solution. The chart shows reefs surrounding much of the
neighbouring islands and we set off in the dinghy the following
morning to explore. Unfortunately, the ‘reefs’ turned out to be
no more than thick patches of sea grass but we did find a very small
private beach to relax on. Having brought dinghy shoes, I then
foolishly went for a paddle and managed to step on a sea urchin,
getting a cluster of spines in my foot. While regaining shore
attempting not to tread on them, I got some more in my finger…
Somewhere we missed
earlier in the year, when going north, was Spanish Wells so, on
Friday we headed over, diverting to look at Royal Island Harbour on
the way. This is a wonderful little, almost completely protected,
bay. Attempts were made to develop it a few years ago and there are
some unsightly ruins but it would be a good bolt-hole. Spanish
Wells, itself, has shallow approaches and we motored in slowly. A
motor yacht ahead of us appeared to pick up a pilot so I followed it,
taking a path not clear from my chart but it worked. We intended to
anchor close to the entrance but the echo sounder showed only 30 cm
under the keel, at low water, and I wanted 50cm. The chart showed
that 100 yards further on we would get that so slowly on, and on…
Half a mile further, I saw the magic number and we anchored, only to
find part of someone’s roof, presumably hurricane debris, right
next to us and probably 20cm proud of the sea bed. Lunch, then a
long dinghy ashore to explore. A pleasant little town but somewhere
for a few days rather than a long stay. Poached a little internet to
update aps and load a few guilty episodes of the Archers and other
sundry BBC programmes. Found a supermarket that was nearly as good
as the one in Marsh Harbour and only a little more expensive.
Checked that we could get water if we brought Ruby in the following
day.
Saturday morning,we
dinghied in again for a good provisioning trip then, after lunch,
took Ruby in, on a rising tide. To the Marina, who charged us $32.25
for 60 gallons of water. We are just going to have to live with this
and be as economical as possible with it. We exited, then retraced
our route back to the West, then South to anchor in the lee of
Eleuthera for a night or two. Sunday, the forecast was for light
airs and blue skies, so we planned a lazy day of sun-bathing.
Naturally, it was overcast with a brisk wind. Monday, forecast to be
overcast with 15 knots of wind, was blue with 6-7 knots from the NE.
It was time to move anyway, so we picked up at 08:00 and headed south
to Current Cut, motoring with a little bit of assist from full main.
This cut has a fearsome reputation, with currents up to 10 knots (and
we were near spring tides). There was conflicting advice about when
slack water could be expected so I went for earlier, rather than
later. This worked fine and gave us 2 knots of push through the cut.
Even with this, there were strong eddies, pushing us 10-15 degrees
off course through a narrow channel. Once clear, we unfurled the
genoa and had a fine, stately, beat. Ruby loves these conditions,
light winds and flat seas. With an indicated 6 knots of wind, we
were making 7 through the water and tacking through less than 90
degrees. We tracked an American yacht, which passed through half an
hour before us, going a knot slower and tacking through 110 degrees.
They took nearly twice as long to cover the ten miles up to Glass
Window Bridge, our destination for the day. This had been a rock
arch, dividing the Atlantic from the inner sea but it was demolished
by a hurricane a few years back and replaced by a concrete bridge,
which was not nearly a scenic. Ashore for a little walk in the
afternoon.
Glass window bridge
On the North East
coast of Eleuthera is Harbour Island, which is renowned as a scenic
holiday resort. There is a passage to it, from Spanish Wells, known
as the Devils Backbone, because of the profusion of rocks. Dire
warnings are given about attempting to navigate it without a pilot
(available for $150 a time) I had looked at it on my charts and,
while a little convoluted, was 95% sure I could get through without
problem but that 5%… There are no buses on the islands but we had
read that hitch-hiking was an acceptable method of travel so, on
Tuesday, we dinghied ashore at 10 and hung out a thumb. Elsie has written more about our big day out.
Southerly winds,
though not strong, were forecast for Wednesday night and there was
only one tiny bay that looked like giving protection from this
direction in the area so we decided to ‘bag’ it and headed South
2 miles to Mutton Fish point. It was as we expected, allowing us to
get close in to curving cliffs and giving the anchor a good hold on
thick sand. Cue 36 hours of doing very little in very calm
conditions, just listening to the waves lapping into the hollow the
sea has etched into the base of the cliffs. On Thursday, we sailed
another 7 miles south to Hatchet Harbour. Like Royal Island Harbour,
this is almost totally enclosed with just a 20 metre wide entrance.
We anchored at the Eastern end and dinghied ashore for a walk round
Alice Town. A quiet, pleasant place but, as with so many that we are
seeing here, quite a few large, expensive, houses being built. We
fear that if we return in 10 or 20 years time, Eleuthera will have
gone the way of the Florida Keys and New Providence to become a rich
man’s holiday island. Friday, another 17 mile sail down the coast.
We started with just the cruising chute, as we should have been
almost downwind, but soon put it away and had a great beam reach with
full ‘plain’ sail. We were heading for Colebrook Town, once the
seat of government. Elsie had read that there was a ‘fish fry’
on Fridays and, with fond memories of ‘jump-ups’ in Barbados and
St Lucia, we were looking forward to it. We managed to catch a spanish mackeral on the way, big enough to feed us two meals. To the north of the Colebrook town is
Governors Harbour, a wide, well protected bay but this has a
reputation for poor holding so, instead, went to the south and
dropped the anchor inside Laughing Bird Cay. Ashore for a walk and reconnaissance, finding good supermarket and liquor store. Full of
hope, we went ashore again just after 6 to find that the fish fry was
exclusively patronised by American tourists and rather over-pricedfor indifferent food. The music, when it started was by an
incompetent DJ mixing jazzed up carols with fragments of rock. Not
our idea of Caribbean music so we headed back to the boat for an
early night. Ashore again to provision and get an extra couple of
cases of beer then we motored a couple of miles south to find a nice
secluded bay for the afternoon. Our plan was to be in Rock Sound for
Christmas so, on Sunday, we picked up and had a great reach down the
coast then beat up to anchor off the town, We are getting used to
Bahamian waters now and our pulse rates stay in control sailing at 7
knots in less than 3 metres of water for miles at a time. Christmas
day, itself was spent quietly with a walk ashore in the morning, a
couple of water runs in the afternoon and a meal roast chicken and
veggies in the evening. Ashore again on Boxing day for laundry, a
little light shopping and one more water run.
Fish!
2.2 metres means we only have 60cms undert the keel.
Time for a move so,
on the 27th, we picked up at 09:50 and headed out in an
Easterly F3. This gave us a broad reach down Rock sound and up to
the start of the Davis Channel. It was near low water so, for much
of the way, the depth sounder was only showing 2.2 metres – about 2
feet of clearance under the keel. The Davis Channel itself was
directly downwind, and this had decreased to 7 knots, so we motored
this bit then had another good reach down to, almost, the bottom of
Eleuthera. There is a known anchorage right at the tip but we didn’t
fancy it: as our recent experience at Hole-in-the-Wall shows,
anchorages at corners tend to attract swell from every direction.
Instead, we chose to stop at Bannerman Town, which has a broad
shallow bay. There are a number of tiny, almost enclosed bays in the
middle of it and, as we approached, their purpose became clear. A
huge cruise ship was anchored off and these were artificial beaches
for their passengers to have their day of beach fun. We stopped a
mile short. Even here, the swell from the Atlantic side worked its
way round to set us gently rolling so we were glad we hadn’t
continued right to the tip. We went for a dip and had a pleasant
surprise. We had been a bit disappointed by the water temperature
since returning to the Bahamas. Here, it was noticeably warmer,
presumably because the Atlantic was retaining its summer heat while
the shallow waters we had been in were cooling down.
Another short hop on
the 28th to Half Moon Bay on Little San Salvador. This
island is owned by Holland America Line and the bay is used as a
beach resort for their passengers but previous cruisers had reported
that the northern end was quiet and that, after the visiting ships
leave at 16:00 the whole beach is available. A broad reach for the
first 2 miles then, once round the tip of Eleuthera, close hauled
across with 1 reef in a NE3-4. Rain was forecast and, with 5 miles
to go, a minor front hit us, veering the wind by 30 degrees and
giving us a good wash down. Taking advantage of the wind shift, we
tacked through 60 degrees and then back again after the front to take
us to our anchorage spot. Today, there were 2 cruise ships in, with
an aggregate of over 5000 passengers. They mostly chose to stay at
the resort end with just a few strolling up to ‘our’ end. To our
surprise, we were joined not by another yacht but by a small local
cargo vessel, followed by a visit from a Bahamian police launch to
check our papers. We later discovered that the cargo boat had run
short of fuel – could we help – no. As the police had visited
him and were aware of his problem and, presumably, there was some
sort of fuel availability ashore, we didn’t see it as our problem.
We were a little concerned for our own security with him so close but
we figured that, even if he had bad intentions, his police check
would give him second thoughts. In any event, he picked up and
departed before sunset. We went ashore in the afternoon, to a beach
north of the passenger area and had a pleasant swim. As the last of
the day’s visitors left, we went ashore again, to the main beach.
A security guard reminded us, politely, not to stray off the beach
but it was a pleasant stroll, looking at the permanent structures and
toys laid on for the visitors – Bournemouth in the Bahamas.
Looking at the cruise lines brochure later, we saw the blurb of ‘have
you ever dreamt of having your own tropical island?’ Well yes. We
manage it from time to time, without having to share with 5000 others
and we can manage without beach bars and pedallos.
Cruise ship at half moon bay.
On the 29th,
we woke to find that we were alone but discovered that today’s
visitor arrived at 09:30 and wouldn’t depart until after sunset.
We dinghied up to a reef, north of the bay, for me to have a snorkel-
nice, but not spectacular and I was shadowed by a 4 ft barracuda,
which made me just a little uncomfortable. Up anchor at 11:00 and
another short sail to Orange Creek, at the north end of Cat Island.
We were accompanied for the first few miles by waves of jet-skis but
then had the sea to ourselves. We had to curve round a reef and, for
once, the wind obliged and backed as we reached the far end if it,
allowing us to sail almost to our destination with only a mile on the
port tack to get there. Dropped anchor in 3 metres of water so
clear that we could see every grain of sand, had a nice swim to round
off the afternoon then sun-downers watching a huge Cu-Nim pass to the
West stretching to sitting under an almost full moon illuminating the
bay. Ashore in the morning to walk along our private 1 ½ mile sandy
beach then a lazy afternoon on board. Well, lazy-ish. We were not
making enough electricity to keep the batteries charged and a check
showed that the solar panel on the bimini was not working, so down it
came. Without going into boring details, a couple of frustrating hours had it working – intermittently!
Another stroll along
the beach on the 31st then a motor 3 miles South to anchor
off Arthurs Town. The beach access looked a little rocky, so we
lunched before going ashore, to allow the tide to rise a little.
When we did go ashore, it was very disappointing – deserted with
many buildings boarded up and the remaining ones looking the worse
for wear. We motored back to our previous spot and decided that we
would see in the New Year on U.K. time, so raised a glass to all our
friends back home at 19:00 local time.
Monthly stats:
Logged 321 miles
Over ground 295
milesAnnual over ground: 6249 miles
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