Moving on

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Dave

We have been in Hatchet Bay for a while now waiting on friends to fly in. They are supposed to be in Governor’s Harbor tomorrow, so with favorable winds we are moving south today. While here we checked out the town, ate out, went to the beach, worked on the tan, snorkeled, went lobstering, had friends over, went to the cruisers parties etc. It’s been fun but it’s time to move on.

Heading to the cruiser’s get together:

…with Mike and Michelle of S/V Bay Tripper from Boston. They have a son around 3 years and a daughter of 8 months:

Still practicing:

You know you’re bored when you do this:

The other day Tanya and I took the dinghy down the coast to go snorkeling/lobstering and we found this cave. We decided to go back yesterday and check it out.

Heading down the coast:

Cave:

Driving in, the water is so clear:

Just inside the entrance:

The water is about 2 1/2 feet deep:

Without the flash, the water had a blue glow:

Tanya stayed in the dinghy grasping (for dear life) the wall of the cave:

I slipped into the water and walked into the cave. Kind of reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney:

Turn to the left. I don’t think these were stalactites because there was no dripping water. I think they are double uvulas :

Then the cave split. One way closed up in a few feet the other went pretty far in:

And that is about as far as I will go:

Heading back out:

Heading back home:

Fun day (for one of us)!  We are heading to Governor’s Harbour this afternoon and depending on the weather, should be there through the 15th. If any bad weather comes up we will have to run back here for a day or two. After that we may head to Rock Sound or jump straight to the Exumas.

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Hatchet Bay Eleuthera

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Dave

After a fantastic day and quiet evening at Meeks Patch, just south of Spanish Wells, we departed for Hatchet Bay. We headed south and east, passed west to east through Current Cut and had a delightfully quiet sail (engine off) all the way to Hatchet Bay.

Current Cut is a relatively narrow passage that separates Eleuthera and Current Island. The current through the cut can reach 10 knots which makes it impassable (in our boat) unless timed correctly. There are no tide tables for the cut, only opinions which can vary widely. We made an educated guess based on the most credible information and seemed to time it perfectly. Best guess for slack tide is two hours after Nassau so we anchored 30 minutes prior, just outside the cut. We grabbed our handheld GPS and jumped in the dinghy to take a test run. The current was still running west to east at 1.5 knots and it was very choppy. We headed back to the boat, tied everything down and pulled up anchor just prior to slack tide. We entered the cut exactly two hours after high tide in Nassau and had a perfect trip through the cut! We had almost no current, no wave or chop, almost flat calm, it was perfect! We turned south for about a mile then headed due east, shut off the engine and sailed for three hours! Just as we reached the west coast of central Eleuthera two dolphins showed up and played under the bow of our boat. Dolphins playing around the boat never gets old.

Link to map, description and pictures of current cut. The map shows the entire area in Eleuthera we have been cruising in so far, Egg Island, Royal Island, Spanish Wells, and Current.

http://www.discover-eleuthera-bahamas.com/current-cut.html

Link to a panoramic photo of current cut. Click on the little circle at the bottom left in the picture and it will expand full screen, hit escape to return to normal view.

http://www.eleuthera-map.com/current-cut-pano-photo.htm

Aerial view current cut:

Current cut looking west to east:

Motoring through the cut:

Government dock on the Eleuthera side of the cut:

Current cut looking back to the west:

Cliffs along the west coast of central Eleuthera:

Two dolphins playing under the bow:

The entrance to Hatchet Bay suddenly appeared in the cliffs:

Looking right:

…and left:

Welcome:

Alice Town Fire Station:

We had dinner at The Front Porch overlooking the harbour. The Front Porch is owned by Francis and Gina, two wonderful and friendly people.

Tanya had the shrimp, I had the stone crab, and both were excellent:

Then I got my butt kicked in Trivial Pursuit:

Random shot from inside the bay looking out:

Dea Latis, storm anchor out, Hatchet Bay:

Shots of the anchorage:

It was very cloudy and rainy the first few days we were here. This was the first sun we had seen in a while. Sunrise Hatchet Bay:

Cruiser’s get together on the dock, food, drink, two guitar players, great times. Met some really nice people…then most of them left…

Conch trio at sunset, the guy on the left is from Brunswick Maine:

Tanya made me birthday brownies!

Our friends, Dirk and Nancy on Renegade, showed up a few days later which was nice. We all made a quick trip to the beach and got some fishing in as well. We are both heading south in a day or two but they are heading to the Exumas while we are headed for Governor’s Harbour. It was nice to see them again.

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Spanish Wells

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Dave

While in Spanish Wells we had the pleasure of spending time with family friends, Jane and Bill. They rent a cottage on Spanish Wells and were our gracious hosts for a couple of days. In addition to feeding us some amazing meals, they took us on a tour around Spanish Wells and Russel island via golf cart. We had a wonderful time and can’t thank them enough for their hospitality!

Touring around in the golf cart was a blast:

I think this was going up Main St:

Along the waterfront, mooring field in the distance:

Across from Spanish wells, North Eleuthera:

Nice cottages along the waterfront:

Dea Latis in the mooring field:

 Mooring field:

Fishing boats along the waterfront:

Waterfront:

Riding in the cart, having fun:

Going to Russell Island:

Bridge to Russell Island:

Beach along northwest side of Spanish Wells:

Another Pearson 424 showed up the day before we left:

Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to talk until we were leaving:

Heading west in the channel, Pinder’s grocery:

The boat yard in Spanish Wells:

We had a weather forecast of 10-15 knot winds (perfect), when we got a couple miles south we had 25 knots sustained with gusts to 32. Sen-sational. After getting the crap beat out of us and taking a couple of 35-40 degree rolls we were headed back in full retreat. We didn’t want to go back into SWs so we opted for the protection of a small island just south called Meeks Patch.

We spent the day in this beautiful spot exploring the island, swimming and having fun:

Dea Latis anchored at Meeks Patch:

We had this entire beach to ourselves:

We are currently in Hatchet Bay, Alice Town Eleuthera waiting on some bad weather to pass. We had one front blow through last night and another coming on Wednesday so we are hanging out for a while. Internet is intermittent at best so we will update when able.

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Crossing

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dave

After a fun day at Little Harbour we dinghied back to the boat, pulled up anchor and headed back to Lynyard Cay for the night. Lynyard is more protected and we needed some calm in order to sleep before our crossing. We got up at midnight, readied the boat, and started our route to Eleuthera. The weather window was very small and we were 80% sure we would have to turn back. Well luck was with us this night! The weather forecast was right on target for once and we ended up making an uneventful crossing from the Abacos to Eleuthera.

The trip was 50 miles south into the open Atlantic Ocean then across the Northeast Providence Channel to Egg Island on the Northwest tip of Eleuthera. The night was warm, the winds were light and the moon was full. We had a huge bright moon all night long, makes night passages so much easier:

The winds were light or on the nose so we motor sailed most of the way, but it was fun:

About 9 hours later, Egg Island  Eleuthera:

Once past Egg Island cut we headed northeast to Royal Island, which was our destination for the day. Because we made such good time we decided to bypass Royal Island and head straight to Spanish Wells. Channel into Spanish Wells:

More pictures as we head east through the channel to the mooring field:

Spanish Wells is a commercial fishing village and not really geared for tourists. There is no real harbor but there are some moorings at the east end of the channel. Moorings are just to the right of that fishing boat:

Everyone we have met so far has been very friendly and very easy to talk to. We were walking down the street to meet some friends and someone pulled over to give us a ride. Thank you Mr. Perry! It’s a small island and I think everyone knows everyone.

Here is a picture of Spanish Wells that someone gave us:

 We have taken lots of pictures here so we will post them when we get a chance. We are staying an extra night and will probably leave Thursday morning.

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Little Harbour

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dave

While at Lynyard Cay we took a day trip over to Little Harbour. The harbor is only accessible at high tide so we anchored just outside and took the dinghy into Pete’s Pub and Gallery.    http://www.petespubandgallery.com/   Pete’s is a great beach bar with tasty food and cold beer. The gallery next door is beautiful. Check out the gallery link on their page, very interesting.

Entering Little Harbour in the dinghy. Boats on their moorings inside the harbor:

Rocky coast on the way in:

 

Little Harbour from the beach at Pete’s:

Pete’s Pub:

 A couple of $15 burgers, peas and rice and pinapple walnut coleslaw, with $5 kalik lights. The burgers were huge and very tasty, must have been half a pound of beef in there!

 After lunch we walked a few feet down this road to the gallery:

Gallery. Check out the gallery link on their webpage. They do a lot of bronze work and there are plenty of pictures on their site:

After the gallery we walked over to the Atlantic side to check out the scenery:

Walkway from the Atlantic back to Pete’s:

Curly tail lizard:

After Pete’s we went back to Lynyard Cay and dropped the hook for the night. At midnight we got up and departed Abaco for Eleuthera. We are in Spanish Wells Eleuthera right now and will update on that soon.

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