Eleuthera (May 2011)

Adios Amigos, farewell Lamb Chop

After months of travelling as buddy boats, it feels strange, and sad to watch as Lamb Chop departs Shroud Cay in the Exumas, bound for Chub Cay and then on to Marathon, Florida.
Kaos is heading East out into Exumas Sound, the deep blue younder, for the six hour run to Rock Sound Harbour, Eleuthera.  Travelling conditions today are good, light Easterly wind with one foot chop on the nose, which makes for a smooth ride.

Rock Sound, Eleuthera
Upon arrival in Rock Sound, it is clear that this is off season, with only two sail boats and one other trawler at anchor in the vast harbour. This was certainly a different picture than when we visited in January 2007. A quiet night was spent aboard.

Kaos at anchor

Rock Sound Harbour is a quaint town, with colorful painted houses adorned with bright bougainvillias and crimson blossoms on the poinciana trees, certainly a pretty picture.




Rock Sound

  The town is cruiser friendly and offers a great, well stocked supermarket, and if you are lucky, the roadside produce stand may be open, offering a selection of local, seasonal items. Unfortunately this was not the case today however, the store had a reasonable selection. After re-provisioning with fresh produce, we headed out for the hot walk back to the town dock. Just as we departed the parking lot, a car pulled up, offering us a ride, which we gladly accepted. Folks here are kind, generous and helpful. Remember to pay acts of kindness forward.
Once back at the boat, it was anchors aweigh, and off to Governor's Harbour, about 30 miles North, on the West coast of Eleuthera.

Governor's Harbour

Governor's Harbour is Eleuthera's capital city, with a history dating back to the 1700's. Like much of Eleuthera, pineapple and citrus was a thriving business. The bustling harbour was alive with the constant coming and going of schooners, loading up with pineapples for exprt to the USA. A sharp decline occurred in the early 1900's, when the US discovered less expensive pineapples in Hawaii.

While some farming exists today, most of the locals are fishermen, and particularly lobster men, which is significantly more lucrative.

The locals are friendly, helpful and take joy in welcoming you to their home town, each time you meet.
Haynes Avenue runs along the waterfront and connects with adjoining Cupids Cay, where the fast ferry and supply boats arrive from Nassau.
The waterfront has several attractive restored buildings, including the pink Government Building and the Library next door.
 

Government Office on Haynes Avenue

During spring, the streets are adorned with the magnificent, bright vermillion blooms of the poinciana tree, found throughout the Bahamian Islands.

The shoreline is sandy and at low tide, stretches out for several hundred yards, as can be seen in the photo below, of Kaos at anchor.
There are no viable dinghy docks, especially at low tide.

It appears that storms have taken them out. Those with a small dinghy and motor will have no problem beaching the dink and dragging to water at low tide. With a 40hp motor and dink weighing in excess of 750 pounds, we were not so fortunate.



Low tide with Kaos at anchor

 

Town from anchorage

 
  








After a day of travel, we opted to have dinner in town, rather than cook We dinghied ashore for an early dinner at the Buccaneer Club. It was quiet, but still early. Service was friendly and food presentation excellent. The cracked conch was good, but not as tender as in Duncan Town, which was melt in your mouth good, and hard to beat.

Upon return from dinner, we found the dink high and dry on the beach. With at least an hour to go before the tide would turn with enough water to float the dink. Waiting for the tide to rise, we found Ronnie’s-Hide-d-Way on Cupid Island, where we went for a beer, while waiting for the tide to rise. Ronnie's is the local hangout, and is the pool hall, local bookie and liquor stor. Although early, it was a busy place with lots of commings and goings.

Still hard aground when we returned an hour later, Alan tried unsuccessfully to pull the dink out a few feet to deeper water.
He was quickly joined by a young man from the bar, who waded into the water with his runners and socks on, oblivious to salt water damage. He was persistent, and sure the two of them could pull the dink to deeper water. No such luck.

Valiant as their efforts were, it was a futile effort, until another young man jumped the seawall, removed his shoes, and entered the water in sock feet and long pants, to render assistance. It appears that three was the magic number, because they pushed and pulled K2 a few feet to water deep enough to float, so we could continue the next 100 yards out to Kaos at anchor. Before we could thank the young men or offer a beer for their assistance, they were back ashore. Whoever they are, thank you. We are grateful for your  help.
Lesson learned – check for local knowledge  and confirm tide status before heading to shore and anchoring dink in shallow water.

Sunday was a quiet day aboard, catching up on chores, email and blog entries. Late morning, music and gospel singing echoed through the harbour from the waterfont churches on Haynes Avenue, and Cupid Island.


Church, Haynes Ave.



Cupid's Cay Church


Later in the afternoon we took a dinghy excursion back towards the Pineapple Cays and were fascinated with the caves and rock formations along the coast.

The rocky coastline appears hard and jagged, but there is much evidence to the contrary. The elements of nature have bored into the rock, allowing rain and/or sea water to erode away until there is insufficient support, causing large chunks of rock to fracture and crash down into the sea.

The dinghy fiasco continues!
On Monday,we rented a car and toured North Eleuthera, visiting Dunmore Town on Harbour Island and Spanish Wells. Our touring plans would keep us away for most of the day, so Alan checked the tide table, and determined just where we should anchor the dinghy so that we would not find it aground upon our return, nor would the tide be high enough that we would have to swim out to reach it, or so we thought!
As we headed to shore to pick up the rental car, Alan misjudged where he planned to drop the anchor. He jumped out into a shallow spot, but as soon as he took a couple of steps toward shore, he was in waist high water, soaking his shorts, undies and shirt. Oh oh, cell phone in pocket...........not good! Actually it was Susann's phone, and our Bahamas phone.........not any more!
The morning had been a hot and busy one prior to our departure, and it was one of those mornings where nothing was going right and the captain was getting somewhat steamed, and this episode certainly did not help. My kids will understand what I mean!

Soaked right to the balls

After wading ashore, soaked to the balls, to meet the rental car fellow Alan had to return to the boat for dry clothes. Susann’s hysterical laughter did not help the situation!

On our way out of town, we picked up a man hitch hiking. There is no public transportation system here and hitch hiking is the norm, and quite safe on these remote islands. Our passenger was heading to James Cistern, the next community, heading north on the Queen's Highway. There was a roadside fruit stand in James Cistern, where we purchased s lovely, local mangos.
On our return to town, we picked up another young man, hitch hiking home to Governor's Harbour. After all the kindness extended to us on this voyage, this was our small part to give back.

The Glass Window
Travelling the Queen's Highway, just north of Gregory Town, is the striking rock formation, known as the Glass Window, which is framed by the narrow bridge connecting northern and southern Eleuthera.



Approaching bridge from south

  The gap between the two is very narrow and one can stand on the steep rocks on either side, or the observation area on the bridge and take in the unique view of the restless indigo waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the east side and the mostly calm turquoise waters of the Bight to the west.

Glass Window at low tide

On Halloween day, 1991, a rogue wave, caused by storms hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic, roared ashore and  hit the bridge, knocking it about seven feet out of position, a reminder of the forces of Mother Nature.

Atlantic waters

Turquoise waters on west side

Harbour Island
Eleuthera has been much quieter than expected, with few cruisers along our route. Clearly, the winter months are the high season, and our visit to Harbour Island was indicitive of this. It was Monday, and many
restaurants and shops were closed. The town was charming with it's clourful historic homes, some claim to date back to the mid 1700's.


Home dating back to late 1700's

 We took the water taxi from the mainland, just a ten minute run ($5 per person each way). Golf carts are available for rent at the ferry dock for $40 per day or $25 per hour. We elected to get some needed exercise and walk the town, stopping at the marina restaurant for lunch, and enjoyed one of the biggest and best burgers in a long time.

In order to have sufficient time to visit Spanish Wells, we decided to forgo a visit to the striking pink sand beaches across on the Atlantic side of the island. There has not been any shortage of magnificent beaches on this voyage, and I'm sure that however beautiful, this one would not top many of the spectacular, secluded beaches that we have visited.
Quaint and charming as Harbour Island was, we felt that it was more touristy than we enjoy. Ninety minutes later, we took the water taxi back to the mainland, and headed off for the short ride to Spanish Wells.
Spanish Wells
Once again, another short water taxi ride over to St. Georges Island, where the village of Spanish Wells is the main settlement. (Ferry - $8 per person - round trip aboard a government sponsored ferry) .
Spanish Wells is primarily a fishing village, with a large commercial fishing and lobster fleet.

Reading a write up in the Lonly Planet tour guide, it states that mainland Bahamians will warn that islanders do not want tourism in  their quiet fishing village, and not to expect a warm welcome. One can expect frosty stares from the mainly white community. many with the last name Pinder.
We did not find this to be the case, with all non whites smiling and waving to us as we toured in our rental golf cart.  We did encounter a couple of native white folks whose facial expression said that they were unhappy people, living here in a tropical paradise, and likely would be so anywhere. They very much reminded us of the rude and hostile loyalist native that we encountered several years ago on Man of War Cay, just outside of Marsh Harbour. Some folks just choose to be unhappy, but we did not let that occassional stare deter us from enjoying the island and it's friendly inhabitants.
Spanish Wells was a relief from the touristy glitz of Harbour Island. Golf carts (brand new) were available here for rent at the ferry terminal for only $10 per hour, and an hour was sufficient time to tour around.

There are some lovely beaches in this sleepy town and an interesting and colourful cemetery.



We enjoyed our day of touring but felt that Governor's Harbour was our favourite spot, complete with very friendly locals and all the charm and quaintness of both Spanish Wells and Harbour Island.
Upon our return to Governor's Harbour, we planned to visit Tilly’s on Nix Point, just south of town for dinner, but unfortunately they were closed on Monday, just as a couple of other restaurants were, so we returned to the boat, earlier than planned.

The dinghy saga continues......... the tide still had a couple of feet to fall, leaving the dink out in deeper water than a later arrival would have found.



Shoes off and wade out to dink!

  Alan had yet again, to wade out and pull her in to shallow water so Susann could board.
More wet shorts, and like he said, "it's a good thing that he has an in with the laundry lady".






Governor’s Harboour to Little Harbour, Abacos

8am departure from Governor’s Harbour to Royal Island. Sea and wind conditions calm, with light wind on the stern.

Current Cut, the cut between Eleuthera and Current Island
The plan was to overnight in Royal Island, but weather conditions today, are as good as they get, slowly deteriorating through tomorrow night. Prior to departure, the captain consulted the grib files for wind reports, and checked satellite weather enroute, resulting in a decision to change plan and head straight to Little Harbour, Abacos today.

Unfortunately we will not arrive at Current Cut at slack tide, but hopefully the calm winds and increasing the engine rpm’s will ensure a safe passage through to the Atlantic side.
Tide greatly affects this cut, especially when wind blows against the tide, creating dangerous rage conditions. As the tides change, the vast waters of the Atlantic flood into, or out of the Banks side. Regardless, there is a horrendous volume of water rushing through the cut, creating anywhere between 4 – 10 knots current. Caution must be exercised when transiting Current Cut, and one must be aware of tide condition and wind direction.
Luckily, we arrived shortly after low tide. Waters were swirling in the cut, but still not a full flood tide. Minor rage (wind against tide) was visible, but all in all, a calm, quick and uneventful passage through to the Atlantic side.
An hour or two past the cut, and surprise, surprise.........travel conditions were not as forecast! Seas were a bit lumpy and as we headed NW to Little Harbour, Abaco, swell was from the NE with a very short period between, combined with 2-3' wind chop  from the east.
After passing through Current Cut, at about 12:30, we had another 45 miles still to run. Our expected arrival time was prior to 6pm, but as a result of unexpected strong head currents, we did not arrive in Little Harbour until just after 8pm. Thankfully we still had some daylight as we entered the harbour and picked up a mooring at Pete's Pub.