Spanish Wells to Highbourne Cay

 Well, not really. The forecast was for winds around 15 knots out of the East and the wave height predictions appeared to be within reason for us to make a transit from Spanish Wells to Highbourne Cay. The notion here was that we'd have a following sea until we rounded Yellow Bank after which point we'd be in the lee of that bank on the way to Highbourne Cay. The path we chose to take had us head SW out of Spanish Wells to a point past Meeks Patch. Then we'd go South West to Current Rock. From there we were going to turn to the Bank and pass through Fleeming Channel with a heading towards the West end of Yellow Bank where we would then turn towards Highbourne Cay.
 It started out all well and good and it turned out that the wave height predictions were on the low side. Cool we thought, and life is good.
 Note these predictions were also associated with the area South East of Current Island, Shilling Cay, and Rose Island which all form a sort of barrier between the Bahama Bank to the South East, and, the North East Providence Channel which we were in. The bank is shallow at around 15-20 feet. The N.E. Providence Channel is not shallow. It's deep as I have spoken about previously. While we commiserated with other boaters over the VHF radio about our intentions and theirs along the way we settled into a ride that included a few squalls that washed off some of the salt Freedom had been accumulating from the spray she'd been exposed to already.
 That clean feeling didn't last long.
 We turned into Fleeming [break] I'll call this Flaming Channel since it rolled up on us and we started stuffing the anchor into the next wave [/break] and motored along with about a knot and a half of current pushing us backwards even though we thought we hit this after low tide during a lull in the current. We associated the rough water with the fact that we were in the cut and it's residual tidal flow. So we soldiered on. Stooopidt that was. We should have turned around and gone back out to the N.E. Providence Channel and bailed out on going to Highbourne immediately. What was supposed to be about another 6 hours or so of boating had turned into a projected 6 hours of hell.
 Our course after this passage through Fleeming (sp based on my prior remarks) is not the least bit direct or smooth. We started to hunt for a path that gave us a relatively comfortable ride along our projected path but we had no luck. In fact, we kept ducking shallow spots of 15 feet because with 4 footers rolling under us we were starting to get concerned that Freedom would bottom bounce if we hit a very shallow spot that was not charted.
 But it all passed and after quite a bit of rolling and rocking we found ourselves committed to a trip across the Bank into Nassau. What would have been another 6 hours was now only 2 hours of bad boating. There are passages back out to the N.E. Providence channel but given the seas, shifting tide, and wind, we came to a consensus that a direct path to Nassau was the best possible route to take. It genuinely sucked, but it was a better decision than running a narrow break in the barrier with unforgiving water, wind and current. But we made it to Nassau ok. We pulled into the Nassau Harbour Club where dock hands met us and in spite of our rattled bones, we tied up without incident in a slip that is only two feet wider than Freedom.
 Once again the Exumas was looking like a destination to be denied.
 Upon arrival I was informed that all sorts of changes were going to take place. No solar panels, no more thought of Staniel Cay in the Exumas. If anything, that was a destination achieved only via airplane. I agreed. I did not argue. It really sucked that badly out there. Freedom rolls quite a bit and without a lower station it's all accentuated. It was fortunately only about 3 hours of some serious chop that was following us of the port side. It was about 2-3 most of the time but at a 2-4 second interval and steep. So it really shoved us around and had us pitching. But Freedom, to her credit just kept pushing us along and delivered us. Every cabinet, freezer, refrigerator, cupboard, compartment and cabinet was booby trapped with objects spilling out when opened, but Freedom delivered and in great form. A bit crusty with salt, but here we are parked in the shadow of Atlantis.

 Did I mention Deb has Strep throat and that this was her birthday? Ok, but we both  knew the goal was to get her into the Exumas on a good passage. Oh well. Maybe another time. Lightening is flashing in the sky off to the East of Nassau.


        

Eleuthera or translated, Freedom

  On a number of occasions here in Eleuthera I was pleasantly surprised by the smiles the name of our boat generated. After the second pleasantry I was given a very simple explanation. When the island was settled over 300 years ago the folks that did so were looking for religious freedom and since they found it here, the name was cast. It's a shame they had to ship wreck on the Devil's Backbone in the process. Eleuthera Origins
 Now depending on who you talk to, they will tell you the name Eleuthera has different origins and one of the alternative origins is based on the separation of the Bahamas from the U.K.. At least that is what the folks have told me. So I say run with what works and we'll be grateful it doesn't mean something else to the people! Anyway, here is a photo of Preacher's Cave looking out. It's right off the Devil's Backbone that wrecked them way back when. Fortunately they were able to find some shelter there because the terrain in this area offers little protection from the elements. Something like 70 people shared this cave until they could work out better facilities.
 To get over to the main island of Eleuthera from Harbour Island we took the water taxi. It's nothing fancy and all the locals depend on it to get to work on either side of the harbour. It's a generic 26 footer or so with a couple of outboards and people pile into it at the price of five bucks a head each way. Once on the other side we hooked up with a road warrior style taxi to get to the North Eleuthera Service Center where the ride was waiting for us.
 The ride was an older but still fully functional Lincoln Town car that set us back 80 bucks for the day plus gas. At the end it drank 11 gallons and took a substantial portion of the 100 dollar cash deposit we left behind. But she ran good and carried us over the entire length of Eleuthera on the left side of the road without issue.
 Along the way South we stopped in at the Glass Window, Hatchet Bay, Governors Harbour, and North Palmetto. Having passed through all of these we then visited Rock Sound and its blue hole and continued on to Cape Eleuthera which was one of our intented stops with Freedom along the way to the Exumas.
 The Glass Window is a repaired natural bridge that connects Eleuthera and lets the ocean pass under. Yes, the island is that narrow at this point. It reminds me of the bluff just North of Sea Spray on Elbow Cay. On the way down the tide was in and water was passing through to the West underneath the bridge. While the tide was out on the way North, we could hear the relatively light surf crashing into the walls of the shoreline with authority.
 If I was to chose an island that was more interesting to tour by car, I'd give it to Eleuthera hands down. The island has more terrain as opposed to the flatness found on Abaco, and everything is open in stark comparison to the gated communities found in Outer Islands of the Abacos. Not only that but since the island is narrow, often times the roadway is on the shoreline and the views provided by this proximity are nothing less than spectacular.
 It seems as though no matter where you look there is a panorama including the turquoise waters that transition to royal blue or pale light green. But it's not really about driving to the views over here, it's about walking the beaches, enjoying the water and kicking back to the pace the Bahamas lives by. 
  I've uploaded more photos of these stops and the trip along Eleuthera to the bucket.

Bone-i-fied

 I bet you thought I was kidding at the end of the last post. Yes, we are around the Devil's Backbone with the help of Woody.  At no time was there less than 7 feet under the depth sounder and I am thinking he had other tracks in the bank that he uses for larger craft. No big deal there, why not get it over with as quickly as possible and move on to the next boat requiring passage.
 At no time were we the least bit concerned for our or Freedom's welfare even though a perfect stranger hopped aboard and took the helm once I had his boat in tow.  
 Woody was cheap insurance for safe passage around the Backbone and I heartily recommend him to everyone who will want to bring their boat around to Harbour Island.
 As an aside we now know Freedom has no issues with towing a good sized dink on one cleat. That is to say, we didn't pull the starboard aft cleat or haws hole out of their screws while pulling his boat along at 9 knots.
 I've updated the Garmin tracks with todays's data and I will have more photo's uploaded later on.

 Added photo's to the bucket...


 Photo Link

 

Suddenly. . . .

 We found ourselves in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera. The ride lasted about 8 hours and it started off ugly. It was ugly enough that I thought to myself, "This is a long ride, and it's gonna suck". The forecast data was accurate enough, it's just that it left out any additional wave action associated with the wind shift to the South, and the fact that the wind velocity was about 10 knots less than reality of 20 knots. Things were not exactly calm. 
 Upon leaving Little Harbour with sore brains caused by Pete's Pub trademark drink the "Blaster" we turned out of Little Harbour cut and slammed into 2-3 out of the North East combined with 1-2 of chop out of the South East. Not quite a washing machine, but sloppy and confused. The Blaster damage wasn't all that bad, and we had plenty of sleep, that's just my excuse for feeling rotten about the slop we found ourselves in.The conflagration presented to us was enough to make us think it was more than we wanted to deal with all day. Freedom was bouncing and rolling along at about 8 knots while I was hunting for a course we could use to our advantage without rocking our bods. When the wave action combined to create peaks we were popped up sharply and dumped into holes. But I am ahead of myself.
 I woke up early and checked the WxWorks data. The wave height predictions were about the same as earlier predictions at two or three feet out of the North East. The wind was indeed out of the South as predicted, but it was at almost 20 knots for an extended period of time over night. However it was subsiding at the time of 4 AM. Later on at sunrise looking out towards the entrance of Little Harbour, and having been here before (very rough ride in past North Bar the first time) we were lulled into the notion things were not going to be bad at all. Nothing was crashing into the West shore of the harbour entrance. So we dropped the mooring pennant and proceeded out of the Harbour into the cut. Wait a minute. We never did this cut before. Ok. It's well charted and all of the nav gear is running well. So what if we cannot see where we are going because the sun is in our eyes, the water is reflecting more of it up at us, and we can only see the obvious portions of the reef? As captain Ron says, if it's going to happen it'll happen out there. And on we went to get out there. I was able to pick out enough of the reef to line it up with our charts and I managed to put Freedom out through the middle of it. Having calmed down the panic induced by this situation I then settled into the drive.

 And on it went. On and on. Rolling and rocking. Spraying sea water. Deb had so much Bonine in her system her facial muscles around her eyes were twitching. Or was it anger at me for getting us into this? Was I about to die?

Anyway we originally wanted to head straight for Spanish Wells. However with the condition the water was in we elected to run along as though we were going to Nassau with a couple of other boats from the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club. On a side note, we are very happy we joined up. The registration fees are insignificant in light the people we have met, the memories made, the experience gained, and the savings we have realized. All things taken into consideration, it's well worth joining. Along the way we all checked in with each other every hour or so. While their itinerary took them to the West entrance of Nassau, we wanted to get to Eleuthera specifically Spanish Wells.
 After a while, the winds abated, the tide switched and the water laid down quite a bit. So we began our turn towards Royal Island once we were as far as the "Hole In The Wall". This is the Southern most point of the island of Abaco and is marked by a tall lighthouse. In spite of being so distant it was a welcome sight in that it marked a significant portion of the trip had passed under the keel.
 Now on a course of our own out in the ocean we entered the North East Providence channel. It's deep there. Over two miles deep. The depth sounder has this eerie look about it that indicates it has rolled over many times like a scale would when it's stepped on by an elephant. 500 feet? I don't think so. How about 14000 feet? That's a bit over my head. It was at this point that the chop out of the South East turned into a good swell of about 2-3 feet. When it lined up with the North East Swell of the same magnitude under the bow of Freedom it shot up and dove down into a hole. Urp. But we kept going on, knowing that in reality this water was not as bad as the Gulf Stream crossing we had returning to the States in the Spring of 2009.  But to give you an idea, those are salt foot prints I left on the aft deck carpet after a few steps along the side of Freedom.
 But eventually we found ourselves in the lee of the bank of Eleuthera and the water laid down. The last two hours was composed of an hour off the bank and then the bit as we crossed the bank from Royal Island to Spanish Wells. We could clearly see sharks swimming in the clear water below us.

 But it's all good. We've made the largest jump in the ocean we need to for a while. All we have left is to get "boned" by the Devil, as we head around to Harbour Island through what they call the "Devil's Backbone". Novice boaters like us need not apply without a pilot. So we'll shout out "Little Woody" so the boning won't be so bad.

Little Harbour

 I have to say that one of our favorite stops in the Abacos has to be Little Harbour. While there isn't much here, what is here shines. They have Pete's Pub and Gallery which is definitely a favorite among cruisers. The food here is good and reasonably priced.  The gallery has many bronze castings on display that can be bought by those with deep pockets. While there are smaller items available, when you look at them your heart sinks when you think about the others. Simply magnificent art here.
 Anyway, the ride down from Hope Town was uneventful. We only churned up sand a couple of times crossing from Elbow over to Lubbers. All in all a good transit. North Bar inlet also cooperated in that we had some rollers coming in that bounced us around for a while but it was nothing serious. Only 2-3 about 3 seconds apart and it was off the port bow. Going into it is always easier to manage but it is a bit rougher on the skeleton.
 Once inside Little Harbour we grabbed a mooring and then went to lunch at Pete's. A couple of Blasters, some seared tuna, pasta salad and cole slaw and we were set.
 Tomorrow, well, we'll see. Maybe we'll wind up in Eleuthera.

 http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Boating%202010-2011/

 I've added some photos to the bucket. The one of more interest was a 70 footer that thought it could handle the Little Harbour entrance at mid tide. Not. We only pull 3.5 to 4 feet but I'm thinking that boat needed a bit more. Given where it was I might have continued on since there were in the skinny water already. Maybe they were churning sand and thought otherwise. Heck it's only money and I bet their props are only 10 or 15 grand a pop.

 GPS data will have been updated shortly as well.

Life on Elbow

 It's been rather quiet of late so we haven't had much to talk about. Kind of sedate, not moving around much at all. Life here at the Hope Town Marina is good with progress on the renovation moving along very well. It's going to be a very special place when it all comes together!
 As a sign of the seasons we've seen quite a bit of boats passing through the mooring field in Hope Town Harbour. Many have returned North from the Exumas through Little Harbour to Hope Town Harbour on their way back to the States. Spring has sprung and Summer is not far away so many are on the move. Well, with the weather and time of year it seems that way to us but up North the Spring storms are certainly a twist of Winter's last thrust of the dagger. Hopefully this will pass quickly.

 Down here the weather has been quite warm and dry. In fact we had to run the air conditioning the other night since it was almost 80 degrees over night. We are used to the temperatures for the most part but there is quite a bit smoke coming across the Sea of Abaco with West winds. Many fires are burning in the brush on the island of Abaco. Westerly winds carry the ash over and across the sea and it has been piling up on the decks of Freedom. With the dew of the morning it runs along the side of the boat pooling up where it forms black sooty spots. Without rain to help extinguish the fires, the ash is not washed off of the decks turning them a pale grey as well as forming the dark spots. I'm not totally anal about cleaning Freedom up all the time, I'm just trying to outline how much ash is in the air over here. Let's face it, water is a commodity to conserve down here and washing a boat on a regular basis might make some enemies.
 While we have some foul smokey air from the fires to contend with it pales in comparison with what the volunteer fire fighters are dealing with. They have been working these fires non stop for several weeks. And they have been working them twenty four hours a day seven days a week! Requests for help to any and all volunteers with any fire fighting experience have been made on VHF 68. Let's also consider they need contributions to pay for all of the diesel that is fueling their efforts. Hopefully we get some serious rain that gives everyone a break by extinguishing the fires. The first photo is not at all representative of the amount of smoke these fires are sending into the sky. It was taken just outside White Sound at the North end of Lubbers Quarters. This second photo was taken prior to the rain we had yesterday and it was shot from Elbow Cay in Hope Town by the public dinghy dock. The outline of clouds is really smoke in this second photo. It doesn't do the situation justice.  So with that let's all hope they get some rain or other luck that helps put these fires out.

 Otherwise, we were fortunate to get out in the dink a few times and chase around some 4-5 foot sharks. I'm not sure what variety these are, but they are distinct in that from above they have a ray like appearance with wide flat fins but they definitely taper into a shark like body. They are not hammer heads because the fins start aft of their eyes from what we can see. I couldn't convince Deb to put the look bucket over the side so we don't have identification of the fish. While we were out in the dink today there were several of them loafing around in the shallows just outside Hope Town at the North end of Elbow cay.
 But yesterday, the wind was out of the North West and strong. The Sea of Abaco was whipped up well. We knew this was coming based on forecast data. At least we had an inkling it was coming. After all how much faith can we put in forecasts these days? But based on the data and the fact that Orchid Bay Marina has no power for boats these days, we elected to hop aboard "Last One" managed by Froggy's in Hope Town. They gave us a great ride to and from Guana Cay so we could get to Nippers and attend the Barefoot Man concert. The ride over was worth the price of the fare alone. I'd say it was blowing about 30 knots and the sea states were about 2-3 feet a second apart. This state makes for a very uncomfortable ride in Freedom that is better left avoided. Once ashore we made our way up to Nippers so we could take in the Barefoot Man Concert.
 I have to admit the folks at Nippers have their act together with regard to this show which is free. That's right, in this day and age there is a no cover charge concert in the Bahamas! Not only does the bar work extremely well but the kitchen some how manages to keep up with a very large crowd. Their seared Tuna and Burgers in Paradise were thoroughly enjoyable and washed down with some cool frozen drinks.  When the BFM is in town it's a fun time to visit Guana Cay because well, it's a time when many adults forget their age and have a good time. Nothing outrageous, just everyone seems to unwind and smile. People dance and sing, and helicopters buzz the bash. Check out this high end helicopter that did a curtsey, flew North a bit, flipped around and then buzzed the bash. Really cool for everyone in attendance. I have to admit this helicopter was quiet as it shot by towards the end of the video, but perhaps it was drowned out by everyone cheering over its appearance.
 And now, we're back at the marina, the sky is clear the stars are out, and Uconn is kickin' butt. Gotta run.


 I've added some photos to the bucket linked below, the tracks are pretty much up to date as well.