Abaco bound

We left Governors Harbour for Hatchet Bay but before we leave we will post a few more pictures of here as it was a beautiful place and we so enjoyed the walk around town after our visit to the library. It is one of the older towns in the Bahamas as it was the original capital, it shows in the quality and styles of some of the homes too.

Houses at Governors Harbour

Library at Governors Harbour

Hatchet Bay Pond was just a short-ish sail away but if your not careful you can go right passed it as the entrance is very narrow at about 70ft, like going through a bridge really. There is not a lot here but it is famous for being a very safe anchorage with all round protection. We enjoyed a walk to the Atlantic side of Eleuthera and then stopped for internet at Twin Brothers resort which was free after buying a drink. We then went for lunch at a small cottage where they have a window to order and serve through. It was very nice and truly the place looked deceptive. We met Rob & Lori from s/v Apogee and the next day we walked around town with them and had dinner at Da Spot which was a very locals bar but it had great BBQ ribs and chicken and good cold beer.

Hatchet Bay Pond - Entrance

Getting Internet

From Hatchet Bay we left for Current Cut. It is a very narrow cut in Current Island and the tide can rip through at 5 knots so we had timed it for near slack tide but ebbing. Thankfully it was timed to be ebbing as we arrived early due to favorable winds and the current shot us through at over 8 knots adding 3 knots to our motoring speed! From here we went to Meeks patch for a rest and to enjoy a secluded anchorage. Only we found a huge motor yacht “Mystique” which had passed us earlier cruising at 27 knots (see picture). To cap it off the owner came back in his 80ft sport fishing boat and tied them stern to stern, what a show off! It was fun watching the crew take the 2 dogs to shore every 2 hours during the day though ;-)

Mystique

 

A day later we anchored off Russell Island to visit Spanish Wells, there are a few moorings balls inside the harbor, but they can be hard to reserve. We had a delightful day exploring the Island of Spanish Wells. It is possibly the busiest island we have visited, the island has a very busy fishing industry, and boat repairs. The cute cottages are tightly packed, most are very well kept indeed, some dating back 150 yrs. Most of the traffic is golf carts and you have to be careful they don’t run you down, we have not been very used to sharing the tracks or roads with traffic. After lunch we visited their little museum to learn more about the island and the fishing life of many of the Spanish Wellsians. On returning to Meeks Patch the next day we joined Peter and Lani aboard s/v MarNel, for lunch.They shared lots of info on the cruising in the Western Caribbean. It’s a very small world, Peter and Lani have been cruising for 16 yrs and know our good friends Bob & Norma & Jack & Jo.

Truely a Golf Cart town!

Museum

Lovely Buildings

 

On leaving Meeks Patch we staged at Royal Island for several days to await favorable weather to cross to the Abaco’s. it’s a 60 mile crossing so we want good wind and calm seas if possible. Our wait was excellent and we enjoyed a couple of nice long walks on the island. It is in the throws of development for a resort, private residences and a golf course. But like a lot of the Bahamas it’s not made a lot of progress due to the US recession recently. Still that was good for us as they let you visit it to walk the trails and explore the ruins of the old plantation. Whilst we were here we met s/v TruenSea with Mark, Christine with sons Logan and Cole. We went over for games of Mexican Train and learnt the card game “golf” from them. It was a great night all round.




Royal Island Anchorage

Plantation Ruins - lovely flowers after a rain shower

We are now anchored here off Lynyard Cay in the southern Abaco islands. We arrived here 4 days ago, from Royal Island, Eleuthra. It’s the perfect place to relax and unwind until we move further north for Cici & Oliver's wedding. Yesterday we walked the long beach on the Atlantic side, we took our time and searched for beach glass and sea beans. After lunch we snorkeled from the boat to the rocky shore not too far from where we are anchored, many small fish and we even swam with a small turtle. Monday was boat chores in the Morning, which included Devin donning his dive gear to scrub the barnacles off Moosetrack’s bottom. One full nitrox tank later and finally she was clean. I worked on all the hatches, ports and handrails with extra cleaning. Today we motored a short distance over to Little Harbor. There is only 3.5 ft in the channel at low water so we anchored off Tom Curry Point and took the dinghy around the point into Little Harbor. Randolph Johnson ( famous sculptor) settled here in 1953 with this wife , also an artist and their 3 young sons. They sailed in looking for Paradise and lived in a small cave on the eastern side of the small cove. Today, Randolph’s son Peter runs the foundry with Art Gallery and Pete’s Pub a beach bar on the sand. The bar is made from the old deckhouse from the schooner they arrived in so many years ago. We walked out to the old lighthouse and enjoyed a very fresh fish lunch at Pete’s Pub.

Lynyard Cay beach - big crabs here!

The foundry artist at work

Petes Pub - Liz

Petes Pub - Devin

 

We wish you all the very best.... and fair winds too.