A glass window (bridge )

Eleuthera

Eleuthera is not a chain of cays or islands like the Exumas but one long thin island of 90 miles & narrow; a little more than 3 miles wide at its widest and as thin as 50 mtres at its narrowest point It has a few small islands at the northern end with Dunmore Town on Harbour Is which is a hideaway for celebrities & the wealthy.

We reached Rock Sound after an easy trip across and anchored there for 2 days in flat, quiet, glassy water. We went ashore to feed the fish at the Ocean Hole in a park just outside the town which is connected by tunnels to the sea. Many ocean fish come quickly to feed. I'll always remember this place for the barking dogs at night & crowing roosters in the early morning.

One of our brochures mentioned a garden of sea anemones that dazzled even Jacques Cousteau's biologists. It can be reached easily from shore at a tiny offshore island. We were disappointed and think hurricanes & strong seas have wrecked the garden although we could see evidence of a good concentration of anemones on the western side. The brochure was dated 2010 – things change. However as always the swim was wonderful – all of the waters are clear and warm in the Bahamas – one just falls in.

We stopped to view 'The Glass Window'. This is a now bridged breach at the island's narrowest part. On the ocean side (Atlantic – east) where the reef is not continuous, the waves gnawed at this weak point & broke the island's natural bridge in two. In 1991 the man made bridge over the crevasse was knocked 7 feet to the west by a rogue wave. It has since been repaired & you can easily see the force of the waves still pounding away. From the sea the Glass Window forms a kaleidoscope peephole to look from west to east with deep azure blue on the Atlantic & the turquoise of the Bahamian Sound. We left the main part of Northern Eleuthera via Current Cut. This had to be timed close to high tide at slack water as there was a strong current of 3 to 4 knots, with strong whirlpools which moved the boat around quite strongly, fortunately the sea was calm and an easy exit against the strong current was no problem, thanks to Cummins power.

Our last anchorage on Eleuthera was in an almost enclosed bay called Royal Island where we waited out the night in calm waters with 5 other boats to do the crossing in the morning to The Abacos.

Beauty and the Beast

Well this is the gory bit, don't get
between a huge pig and its food.
The pigs are really quite friendly
actually, you can pat them and
rub their heads, their hair is very
coarse and it feels like tapping
concrete. Dawns claim to fame.

Loved this, advertising hoarding on cemetery wall



Dawn none the worse for wear, dominating
the pool table.

A final get-together with our
boat buddies Brent ( Debbie )
took the photo, on pirates beach,
prior to our departure the next
morning to Eleuthera (55 miles)
away, we were lucky with the weather
and had a v good trip.

Our Anchorage for the night, tough to beat this.

Visited a local park at Rock
Sound, Where the Blue Hole is
situated, this is half a mile
inland and about 600 ft deep.

Feeding the scores of salt water fish.

I could almost live here, lots of greenery,
friendly locals, and beautiful turquoise
water, at 26.5 deg Celsius you could
stay in for hours. Not far away at Harbour
Island at Dunmore town, is the retreat for
many of the rich and famous. About 10 miles from
here members of the British Royal family
have Estates 

A number of cottage's are available to
rent, they are very easy on the eye/

Staniel Cay, All sorts of Bities

Grey Nurse Sharks, Quite tame, many
people pet them, not me.

Neat bell in the Churchyard, for those who
spent too long with the Sharks

Lots of super Yachts

Dawn, Brent and Debbie at the bar
at Staniel Key, a fun place, not too
pricey, great staff looked after us.

Debbie found the attention a bit too much

Don't try this if
you have an inflatable boat, their hooves
are sharp, and the pigs can get quite excited
with food around, as Dawn found out, the
gory details in the next post.

Dawn promising to turn her into Bacon
if piggie nips again

Thought it was Bonds Ursula Andress
at first but was Dawn coming back
from a dive

More Pics in the next Blog, it takes something like 2 hrs to post these few.

James Bond and Man eating pigs

Staniel Cays – Exumas

We travelled 21 nm from Warderick Wells to what is our last stop in the Exuma chain - we are running out of time to go further south. After an early morning swim to free one of the ropes that had wrapped itself around the mooring ball we arrived & tied up at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club marina. There was no protection from the surge & westerlies & although we didn't bounce against the docks because we were hanging away from the dock we were rolled the whole day there despite a 90ft+ boat tied up outside of us on the T dock – there was still no protection. There were many sharks at the shallow docks & under our boats that hung around for feeding & filleting of any fish catches. Many people swim with them – but there are warnings. We walked into town to The Blue Store & Pink Store (grocery shops) & bought minimal supplies & bread at the Yellow house.. That evening after dinner we went into the bar on the dock for a bit of local company, to support the economy & a game of pool.

Next morning we moved from the docks after a most uncomfortable, rolly night into an anchorage close by ( Big Majors) with many other boats. The 2 major tourist attractions at Staniel Cay are the 'swimming pigs' and the Thunderball Grotto. We dinghied over with Deb & Brent to the beach nearby where the pigs are. Tourist boats arrive & most people have food scraps for them – mid morning & mid afternoon. There were about 10 pigs; brindle & pink & a piglet – much bigger than I had envisaged. They wait & watch the dinghies arrive & if they see a bag or food in your hand head straight towards you – usually running. They also climb partially into the boat if they can & if yours isn't a rubber ducky able to be punctured. Deb got out with a bag of food & offered some & they came running. One nipped her bum, she yelled for help (where were the guys you may ask?) & I said throw the bag to me whereupon the pigs (4 of them) headed for me. I quickly threw the bag to one of the guys to divert the pigs but they were too fast & one of them bit me on the stomach. The secret is to hold your hands in front of you in an upward position showing there was nothing to offer – I hadn't been quick enough. I had my swimming costume on so I didn't see the result until I got home – but I knew it had been a firm bite. It turned into such a huge black bruise that I got Colin to take a photo - no bleeding, no broken skin just a colossal souvenir. But as Deb said “you took one for the team”.

In the afternoon we dinghied to Thunderball Grotto – an underground cave that comes up in the centre of the island as a sink hole (tomo) where the sunlight pours in. It is full of a variety of fish & the sunlight shafts illuminate everything. This is where Sean Connery as James Bond filmed the scene in Thunderball where they drop into the grotto. There are 3 swim in entrances & you can also drop/jump in from the top. We spent the evening docktails time on the beach - an area set up by boaters (Pirates Beach) with tables benches & a rag tag collection of memorabilia from passing boats. It was our final time with Deb & Brent because we would be heading out to the Eleutheras early next morning to start heading north. We had thoroughly enjoyed their company since meeting at The Biminis. Decisions come easier & ideas & fun times multiply if you are with a buddy boat.

Taking advantage of a good weather window we crossed the Exuma Sound (North Atlantic) in minimal chop & very light wind. We left Big Majors at 6.15am (there were 32 boats anchored there) and it was apt that our bearing on heading out was 007 degrees. We did 55 nm to reach Eleuthera & anchored in Rock Sound just after midday. We have now passed the 6000 nm mark on our trip. This is a large Sound with great protection where we will probably stay for the easterlies to ease up.

Drug Lords to Marine Park

The Supply Boat at Normans Cay.
Once a base for drug runners it is now
a small resort .A Beautiful Island with lots of
of small bays and pristine beaches. Crystal
clear water and brilliant white sand,
plus excellent snorkelling areas.

The one that didn't get away, a drug smuggling
aircraft crash landed in the shallows.

Our picnic spot, priceless !!

Dawn with a Conch ( a live one )
pronounced Conk, a local delicacy.

The view from the Rangers office at
Warderick Wells
Cay, a national park.
We tied up to a mooring ball for $20
a night, good value. especially during
a 40 Knot Gale.

The line up of some of the 20 boats here.
click on the photo to enlarge

Cruisers are encouraged to leave their boat name
on a piece of driftwood on top of the hill.

A wee friend came out to greet us, gave him  drink.

Berry Is to Highbourne Cay in the Exumas

Dawn watching for Coral heads while
crossing the Yellow Banks. With our
4 ft draft and near high tide we probably had
no worries, but we still steered around
several scary ones

Great sunset at the Berry Islands

Our own deserted Island

A hungry Iguana , quite fearless especially
if you had  food for them

On the fast dingy going for a dive

Getting photos to upload is a test of patience, last time we tried it took 20 min per photo, Wi/Fi
is very slow and no much bandwidth ( so I am told ) so doing photos is quite a task. We will
send them in small batches,so the photos may be out of context with Dawns narrative.

Exumas, We have signal.

The Exumas

The winds were stronger than forecast as we headed for Highbourne Cay (35nm) our first stop in the Exuma chain of islands. Part of our this leg was crossing the Yellow Banks, a shallow area, where we needed to watch for coral heads & zig zag to the anchorage. They were probably all well under us but it's hard to judge – we'll become more proficient as we go. We anchored in a lovely bay with 16 other boats. There was a lot of traffic to & from the marina at the southern end – tenders & larger motor yachts but we were secure. The water is very clear & we saw a shark wandering around the bottom. Many of these cays are privately owned so there are no small communities & you often need permission to land.

We travelled only 8nm to our next anchorage – Norman's Cay. We used the dinghy to travel back to SW Allen's Cay to see the iguanas & then toured with Brent & Deb around the other small cays & swam. Also snorkelled near the boat & saw purple coral & small colourful fish.

While at Norman's we dinghied into the harbour to view the plane wreck where some one had misjudged the air strip too far to the right. This Cay had once been under the unfriendly control of drug lord Carlos Lehder & think this may have been one of the drug courier planes. The whole island was known for drug running in the 1980's but is cleaned up now. We had a picnic lunch in the only shade around, collected sea dollars & waded in the warm water. Another snorkel in a new spot completed the afternoon – saw rays & some much larger fish.

Warderick Wells Cay (25nm) was our next destination where we picked up a mooring ball in a protected area known as the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park. This 176 sq miles is completely protected from fishing, taking of conch, coral & shells. Land area is also protected with marked trails the only places to ramble. Rangers run the place & collect fees for hanging off the moorings – no anchoring allowed to protect the coral. On Saturday nights docktails are arranged for the visitors on the beach & we arrived on a Sat so were fortunate to meet other boaters to swap stories & hints. That evening we saw the endangered nocturnal hutias – a ground mammal much like a large rat with a short tail & snout. It was broad daylight at the docktails with lots of people so I'm thinking these mammals don't feel threatened at all – the ranger says they are increasing.

We are here for 3 days & snorkel a new spot each day (if we can find an area with slower current) & try to do a few trails as well. Colin & I have only one problem and that is trying to haul ourselves back up into the dinghy after each dive. We are both suffering bruised stomachs and rib cages – especially when turning over in bed – just a reminder of our age. We are trying to improve the technique – but it all comes down to lack of strength. (Aahh aging woes).

The forecast ahead is for North westerlies so we will stay here for a few more days until the weather settles for our trip to the next cay. The predicted bad weather did come despite only one of the forecasters predicting it – the others only predicting 15knot winds & small seas. There are a few web sites where boaters go to get future weather essential for planning moving from cay to cay, distances to go & future anchoring or marinas. Some swear by one source or you simply have to make an informed judgement after checking them all & discussing with others. We chose to stay after a lovely calm day (thinking we may have got it wrong) but we were right. Thunderstorms, lightening & very heavy rain came during the night & again early in the morning, Enough rain to ¼ fill the dinghy both times. We bailed some of it out into a large large esky(ice cooler) & I did a load of washing Couldn't let all that fresh water go to waste – you have to pay for water in the Bahamas. One of the boaters recorded wind gusts of up to 37 knots sustained for 15 mins. Many boats were looking for moorings yesterday to secure to before the storm – we felt safe with the 22 other boats moored here.

Today we dinghied over to another Gold Looper ( 'Andante' – Tom & Sue Hamman) who arrived last night. They spend 6 months every year here in the Bahamas so were able to give us some hints.

Because internet is very weak & erratic here we have not been able to add to the blog – hence the large time gap between news & photos. It may improve after tomorrow as we move south.