It’s Tuesday afternoon and we are making our passage from Royal Island at the top of Eleuthra to Great Abaco where we will begin the final month of our visit to the Bahamas. We had not planned to make two long runs in two consecutive days but the weather was particularly cooperative today so we decided to head out for the 50nm run. While yesterday’s 40nm run was a pretty long day, it was across the banks and in protected waters. That sort of run has it’s own challenges as it took us across some very shallow banks, mostly under 20′ deep and through a great number of coral heads, some only a few feet below the surface. For a while avoiding these reefs was sort of like running a slalom course as I changed course moment to moment to stay out of harm’s way.
The good news is that with the clear waters of the Bahamas as our guide, seeing the coral heads was quite easy, assuming that the sun was shining, which it was. These “heads” grow up out of the bottom and show like a sort of “ink spot” against the surrounding blue sandy bottom. The contrast, under the right conditions, was marked. This shot clearly shows how these dangerous spots show up. What doesn’t show is just how many of them there were. Happily, with some exceptions, they were separated by several hundred feet of clear water so avoiding them was easy even if it required constant vigilance.
While staying away from these heads was a bit of a worry, the wind was favorable for a good passage. At the end of the day we had only run our engine for about 45 minutes and covered over 40nm, a good day’s run. Last evening we were happy to discover that our friends and fellow SAGA 43 owners, Ginnie and Ted aboard Firecracker were in the same harbor so we invited them to join us for cocktails. We had a great time sharing our experiences from the last month or so since we had seen them in George Town.
As I mentioned in my last post, we spent some time, three nights actually, at a really nice resort marina, Highbourne Cay Marina. It was a real treat and the only time on this trip that we have spent any time in a marina, beyond Rum Cay which was free and didn’t count. Highbourne Cay Marina is a first class spot and it was a real treat to have high quality meals and stay in such a lovely spot. Pandora, while a decent size boat, was a peanut compared to the other boats in the harbor and for our first night, was the only sailboat. I understand that one of the largest sports fisherman boats there, perhaps 100′ or so, was owned by the Bacardi family of Bacardi Rum fame. There were some boats that were even larger so Pandora was clearly the dink of the marina.
On one of the evenings the chef and crew of one of the yachts put on a lovely outdoor feast for the owner’s guests under a beautiful gazebo , complete with tiki lamps and lovely flower arrangements. At the end of the evening we saw some of the children making smores on the grill. So, that’ s how the other half, no, make that the 1/10% lives. I would do that. My mother used to say that the wealthy were miserable but based on what I have observed on this trip, it isn’t always true and she was just trying to make me feel good.
Interestingly, the only reasonable way to get supplies to the island is by boat and the one that services this island is a 1920s vintage Chesapeake Bay Oyster boat. The owner told me that he brought it to the Bahamas over 30 years ago when he was in his 20s. The contrast of this vessel to the massive yachts was very marked. Getting anything to these islands is a major effort and the prices reflect it.
However for a price, and I won’t go into what that price was except that it was a lot more expensive than dropping our anchor in some secluded anchorage, we were able to enjoy a few days on this wonderful island. Perhaps this shot of Brenda reading on the beach, says it all.
Actually, she was reading from high up on a bluff overlooking a two mile beach, half of which was meticulously raked every other day to keep it looking fresh and clean. And, let me tell you, plenty of stuff washes up on these beaches each day, some natural and some man made, or should I say, “man discarded”. They even went so far as to line the paths to the beach with limestone walls. What a great attention to detail. We will be back.
Well, perhaps I should head back up on deck to keep an eye on things. Brenda’s not feeling great as the swells are pretty large so she’s taking a nap and only the autopilot is keeping things moving. Only another 23nm to go of our 50nm day and we will be in our first Abaco anchorage. We are very much looking forward to our time in what is called “the Near Bahamas”.