Making wakes!

Little San Salvador Island to Marsh Harbour

We have closed the loop on our voyage through the Southern Bahamas by coming back to where we started in the Abacos at Marsh Harbour. It has been a busy few days to get back here.

You can see our route we have taken so far

After we left Cat Island we had a very pleasant sail over to Little San Salvador Island. We had been warned by other sailors that this island is now a stop for cruise ships and sure enough, as we were heading there we could see a big cruise ship miles away. As we got closer we could see it was a Carnival ship and their ferry tenders were quickly loading passengers back onto the boat. Good timing on our part! The ship left shortly after we anchored and we watched it “sail off into the sunset”! Literally! They call this Half Moon Bay, and it is a beautiful beach where the Cruise lines have built a faux Bahamian village on one end for cruisers to enjoy. There is a “pirate ship” replica, shops and bars and lots of beach chairs lined up along the shore. We made sure we were well away from everything, even though they had gone. Apparently we could call ashore by VHF radio to the island caretaker and ask permission to walk the beach, but were quite happy to have a quiet evening on the boat.

Pic-cruise ship-

The next morning we were up and ready to go by 8am, and just as we were getting the anchor up another cruise ship was putting theirs down. They must have a ship come in there every day. After we left the bay I turned around and noticed another ship coming into the bay. I am sure that the beach was crowded that day!

Our next stop was Rock Sound Harbour on the southern tip of Eleuthera  Island, the place from where we left to go over to the Exumas on our way south. We had another wonderful sail over and anchored in front of Frigates, a beachfront restaurant. We really enjoyed Rock Sound when we were there in January, and so were looking forward to another visit. The next morning we dinghied over to shore and walked down to the local grocery store and were pleasantly surprised to find it well stocked with fresh produce. The mail boat had arrived the day before so again, it was good timing! After loading up and bringing our groceries back to the boat, we went back to shore to explore some caves. We found them easily and walked down a jungle path to a platform and stairway down into the caves. Apparently a cruise line built the steps for day excursions (thanks Cruise lines!). Much nicer that using the rickety old ladder we saw leaning against the side!

The Stairs down into the Caves

The caves were awesome! Huge caves with roots from trees above growing down through the ceiling, stalactites with spider webs clinging to them and all sorts of small holes which I’m sure you could crawl through, but no thanks, I decided to pass! Thankfully I did not see any bats! But it was really cool and worth the walk to it.

The  Caves

That evening we had dinner at Frigates, and enjoyed a lovely sunset and delicious meal.

Sunset on Rock Sound. Trekker is on the left.

The next morning it was time to move on again.  The wind gods had been blessing us with wonderful winds so we took advantage of them once again and headed up the sound to Hatchet Bay, an anchorage that is like a Hole-in-the –Wall, a small entrance that leads to a big protected bay. The reviews of this anchorage are mixed, with warnings of old mooring balls in poor condition and some debris on the bottom to beware of, as well as poor anchor holding. But we took our chances and set the anchor (and made sure it was well in!) When we visited Eleuthera in January we rented a car to explore the island. We stopped at Hatchet Bay to look at the anchorage and found a cute little restaurant called the Front Porch. So, since we were actually there, we went in for dinner (I know, two nights in a row!) We took the dinghy into the government dock, but the ferry from Nassau had just arrived (I’m not sure how it got through that narrow entrance into the bay!) and the dock was very busy so we went down to another dock we had seen and left the dinghy there and set off to find the restaurant. Alice Town is a small settlement which seemed a little run down but in typical Bahamian style, folks always said hello when we walked by. It was a longer walk than we had anticipated but we eventually found the restaurant and had another lovely dinner. Since it was dark when we left to go back to the dinghy, we asked the restaurant to call us a taxi for a ride back.

The Front Porch

The next day was decision day … where to go next? We could either go to Spanish Wells, where we spent 10 days in January, and possibly be stuck there for a few (?) days, as the weather after Tuesday was going to get nasty, or go to Royal Harbour, another hole-in-the-wall anchorage, and jump up to the Abacos the next day, before the weather changed. After much discussion we decided to make the jump up, knowing we would be in the Abacos in plenty of time for Trevor’s visit at the end of March, and not have to worry about getting there in questionable weather.

So at first light, 7am, we upped anchor, along with 4 other boats, and headed off for the Abacos. It’s a fairly long trip, crossing open water exposed to the Atlantic, and we needed to get there before sundown, which is later now that the time has changed. The winds were out of the southwest, so it was right behind us, and with a good breeze we flew across the North East Providence Channel, actually making it to the Little Harbour Cut into the Sea of Abaco by 3pm, so we decided to keep going all the way up to Marsh Harbour and get a dock for the night, as weather reports were talking about squalls coming in overnight. We arrived at the marina at 5:30pm, and after showers, and drink and dinner, we were ready for bed!

So now we have a week to play around the area before the kids arrive.

Our adventure is almost over, its hard to believe how far we have come, one day at a time!