The trip from Little Harbour to Royal Island is about 53 nautical miles in open ocean, crossing the Northeast Providence Channel.
We departed the Abacos through the North Bar Channel at 7 a.m. and reached Royal Island at about 2:30 p.m. The seas were gentle ocean rollers with a little chop in a few areas. We averaged about 7.5 knots to stay with our buddy boat, TimeOut (Jane and George). We saw two commercial boats heading for Nassau in the Channel. The depth of the ocean averaged 10,000+ feet. The color of the water was bombay blue. Once we got close to the Islands north of Eleuthera, you can see a distinct change in the color of the water where it shallows closer to the shore.
We anchored in the bay at Royal Island for the night. We met up with another cruising couple who were friends of Jane and George’s, joining them for dinner on their boat. We picked their brains about cruising the islands around Eleuthera and the Exumas.
Royal Island is one-half nautical miles long and one-half nautical miles wide at its widest point. A very exclusive, super high-end development project backed by Roger Staubach has been halted. Great plans have not come to fruition and it remains to be seen what does happen. In the meantime, it is a very nice overnight anchorage after a long trip across the ocean!
Spanish Wells
The next day, we made a 10-mile trip to Spanish Wells Harbour (St. George’s Cay). The settlement of Spanish Wells is all about fishing with a prosperous fishing fleet, supplying well over half of the Bahamas’ commercial crop of lobster, conch and fish. Lobster is also exported to markets worldwide. As soon as you enter the harbor, you can see the oceangoing boats and infrastructure in place to support this industry. It is not a tourist resort, but a settlement of hard working folks with sturdy, well-cared-for houses, which was evident as we toured the area on foot. One of the fishing boats came in and we saw them unloading their catch after five-week’s on the ocean. They were in port for two days, then headed out again.
While touring the settlement, we had to wait while a bridge was manually removed from the street in order to launch a boat.
Harbour Island
From Spanish Wells, we took a fast ferry to the famous Harbour Island, known for its pink sand beach and elegant homes owned by billionaires and celebrities. We saw the entire Island by foot and golf cart. We were not able to see the elegant homes, hotels, villas or restaurants because all of the roads leading up to them were labeled private.
What we did see was the Settlement where the locals live, bumper-to-bumper golf carts speeding around the narrow roads, and an abundance of roosters walking around the streets. We strolled along Bay Street, which is on the harbor side and hosts souvenir shops, restaurants, clothing boutiques, fresh seafood.
The passage to from Spanish Wells to Harbour Island is a frightful stretch along the northernmost shoreline of Eleuthera known as the Devil’s Backbone. Most people who take their own boats use a local pilot to navigate the narrow passage between the beach and coral heads.
Governor’s Harbour
From Spanish Wells, we traveled to Governor’s Harbour, which was the first capital of the Bahamas. It presents an appealing picture of colonial houses, businesses and churches.
Our travel included going through Current Cut, where we had 7 knots of current against us. The seas were very calm for traveling. We had some dolphins swimming along with us for about fifteen minutes during the trip. The water was clear enough to see the star fish on the bottom traveling at 15 knots in 40 ft. of water.
Rock Sound Harbour
The further South we traveled, the settlements become more remote. Rock Sound is a popular place for “Exuma” cruisers to stop as it offers a good size grocery store, hardware store, NAPA store, marine services and supplies. An airport is located at the end of the harbour.
We were able to get our propane tank filled with the help of the hardware store clerk who gave John a ride so he didn’t have to carry the tank 1/4 mile to where our dinghy landed. We also got some provisions since it will be our last “well stocked” grocery store for a while.
A large ocean blue hole sits just out of the town’s center with a scenic park surrounding it.
Cape Eleuthera
Our last destination in Eleuthera, Cape Eleuthera Marina, located on the southern end. Our trip from Rock Sound Harbour to Cape Eleuthera was about 10 miles heading west, which was the direction of the wind. We had the wind against the tide, needless to say, it wasn’t the smoothest 10 miles.
We stayed at a dock for the first time since cruising south for three nights. It was Easter weekend and a front was coming through. We were pleasantly surprised with the area, even though we felt that we were at the end of the earth. We were surrounded by beach on both sides of the harbor, one offering great sunsets and the other sunrises.
We found several types of beautiful shells on the sunrise beach. After seeing a few sharks swimming around, we decided to leave our swimming and snorkeling for the Exumas.
We spent three very relaxing days at the dock getting caught up with laundry, a couple of projects and getting ready for the Exumas. Easter dinner was on TimeOut with George and Jane.
We have had great cell phone coverage throughout the Eleuthera island chain and hope it continues through the Exumas even though they are more remote. We were very successful with using our new smart phone to access the internet. Thank God for the Batelco Towers!
Our next blog update will cover our adventures in the Exuma Islands.
