Spanish Wells

Our week on the mooring ball in Hopetown was up on Saturday but we chose to stay another night to let some weather pass before we moved on.  Saturday was laundry day and a trip to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel and gasoline.  We used a bit more than a half tank of diesel on the trip over and burned about 8 gallons of gas running the generator and running around with the dinghy.  We are not sure when or where we will be topping off again, so get it while you can.

Sunday we were ready to leave on the early high tide but then we watched as a cloud wall move in.

 It was interesting to watch, a straight line of clouds moving in with another line of dark clouds behind it.  Needless to say it rained, hard, but not for very long.  Once the rain passed we headed out followed by Willamia, Exit Stage Left and a few others that waited a little longer.  We took the short cut between Elbow Cay and Lubbers Quarter since we were at high tide but still saw some spots with about two feet under the keel.  From there we followed the waypoints around the shallows to Lynyard Cay, the jumping off point for the trip to Eleuthera.  On the way we got caught with another downpour but again it didn’t last long.  Since the forecast for the night was for west winds then shifting to northwest we chose to anchor off of and a little north of Bridges Cay for protection.  In all there were a dozen boats anchored here.

Monday morning we were up before sunrise to be ready to pull the anchor and motor down to Little Harbor Cut.  We joined the others and headed out the cut.  We had an incoming tide but not a lot of wind so the trip through the cut was uneventful.  Once clear of the opening we set course for Egg Island, about 50 miles away.  Cori had her fishing gear out as we went through the cut and as soon as we were clear she got a strike.  Whatever it was took everything, the lure and the leader.  She re-rigged and we were off.  The wind was out of the northwest with following seas about 4-6 feet.  Unfortunately when we tried to fly the headsail it kept collapsing and then filling with a sharp snap only to collapse as we rode over the next wave.  This is very bad for a sail and the rigging so we chose to motor.  As the day progressed the wind slowly shifted from NW to N to NE just as forecast.  We had about 10-15 knots of wind but going downwind about half to a third of that was canceled out so it wasn’t a good day to sail.  Along the way Cori started to get lucky, one of her handlines brought in a nice fish that we cannot identify but it was a keeper.

  Later in the afternoon the seas calmed a bit so we tried sailing again.  We were able keep the sail full but it dropped our speed to around 5 knots.  Just at that point a fish started stripping line off of her reel.  With the sail out I wasn’t able to slow the boat down while she fought her fish.  Once it was close to the boat we could see it was a nice Mahi Mahi.  It took a bit to get it alongside while I tried to get it into the net.  With the boat moving almost 5 knots there was too much drag on the net and I couldn’t get it under the fish.  Finally the handle bent and I grabbed the gaff hook.  Of all of the Mahi we have caught this is the first one we were able to get onboard using the advice from our friend Lee from last year.

  It measured 40” from tip to tip.  It was quickly dispatched and bagged and dropped into the refrigerator to be filleted later.  We thought that that would be the excitement for the day but the fishing gods were with her.  When we got close to Egg Island there are two choices, go through the narrow cut or go around the island.  We were going to go through the cut.  Once we were lined up on our waypoint the bell on the handline started ringing, another nice fish.  Cori got that one in but didn’t have here bottle of rum she used to kill them near her.  The technique is to squirt alcohol of some sort into their gills and they die quickly.  I was jumping from one side of the boat to the other looking for her squeeze bottle and knife.

  Once found the fish was quickly dispatched and gutted.  I moved back behind the wheel to discover that we were through the cut and ready to change course for Spanish Wells.  Autopilot is a wonderful thing, if there is nothing in front of you.  We continued on and finally dropped anchor with the others in the lee of Russell Island, close to the entrance to Spanish Wells about an hour before sunset, a trip of 62 miles.

Tuesday dawned with heavy overcast and it rained off and on all morning.  In the afternoon it lightened up and looked ok for a trip to town.  We launched the dinghy and headed in stopping to talk to Phil and Theresa on See Ya.  Once in town we headed straight to the telephone office to get some information on my phone and data plan.  I was worried about running out of data and couldn’t remember how to check it.  While there we made the decision to get a sim card and purchase some data for Cori’s phone so she could use it more than just when she could find a WiFi signal.  After a stop at a couple of shops it started to rain again.  We headed back to the dinghy but chose to stop at Budda’s for a couple of beers until the rain let up.  Soon we were back on the dinghy heading back to the boat for some delicious Mahi for dinner.

Wednesday started with some light rain but then got better.  It was still overcast but it didn’t rain anymore.  We all headed into town, one to get propane, another to check on more fishing gear and all to stop at the grocery store and other shops.  It turned out the fishing shop was closed but since it was next to the beach we wandered down there.  Cori was in shell heaven with the number of sea urchins washed on the beach.  We walked the beach working our way back into town only to get to the grocery store at 12:00 as it closed.  Oh well.  From there we all wondered around town until meeting up again at the Anchor Cafe for lunch.  After lunch the others went back to their boats and we wondered around until we stopped at the Shipwreck to watch the water and have a beer.  There we met a gentleman originally from Wisconsin that had been living there for the last 14 years.  Stories and jokes soon started.  From there we took the dinghy for a tour of the harbor.  Spanish Wells is the fishing capital of the Bahamas and the harbor is filled with a variety of fishing boats of all sizes.

Thursday and Friday the forecast is for the winds to pick up and start to clock around from the NE to the SW in the 30’s and higher.  We need to move from our convenient spot to somewhere more protected.  After looking at all of the options we chose to move about 2 miles to Meeks Patch, a small island that will give us protection from anything east and then it is a short trip around the top of the island to the east side for protection from the SW and W.  We are now sitting at anchor waiting for the weather to do its thing as a pot of fish stew bubbles on the stove.