Abaco's to Eleuthera

 We have moved from Elbow Cay in the Abaco's to Eleuthera in the Exuma's.  The Bahamas are divided into various zones with the Abaco's in the north, Exuma's in the center and then the southern island group.  We have moved to the Exuma's, more particularly the Outer Islands.

After waiting out windy weather in Hopetown we dropped the mooring and headed out.  It was a bumpy ride motoring into 25 knot winds but soon we were able to turn and sail downwind to the Little Harbor area to prepare for the jump to Eleuthera.  That evening we were joined by the crew of Selah who are fellow Minnesotans for stories and drinks.  The next morning we were up at sunrise to make the sixty mile move to Eleuthera.  We needed to get an early start since we calculate our speed at six knots and therefore estimated a ten hour trip.  The weather apps were telling us we would have ten and three quarters hours of daylight and an early start was necessary to avoid arriving after dark.  We were able to sail half the distance using all the sails and even resorting to our spinnaker when the winds dropped to very light.  About two thirds of the way it was time to pull in the sails and start motoring.  We chose this day to move because the forecast was for even lighter winds the next day.  We arrived at the anchorage at Spanish Wells with plenty of time to spare before watching the sunset.  The next day we dinghied into town to check it out.  We had been here about five years ago so much of it was familiar.  One highlight was a visit to the Wood "N" Stuff Gallery.  It is a gallery showing off and selling the woodworking and art projects of the students at the school.  They do some interesting stuff and we had a nice visit with Austin, their teacher and the gallery manager.  Unfortunately we do not have room on board or we would have made a purchase.  I highly recommend a visit if you are in Spanish Wells.  We walked to the grocery store to buy a couple of things and were offered a ride back on a golf cart.  It turned out to be Bubba's wife and Bubba's was going to be our next stop for a beer and snack.  I also recommend a stop at Bubba's when visiting.

The next morning we pulled anchor and started off to Current Cut.  This cut between islands is narrow and has a strong current that switches direction as the tide changes.  It is advised to time your trip to coincide with what is called "slack time" which is the time between tidal changes when the current is changing.  We made the move through the cut with four other boats and continued on to The Glass Window.  Once anchored at the window we dinghied ashore to check it out.  Again, we had been here before but it was worth a revisit.  The Glass Window is an opening at a narrow point of the island but not completely open.  You can stand on the bridge and watch the surge from the ocean funnel into the cut and roll back out.  When the surf is high or during a storm it crashes through into the sound.  The amazing part is looking east to the deep blue of the ocean and then turning and looking at the calm turquoise waters of the sound.  There is also what is called a "blow hole" where the water is pushed into a cave and shoots up through a hole in the ceiling of the cave.  I have a video of it in our videos that you can visit.  Look for the link on the right side of this page.  Just be aware that because of the name "blow hole" YouTube has marked it as "Adult Content" which I find amusing.

The next morning we pulled anchor and moved down to Alabaster Bay.  The cruising guides point out that there is excellent shelling here, especially sand dollars but we were not able to find much except some sea urchins.  Since the water near shore is so shallow I tend to anchor the dinghy out from shore and wade in.  As I got out and stated to shore I spotted a four foot shark swimming between me and the shore.  I don't know what type it was but it didn't seem interested in me as it swam away.  We spent the next day on the boat hoping for winds to sail down to Rock Sound Harbor.  While waiting we dropped the headsail, started the generator, set up the sewing machine on deck and took care of some sail repair.  Next day we had an enjoyable spinnaker run to Rock Sound.  We anchored off of the Frigate Restaurant and were able to use their dock when going ashore.  Cori was able to get some laundry done at the laundromat while I ran the generator to charge the batteries and run the water-maker.  We did some sightseeing around the town, running into the family on Unplugged at the Ocean Hole.  This is a deep pond that has an underground connection to the sound and is a popular spot to snorkel, view and feed fish.  The weather forecast was calling for high winds over the weekend so we, along with all of the other boats in the harbor moved across to the west side to be protected when the winds kicked up.  Friday evening it started and blew into Sunday but with winds only reaching 25 knots with gusts to 30.

We are now busy getting ready for the next move.  We plan to leave in the afternoon and make an overnight trip to Georgetown on Great Exuma Island.  Georgetown is a very popular location where many (hundreds) of cruisers spend the season.  We have not been there yet and it has always been on out list of stops to check out.

Sound side

Ocean side

Green Turtle Cay and Hopetown

 We are spending a little time in Hopetown.

We spent several days at Powell Cay doing some beach walking and hiking.  I must have gotten into something poisonous because I had what felt like small bites on my leg and it progressed to a series of itchy bumps that turned red and took several weeks to get back to normal.  Otherwise it was a good time.  While walking the beach I recovered a piece of rope that had washed up and I had plans for it.  We left Powell and moved back to Manjack Cay.  While walking these beaches I recovered several more ropes with plans for them also.  It seems that fishing boats lose nets and lines fairly often judging by the debris on the beaches.  We planed on spending Christmas at Green Turtle and after several days we moved back and tied up on Donny's dock again.  Our new neighbor at the dock was from New Bern and we found we had many friends and acquaintances in common.  

New Plymouth, the settlement on Green Turtle, was decorated for Christmas and were about to start their traditional morning caroling.  They have a tradition of welcoming the Spirit of Christmas by gathering before sunrise and go about the town singing Christmas carols accompanied by several drums.  We, along with several other cruisers joined them in the festivities.  I went the first and last day, Cori went every morning, I'm not much of a morning person.  While sitting on the boat at Manjack I started weaving a rope into a rope rug and finished it at the dock.  It now greets you at the door of the showers at Donny's docks.  We helped Donny with several projects around the yard and docks, they are still recovering from hurricane Dorian two years ago.  There are a lot of changes to the town and island from the hurricane and recovery will take a long time.  It was interesting hearing their stories.  Christmas Eve we did a few projects on the boat.  I made a rug from an old line Donny was going to throw away.  Christmas Day we took it easy.  The next day Cori was able to go deep water fishing and I had a lazy day on the boat.  We went to several of the beaches while here and are somewhat disappointed that we are not finding as many shells as we had previous years.  We did find the ice cream shop which is very reasonable priced for the largest single scoop cup we have found.  Several trips were made.  We also attended several fundraisers put on by people trying to raise money to rebuild after the hurricane.  We also attended the Christmas Festival where Santa Claus makes his appearance.  New Providence is a sister city to Key West, Florida.  Their is a foundation formed that helps support the community.  The citizens for Key West send presents for the children and this year there was supposed to be a group of children from Key West that were coming over to present the presents.  Due to the Pandemic that was canceled but the presents were sent.  At the end of the festival Santa arrived on the back of a firetruck donated by Key West, their firetruck was destroyed in the hurricane.  Santa handed out presents to every child there and the looks on their faces as they showed off the packages was priceless.  We also noticed that the presents were not unwrapped but taken home to be unwrapped at Christmas.

On Monday, the 27th, we left catching the high tide to move down to Hopetown on Elbows Cay.  To get there we had to go out around Whale Cay into the ocean then through a pass back into the Sea of Abaco.  If conditions are not good it can be a very uncomfortable ride.  We stopped at Spoil Cay for the night and went beachcombing in the morning.  Later we moved down to Man O War Cay and anchored off the north end of the island.  We dinghied into town to check it out and compare it to our memories from pre-Dorian.  They are making headway on recovery but have a long way to go.  The next day we moved down to Hopetown and anchored outside the harbor near the lighthouse.  We hung out here for several days taking the dinghy into town to act like tourists and visit with friends there.

New Years Eve we pulled anchor and on the high tide we moved into the harbor and took a mooring back in out favorite corner.  We have been hanging out here visiting with friends and other cruisers.  Our friends Lee and Cheryl from Martha's Vineyard are here and we have been spending a bit of time with them.  We have been wandering about the island, spending some time on the beaches and checking out the changes.  We have had several days of high winds and are due for several more this week.

Once the cold fronts let up we are planning to continue further south.

Line and nets washed up on shore, There is a lot of this.

Asking the eternal question: WHY?