See Eleuthera in one week or less! That's probably how the ad would read for our trip this week. As compared to our last 12 weeks in the Bahamas, we been moving along quite steadily, sailing somewhere along Eleuthera almost every day. The sailing has been great, running our engine only long enough to charge the batteries and to cool the ice box. But we've been none too impressed with the settlements along the coast; at least not enough to make us want to stay any more then a day or two.
In comparison to the Exumas, Eleuthera is like a metropolis. Of the 365 cays in the Exumas, only a relative few are inhabited. Most are small, isolated and in a natural state. In total, there are only 4,000 permanent residents. Boats are the predominant means of travel. Eleuthera, on the other hand, with all 11,000 residents on one relatively large, long island (110 miles long, 1½ at it's widest point) has many settlements situated on the better harbors. Another Queens Highway, like the one on Long Island, runs the length of the island connecting the settlements. The number of boats that we've seen has been surprisingly few, automobiles being the preferred mode of travel. So instead of anchoring in the isolated remote cays like you do in the Exumas, the better anchorages are in the same harbors as the settlements. Thus we've been around lots of people, places with food stores, gas stations, post offices and government docks. Like coming back to the big city.
Our travel north along the western coast of Eleuthera has included stops at the harbors and towns of Rock Sound, Governor's Harbour, Hatchet Bay (Alice Town), Royal Island (the only uninhabited place we've stopped) and Harbour Island (Dunmore Town).
Virtually every area of Eleuthera was badly damaged, not only by the recent hurricane Floyd, but also the devastating hurricane Andrew back in 1992. As opposed to locations in the Exumas where there just wasn't that much to begin with, the damage here is still being cleaned up. Our first landing at Rock Sound was on this beach that was formally the site of rental cottages. The cottages are still standing, abandoned in place. Curtains hang in the windows that are still intact, furniture and appliances still sit unused in the living and dining rooms. But all around the fury of the storm is easily seen. Hardly a tree was left standing around the cottages, 40 foot palms strewn about like tinker toys. Roofs are missing, doors stove in, windows smashed. We assumed that so great was the damage that it wasn't worth rebuilding. Rock Sound suffered in a number of other ways as well. The government dock as well as most other docks lie in ruins; only the piling remain of what once was a busy landing. Other buildings as well as several houses along the waterfront remain in ruins.
We saw similar situations just to the north at Governor's Harbour and Hatchet Bay. The local economy still is taking a serious hit from the many jobs lost when the resorts such as the Club Med were destroyed and have yet to reopen (and may not). Of course without the tourists, the trickle down is lost as well as the local shops and eateries aren't getting much business.
Case in point, we were excited to find a movie theater in Governor's Harbour that runs shows every night at 8:15 and even a double feature on the weekends. As it was Wednesday night, we didn't expect too much of a crowd, but we also didn't expect to be the only four in the whole theater either. We talked to the owner (who sold us the ticket, tended the snack bar and probably ran the movie as well) to learn that since many of the resorts are closed, the locals don't have money for a movie and the tourists aren't around. Although we felt badly about her running the show and staying open just for us, we did enjoy the night out. The theater did have quite a unique local flavor. On the menu were not just the usual popcorn and candy items, but this place had hand-dipped ice cream and conch salad!
Speaking of a lack of tourists, there haven't been many boaters in this stretch either. We were joined only by four other boats in Rock Sound, two of them being Starlight and Seaquel. Again at Governor's Harbour, we were accompanied by only two or three others. And the relatively large crowd of 15 or so that joined us at Hatchet Bay all seemed in a hurry to move on to the Abacos as soon as possible.
Hatchet Bay is one of the few all around protected harbors in Eleuthera. Really a totally enclosed pond at one time, a cut was blasted through the rock into the Bight of Eleuthera allowing passage. As we sailed up to our waypoint just outside the cut, the opening did not become apparent until we were straight on to it. On either side, the rock walls tower up about 40 feet framing a cut insufficiently wide to permit more then one boat to pass at a time. Not at all scenic on the inside, the silt filled water reflects somewhat of a lime green color off of the grassy bottom. The protection is good if not very good inside the harbor, but every guide still cautions against using Hatchet Bay as a hurricane hole. Apparently every boat in the bay was lost during Hurricane Andrew and then again during Hurricane Floyd due to the poor holding conditions. It always gives us chills to see, like looking at a corpse, but there are several boats even now washed up on shore from previous hurricanes.
We didn't even get off the boat at Hatchet Bay, but were entertained nonetheless watching a group of locals recover a speed boat that had sunk near our anchorage. They brought a big work boat out along with another smaller runabout for the attempt. The sunken boat was lying upside down in about 4 feet of water and mud, and probably stern down from the weight of the two large outboards. After dragging the boat into deeper water, it took several attempts but the work boat was able to rotate the boat such that the bow was standing almost vertically. They then re- hooked onto the bow of the sunken boat and started towing her as fast as the work boat could make. When at speed, the boat riding along the surface still full of water, one of the guys from the runabout jumped on board and proceeded to bail for all he was worth, all the while still being towed around the harbor at full speed. As the boat rose in the water, first one then another of the helpers jumped aboard and commenced bailing as well. This went on for the better part of a half hour until the boat would float on its own. I wonder if the engines will ever work again?
The next day we planned to sail up to the north end of Eleuthera, near the settlement of Spanish Wells. To do so, we must pass through an area simply known as "The Current." As the name implies, The Current is an area with...well...lots of current; so much so that it's necessary for displacements boats such as ourselves to time our passage to go with the flow. As such, we were required to wait until late morning to leave. Gratified that we had in fact timed our passage correctly, we negotiated the narrow channel doing better than 10 knots over ground; almost 5 knots of current!
Harbour Island, with it's three mile long pink sand beach and New England village-like charm has attracted our attention as a cruising destination for some time. The only problem is it's not easy to get there. From Spanish Wells, it would only be for us about a two hour trip. Not so bad you might think, just a short days work. But between us and Harbour Island stands the notorious Devil's Backbone passage. Strewn as it is with narrow channels between extensive shallow reefs and breaking waves, the trek can be intimidating to say the least. Even with a hiring a pilot as most everyone in their right mind does, it's an exciting trip. So it was that we had perfect weather, calm seas and an offshore breeze, we decided to hire ourselves a pilot and make the trip. Edsel, our guide, carrying two loaves of fresh bread for us, came aboard Starlight with Watermark following so closely that Brian could have easily changed our bow light for us. I'd have to say that with our calm conditions and good visibility, I wouldn't have been nervous about the coral heads even without our pilot. But at one point our course took us not more than a stones throw from the beach in only 10 feet of water. I told Joyce we were a mile closer to the beach than I'd ever wanted to be! I could only imagine how it would be when the waves were breaking on the surf as they usually do.
Aside from Nassau, Harbour Island is the first real touristy place we've visited in the Bahamas. Lots of pasty faced folks from up north hanging out at the beach frantically gathering up some rays before heading back home. But as it's Sunday and Eleuthera is a rather devout Christian enclave, not much is open. As we walk down the main drag, we are passed by lots of golf carts; not that there is any golf course nearby but it appears to be the preferred mode of travel around Harbour Island. Friends told us to keep an eye out for Gene Hackman (the actor) as he had his yacht here just last week. We'll let you know if we see anyone famous.
Our CNG (Compressed Natural Gas; our cooking fuel) is holding out well. We just changed to our second tank in early March so it should last until we return to the States. That is as long as we continue to conserve (Joyce is not allowed a second cup of coffee), not use the oven, and supplement cooking with our propane barbecue grill which converts to a stove burner. We stretched our fuel consumption to almost double what our normal was living on the boat. However, the kitty litter isn't holding up as well and they just don't sell the stuff here. Hopefully either Joyce's parents or brother will be able to bring some when they visit.
