Spanish Wells

Not that we planned to, but we spent an entire week in Spanish Wells. So, I might as well tell you a little about this unusual place. Some comparison to a larger Tangier Island on the Chesapeake may be appropriate. Like Tangier, the people of Spanish Wells are isolated from the main population centers by water and seem to prefer it that way. They are very independent and quite proud of it. Their dialect is peculiar, perhaps a mix of Bahamian and lilting English. Like Tangier, the Spanish Wellsian's main source of income is a prolific sea food industry. That there is a great deal of money to be had in seafood is quite evident in the quality of the houses, cars and clothing of the residents. Some of today's inhabitants are descendants of the Loyalists who fled from the American Revolution. The Spanish slavers named the area Spanish Wells for the abundance of good water found thereabouts from which they could fill their casks. Today, of the estimated 1500 Spanish Wellsians over 1480 are white, which is a very unusual ratio in the Bahamas.

Nowhere in the Bahamas have we seen such well tended gardens and lawns and houses in general. We were amazed to see residents watering lawns and the smell of newly cut grass scented the air. We've rarely seen grass at all on other islands as the natural terrain has been mostly rocky. Julie on Seaquel mentioned that when they passed through Spanish Wells in December, not a flower or plant was blooming due to all the damage from hurricane Floyd. The effort these people have made is amazing!

Why were we there so long? Once we found a good place to snorkel, we rather liked the place. Spanish Wells also turned out to have a beautiful pinkish beach and colorful shades of blues and greens in the shallow water inside the reefs. In relative terms, things there were a bit easier for us. The food store is well stocked with prices rivaling the best we'd seen thus far in the Bahamas (but still nowhere close to the U.S. prices). Sweet, warm homemade bread was available at the nearby bakery. We could pull our dinghy right to the dock to get a decent quality of free water. The phone was not so far away. (And even better, we accidently found we could make free calls to the States on this one particular phone that was supposedly broken.) Our mooring was cheap and secure, there being no place to anchor close by. And the people were friendly and helpful. But in truth, after a couple of days, it was the weather that kept us from making our way the 50 or so open ocean miles north to the Abacos. You see, a gale had been blowing further north in the Atlantic creating 10-14 foot swells in the ocean between us and the Abacos. While the swell itself would not keep us from going, once at the Abacos, it is necessary to negotiate a cut into the sea of Abaco. For nearly a week, the cuts were in a rage so that even if we got there, we couldn't get in.

The kitties also enjoyed their time in Spanish Wells. In addition to not moving anywhere for a week, they were very interested in watching the birds that congregated on the beach behind our boat at low tide.

While in Spanish Wells, we made some progress on refinishing the exterior teak, not without difficulties however. Joyce was in the middle of applying the second coat of Cetol (marine finish for teak) when a late morning shower poured all over her work. In addition, it was very challenging working on it in about 20 knots of breeze.

Now tell me where else on the world could you get this kind of service? Susan, I may have mentioned, is hypoglycemic and can not eat much sugar, but has more than on a few occasions made great deserts for Brian and us that she could not eat. To her delight, we found a ice cream shop that also sold Edy's sugar free ice cream in the half gallon. We figured we just buy a half gallon, get four spoons and do the best we could before it all melted as none of us has a freezer. But the nice lady at the store not only agreed to make us up four cones, but to also hold the remaining ice cream for us for our next visit.

And speaking of secure anchorages, the alternate anchorage that boaters were waiting was at Royal Island about 5 miles away. Royal Island is about 3½ miles long and very narrow with a good all weather harbor which today is uninhabited. An extensive and beautiful plantation was built on the island back in the 1930s. The conspicuous ruins of stone and intricate tile work are all that remain of this once elaborate estate.

Our friends on Seaquel were there, along with 10-15 others, like us, waiting for a weather window. Almost fully enclosed, Royal Island appears to be a very good spot to hole up in almost any weather. But over the course of a week, no less than 3 boats found themselves hard aground in the morning, their anchors having dragged ending up with the boat heeled over in the shallows. Beginning at 4:30 am one morning, our friends George and Julie got involved in salvaging a 31 foot power boat that eventually involved over half a dozen people and six anchors working for over 4 hours to refloat the boat. On another occasion, Bob on Fiddlers Green went out at 4:00 am to help another couple. These things always seems to happen in the middle of the night.

Finally, on Saturday, we made our way over to Royal Island as the next day looked like a good window to head north. Yes, we were concerned about the holding at Royal, but Royal was in fact an easier place to depart from. (If we left from nearby Spanish Wells, we would have had to get a pilot once again to lead us through the reefs at a very early hour.) The first time we tried to set the hook, we dragged as soon as we put the engine in reverse to back down on the anchor. We found a patch with more sand and grass and re-anchored there. And I wasn't satisfied until I went in the water to dive on the anchor. But all was well and we got up at 4:30 am the next morning, not to get ourselves ungrounded, but to depart Eleuthera at 5 am. In company with Seaquel, Starlight and Fiddlers Green, we carefully made our way between the rocks guarding the entrance to Royal Island with a half moon under clear skies providing all the light needed.

Once around the Egg Island reef, the swell became noticeable. With the largest swells measuring around 6 feet and not a breath of wind, the main sail did little more than temper our roll. But the swell was extremely gentle, smooth and rounded, upon a strange glassy surface that showed greasy grey in the early light. Like a skier carving a turn in snow, the only thing disturbing the surface were the wakes from Starlight and Seaquel just ahead. We'd climb the back side of the swell, pause momentarily on top before sliding down the back side. In the troughs, we would lose sight of Starlight's hull even though they were only no more then 10-15 wavelengths ahead. This continued all day as the early morning gave way to a bright and brilliant day but no wind. Our only brief entertainment arrived in the form of a pod of dolphins heading south that briefly altered course to play in our bow wave.

So on we motored; 55 miles to the Little Harbour cut at Great Abaco Island. Our plan had been to enter the Sea of Abaco and then hang a quick left into the nearby protected Little Harbour anchorage. But things don't always turn out like you plan, especially when traveling with other boats. George, just ahead hooked a 3 foot dorado and Julie promptly invited all to dinner. But now we had to find an anchorage that everyone could get into. With a shallow spot getting into Little Harbour and a falling tide, Fiddlers Green could not negotiate Little Harbour due to their larger draft. The next bet turned out to be untenable due to the wind direction and the third possibility at Pelican Point was nixed as the swell there was terrible. In the end, we went all the way to Marsh Harbour, a long 12½ hour day of 76 miles. After all that we were too tired to get together for dinner and we decided that the fish would taste just as good the next evening. Although it was a long and unhappy day of motoring to get to the Abacos, we were safely there with a few days to spare before our company arrived.