Porpoises joining us on our sail to the Abacos islands from Spanish Wells

Ocean beach along Lynyard Cay

Sponges along the beach...

Pete's Pub at Little Harbour

Front approaching.....

Bahamian speed bump!

Bronze sea turtle sculpture- Johnston Gallery

Help!  What is this?  Found on beach.  Soft, gelatinous, transparent...

Lighthouse ruins at Little Harbour

Little Harbour lighthouse ruins

On Monday, February 25th, we awoke to ideal conditions to sail over to the Abacos islands crossing the Northeast Providence Channel…a distance of 50 miles of bluewater sailing.  There were several sailboats that crossed with us. We had a light southeasterly breeze and two-foot swell under a beautiful sunny sky.  By 16:00 we had entered the Little Harbour cut and anchored in the lee of Lynyard Cay.   The next morning we had one more day forecast of southerly breezes before the winds were supposed to swing into the north for the foreseeable future.  We took advantage of the wind direction and sailed up to Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island.  There we anchored among 50-60 other boats.  It is a town where you can do laundry and re-provision in a supermarket that is equivalent to any found in Canada.  What a treat to have a whole aisle of produce and vegetables instead of a few small bins of onions and yams and plantain, and possibly a few bananas and tomatoes.  The variety was much appreciated….

After the chores,  we left on Thursday,  February 28^th and sailed back south to Sandy Cay where a Land & Sea Park provides a beautiful coral reef to snorkel.  There was a large swell that made launching the dinghy a challenge, but the snorkeling was superb.  Immediately we spotted a hawksbill turtle that nonchalantly swam by, and several huge spotted rays that with huge tails!  There were lots of varieties of coral including elkhorn coral as well as a huge variety of reef fish.  After lunch we sailed back to Lynyard Cay for a walk on the beach.  On Friday, March 1^st we ventured into Little Harbour at high tide and picked up a mooring ball.  We went ashore and visited the Johnston Gallery.  We visited this gallery twenty-eight years ago when we did this trip.  Back then, Walter had discovered a ring buried in the sand on a deserted island  beach.  Many of you have heard this tale and seen the ring….amethyst stones around a huge pearl with small diamonds.  It looked like costume jewelry to us, but we took it into Johnston’s Gallery back then and Pete Johnston told us it was actually real gold and quite a valuable ring.  Walt had found buried treasure!!!  Pete is still running the gallery. His father, Randolph Johnston, has since passed away.  Randolph was originally from Toronto.  He and his wife Margot with their four children sailed on their schooner here back in the 1950s.  They originally lived in a cave while they built their small house in Little Harbour and established a foundry.  Randolph made bronze sculptures.  His son, Pete, has continued that tradition as well as establishing Pete’s Pub…a popular hangout for cruisers at Happy Hour!  We explored the community including the abandoned old lighthouse.  We did do one small snorkel just outside of the harbor where there were lots of fan corals, but not much else.  We left  Saturday, March 2nd to go back to Marsh Harbour in anticipation of a week of strong northwest winds…Unfortunately, the other safe havens, Hopetown and Man-of-war cays were full with boats on moorings and no anchoring is allowed.  We stayed aboard for the rest of the day on Saturday and also Sunday since the winds and waves were too strong to attempt to go ashore.  On Monday, March 4^th we got ashore to explore Marsh Harbour, pick up some new books to read from the “buck a book” , and arrange an internet connection.  And now we are caught up with our wanderings!

A few pictures when Frank was still visiting us in the Exumas....

Blowhole at Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay

Frank feeding iguana at Bitter Guana Cay

Eating celery

Windspell at anchor at Bitter Guana Cay

Farewell dinner at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

After Frank departed we sailed over to Eleuthera to Rock Harbour and then onto Governor's Harbour.  A few pictures from Governor's harbour....

Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera

Fishermen cleaning fish at Governor's Harbour

Waiting for the wave...

Catching the wave at Governor's Harbour beach

Street on governor's Harbour

The "Glass Window" on Eleuthera Island

Bahamian Alarm "cock"/clock

Entering Spanish Wells harbour

Dunmore Town Beach, Harbour Island

Lunch overlooking beach at Dunmore Town

Golf cart ride in Dunmore Town

From Governor’s Harbour we sailed on Friday, February 22^nd to Hatchett Bay.  It has a narrow opening cut into the rock with a harbor inside that provides complete wind protection.  We stayed there overnight then continued on the next day past the “Glass Window”….a very narrow stretch of Eleuthera Island where you can see from the bank side to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is traversed by a bridge that has been removed by various hurricanes and rebuilt numerous times!  We passed through Current Cut that can have a wicked 6 knot current against you if you don’t time it right…fortunately we did get it right!  We sailed into Spanish Wells late in the afternoon.  We went ashore and walked around the small community.  It is known for its fishery.  We arranged to visit Dunmore Town on Harbour Island with Walt & Erin from the sailboat, Santosha using a water taxi since using our own boats would mean traversing a tricky coral reef called Devil’s Backbone.  Dunmore Town is known for its beautiful wide, pink coral beach and quaint streets lined with bougainvillea and hibiscus shrubs.  The town lived up to its reputation.  After walking through the town streets, Walt & I rented a golf cart to explore a little further afield.  

We are enjoying blogging from the public library in Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, the second largest in the Bahamas, next to Nassau. The view from the balcony off the lofty second floor allows us to keep an eye on Windspell as the holding in the harbour is less than ideal. The day is however very calm and sunny. The library was built in the 1890's and restored in the 1990's. Governor's Harbour is where the Eleutheran adventurers first settled in the mid 1600's. This was also the capital prior to Nassau.

Now for the underwater photos we promised that our good friend , Frank took while he was visiting aboard Windspell.

Frank aboard Windspell eating gourmet pb sandwiches ...with beer!

Coral wall outside the Thunderball Grotto at Staniel Cay.

Inside the Thunderball Grotto

Walt feeding niblet corn to the fish inside Thunderball Grotto

A sergeant major fish checking out Frank's underwater camera!

A spiny lobster hiding under a ledge.  Spiny lobsters don't have claws but taste just as  good as  Atlantic lobster!

A nurse shark with remoras clinging on for the ride.

A loggerhead turtle (I think?) swimming by...

Dinghy ride up the mangrove swamp at Shroud Cay with Windspell in the background.

Rocky Dundas island, near Cambridge Cay, is known for its caves containing stalactities and stalagmites.  You swim in at low tide.  Check out the size of the cave relative to Walt's flippers showing in the lower right.

The Champagne Baths on the north end of Compass Cay.  Ocean surge spills over the ledges creating bubbles in the shallow pools on the leeward side of the island.

We will continue heading north as we explore more of Eleuthera. At some point we will rent a car as there are lots of places to see that would be hard to reach by boat. We had toyed with the idea of heading a bit further south before turning around but the winds were contrary and the thought of beating our way to windward for the next week when we have the opportunity to sail comfortably north was just too tempting. After all, it is also about the sailing.
Yesterday we met a guy in front of his beautifully restored cottage who struck up conversation with us as we strolled past his flower enshrouded home. He was fairly tall, slim and spoke with a mild British accent. He has a home in Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay and another in Europe. He rotates through the three places seasonally. In the driveway sat a beautifully restored  Austin Mini  convertible in a cream colour. As he drove by us a little later, Donna and I both had the same thought that he could be an "our" vintage rock star from the past, now in humble seclusion in the Bahamas.
After this blog we will do a bit of Internet research to see if this has any validity. Barring the research, if we run in to him again we may just bluntly ask him. After all with names like Donna Ried and Walter Ried we also have some notoriety, albeit  unearned!
Layer today we will hike over to the Atlantic side where there is supposed to be a great beach.
Bye for now,
Donna and Walter

freighter brings provisions to community

weaving grass

Willy's "Garden of Eden-papaya tree

skate 

Nurse shark waiting for handouts

Frank & Walt at Warderick Wells, Exuma Land & Sea park

Dinghy ride up mangrove swamp, Shroud Cay

View from Camp Driftwood-hideout for CIA in 1980s

Shroud Cay beach

Cruiser creations from flotsam

Captain Frank at helm

Fisherman Frank catches albacore tuna on first cast!

gar swimming slongside boat

Boat repairs!!!

Pipe Alley dinghy ride

After our son and daughter departed, we spent a few days at Black Point Settlement doing laundry and re-provisioning.  The supplies come in via a freighter to each community about once a week, weather permitting.  We took a break from chores to visit the “Garden of Eden” attraction.  Willy, the proprietor, has established a method of growing native fruits and vegetables using potholes filled with composted soil.  He proudly showed us the bananas, mangos, guavas, papayas, squash, corn, noni, tamarind, pigeon peas, coconut, and sapodilla.  It surprises me that not many people grow their own produce, yet the climate allows year-round growing.  His wife demonstrated to us how she weaves grass into strips that are sent to Nassau for manufacturing into placemats, floor mats, and baskets.

We headed over to Staniel Cay on January 31^st to pick up our friend, Frank Brouse, who retired on January 30 from teaching.  While we were waiting for his plane to arrive, we watched the skates and nurse sharks lazily swimming around the docks at Staniel Cay Marina waiting for fish scraps.  Once Frank arrived we immediately whisked him over to Thunderball grotto to see the fish and coral in the underwater caves.  He took some great underwater shots of us feeding niblet corn to the fish. We’ll share those pictures on our blog once he emails them to us.  Based on the weather forecast, we decided to head north to Shroud Cay, then work our way back  south.  We stopped at Warderick Wells and did a short hike up to Boo Boo Hill and showed Frank the blowholes.  The next day we continued north to Shroud Cay where we spent a roly night in the surge.  It was worthwhile because the next morning we took the dinghy on a rising tide up Sanctuary Creek to explore the mangroves.  At the far end was Driftwood Camp, a site established by a hippy sailor back in the 80s then used by the CIA for a sting operation to spy on planes bringing drugs into neighboring Norman’s Cay.  We walked the beach and had a picnic lunch before returning to Windspell. 

We then sailed over to Hawksbill Cay where we did some snorkeling and hiking.  The next day we came down to Emerald Rock anchorage at Warderick Wells, the Exumas Land & Sea Park headquarters.  We had some wonderful snorkeling under ideal conditions at the Coral Gardens and fuel dock sites.  There was a HUGE Nassau grouper, at least 1 metre in length, and 5 spiny lobster under one ledge!  We hiked the southern half of the island, showing Frank the Pirate’s Lair anchorage.  From there we headed down to Cambridge Cay.  We anchored temporarily at Fowl Cay to snorkel at  Rocky Dundas Caves.  Entering into the caves and seeing the stalactites and stalagmites and seeing the abundance of fish and corals outside the caves entrance was truly magical.  We also dinghied over to the Champagne Baths, located on the north tip of Compass Cay.,  Here, swells from the ocean spill over a ledge into rock basins causing the water to bubble up, hence the name, the Champagne Baths.  We picked up anchor and moved over to Cambridge Cay mooring field.  In the late afternoon we took Frank to our favorite site, The Sea Aquarium just north of O’Briens Cay.  As you tumble over the side of the dinghy in your snorkeling gear, the little Sergeant Major fish come rushing up to greet you.  Slightly more cautious are the grunt fish that hang back a little, waiting to see if you have any food to offer.  It's likely the best snorkelling spot in the Exumas chain of islands.

Heading south the next day we anchored at Sampson Cay.  We took the dinghy to explore Pipe Alley –a shallow channel between islands known for the beautiful shades of turquoise in the shallow waters.   There is a huge house built there but with a solar array and 3 wind turbines to provide their power needs.  It's likely the biggest private home we have seen in the Exumas.   We sailed the next morning to Black Point Settlement ahead of a strong "norther" coming through.  we spent the day catching up on laundry and hiking out to the tip of the island.