25:30.81N 76:50.95W

 

Royal Harbour is a natural harbour that lies within Royal Island at the northern end of Eleuthera.  We have been sheltering here for a couple of days while a low pressure system passes by.

 

The name Royal Island is a corruption of Real Island, so named because of the silver Spanish Reals the pirates used to bury on the island.  The pirate Henry Every anchored his ship Fancy here while he went down to New Providence, to bribe the governor to let him remain in the Bahamas without being hunted down.

 

The island was once the site of an elegant private estate.  The whole island has recently been bought by Jack Nicklaus for redevelopment (and the developers turned us back when we tried to walk across to the beach) but you are still permitted to visit the ruins of the old estate, until they get around to bulldozing them.

 

At anchor in the historic harbour

 

The old house is built of blocks of lava/coral quarried from the north shore of the island

 

The bar area must have had a spectacular view when it was well maintained

 

But it is a while since anyone has done any pruning around here

 

An impressive washbasin in the shower room

 

The bathroom had hot water on tap, made by running the pipework through an open hearth