Tuesday 13^th November 2018

Wednesday 14^th, Thursday 15^th November 2018

Following our revised cruising route we left Nassau at 7am and set sail for Spanish Wells in the Eleuthera Islands.  Spanish Wells will be our final stopover before heading out into the Atlantic and then turning south for the Virgin Islands.

Leaving Nassau in a heavy downpour

Nassau is a popular cruise ship destination and throughout our stay there were regularly four or five cruise ships docked at the local terminal.  The ships leave at night to continue their voyages and new ones arrive to take their place at dawn.  As we left at daybreak we had to dodge around ships arriving and maneouvring to dock.  We also had the great misfortune to leave in the middle of a torrential downpour so all got soaked.  Fortunately, the rain stopped fairly quickly and we enjoyed a good sail in sunshine and 15/16 kt South East Winds.  On this trip our Aries self-steering worked well as the sails were well balanced so it was just a case of monitoring the course when on watch – hardly onerous.

Approaching West End Harbour Entrance

(marked by a port and starboard buoy – numerous obstructions to port)

We reached our first waypoint near Spanish Wells accompanied by two dolphins.  The chart indicated that we should see a red flashing light on rocks to starboard but although the rocks were visible there was no sign of the light – charts in the Bahamas/Caribbean are not necessarily correct so navigators should proceed with caution.  We sailed on towards Spanish Wells Harbour in shallower waters and arrived as scheduled at 3pm.  Spanish Wells, in good visibility, is not a difficult harbour to negotiate although the bar has a depth of 1.8m just allowing Haigri to carefully sail over it.

Haigri’s mast beyond the swimming pool

We tied up in Spanish Wells Yacht Haven – one of the very few visitors in the marina.  The marina is great with a bar and restaurant and all the usual facilities including a swimming pool.  Spanish Wells itself is lovely and the complete opposite to Nassau in that it is still quaint and uncommercialized.  The beaches are “typical Bahamian” beaches with clear blue, warm seas and golden/white sands.

One of the beaches at Spanish Wells

Peter swimming in the beautifully clear waters of the Bahamas

Golf carts are the favoured way to travel

The island does have cars and trucks but the favoured form of transport are golf carts, of which there are loads.  Everyone we have met so far is very friendly and there is a very unhurried feeling to the island.  One of the things I was hoping to see were the famous swimming pigs of Spanish Wells.  Unfortunately, they live on a small island near Spanish Wells – a boat trip away so not possible this time.

We are now “champing at the bit” to continue South but are carefully monitoring the weather as there has been a tropical wave in the northern Caribbean bringing with it some strong winds and a 48% potential of it developing into a depression.  The boat is ready to go and well prepared for the several hundred miles of sailing necessary to reach the Virgin Islands.  However, before we leave we will have to check out of the Bahamas but we will be sorry to leave.