There
was something I failed to mention while in Marsh Harbour. We were walking to National Marine in search
of a boat part, only a few blocks away from the dinghy dock and a lady taxi
driver stopped to offer us a ride. We
said that we were ok & she insisted!
“It won’t cost anything; I just want to do a good deed!” We pointed to the building and said that was
where we were headed. She laughed and we
wished one another the best for the New Year.
You have to love the Bahamian spirit.
New Year’s Day found us moving from Marsh
Harbour over to Hope Town on Elbow Cay.
We have always enjoyed Hope Town but knew they had taken a hit during
Hurricane Dorian too. Our friend Brad,
who lives there had gotten in contact when another friend, Kathy had told him
we were on our way. Into the harbor
& onto a mooring we went. We usually
walk to the top of the lighthouse but it is currently closed due to hurricane
damage. We walked to the new market
“LVA” & were very surprised how well stocked it was. On this particular walk no less than 4
different cars/golf carts stopped to offer us rides!
Not
much was open. Captain Jacks has a new
deck but is a few months from reopening.
Harbours Edge is half gone & the Hope Town Marina only serves on the
weekends. Hope Town Lodge is gone and
the property for sale. The locals see
about another 2 years for them to return to normal with about 10 years for
Marsh Harbour. The differences between
the 2 is amazing but Hope Town has a smaller and wealthier population.
We got together with Brad the night before we left for Tahiti Beach & let’s just say that we all enjoyed ourselves.
Tahiti
Beach & Cracker P’s across from it have always been a must do. The BBQ Conch & the Fish Dip at Cracker
P’s have been our favorites for years.
Now the restaurant is up for sale & Tahiti Beach is looking a bit
forlorn.
Our friends Mike & Frankie Ann had spent some time at Sea Spray Marina a few years back. This is it now.
Now we
head to Lynyrd Cay to stage for a crossing to Royal Island and down the island
of Eleuthera.
We
spent a few great days at Royal Island and took the opportunity to take the
dink over to Spanish Wells. We spied
another couple from a large beautiful motor yacht doing the same and we met
them auspiciously a few nights later…... Anyway, Spanish was pretty much the
same with restaurants open with lots of mask up signs & hand sanitizer. We needed the marine store but as typical in
the Bahamas they close for an hour for lunch.
We used that hour for a Kalik & conch!
During
our first dinghy explore at Royal Island we were lucky enough to see 6 turtles,
2 starfish, 1 conch (juvenile) and 1 remora!
The turtles have really made a comeback in the last 10 or so years. A wonderful thing to see. Royal Island is still uninhabited but it was
sold to a former pro golfer & football player with plans to develop it into
a haven for the wealthy. It did not go
far but several cottages & a clubhouse were built & occasionally people
will come in. No water, electricity,
cell towers here but there are a couple of caretakers who come & go by
boat. The cottages are nice. The only thing missing are guests.
A
night or two later we saw someone in a dink with a spotlight near shore from
the anchorage. Since we have been to
Royal Island many times & knew there was nothing near where they were, we
thought maybe there was a problem of some sort.
Off in the dink we went but it turned out that they (from the motor
yacht) were looking for a place to get their dog ashore. The following night I awoke at 4am & saw
that the motor yacht was all lit up.
Thinking that perhaps they were dragging anchor (holding is notoriously
bad) I watched for a few & went back to sleep. Mid-morning the next day the lady came over
in their dink & invited us for sundowners.
As an afterthought she asked if either of us were electricians. It seemed that when they started the engines
to move, she went & started the genset.
The exterior lights came on and Kathy thought Matt had turned them on
& she thought he had. There was a short and it started a fire onboard! This boat was gorgeous inside & out. Plush carpet, leather seating, burled wood
highly polished with just a slight hint of a burnt plastic/fiberglass
smell. The guys discussed the
possibilities at great length & decided perhaps a call to R & B
Boatyard in Spanish Wells may be the answer.
We had a wonderful time with them & their dog Jasper & hope to
see them in the future.
On we
went through Current Cut where you really need to time your passage
through
with the tides to Annie’s Bight near Gregory Town.
Our
plan had been to take the little boat to Gregory Town but during the night the
winds changed to southerly (not forecasted) so on to Hatchett Bay we went. Took a wonderful 3+ mile walk to the
ocean.
Hatchett Bay was home to large cattle operations prior to Bahamian Independence
We saw
a familiar looking boat & it turned out to be a longtime single handing
friend on Shanti. Ray is a wonderful guy
who in his non cruising life is an organic farmer from North Carolina. We had wondered where he was as we had not
heard him on the SSB cruisers net in a very long time. Turns out he has tuner problems. Hopefully he’ll sort it out soon. Since there is a front coming by the weekend,
we decided to move on to Governors Harbour while heading to Rock Sound for the
front.
In
Governor’s Harbour the fence at the park had been decorated using water
bottles. It’s a bit difficult to read
via a photo but it proclaims Merry Christmas & 1973, the year the Bahamas
became their own country.
Talk
about recycling! The Bahamas has also
done away with one use plastic bags and their penny.
Over
the years we have become friends with many people in the Bahamas. One is Samantha Fox who works with the
Ministry of Tourism. She was working out
of the office in Salt Pond Long Island but has transferred to the Governor’s
Harbour office. We specifically did not
announce our whereabouts on social media to surprise her. It worked!
Due to Covid you must knock and someone will come to the door. Samantha answered our knock & when she
saw us it was hugs all around! We know
we’re not supposed to due Covid but it could not be helped!
Next
it was on to Rock Sound. It was
wonderful as usual. With the approaching
cold front, we tucked on the west side away from town. There is a new Government dock being built
and when finished it will be very nice.
It was interesting to see the mail boat come in, turn around & back
into the dock.
The
Bahamian people are taking the Covid pandemic very seriously with signs
everywhere (too many to post) and even at the grocery there was security taking
your temperature prior to entering with a hand sanitizing station just inside.
On our
first trip to the grocery, we saw our dear friend Marionetta Hall who does
wonderful craft work. She was very happy
to see us. After a nice visit &
shopping we were headed out across the parking lot when another Rock Sound
friend Walton Cooper recognized us masks & all! It was really good to be home as the people
here say to us each time we return.
Of
course, we had to take a walk to the Ocean Hole.
We had
something happen that has not happened to us in 19 years of cruising. We saw some boaters in town who asked why we
had anchored out our dinghy. We asked
more & they told us that if we needed to use their dink to rescue ours to
go ahead. Imagine our surprise when we
returned to the dock and found this.
Yes,
that is our boat in the background.
We
also learned that the old government dock is to be rebuilt as a dinghy dock for
cruisers. The work is to begin when the
construction on the new gov’t dock is complete.
Once the pandemic is a thing of the past boaters who return to Eleuthera
will be surprised at the positive changes.
It
looks like we may have a weather window to cross over to Cat Island so that
will be all for now.
