Bahamas - Southwards
We had been in the States for two months and were running five weeks behind schedule, the hurricane season starts at the beginning of June, and our insurance only covers us for named storms north of Norfolk, Virgina and south of Trinidad. It was now the middle of April, time to get moving. Heading back down to the Bahamas, it was even more important to get our currents right – it’s one thing to ride the Gulf Stream heading north, but southwards, a whole new ball game. In addition, our new replacement saildrive was only working in forwards. Yep, two steps forward, one step back. Whilst manoeuvring NOETA alongside the marina in Ponce de Leon to load and offload fridges, in a strong river current, we discovered that we had no reverse on our port engine - diagnosis – worn clutches. The saildrive was about the same age as our original one, similar hours, but we think spent a lot of time in Californian marinas, lots of twisting and shouting required. So although we weren’t planning on doing any reverse moves, we were mindful that she needed to be treated gently. We had a good run, had obviously picked a favourable weather window - a light wind on the nose down the coast as far as Melbourne, then a close reach as we crossed the Stream, water temperature climbing to 29 degrees. We knew when we had crossed as there is an eastward current that worked in our favour, and when combined with a favourable wind angle, magic. 248 nautical miles in 34 hours we were back to stunning clear blue water and white sand beaches.
Three weeks travelling up through the Bahamas in 2023 we had spent most of our time in the Exumas, a beautiful chain of small cays, shallow lagoons, sandy beaches, iguanas, and swimming pigs. We had visited the capital Nassau on New Providence and made short stops on Eleuthera and the Abacos before heading north to the US, so decided we would work our way down Eleuthera and Cat Islands checking out a few points of interest we had missed on the way up.
But first we needed to clear in. Deciding to sail past Grand Bahama, where both Customs and anchoring seemed more difficult, we headed to Great Abaco and Marsh Harbour where we had last cleared out.
Our New Zealand telecoms provider Spark doesn’t roam in the Caribbean, so after clearing in at Marsh Harbour we turned right at the only traffic light in town and visited BTC for a local SIM before weighing anchor off Mermaid Reef and heading south down the inner lagoon, suddenly remembering how nerve wracking the Bahamas can be – charted shifting sands - 0.6m under our keels at one point. Spanish Wells is one of those unique places that deserves a revisit, so nine hours across and down to the top of Eleuthera, we anchored in a familiar spot and headed into Budda’s for happy hour. Still the same. Spanish Wells is small, and we had explored it by golf cart the previous year, but we did need to determine if there was someone who could help us source and install saildrive clutches. A few conversations later the answer was no, diesel was expensive at USD6.60/gal (NZD2.95/L), so we headed off down to the Glass Window Bridge via the Current Cut. To put the price into perspective we had been paying USD3.8/gal diesel (NZD1.70/L) in Virginia, and when your capacity is 900L, well that’s a big difference.
The Cut between Eleuthera and Current Island cuts 15 nm off the journey and is a known drift diving spot. We anchored just north of the Cut; a lovely place to swim and wait for favourable tides. The cut is only 100 m across and the current can get up to 10 knots during strong tides, so it is prudent to get your timings right. Tides in the Bahamas flood to the west and ebb to the east, except for the Cut, which is the reverse, so with low tide at 0720 we had an easy 3 knot current in our favour.
The Window Bridge is a must see – once a natural rock bridge between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, it was destroyed in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew and is now a man made structure, but still very impressive. It was calm so the waves washing over into the Queen’s Baths were gentle, it would be spectacular in a storm.
Having had no luck in Spanish Wells, the saildrive issue was still uppermost in our minds - we needed to (a) source a kit and (b) find an installer, no easy task I can assure you. But by reaching out we managed to locate one in the US and provide a delivery address in the Dominican Republic, that was (a) sorted at least, onwards…
Governor’s Harbour lays claim to being the first permanent European settlement in the Bahamas (17th century) and was the site of the first parliament in the Bahamas (18th century) and hosts a popular “Friday night fish fry”. A wide shallow bay, we found a better anchorage south in Laughing Bird Cay and tendered around, no easy dinghy dock but it was calm so we threw out an anchor and waded in. A quiet, small, simple town with a sports ground, police station, three churches, library, a main street and dirt track roads past simple homes to the sea. Up the hill were older 19th century colonial houses set in colourful tropical gardens, many of them rental accommodation, and on the Atlantic side I believe resorts and long sandy beaches. We waited for the diesel truck to arrive, it had come that morning by ferry and was USD1.30/gal cheaper than Spanish Wells, but after waiting for several hours we gave up. In that time we found a couple of well stocked, but pricey grocery stores - USD30 for six tomatoes, six limes and a bag of three cos lettuces, we discovered that it is impossible to get USD from an ATM, only Bahamian $ and that the fish fry was a jolly social gathering with very average food. So expecting a 35 knot blow the next day, we decided to give it a miss and keep heading south for a more sheltered anchorage. And yes, there were laughing gulls in the cay.
Rock Sound is another big wide shallow bay, so shallow in fact that while we were there, we saw two local barges running ground. At the head of the sound, an even smaller, simpler town, we wandered along the main road, a hot afternoon, roadside rubbish, to the Cathedral Cave with its cool limestone shadows, bats, and trailing tree roots. On the way back we stopped for a beer at the Papa Site liquor store and were delighted to find a couple of chairs, air conditioning and friendly locals to chat to while sipping on a cold one.
Last stop on Eleuthera was Princess Cays, and what a peculiar wee place, colourful huts and scalloped bays, the Caribbean Princess cruise liner anchored behind us was a clue. Another hot afternoon walk, this time looking for Old Bannerman Town, which was nowhere to be seen, hidden stone ruins in the bush, I guess, then back again, no liquor store sustenance this time, just closed kiosks by the local ferries – hair braiding, handcrafts, food - the cruise liner had departed.
Onwards to Cat Island, named either after pirate Arthur Catt or a one-time large population of feral cats. Bashing into 20-25 knot head winds, we were originally heading for the Bight Settlement but when the sea state got worse, we turned at Little San Salvador Island (a cruise ship nestling in Half Moon Cay) and headed to Benett's Harbour, avoiding charted coral heads on the way in and anchored in two metres off a beautiful white sand beach, 450 metres away. Did I mention that the Bahamas were shallow? We were trying to find a port of entry/exit as the Dominican Republic requires a zarpe (outbound clearance document) and the Bahamas Customs website had listed a government dock at Benett’s harbour. It was completely abandoned. A short walk along a dirt road to the crossroads, we waved down a passing car and found out that both Benett’s and Arthur’s Town were no longer operational, but Smith's Bay was. Manyana.
A short hop down the island to Smith’s Bay, we anchored and tendered to the government dock. Hidden behind a container, the Customs office was noticeably quiet. The woman on duty informed us that the manager had left the island for a doctor’s appointment and wasn’t due back until the following week, but that we only get one stamp for the Bahamas, that is when we clear in, and it serves as both entry and an exit zarpe. OK, good to know.
So Customs ticked, next item on Skip’s list was fuel, and mine was the Hermitage. Mount Alvernia (Como Hill) is the highest point in the Bahamas at 206 feet (63 meters) and hosts a small medieval monastery, the Hermitage, which British architect/sculptor/priest John Hawes (Father Jerome) built in 1939 to get away from the world. It is said to be reminiscent of La Verna, the hill in Tuscany that was given to St. Francis of Assisi as a place where he could peacefully contemplate. And what a place, an easy 15 minute road walk then rocky ascent past stone carved Stations of the Cross to a small building perched on top of the hill. Built from local stone, it commands a view down to the sea and is beautifully designed with well thought through light and breeze apertures, what a wonderful creation, what an amazing man. Back down the hill, unforeseen delights were the nutmeg buns from Olive’s Bakery and managing to knock down a few Sapodilla fruits next to the Police Station – sweet caramel honey pear fig flavour.
Fuel. The local gas station next to the derelict church doesn’t sell diesel, so the next day we tendered twenty minutes down to Old Bight, pulled TENDER up onto a deserted beach (tied to a tree as the tide was rising), then walked for twenty minutes along a bumpy limestone road, pulling our cart loaded up with fuel drums, through a mangrove swamp, to Favor's gas station – USD8.95/gal (NZD3.99/L). No. So back down the road, back to NOETA and down to the bottom of the island. It was a last resort, literally. Hawk’s Nest is a small resort, catering to the fishing charter market and I had emailed them and been given a USD7.15/gal (NZD3.19/L) price. Still expensive, marginally better than Favor’s and we had no other option. Anchoring opposite the small airstrip, we tendered around to the fuel dock through a squall, filled our drums, hitched a ride across the airstrip to the resort office to pay, then back again. No squall this time.
Twelve days in the Bahamas, we decided to give the Turks and Caicos a miss, we needed to keep heading south, the weather looked favourable for a run down to the Dominican Republic over the next three days and we were keen to catch up with Altair, Harry and Lynda from Nova Scotia who were getting Libra built there and had kindly provided us with a delivery address (tax free) for the clutch kit.
375 nautical miles from Cat Island to the Dominican Republic (DR). We find a mixture of three and four hour watches works well when it’s the two of us, the longer the passage the easier it is as you settle into a routine. The first night is the hardest, and with a two night passage ahead of us, a straight run would have made sense. But we decided to break the journey in half and overnight in Mayaguana to make the most of a forecast wind shift. In retrospect we were glad we did as both legs were extremely uncomfortable.
Leaving Cat Island I hooked a huge fish around Devil’s Point, so big it snapped my line and took my best lure. I was disappointed that fishing was out, but quite frankly I didn’t have the stomach for it - 27 hours of bashing in a very unsettled sea state with winds higher than expected, we crashed and banged all the way to Mayaguana, we were tired and I was doing “what am I doing with my life” miles in my head, breathe in, breathe out.
Mayaguana’s Abraham Bay is enclosed by a reef with two entrances, the southern one easier to navigate. It is a popular stop, several other boats arrived after us, some heading up to the town where there are limited facilities. Anchoring amidst coral patches, we slept, bliss.
Then the next morning we were off again, keeping height for the easterly trade winds, it was another 25 hours down to the DR. It started well, we had a good motorsail down to the Turks & Caicos, a low lying green/brown landscape sandwiched between beautiful sky and sea blues, then we hit short waves and an unfavourable current, so another night of crashing and banging, a thunderstorm raging further south, little sleep, but hey tomorrow is another day….