The Island that Keeps You Smilin
January 26- 30, 2020
Before we left Spanish Wells we did a long dinghy cruise. First we crossed the sound to see the swimming pigs. I’m not really sure how I feel about the swimming pigs. I did not swim with them and neither did I pet them! There were people there snuggling with the pigs! Pigs and ducks and chickens and roosters and Dum Dum the turkey!
In the 1600’s a group of Bermudians searching for religious freedom ship wrecked and found shelter in a limestone cave. They called themselves the Eleutheran Adventurers and made their home here on this 106 miles Long Island named Eleuthera, which is the Greek word for the freedom they were seeking.
We started our visit by crossing from Spanish Wells to the Glass Window Bridge. We made friends with the families on Busy Bees catamaran and AnjuliaSue monohull and we traveled with them across the North Providence Channel to Current Cut which parallels the west coast of Eleuthera. Traveling with sailboats meant we slowed down to closer to 6.5 knots. It was a beautiful cruise and noticeably quieter on our boat than our normal 7.4 cruising speed. Current Cut is between Current Island and Eluthera Island. Crossing the cut has to be timed 1.5 hours after high tide in Nassau to enter at end of high tide to get just a little push through the cut. We had a smooth entrance into a beautiful anchorage.
Once anchored we set out to explore the Queen’s Bath and the Glass Window Bridge. The view of Glass Window is better from the water. Here it is on the approach to our anchorage.
Pictures really don’t do the beauty of this island justice. I tried my hand at making a video.
I could have taken a million pics of the Queen’s Baths. People often swim in the Baths but it was super rough the day we were there. We both decided against it!
I didn’t take too many pics that day. Eddie took tons of video but it all needs to be edited. There were large private properties on the beach, obviously expensive homes and little pastel painted cottages with white picket fences all around the island. Lots of flowers on this island.
We stopped for lattes, overlooking the marina before catching the water taxi back to Seaquel.
At the end of that “road” is a little hill which leads down to this beach!
When we arrived there were 2 women there and us. They were from Connecticut celebrating their 50th birthdays in Eleuthera. Sounds perfect to me! I would say to any of our beach loving friends, if you like remote, unspoiled beaches, visit Eleuthera. In Governor’s Harbor there were resorts but also many VRBO rental properties. We sunbathed, strolled and picnicked.
After lunch we checked out the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve.
We put on long pants, hats and bug spray and walked the preserve climbing to Ethan’s Tower which was above the tree canopy. It was peaceful and quiet and educational.
We were tired after our hike, drove through the town of Governor’s Harbour and then back to return our rental car and get set for an early morning cruise from Hatchet Bay to Rock Sound.
Sunset in Hatchet Bay, January 30, 2020
Finally, the winds have subsided but only for Friday! They are supposed to be back on Saturday and Sunday. We had a breathtaking cruise to Rock Sound. The water was flat. We could see the bottom in 30’ of water and were escorted by dolphins off the bow.
Sunrise Rock Sound, February 1, 2020
And that’s where you can find us this weekend. Aboard Seaquel in Rock Sound, waiting out the winds! Tomorrow we will cruise to Little Spirit Cay in the Exumas.
Before we left Spanish Wells we did a long dinghy cruise. First we crossed the sound to see the swimming pigs. I’m not really sure how I feel about the swimming pigs. I did not swim with them and neither did I pet them! There were people there snuggling with the pigs! Pigs and ducks and chickens and roosters and Dum Dum the turkey!
After that we went back to our dinghy and cruised on the other side of the island, under the Russell Island bridge in search of conch salad. We had met Douglas the night before and he told us he had a conch salad stand! My guy is on the conch salad tour of the Bahamas so that was our next adventure!
We found Douglass And conch salad at the Bridge Serenity Deli and for me even better is that it was low tide and we could walk out on the tidal flats. It was gorgeous, maybe a half a dozen people and so serene. I felt like we were walking on the bottom of the sea. My mermaid self was happy!
It was the perfect ending to our Spanish Wells visit.
January 26, Sunday morning we cruised to Hatchet Bay.
Eleuthera has stolen my heart. This skinny little island is filled with unspoiled beaches and everyday somehow feels like a lazy Sunday!
In the 1600’s a group of Bermudians searching for religious freedom ship wrecked and found shelter in a limestone cave. They called themselves the Eleutheran Adventurers and made their home here on this 106 miles Long Island named Eleuthera, which is the Greek word for the freedom they were seeking.
We started our visit by crossing from Spanish Wells to the Glass Window Bridge. We made friends with the families on Busy Bees catamaran and AnjuliaSue monohull and we traveled with them across the North Providence Channel to Current Cut which parallels the west coast of Eleuthera. Traveling with sailboats meant we slowed down to closer to 6.5 knots. It was a beautiful cruise and noticeably quieter on our boat than our normal 7.4 cruising speed. Current Cut is between Current Island and Eluthera Island. Crossing the cut has to be timed 1.5 hours after high tide in Nassau to enter at end of high tide to get just a little push through the cut. We had a smooth entrance into a beautiful anchorage.
Once anchored we set out to explore the Queen’s Bath and the Glass Window Bridge. The view of Glass Window is better from the water. Here it is on the approach to our anchorage.
Pictures really don’t do the beauty of this island justice. I tried my hand at making a video.
I could have taken a million pics of the Queen’s Baths. People often swim in the Baths but it was super rough the day we were there. We both decided against it!
This shot is looking down from the Glass Window Bridge. One side of the bridge is crashing with the Atlantic Ocean and the other side is the calm Bahamian Sea!
We hiked back to our dinghy which we had left at the beach in our anchorage - tide went out and it was beached! That was some hard work rocking and dragging the 425 lb dinghy back to the water! It doesn’t look like we had far to go but it sure felt like it!
We woke up to a glass anchorage and Eddie blew up the paddle board and took it for a spin - great description as I watched him spin into the water when he stood up! After not too long he was pretty steady and paddling around the anchorage. We have paddle boarded at the beach before but those boards are more stable than this one. I haven’t been brave enough to try it yet!
From the Glass Window anchorage we cruised to Hatchet Bay. Hatchet Bay is another very narrow cut. One of those cuts where years ago the an entrepreneur blasted through the limestone to create a bay to bring in supplies for cattle ranching. The grain silos can still be seen driving along the main road. We are cruising along, searching in the binoculars and literally can not see any opening in the rocks. The navigation app is saying we are there and we make a 90° turn when I spot red and green markers on the rocks. In we go.
We spent a few nights anchored in the idyllic anchorage in Hatchet Bay. It is said to be the safest anchorage in the Bahamas! Hatchet Bay is adjacent to AliceTown. We dinghyed to shore to learn more about the town.
First stop was Farrington’s Boat Haven owned by Emmet. Here is a “sports bar”, laundry facilities, general store and car rentals! Emmet has it all and in fact the title of this post is from a song Emmet wrote. Eleuthera, the island that will keep you smiling!
Hatchet Bay doesn’t really look like the rest of the Bahamas to me. It is lush and green and rolling countryside. It has an agricultural history. In the 1930’s 2000 acres were used for farming and supplied all of the Bahamas with milk, poultry, eggs and ice cream. All that is left from that plantation are concrete silos, the occasional cotton plant and a couple of random cows!
First stop was Farrington’s Boat Haven owned by Emmet. Here is a “sports bar”, laundry facilities, general store and car rentals! Emmet has it all and in fact the title of this post is from a song Emmet wrote. Eleuthera, the island that will keep you smiling!
It seems that our story on this Bahamian adventure revolves around the weather and more specifically hiding from the winds. We went to sleep Tuesday night thinking we would get an early start and cruise the next day as the winds were quiet. That would mean hiding out at our next anchorage for the next few days to avoid the wind again. When I woke up on Wednesday Eddie Suggested we rent a car and explore the island by land while we are in a safe harbour. I loved the idea.
Off we went to see Emmet to rent a car! Picked up a white Honda Odyssey mini van which we quickly decided was related to another white mini van we had rented in Seattle years ago - that one we named Mrs. Butterworth because she was fat and white and slow. This one was Mrs. Butterworth’s Japanese cousin! She talked in Japanese, the GPS was in Japanese as were the radio controls! Kind of funny! Eddie quickly adapted to sitting on the right and driving on the left. It felt so weird to me!
On Wednesday we went north to catch the water taxi to Harbour Island for the day. Harbour Island is 3.5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide and the central town is Dunmore Town. Once there we rented a golf cart to explore the island. First stop was the pink sand beach. The beaches of Eleuthera are spectacular.
“ The almost indescribable pale pink color of the sand comes from microscopic coral insects, known as Foraminifera, which have a bright pink or red shell full of holes through which it extends pseudopodia, footings that it uses to attach itself and feed. Foraminifera are among the most abundant single cell organisms in the ocean and play a significant role in the environment. These animals live on the underside of reefs, like the nearby Devil's Backbone, on the sea floors, beneath rocks, and in caves. After the insect dies, the wave action crushes the bodies and washes the remains ashore and mixes it in with the sand and bits of coral. The pink stands out more in the wet sand at the water's edge. “ (Bahamas.com)
I didn’t take too many pics that day. Eddie took tons of video but it all needs to be edited. There were large private properties on the beach, obviously expensive homes and little pastel painted cottages with white picket fences all around the island. Lots of flowers on this island.
Stopped on the way home for the sign pic!
On Thursday we went south. Our first stop was Sweetings Pond in Hatchet Bay. It is a place to snorkel with sea horses. We finally found the unmarked road and walked 3/10ths of a mile through the woods. Alas, it was way to rough from the winds. At best we thought we would be banged up on the limestone rocks. It means we will need to come back next year.
Doesn’t look so rough in the picture but it was!
Continuing south we stopped in James CIstern for the Cravings Bakery. You know my Cookie Monster husband, we stop for bakeries. While he checked out the bakery, I beach combed. It made me so sad - there was so much glass, not sea glass, and plastics trash. I will confess to tasting his yummy coconut scone!
We continued south and headed for French Leave Beach in Governor’s Harbor. There was an old Club Med resort here that was destroyed in Hurricane Floyd in 1999. The resort was never rebuilt but the name stuck! Well, we didn’t find the ruins of the resort. But instead we found an almost deserted beach. It was stunning. Driving down Banks Road with one private, no trespassing sign after another, one gorgeous home after another, we came to what ended up being a lot, no home built. Eddie scoped it out of foot and in we drove.
When we arrived there were 2 women there and us. They were from Connecticut celebrating their 50th birthdays in Eleuthera. Sounds perfect to me! I would say to any of our beach loving friends, if you like remote, unspoiled beaches, visit Eleuthera. In Governor’s Harbor there were resorts but also many VRBO rental properties. We sunbathed, strolled and picnicked.
After lunch we checked out the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve.
“The Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve is the fulfillment of the vision of longtime residents Leon Levy and Shelby White, who loved the natural environment and way of life on Eleuthera. After Leon Levy’s death in 2003, Shelby White wanted to celebrate her husband’s devotion to the island while contributing to a better future for all Eleutherans.
Working with the Bahamas National Trust, she helped establish a plant preserve where Bahamians and visitors can now walk miles of trails through the native habitat, and view the beautiful orchids, the food and medicinal plants, and the hardwood trees that played an important role in the history of the island.
This 25 acre Preserve has been designed as a research centre for traditional bush medicine; a facility for the propagation of indigenous plants and trees; and an educational centre focusing on the importance of native vegetation to the biodiversity of The Bahamas.“
(Levypreserve.org)
We put on long pants, hats and bug spray and walked the preserve climbing to Ethan’s Tower which was above the tree canopy. It was peaceful and quiet and educational.
We were tired after our hike, drove through the town of Governor’s Harbour and then back to return our rental car and get set for an early morning cruise from Hatchet Bay to Rock Sound.
Finally, the winds have subsided but only for Friday! They are supposed to be back on Saturday and Sunday. We had a breathtaking cruise to Rock Sound. The water was flat. We could see the bottom in 30’ of water and were escorted by dolphins off the bow.
And that’s where you can find us this weekend. Aboard Seaquel in Rock Sound, waiting out the winds! Tomorrow we will cruise to Little Spirit Cay in the Exumas.
This post was like an adventure. I could read this with my granddaughter Daphne. The pictures are beautiful. Everything is so peaceful, except the wind ofcourse and getting to know Mrs. Butterworth's Japanese cousin would have been a challenge. The black Lab and the two turtles stuck out. Everything screams happiness. Love you both. Keep blogging.
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