Harbour Island, Devil's Backbone, Glass Window and Passage to the Abacos

What a lovely week we have had!  We left Harbour Island, after spraying a great deal of salt off the boat and filling the water tanks - and have we mentioned you have to pay for water in the Bahamas?  This time it was .50 per gallon! That's $50 for 100 gallons of H2O! We motored over to another small island called Man Island and immediately jumped in the water to snorkel.  It seems everywhere we go, there is a patch of grass, a coral head or a reef that is very worth a look with mask and snorkel.  We have seen coral and plant life that is like none we have ever seen.  We have seen fish small and large and species we have not seen before.  It is a delight to swim in this giant aquarium.

In order to go from Spanish Town to Harbour Town or back (we went both ways) you either need to hire a pilot or take a big chance of hitting a hard coral shoal. There are three well-known pilots. We hired "Bandit" to pilot us back across what is referred to as the "Devil's Backbone."  He arrived at our boat at 6:50am (!) to take the helm.  He was cheerier on the return trip and willing to let us take a photo.  We decided he was a morning guy.  

Casuarina Trees on the nearby shore

Bandit

He left us on the south side of Spanish Wells and we continued over to a little island called Meeks Patch.  Greg had some work calls, so Sharon went snorkeling again.  Great schools of fish were hanging out down there.  After work, we continued on our way through Current Cut.  This is a cut through two islands that is quite narrow.  The current is strong and so you have to plan when to hit it so you have current running with you.  Of course, we got it wrong - even after checking several sources.  There are tide tables for Nassau and you have to calculate time differences for your location.   And we knew the tides in Spanish Wells and Harbor Town not too far away.  But, the tides thrgouh Current Cut were very different.  Getting wrong meant that we had five a knot current against us at one point (thus the name).  And the water was getting towards low tide, so Sharon stood on the bow while Greg steered to avoid shallows and coral heads.  We got through without a hitch, except our blood pressure may have suffered a bit.  On to "Glass Window" 15 more miles away,  so called as the ocean has worn a hole in the coral and rock so that you can see through it from Eleuthera Bank to the ocean.  A man-made bridge allows island residents and tourists to cross it by car.  We had another quiet anchorage with no other boats around.  Delightful!

Glass Window

The next morning, back we went the way we came, through Current Cut.  This time we got it right and had the current with us.  We saw 11 knots speed over ground.  Plus tide was high - a much better experience!

We headed back to the other side of Meeks Patch to avoid the south winds and swells.  This was yet another delightful anchorage with great snorkeling.  We took the dingy over to a little island and dropped the anchor and hopped out.  Beautiful plant life yet again and schools of all types of fish.  So fun!  We decided to head off to another island for the night in preparation for our sail to the Abacos.  There is a secluded harbor in Royal Island just west of Spanish Wells. We pulled in there mid-afternoon and dropped the hook.  There were five other boats there already, probably waiting to head out the next day, just like us.  

That beautiful blue water

Rain on the horizon 

The next morning, Greg was up at 6 and put the coffee on.  Sharon followed shortly after.  The hook was up and we were off by 6:45 as the light was coming up in the east.  Calm waters and little wind made it an easy entry through the harbor opening and an easy passage between two small islands to head into the deep ocean.  Turning north with less than 10 knots directly behind us, the engine pushed us along.  The lack of wind was kind of a drag, except it saved us from waves out of the south pushing against the large ocean swells coming from the northeast.  We pushed through ocean that was upwards of 10,000 feet deep!  Saw a lot of flying fish - which just make us laugh when they pop out of the water.  The ocean is a deep marine blue and you can see no land.  

75 miles later, we motored through the cut just north of Little Harbor, continued north and found an anchorage in the eastern lee of Great Abaco Island off Spencer Point.  After diving on the anchor - we do this all the time to assure it is set appropriately and fully - we snorkeled around looking for marine life.  We saw mostly just grassy areas, but there was one ledge that terraced over a sandy area where we saw a very large Nurse shark, sleeping under the ledge.  Sharon went to get Greg to show him and when we returned, the shark woke up and swam off.  We decided he was at least six feet long!  And a turtle swam out of the same area at the same time and he was about 18 inches in diameter!  

Back on board, we were doing a lot of rocking and rolling and decided we didn't want to stay for the night, so we brought the hook back up and motored over to Lynyard Cay.  Here we were protected from the ocean swells and had a nice southern breeze to keep us cool.  When Greg went to dive on the anchor, he said there were five, two foot long fish to accompany him on his journey.  

Click here for a link to a MAP of the Abacos.

Just north of this area is another land and sea park.  You can anchor nearby and then take the dingy over to moorings to snorkel on the reef.  We did this the next day.  We had a hard time setting the hook, but it finally dug in.  We took the dingy over and tied it to a mooring and were actually contemplating skipping it, due to the ocean swells, chop and wind.  Greg went in first and looked down and said - "It's worth it".  Sharon went in behind him and was totally astonished!  The water was 20 feet deep and then terraced up to the exposed coral.  It was like nothing we have ever seen.  Fabulous coral, plant life, and huge fish.  The fish were 2-3 times as big as what we have seen elsewhere.  More nurse sharks were lying around on the bottom and many of the fish just stare up at you as if to say - ok, what do you want?!  It was really, really cool!!  We didn't have enough time and plan to go back.  

After getting back to the "Mother Ship", we pulled up the hook and continued north to find a secluded spot at the north end of Tilloo Cay.  Again, we were very close to a couple coral rocks and saw schools of smaller fish.  Greg saw another lion fish that was larger than what we had seen before.  We have been wishing for days now that we had an underwater camera!  

Yesterday, we sailed around a couple sand banks and a couple islands, and came into Marsh Harbour to a marina.  We needed to do laundry and get some provisions.  And, the weather is pretty unsettled, so we figured it would be good to be in a marina.  It is nice to have the air-conditioning running to dry out the boat - linens, towels, and just everything.  Humidity has been high the last week or so.  Pretty much as soon as we finished tying up, the rain came in a nice deluge.  It helped Greg in his boat washing chore.  

Today is the first rainy day we have had since we have been here!  It rained hard again this morning and has been drizzling on and off this afternoon.  We got our laundry done and our groceries stashed and will probably head out tomorrow for Hopetown across the way.  We also want to get back for a good snorkel at the land and sea park.  

Til next time!