Friday, March 14 through Thursday, March 20
Rock Sound, Eleuthera to Meeks Patch, Eleuthera
70 nautical miles (80 statute miles)
Governors Harbour
Friday, March 14
25 nautical miles (29 statute miles)
The trip north from Rock Sound to the settlement of Governs Harbour had little to no wind followed by some tricky anchoring in a busy harbor. Once we found a spot to squeeze into amongst all of the boats, out of the main delivery boat route, and not on top of any underwater cables, we dropped the anchor, only to find it dragging during our backdown (revving up the motor, simulating strong winds to check to see if the anchor holds), which brought us close to nearby boats. Our second location was a win, and our anchor stayed put for the two nights we were here.
Friday & Saturday
This settlement has some charm and history to it and perhaps that is why there were so many non-cruiser tourists here. This was evident during the Friday Night Fish Fry where it seemed every person in the area had some to socialize, eat, and dance. Two locals we talked to while wandering Cupids Cay had mentioned the Fish Fry to us. You can tell it is a weekly event that they take pride in and enjoy.
Our stop here included a visit to French Leave Beach. The place is pretty, quiet and worth a visit without any prompting. We, however, had a nice prompt to walk over to this Atlantic side beach. Years ago, some fellow Apalachee Bay Yacht Club members did a presentation about their experience with full-time, liveaboard cruising starting in north Florida, going around the state, to the a Bahamas and up the Atlantic Seaboard. During the presentation, they gave away two jars of sand from their trip. I do not recall how I received the jar, but the Robinson’s tasked us with returning the sand to the beach that they had collected it from: French Leave Beach, Eleuthera, The Bahamas. This was a fun task to take on, even if it took many years to complete. I really appreciate the extra fun they provided for our trip to the Bahamas.
Governors Harbour & French Leave Beach
Hatchet Bay
Sunday, March 16
17 nautical miles (20 statute miles)
Getting to Hatchet Bay was made easy with a good downwind sail. However, the seas got a bit larger as we headed north, which was a little bit of a concern since we preferred calm seas to enter our next anchorage.
Some friends of ours reached the Hatchet Bay Cut before us and were kind enough to radio us, giving us information on the conditions. He did a good job of giving a warning without scaring us. The seas that we felt on our downwind sail created havoc at the entrance into the cut, with waves crashing against the rocks and ricocheting everywhere. The tide was high, and depth was not an issue, but the rocks, mostly hidden by high tide, were something to be concerned about. Then add in the wind pushing us sideways across the entrance. Oh, wait, add in an exiting boat that sat in front of the entrance as we lined ourselves up to enter the cut. I will admit it was a bit scary to aim the bow of Utopia for that small opening, with the wind setting us sideways and the waves making us bob this way and that. But as we got closer to the cut, and I felt that I could mostly control the boat, the fear level reduced. Once we passed the partially hidden rock outcrop in the channel my fear switched to exhilaration. It was definitely an adrenaline inducing event. It was fun to head over to SV Alboe later that evening to share our entering-the-cut-stories.
Sunday - Tuesday
Monday was spent entirely onboard Utopia tackling the water maker leak and waiting for a front to pass through. Jimmy changed out one of the hoses and thinks the leak may be gone. Nevertheless, after this repair work, the water maker throughput has reduced by half. One project off the list, and one added.
Several weeks ago, one of Jimmy’s eyes had reddened, becoming sore, with some swelling around the eye for several days, then returned to normal. Recently the redness returned, and was worse than before, so much so that it was painful and kept him up at night. There happened to be a clinic in the Alice Town settlement off of Hatchet Bay, so we headed there Tuesday morning arriving at 9 a.m. and leaving shortly after 11, at a cost of $30. All patients waited outside, and masks required to go inside. The clinic was a busy place and sort of acted as a little social spot to catch up with others in the community. As each person arrives, they say “hello” and all of us already waiting respond the same. It was nice to see the locals sitting around and chatting with each other. After seeing the nurse, followed by the doctor, who said Jimmy has Pink Eye. He wrote a prescription for antibiotic drops that they did not have at that clinic, nor was there a pharmacy in this settlement. To make this long story shorter, we felt we could wait a few days until we reached a spot to the north with a pharmacy (Fyi – Jimmy’s eye is improving and had the Rx filled Friday morning).
Hose Replacement, Sail Repair, and Doctor's Visit in Hatchet Bay
Glass Window
Wednesday, March 19
9 nautical miles (10 statute miles)
I was able to handle the short trek up to the next anchorage as Jimmy’s vision was blurry and sunlight was painful for him. Regardless of his eye, we got off the boat and checked out the fascinating geology of this area with crashing waves of The Queens Baths being the favorite site.
Cow & Bull Rocks, and cliffs | The Blowhole
Glass Window Bridge between the Atlantic and Bight of Eleuthera
Meeks Patch through Current Cut
Thursday, March 20
19 nautical miles (22 statute miles)
In order to move from the Bight of Eleuthera to Spanish wells, we had to pass through Current Cut. For boats with generally low powered engines and deep keels, like nearly all sailboats, crossing through this cut requires timing with slack tide so that the currents are at their lowest flow. The currents through this pass could be as much as 10 knots, a speed we have never seen Utopia do. Guides estimate that the tides are about 1.5 to 1.75 hours after those in Nassau. For today, that meant arriving around 2:00 p.m.
Jimmy still had blurry vision and sensitivity to light but overall, he felt some improvement with his eye. He was able to helm some during the slow four-hour trip from the Glass Window to Current Cut. We were able to go through the cut with very little current against us. The wind was also in the direction of the current, so the waters were calm. The only excitement we had was dancing with a lot of boat traffic, also wanting to pass at slack high tide.
From there, it was an easy trip to reach our anchorage at Meeks Patch. After a short walk on the island, we came back to Utopia and hosted a happy hour with friends from two other boats in this anchorage (Alboe & Allegra).
Tomorrow morning, we head to Spanish Wells, and get a prescription filled for Jimmy.
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