Yesterday at 0826 we headed out between the cliffs that guard the entrance to Hatchet Bay. The wind was on the nose, but under 10 knots so no sailing, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. After talking to other cruisers we decided to bypass “The Glass Window” and head over to Royal Island. The Glass Window is an area that used to be a natural stone bridge through which you can see the Atlantic. The natural bridge collapsed in a hurricane and there is now a man made span bridging the gap. We were able to view it through the binoculars as we passed on the Sound side.
We rerigged the handline with a lure on a wire leader so it might hold up better to the fish we’re finding with sharp teeth. Dropped it in the water at 0920 and fifteen minutes later we had a nice spanish mackerel on the line. This time we netted him and dropped him in a 5 gallon plastic bucket so he couldn’t get away. Gave him a drink of rum to quiet him down and turned him into ten mackerel steaks. Pulled the handline back in as we approached Current Cut and — argh — the lure was gone. It broke off just behind the planer.
The timing of our passage through Current Cut was just prior to low tide so that the current would be slowly ebbing through the cut. The challenge here is that tides are between 1 and 2.5 hours later than Nassau according to the different guide books. There aren’t local tide stations, so you have to watch the water and get a feel for the local tide conditions. The reason for the concern here is that the tide can flow through Current Cut at upwards of 7 kts, about the top speed of Intuition. Our
passage was only mired by a bump on the bottom as I cut the turn a little to close. We had about 1.5 kts of outgoing current an hour and ten minutes after low tide in Nassau which made for an easy pass through the narrow opening.
We called “Cinnobar” to see if there were any moorings available in Spanish Wells, but there were none. Our fall back plan was to anchor at Royal Island and we had the hook down there by 1300. It is a nicely protected anchorage with mostly grass on the bottom. Beth scouted out a sandy patch and we buried the CQR nicely. Only “Sea Bear,” a large motor yacht was there when we arrived. Chris Parker mentioned that there would be a line of intense squalls and thunderstorms coming through overnight. This brought seven other boats to the anchorage before sunset.
With clouds on the horizon we decided to eat early. Grilled the mackerel steaks and they were delicious. Even Noah liked them! Glad we ate early because by 1800 it looked like night and the skies opened up. We were lucky that winds only gusted to 30 kts and most of the lightning stayed North of us. Within an hour the rain stopped, the wind was down to 5 kts, and there was a beautiful rainbow over the anchorage. During that hour, the winds and our boat did a complete 360 degree circle.
Royal Island is now private and is being developed. There was considerable activity with a dump truck, a bulldozer and power boats zooming in and out of the anchorage delivering people and landscape plants. “Danger” and “Private” signs discourage people from going ashore. There are ruins of a former private mansion that look like they would be fun to explore. We will probably return here to stage for our crossing to the Abacos sometime next week.
This morning the water was perfectly still and we were sitting beside our anchor. Days like this always amaze me as it seems like we are floating in air over an aquarium. We did school and explored the anchorage by dinghy. Were surprised to hear the US Coast Guard on channel 16 out of Miami 160 miles away. Also hearing Boat/US every once in a while. The radio traffic here is annoying. Between the taxis and the pilot boats there are lots of people yelling on the air. Counted nine times in a three
minute period that one resort called for a taxi. Most of the radio traffic seems to be coming from Harbour Island.
Called again for a mooring in Spanish Wells, but none are available. Another cold front is forecasted for Sunday into Monday so we decided to anchor out tonight and then go into a marina in Spanish Wells on Saturday. Since we aren’t able to go ashore on Royal Island we decided to go over to Meeks Patch and anchor. We covered the 4 miles in under an hour and had the anchor down in time for lunch. There is only one other boat here, the storm clouds have cleared, Noah had done his schoolwork and it is 83 degrees. Guess it is time to close down the computer and go swimming!