March 1-7, 2023 Cambridge Cay to Eleuthera
Big Farmers was very nice, but it was time to move again. The big picture for today is to move the boat northward up the Exuma Island chain to set up passage out of the Exumas and sail over to Eleuthera.
We made several well executed gybes, which isn't easy to do. It was our longest and best spinnaker run to date.
Once the anchor is up we steer west of the common traffic lanes and get the big assymetrical spinnaker flying. The wind is light but this big sail gets us churning along nicely.
We chose Cambridge Cay as our next destination. We have traveled close to Cambridge Cay several times in the past, but had not ever stopped there. The southern entrance is too shallow for most boats, but no problem for us. There is however a narrow place between rocks that is more of a challenge, but we get through fine with a sharp lookout and careful steering.
Once inside we find a beautiful basin surrounded by islands. We choose an anchor spot out of the tour boat traffic pattern and drop the anchor in the sand. As the boat drifts back on the anchor chain we see submerged rocks close to the stern, but there's just enough room for us to swing past them on the tide. The rocks turn out to be a champion coral garden, and jumping off the stern of Second Star is a very convenient way to start a snorkel to explore.
Chitons
In addition to the coral, Cambridge has nice beaches and hiking trails. We are able to only quickly take this in, but felt we could spend more time here on a different trip.
The following morning before the sun is up we have taken Sam ashore for her morning routine. Then the anchor is up and we are exit Cambridge through the wide and deep northern pass out onto the waters of Exuma Sound pointing the bow to southern Eleuthera, some 70 miles distant.
As the morning progressed we noticed several other boats entering the sound from other passes up and down the Exuma chain all headed to the same waypoint. The place we are all headed is where the deep waters transition from thousands of feet to hundreds of feet to fifteen feet on the Eleuthera bank, all within maybe ten minutes of sailing. This is the only sure place to get onto the Eleuthera bank as the rest is shoal. As we proceed we can see the aquamarine green of shallow water on both our port and starboard sides.
Once safely on the bank we set course for Tarpum Bay, another fifteen miles further across the bank. The wind is whipping up from the south and Brent is hoping the open rhodested off of Tarpum Bay provides enough protection from the swell for a comfortable stay. We glide Second Star across a broad sand bank 5 feet deep until quite close to the village beach, and are rewarded with a very smooth anchorage plus a front row seat to all that the village has to offer.
The building on the left of the beach is the school. The local school band was practicing in the afternoon. It consisted of a lot of drums, a few horns and someone tweeting complicated syncopated rhythms on a referee-style whistle. The horns apparently only knew one note, but they played it over and over with gusto.
We find fresh produce and other treats at the grocery shack. Brent walks a couple blocks to fill gasoline jugs, and snags some ice cream at the convenience store. Later there is a great dinner at the best place in town, with the dinghy parked immediately in front of the restaurant.
In the morning we moved up the coast to Hatchet Bay. This harbor used to be an enclosed pond until someone got the idea to dynamite an opening to give boats access. Thr entrance is none too big!
We were here to visit Sweetings Pond, thess Seahorse National Park, a proposed UNESCO Nature site. The 40+ acre pond is beautiful, clear brackish water surrounded by rocky hills, with no apparent present day access to the surrounding ocean. Jacques Cousteau make several trips here. Researchers have found 10x the population of certain sea creatures here: octopus, fire clams, nudibranch, chiton, seahorses, and others that have developed unique genetic identities after being isolated from the outer world for so long. We were excited go see for ourselves.
We tied the dinghy at the remains of a storm ravaged rock wall at the government dock and made the mile walk along the busy & narrow two-lane Queens Highway. This was significant for several reasons: 1) we hadn't seen cars since leaving St Augustine, 2) drivers zoom along at high speed totally unconcerned that there are people walking along a road with no shoulder and 3) it was the first time we'd needed to wear shoes in weeks. Sam saw her first ever free range cows walking along the road and excited barking ensued. We soon found the dirt path turnoff and were at the edge of the pond.
You can snorkel in the water, but can't use fins. You can't walk on the bottom of the pond or touch anything in order to protect the fragile ecosystem. Walking would also stir up silt and obscure your view.
Remember I said we were excited to see what the pond had to offer? So excited that after making the walk along the road on a hot day, we realized that neither of us had remembered to pick up our masks & snorkels 😖 Luckily we could see a lot by climbing on the low rocks at the water's edge
Seahorses! Smaller than we expected- the biggest was about the size of your little finger, the smallest 1/2" at most (so cute!)
Brittlestar
We met Steve & Felicia with kids Vincent 4 and Clara 2. We enjoyed interacting with the kids, and their parents enjoyed a few moments off. Lois melted when the kids asked to sit in her lap to talk about all the things in the water and make submarines out of leaves. Full grandma mode.
Back at Hatchet Bay we were "entertained" all day long by a construction crew blaring the local radio station at full volume. All the songs sounded the same. The crew went home at 7pm, and things were quiet....until 8pm when the Saturday night festivities began at the bar on the other side of the small harbor. It was the same radio station, full blast, with the addition of a live DJ screaming his off-key version of the lyrics until 3 AM. It was a long night. Can't recommend that anchorage.
Next up was Gaulding Bay just a few miles further north. The wind was flat so we motored slowly while running the watermaker to fill the tanks.
Landing the dinghy on the beach, then walking up a trail, takes us to the Queen’s Baths. Here ocean waves on the Atlantic side crash onto a series of terraces. The water has carved pools in the terraces which hold the water long enough for the water to be warmed by the sun. Each pool has its own characteristics.
The Baths are accessed across a rugged rocky hilltop, which we had heard would include sharp rocks, so we put Sam in doggy boots for the first time. She wasn't impressed, but was a good sport and trekked on without complaining.
Brent spent an hour bobbing in one pool about six feet deep. Waves crashing onto the lower terrace would regularly recharge this pool with clear cool ocean water. Thousands of tiny sea urchins make their home in this pool, so care was required to avoid getting stuck with the sea urchin spines.
Brent noticed a honeybee foundering in the water, so he picked her up to let her dry off. She stayed with him a while, preening and grooming, before flying off home, glad to have been near the Bee Whisperer.
It was past lunchtime when we left the baths, so Brent suggested we eat at Daddy Joe's, a restaurant recommended by a local expat. Both the food and the service were excellent! Brent had the Bahamian Loaded Fries with shrimp- unique and very tasty!
The other attraction in Gaulding Bay is the Glass Window, a place where the island narrows to a thin strip of rock where, in the right tidal and wind conditions, waves come crashing dramatically over the rocks. A bridge has been built over the gap for Queen's highway to cross over, and if you walk out to the bridge you will see the Atlantic Ocean (sapphire blue water) on one side and Eleuthera Sound (turquoise water) on the other.
We ended up back at Daddy Joe's for dinner with some other cruisers we met, and it was Taco Tuesday! The Sunday Dinner Chicken Taco was outstanding.
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