Exuma Land and Sea Park.

Exploring the mangroves at Shroud Cay.

Too shallow for the outboard in the mangroves.

Beach fun at Shroud Cay.

Shroud Cay – could the sea and sky be any bluer!

Our friendly remora.

Getting our bottom cleaned by the remora.

A little piano practice.

The first loaf – a little misshapen but it was lovely.

The coral garden at Warderick Wells.

The coral garden at Warderick Wells – spot the spiny lobster.

Hannah’s confidence in the has grown massively – maybe she is half mermaid after all.

The coral garden at Warderick Wells.

Tony, our expert snorkelling instructor, taking a break at the bottom.

Barracuda!

Diving down to a boat that burnt out and sank on one of the mooring buoys at Warderick Wells.

Diving down to a boat that burnt out and sank on one of the mooring buoys at Warderick Wells.

Shroud Cay

The view from here – lovely.

Eleanor just loved the kayaks.

Kayaking fun at Warderick Wells.

Art lesson – the subject was sunsets.

Hitching a ride – towing Igor in his dinghy with no engine to shore on a particularly windy day.

At the blow holes on Warderick Wells.

Stewart’s handiwork – hopefully it will still be there after the next storm!

Boo Boo Hill with the pile of driftwood signs.

The bench at the top of Boo Boo Hill – what a view.

The enormous concrete ball securing the mooring ball.

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was created in 1958 as a land and marine protected zone.  The park covers an area of 176 square miles and is managed by the Bahamas National Trust, who are responsible for all 27 national parks in the Bahamas.  The park is 22 miles long and extends out approximately four miles on either side of the cays.  Its purpose is to provide a replenishment area for the wildlife native to the Bahamas and to educate the public.  Fishing is prohibited in the park and the penalty if caught is steep, with a $500 fine per person on the boat as a starter. The most severe punishment sees offenders having to leave the Bahamas within 48 hrs.

Our first stop in the park was towards the northern boundary at a park mooring off the west coast of Shroud Cay.  There were not many details on Shroud Cay in any of our charts or guides but it had been recommended to us as a beautiful destination so we decided to visit.  We were not disappointed – golden sand beaches and brilliant blue seas.  This is the Bahamas after all!  It was here that we had our first experience of the remora fish.  As I was throwing some lettuce cuttings over the side, I saw these sizeable fish come and try the lettuce out.  I have to admit to being pretty alarmed at first as we were still getting used to marine life around the boat, but we had great fun getting their attention by splashing the water.

The following day we headed ashore for a spot of snorkelling.  Unfortunately the only sign of the enormous ray that we had seen from the beach was the massive imprint it had left on the seabed.  Stewart and Eleanor swam off round the headland in the hope of tracking it down but had no joy. We then took the dinghy inland for a look at the mangroves before returning to the boat for our first batch of freshly baked bread.  I was a little dubious about the oven onboard but it did not disappoint and we are now very excited about the prospect of daily fresh bread.

From Shroud Cay we sailed to Warderick Wells, which is where the Park HQ is located.  We moored alongside our old friend, Igor, the Ukranian American we had met in Allen Cay and caught up on his progress.  The harbour at Warderick is stunning and there are a few trails across the islands so we decided to go and explore.  Boo Boo Hill is the highest point at a dizzying 60 ft above sea level – just as I was thinking about maybe, just possibly, breathing a little heavier, we reached the summit.  But what a view!  We had a full 360 on a clear day and could see for miles.  There is a bench at the top dedicated to one of the park wardens and we could have sat there for hours taking in the seascape.  I also managed to get 3G coverage for a very brief period if I stood in the right spot so we managed to at least get the odd weather forecast.  At the summit there is also a pile of pieces of driftwood which sailors have placed there with their boat names on – cue task for Stewart with his ship’s knife.

At Warderick we also bumped into a couple we had originally met when we had first arrived in Bimini.  Tony and Carna run a dive business in Cozumel in Mexico and Tony was kind enough to give the girls an excellent snorkelling lesson in exchange for some movies.  Tony was explaining that they were doing really well but didn’t want to expand their business as, at the number one spot on Trip Advisor, he thought it would take him further away from diving and the customer. It would also mean that he would not have the time to pursue his desire to get away and sail more. We decided to check out their reviews:

Scubatony Trip Advisor Review

It’s just about the best Trip Advisor review I’ve ever seen!

After five days at Warderick, we decided to continue South to Cambridge Cay where we again picked up a park mooring.  Stewart and Eleanor dived to check the anchor only to find us attached to a massive lump of concrete, which in turn was attached to a massive concrete ball.  I am not sure the size can be fully appreciated in the photo but it was HUGE.  Fortunately with the aforementioned concrete, came a little bit of sea life so we had a lovely time snorkelling and seeing that – including our first queen angel fish, much to the excitement of the girls.  We enjoyed a trip ashore and a scenic, windy walk along the ocean side of the island.

Exuma Park was absolutely beautiful and we did see plenty of marine life but we had been expecting a little more, bearing in mind it is a national park.  You need to know the good spots but we had a lovely time.

Snorkelling from the beach.

Hannah gaining confidence with her snorkel.

Brain Coral

And relax!

Oh the joys of a shallow draft.

Feeding the Iguanas

What we have

Bahamian Iguanas – these can only be found on Allen’s and Leaf Cay.

Getting up close and personal with the iguanas.

We had an easy transit down from Nassau to Allen’s Cay, our first stop in the Exumas.  The more popular stop is the next island down, Highborne Cay, borne out by the number of really big stink boats passing us and heading for there.  The space between Allen’s and Leaf Cays, famous for its iguana is thankfully far too small and shallow for the big stinks.  We were able to park up alone in not a great deal of water on the sand bank between the channels with a bunch of monohulls around us.  We are finding considerable advantages of having a boat that only draws 3 ½ feet.

Peace.  So nice.  These Cays are all very low (no higher than 20 feet) but provide lovely shelter for the East winds we are expecting.  There is a little current (1 ½ knts at half tide) but there are lots of little bays for us to duck into and plenty to see.

We decided to spend New Year here.  On our first night here, we were very surprised to see a full blown fireworks display at Highbourne Cay.  Not sure if someone pressed the New Year display button two days early by mistake but it looked good!

We had the pleasant surprise of Ana and Augustin (our neighbours in Nassau Yacht Haven) arriving who parked up behind us.  Fresh coffee was offered and we did the return for them with a sundowner.  Rusty nails and Argentinian red wine don’t mix well but it was a lovely night.

It is interesting to hear others drive to push off sailing.  Ana and Augustin are both lawyers and although neither can go off full term due to work commitments, are intending to sail 3 months a year keeping the boat in the Caribbean.  They only started sailing 5 years ago but decided early that if they were to sail they wanted to do it properly.  They are on their second yacht, this one a 42 Benneteau Oceanis that they bought in Italy and shipped across, which they have done up nicely even with an office so that they can keep up with work back home.  They are going as far as the Dominican Republic this year and will leave the boat parked up until they return after the hurricane season of 2015, about November, to continue their way south.

New Year itself was quiet.  We made a few calls back home to family and friends with Lou’s new data allowance.  Thanks to the drunken crowd in Andover for letting us hear Big Ben with them– much appreciated.  Our own bells here didn’t include fireworks but we were just about awake!

We are really looking forward to this year. 2014 was a year of planning, packing up and a degree of panicking!  2015 should be so much more.

We wish you all a happy and successful New Year and hope to see one or two of you out here in the coming months to help us in our adventures.

Boxing Day Junkanoo.

Waiting for the first Junkanoo band.

Boxing Day Junkanoo.

Boxing Day Junkanoo.

One of the many Junkanoo floats.

Downtown Nassau.

The cruise liners in dock.

At the Pirate Museum.

Pirate Museum in Nassau.

Not sure whether I would want to live on this street!

To allow us to celebrate Xmas somewhere tied up and allow Ed and Flip to prepare for their trip home, we moved from Rose Island into the Nassau Yacht Haven, a journey of about an hour and a half.

After the picture perfect peaceful Rose Island to downtown capital city, Nassau was always going to struggle to meet my expectations and I’m afraid in the end there wasn’t really much competition.

These days Nassau has a population of about 250,000 and is split between two real areas.  One is the tourist destination of Paradise Island (no, really called that) filled by the Atlantis complex (again, really) which is 24hr eating, casinos, all the trimmings of the all inclusive perfection the international tourist requires/demands and the enormous houses of the stupidly rich each with its own sea front. Truly horrible.

The main town itself is across the bridge to the south of Paradise with the first shanty town build around the end and below said bridge.  The general instructions we got from our friends at Spanish Wells were to stick close to the marina at night and “take care”. Sadly we could see why.  There is money in Nassau but how much of it is in the hands of the general population I don’t know.  Not much it would seem.

The Yacht Haven itself was pretty well run and there were another five boats in, four other liveaboards, all but one waiting for family members to come in for Xmas.  It is perhaps appropriate to mention the demographic split of the other yachts.  They were three Canadian, one Argentinian (although flagged Italian “for ease”– go figure), one from Alaska wonderfully named Bipolar and registered at the North Pole and ourselves.  We have been surprised at the number of Canadian boats everywhere we have gone, certainly more of them than American.  Their reason for being down here is pretty much universal – “escaping the winter”.  Can’t blame them.

With Xmas a day away, the ladies ran around getting food stocks in, Lou and Flip managing to find the Nassau outlet of Waitrose all of 10 minutes walk from the Haven.  Brilliant… although probably not the cheapest option around.  The girls and Ed used and abused the endless fresh water supply (@$10 a day non optional charge) and washed and scrubbed pretty much everything they could on the boat and removed a lot of salt both in and outside Skylark.  Christmas Eve was spent wrapping presents and then we tucked down to wait for the appearance of Santa.

Thankfully he was kind!  The girls each got a new boogie board and a variety of new bikinis (all modelled excitedly) and the boys got enough chocolates and small things to tide them over before they had their “proper” Christmas on their return to Germany.  Christmas dinner involved Chicken Jerk and the late addition of huge slabs of Mahi Mahi (locally known as Dolphin) which were a present from one of the Canadian boats that had caught one coming in from the Berry Islands.  Fantasic!

The great event of the social calendar in the Bahamas is Junkanoo, a celebration with roots back to Africa where most Bahamians originate from.  Think Rio and carnival; the Bahamians have their own take on it!  It starts at 0001hrs on the 26^th and runs through to midday, involving competing parades each trooping through the old town centre on Bay Street.  We decided we couldn’t miss it and so walked the mile and a half at two in the morning through an area all the good books say to avoid.  No hassles!  We stayed for a couple of the parade groups.  The first confused the girls (and us!) as it was a political group dressed up as Death, equipped with scythes, with signs demanding the reintroduction of the death penalty!  Bizarre!

Thankfully the next group round was what we had come to see. Great fun, great noise and wonderful costumes.

Having had a day back at Rose Island on Boxing Day, we had a day in the city centre of Nassau, firstly at the Pirate Museum which was excellent before wandering back along to towards the boat through the crowds of cattle from the FIVE cruise liners parked up in the harbour.  Didn’t really set the place up for us to see the authentic Nassau, more an offshoot of an expensive US mall.

We said our fond farewells to Ed, Flip and the boys on the evening of the 27^th before their long trip home to Germany.  We loved having them and it was great to see the boys having seen them briefly once since they had returned from Oz.  A bit scary to think that the next time we see them Alexander will be the age Thomas is now.  Ah well – skype will be abused to let us see them on as regular a basis as the dodgy internet here allows us!

With the 27^th being a holiday, we allowed ourselves the 28th with the shops open to restock in readiness for our time in the Exumas.

Ana and Augustin, the Argentinian couple and myself had the night with Billy from Bipolar, a regular in the Caribbean for many years, who kindly offered up his charts detailing his favourite anchorages, most of which were not shown.  The wind looks good for the next few days and we will aim for Allen’s Cay as our first stop.

We said our farewells to Nassau on our last night at the Poop Deck, a famous restaurant and bar, once upon a time a preferred hangout for sailors; these days pre-booked as one of the preferred eating places for the crowds off the cruise ships.  The cocktails did taste good though.

We set sail and left what should be our last visit to a major city for quite some time at 0830hrs on the 29th.

The Exumas await…………..

A serious sand excavation project.

A bit of quiet time after a busy day on the beach.

Chilling with Daddy.

Aquatic Acrobatics.

The future Open Water Swimmers.

The swimmers on their way in.

Ed getting to shore on the paddle board.

Sand play.

Snorkelling on the beautiful coral reef.

A big thumbs up from Eleanor.

Life on the coral.

Life on the coral

Eleanor getting a ride from Uncle Ed.

The beautiful beach at Rose Island.

Trying out the body boards.

There will be times on our trip where we will look back on the places we will visit to update the “best of so far” list.  Without much doubt, Rose Island will continue to figure strongly for however long we travel.

What do you need?

1. Nice safe sheltered anchorage with no swell and good holding– tick
2. Lots of white sand – tick
3. Not too many to share the scenery with – tick
4. One of the best snorkelling areas in the whole of the Bahamas – tick

And just for a little bit of kudos

5. Used for a Bond film (because it is so gorgeous) – tick

Bit difficult to see how we were going to go wrong.  Oh and did I say the weather was near perfect too? So smug……

We arrived at Rose and anchored off.  Flip and Eleanor did the anchor check and immediately found a coral head teeming with fish including a Lion fish.  These are kill on sight in the Bahamas.  As foreign invaders from sometime in the mid 90s, they are killing vast numbers of indigenous fish breeds.  Unfortunately it was too deep to try the Hawaiian spear out so it got a reprieve.

The next morning we headed ashore with a mix of paddle board, dinghy and swimming.  The snorkelling kit was deployed and all the grown ups enjoyed time on the reef just off the beach.  We also spotted some dive boats anchoring about 400m off at another reef which we paddled out to for a gander.  Brilliant – the Bond site! I’ve included a fair number of photos here which I think you will get the idea from.

Over the next couple of days it really was repeat as necessary.  Lots of time in the water, lots of sun and great fun on the beach.  Pretty easy life really.

My memorable event was how well Eleanor’s swimming and confidence in the water has come on in the short time we have been out here.  Flip was swimming back and forward to shore from the boat for exercise and Eleanor announced she wanted to join her. Having done 125m in a pool before as her longest swim, we were a bit cagey but said she could try it as long as a safety boat and paddle board went with her.  There was no need to worry.  550m later in open sea and against the wind, she stepped ashore with a big smile. She then jumped back in with her snorkelling kit and swam for another hour.

Mum and Dad pleased to announce they have bred a fish……

All good things have to come to an end and so we moved down to Nassau Yacht Haven to celebrate Xmas.  However, two days in Nassau were more than enough.  For the Swift’s last day in the Bahamas with us, guess where we went back to?  And it was still as near to perfect as you would want……

Thoroughly recommended.

Eleanor about to head in to check the anchor.

The barracuda that kept us company for a while.

A touch of painting to entertain the kids.

Although we had had a great time up in Eleuthera, we had a timetable to meet to get the Swifts back to Nassau on the 27th Dec.
With an iffy weather forecast, we decided to start moving S, stopping on the way wherever we fancied.
We sailed E and had a look at Royal Island, somewhere all the guide books say there is a marina but having talked to Tom at the Shipyard, where there very definitely isn’t. It is sadly a fairly typical tale of the times. Everything was planned, big money already to make it an island paradise with cruise ships lined up to arrive. Then recession hit and the money bailed out. It remains a beautiful anchorage, largely unspoilt although for how long, who knows.
We anchored out about an hour’s sail SE of Spanish Wells and had a quick explore on a “treasure island”. Not sure if a couple of beat up conch shells really count as treasure but the kids were happy! Stewart was less so having been followed back to the boat by a 6 foot Barracuda having gone out paddle boarding. It then stuck around the boat, slowly circling and refusing the lures Ed threw at it with the fishing rods.
We had the intent of doing a long run SW the next day to the delightfully named Booby Island. I’m not sure who thought it was funnier, Thomas (age 4) or Ed and Stewart (allegedly grown ups). As with all great plans, it didn’t survive contact with the enemy; that being the wind or rather then lack of it for much of the day. We did manage a few hours very slow sailing, pushing out into the deep water in the hope of catching dinner (result – one very small Black fin Tuna which we returned) before running out of time and stopping inside at the SW end of Current Island. Perhaps the name should have given us a clue. With 3.5knts measured running at one point, it probably wasn’t the best of anchorages but it was flat water and sheltered from the strong E that set in overnight so it was put up with. A tired skipper ensured an early start. Good holding maybe but not good for the nerves!
We had a good run S the next day. With a few days to spare we had decided to stop at Rose Island just to the NE of Nassau. Famous for its role as the main reef used for the James Bond film, Thunderball (the original one) it sounded like a good option. It was.

Fishing boat leaving harbour.

Starting my next decade with a spot of paddle boarding.

Paddle boarding with a little passenger.

Eleanor under instruction!

The view from the mooring buoy – not too bad to wake up to.

Birthday banner courtesy of Hannah Taylor.

Hannah’s sand whale.

Flotsam and jetsam put to good use. Some really creative garden decorations down by some beach houses.

Christmas lights are a big thing here.

Happy Hour at The Shipyard Restaurant.

Trying to escape the ‘no-see-ums’ (or midges to the Brits).

Around Spanish Wells.

Christmas tree.

Looking across to the main island.

The eastern end of the island.

Wandering along the harbour.

Houses on the harbour front.

Mural at R&B boatyard.

The western end of the island.

The western end of the island.

Having spent my four hour watch in the night watching the wind slowly drop and the boat get slower, it was with some relief that we arrived in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera.  Watching the Plotter next to the helm was a little like the opposite of playing beat the satnav – the closer we got, the slower we went.  Fortunately I had a good book on my kindle (ah, they joys of autohelm!) and an active imagination to keep me going.  It took me a while to realise that the noise coming from behind me was actually the dinghy and not, amongst many things that my brain came up with, a whale following us.  It is random the train that your thoughts take when you are on your own and slightly sleepy.  I had thought about writing a book, ‘Ramblings from the Helm’……. It was also a massive relief that Stewart managed to be on watch with the squally winds as I am not entirely sure what I would have done – apart from yelling ‘STEWART!!!!’

Anyway, we arrived just before 8am, pulled alongside at the marine centre and filled up with diesel (slightly more expensive than the US at over $5 a gallon!).  Stewart also asked advice about our outboard motor that had decided to give up the ghost for no apparent reason, but with noone available to look at it for three days, we decided to try a little more self help.  We then booked into the marina and resort, which was currently undergoing some extensive renovations and so was a lot like a building site and not so much a ‘resort’ but at least there was a (cold) shower.

Eleuthera is made up of a series of islands stretching more than 90 miles N to S.  Spainish Wells is the island at the top of the Eleuthera chain and is, conveniently, home of one of six supermarkets in the whole of the Caribbean.

Following the rather chilly shower, we all set out to explore the island.  At two miles long and less than a mile wide, it wasn’t going to take long – a golf cart (the popular mode of transport in the Bahamas) was going to cost $50 a day so we decided to save that money for a marina at a later date and get some exercise instead.  For such a small island there were a surprising amount of cars , and quite nice ones at that.  What we noticed immediately, though, was the difference to Bimini.  Spanish Wells is a prosperous fishing community which supplies well over half of the Bahamas’ commercial crop of lobster, conch and fish.

The houses are well maintained and there is plenty to see wandering round the streets.  It is an extremely friendly community and we regularly got a wave from drivers of golf carts as they passed.  The locals are also generally forthcoming in offering lifts, as Stewart discovered once we ascertained that aforementioned outboard was most definitely beyond our repair.  He and Eleanor managed to get a lift to the boatyard and back whilst carrying the outboard.  The outboard engine is essentially the ‘family car’ for all live-aboards and without it you are severely restricted in what you can do and explore , we faced a choice.  We either threw money and time at attempting to repair the engine (a month to get parts before we started to find the fault), or we made the decision there and then to purchase a new one.  We called a Mercury dealer in Nassau.  We expected the price to be exorbitant but in fact it was pretty reasonable, even with ‘express’ delivery on the boat leaving Nassau the following morning .  The only issue was then having to use the one Mercury dealer on the island and whether they would try to charge us a higher price as we really had to do business through them.  Following a bit of negotiations on collection, Stewart managed to get the engine at the quoted price and ensure that they prepared and serviced it ready for our use.

After a night in the marina, we chose to go for much cheaper lodgings on a mooring at the east end of the harbour.  Managed by Jock Morgan, aka Bandit, they are ideally placed and priced (at $20 a night) for hopping onto the island in a dinghy (with a shiny new outboard!).

It was on said mooring that I started the celebrations for my 40th birthday.  Awoken at the usual early hour that is associated with birthdays, I then got to relax in bed while coffee and pancakes were made as apparently the present could not be opened until breakfast.  Stewart and the girls had bought me a Pandora necklace and a lovely silver shell charm with  a small starfish on.  I also managed to remember (and find) all those cards/presents that family and friends (all much more organised than myself!) managed to get to me before we left.  They were all massively appreciated!

Following breakfast, we took out our newly purchased inflatable paddle board.  Conditions were perfect in terms of little wind and no great chop on the water.  I tentatively tried it out first balancing on my knees and in my shortie wet suit (water was looking way too chilly if I were to fall in).  Surprisingly it was relatively easy to balance and so I braved standing up.  Steering was  another thing entirely and with Stewart trying to direct me from the boat, I felt like someone was trying to explain the offside rule to me and my brain would not just not engage but I am sure I will eventually get it!  Naturally Stewart picked it up straight away and Eleanor headed off with Stewart on the back happily yelling instructions at her.  She did particularly well.  We spent the rest of my birthday on the gorgeous pink sand beach to the north of the island.  The sand was amazingly golden (or pink if you look closely), the water was less than waist high out beyond 300m, the beach was deserted and so we had a lovely relaxing afternoon of swimming, building sand structures and reading books.

Whilst wandering back along the beach, we were again offered a lift and so headed to the East end of the island and ‘The Shipyard Restaurant’ that overlooks the mainland.  There is a delight at finding somewhere that has free wifi and a happy hour with two for one cocktails (with serious measures) at $6!   To say I had an awesome birthday and a sore head the following day is a little of an understatement.

Wet suits on and ready to go!

We soon discovered that the buoyancy aid was more a hindrance than a help.

An old concrete wreck that the USAF used as target practice in WWII.

The first dolphins we have seen. Seven decided to join us for a while and it was pretty amazing!

Three Royal Caribbean cruise ships sitting outside Slaughter Harbour.

Snorkelling in Slaughter Harbour

Snorkelling

Joined by Hannah.

Snorkelling.

Hannah gets the courage to jump off the front of the boat.

Reeling in ‘the one that got away’.

Some particularly dodgy piece of fishing equipment.

The first marlin we caught that Stewart threw back into the sea.

The excitment of reeling in.

At sunrise – Hannah eventually emerged for a warm cuddle.

Having looked again and again and again at the forecast of numerous web sites, asked the locals and talked to other sailors, we decided that the promised weather window where the wind would go into the N, enabling us to push E and a bit N to get us into the Bahamas proper was nigh. Having pushed off and parked up to the S of S Bimini we decided that rather than fight the big seas likely to be in our face to be found in deeper waters, the shallows of the Great Bahama Bank looked rather good.  This meant that we would take a bit of a chance that the wind would allow us to get NE but any way we looked at it we needed to get moving with our ultimate aim to reach Eleuthera, about 150 miles to the E before the weather turned again.

We had a quick run S to allow us to miss the very shallow bank running S from Bimini and then having passed the Wreck Sapora (one of the great dive sites in the Bahamas – an old rum smuggling boat from the 30’s, smashed up by the USAF in WWII as a bombing  site) we turned E and moved on to the Bank.  It did feel strange running in no more than 15 feet of water for much of the day, the bottom very clear but it did mean practically no seas which meant a pleasant sail.  We were joined for a while by a small pod of dolphin, much to the girls’ excitement.  They stayed for 15 minutes.

We decided that rather than run through the night, we would anchor on Mackies shoal, a little over half way across the Bank and well out of the established routing for stink boats taking the quick route to Nassau.  Again it felt a little bizarre being able to anchor some 40 miles from the closest land in little over 10 feet of water!

The next morning was perfect.  A northerly wind allowing us to point a lot higher than we had been able to the night before and the ability to direct route for the Berry Islands.  With us starting to wander into deeper water, we were able to deploy the heavy fishing rod for the first time.  First catch a pathetic little beast; next one was a Barracuda!  Although we have been told that Barracuda are pretty safe to eat here in the Caribbean, we have heard of the odd horror story on eating the top of the food chain in regard to Ciguatera, a really nasty toxin that concentrates in some reef fish with very very nasty long term health effects.  At only 3 feet long and maybe 8lbs it probably wasn’t big enough for a local take anyway.  We hooked one more a little later and this one really did need the dodgy groin rod support (see photo of H modelling it!).  It was a lot bigger and gave me a 20 minute work out to get it up to the boat.  Sadly we lost it as we were getting the gaff ready to pull on board.

Unfortunately, the northern islands in the Berrys have been taken over by a variety of shipping companies and when we got to the Stirrup Islands, where we were to have a stop, we found that our nice quiet anchorage was anything but.  We were greeted by three enormous cruise liners, merrily ferrying their cattle back and forth from their “island paradises”.  Royal Caribbean are the culprits here. Thankfully we arrived at the wonderfully named Slaughter Harbour, a huge sheltered pool between two islands an hour before dark so the exodus back to the ships was quick, leaving us in peace.

With very quiet wind, little current and 6 feet under the keel, it was a perfect place to start getting the girls into their snorkelling gear to pick up confidence.  Eleanor had no problems and was soon jumping off the boat in full gear, racing around to the back to climb back on with a huge grin before starting the whole manoeuvre off again. Hannah needed a little encouragement and a reminder that with the wetsuit and gear on, the object is to just float on top of the water rather than thrashing the arms and legs around (much her normal style).  However, we were all soon happy and found a very large hermit crab, some sort of sea slug and the obligatory selection of small fishes.

Day three of this trip found us with practically no wind, a NE swell running in from the Atlantic and mixing it with some large ships using the gap between Abacos and the Berrys as a safe lane to reach the American coast.  We donkey’d for a few hours pushing N and E to give us a good angle (if the wind came in) to reach down into Eleuthera.  When the wind did come, it was perfect.  15knts and across the beam allowed us to get a move on. We knew that we would have to do a night run to get down to the Eleuthera and it seemed that the wind would finally be good to us and push us down there with minimal stress.

In our dreams……

About 0230, having slowly meandered in the right direction at a couple of knots with the wind from the N but dying to register only 3-5knots, I noticed some rather nasty looking black lines of clouds with what appeared to be almost tornado type cloud extensions coming out of them.  Quickly reefing, I felt pretty happy until the wind hit, coming from the SW at 25+ knots true!  A “what the hell” and a quick dump (of sails before anyone starts sniggering) later, we were lashed with some pretty wild winds and rain. With less than 20 miles to go to our destination we were back with the wind on our bow.

After the squall went through, leaving us with a completely reversed wind, things calmed down and we were able to time our arrival to the edge of the reef at first light. On the recommendation of Duane, one of the skippers at Fort Lauderdale, Spanish Wells was our finish point and we safely tied up at the Marine Shop to refuel and get our bearings. We noticed a huge difference immediately to Bimini.  Spanish Wells is a bustling port, home to most of the Bahamas commercial fishing boats and a pretty sea front.

We are now on a mooring at the E end of the town, owned and run by “Bandit”.  Not bad for $20 a day and all of 100m from the dock as well. In regards to the weather, it turned out that we timed our trip near perfectly but it is just as well that we chose to push through the night to get to Eleuthera.  The evening of our arrival and the next 36 hrs after that had weather that the locals term “rage”.  The huge breakers on the N side of the island hitting the reef were spectacular (we could hear them quite easily from 2miles away) but I was very glad to be in the shelter of the harbour when the gale went through.

Lessons learned:

Weather forecasts here are not worth the paper they are written on beyond 48 hours.

Although we did do so, it is always good drills that if you are thinking of reefing, you probably should have already, especially at night!