Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Eleuthera, Abacos, and back to the Berrys (April 10 - 19)

From the hustle-bustle of Nassau, we were soon "in the middle of nowhere" with an overnight stop at an anchorage off of Finley Cay.  The green arrow on the map is pointing to our position.

From here, we sailed northward and stopped at Meek's Patch (below), another remote area, but still not as remote as Finley Cay.  If you look closely, you CAN see some land towards the left of the picture.  On a calm day, we maneuvered our dinghy through a cut in a reef and went to visit Spanish Wells, about a 4 mile trip.  You can just see Spanish Wells beyond the cut in the picture to the right.












We walked around Spanish Wells on a hot afternoon to find quiet streets, beautiful beaches, and a thriving fishing village.  After lunch, we headed back to the boat to swim and relax in the gentle breezes.



We left our remote anchorage at Meek's Patch to find better shelter for predicted windier conditions and found Royal Island a short distance away.  There isn't a community here - just a resort that has been under construction for several years and one hotel, long ago abandoned.  We found the remains of the hotel's dock and went ashore to explore the desolate, but beautiful landscape.









On the "ocean side" of the island, we enjoyed the peaceful beauty of an abandoned marina (below).


We spent several days here and were happy to meet other sailors who were seeking shelter as they traveled. Dave and Alice May (who had lived in Murray at one time) hosted an evening get-together on their boat "Alice May".  Dave hadn't lived in Murray for a long time, but he knew where we were from!

Finally, the weather was right for sailing again.  We went up to Sandy Point, Abaaco Island for a short visit before going back to Great Harbor Cay, Berrys.  One memorable moment was spotting a billfish (probably a sailfish) swimming at the surface as we neared the island.  The water was still very deep (300 feet) but not far off from the shore.

Ahh!  Great Harbor Cay, Berrys feels almost like home.  It was great to be back at one of our favorite places.  It was nice being able to use the internet from the boat with no time limits!  While we were here, we visited the beaches again and went to a dance at "The Backside" bar in the village.  There was a band playing that had horns, guitars, drums - the works!  We had fun meeting some of the islanders, AND dancing with them!


See my pet lizard to the right?  Two lizards shared their spot on the beach with us and became quite friendly!  He actually jumped up on me at one point.  I tried not to scream at him.  He was just trying to catch a fly, after all.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.