Spanish Wells, Eleuthera Island – Sunday, February 27, 2011

"Reading the water" leaving Bimini

We finally dragged ourselves away from Bimini on Tuesday, February 22.  While we could have easily stayed longer, we had to move on.  So many other places to see in the Bahamas!  We had another long crossing over the Bahama Bank to the Berry Islands.  This time, however, after crossing over the Bank, we passed into some of the deepest ocean waters we had ever seen, over 4000 feet!  Even our depth sounder lost track since the distance off the bottom was too far for it to receive a signal.  Pretty amazing!  We arrived at Frazier’s Hog Cay, which is just to the east of Chubb Cay in the Berry Islands.  There were moorings available and we took one for a couple of days.  There were several sailboats already moored and we all got together that evening for a sundowner at the Clubhouse.  We met several couples, including Patsy and John from Texas, Paul, Mary and their cute dog Jasmine from Florida, Faune, Alex, and their dog Bob  from Nova Scotia, and Doug and Marlene also from Nova Scotia.  Everyone was very friendly, and we will most likely run into some of these folks on our travels south.  Bob was an amazing dog!  Alex and Faune had basically rescued him in St. Augustine where they were staying for a few weeks on their way down from Halifax.  He had only been on the boat for a few days, but acted like he owned the place!  I g

uess he was pretty happy with his new life.  The next day we went snorkeling at a fabulous spot not far from the boat.  There was a lovely coral “red head” which was surrounded by lots of colorful fish, including a lionfish.  We also saw an enormous cushion starfish, which had a solid hard shell.  It was almost 18 inches across and several inches thick!

Conch catch at Frazier's Hog Cay

White Cay anchorage

We left Frazier’s Hog on Thursday, February 24^th.  We had heard that there was a lovely anchorage in White Cay, one of the Berry Islands slightly to the North of where we were.  We decided to check it out.  While the anchorage was very beautiful, and you can see the photos, it was quite exposed, so we decided to push on the next day. 

Sunrise at White Cay

On Friday, February 25, we left White Cay and cruised to Spanish Wells, the largest settlement on Eleuthera Island.  We arrived mid-afternoon, and were able to get one of the only 10 mooring balls in the mooring field.  We were lucky!  As soon as we had settled in, we were invited over to our neighbor’s boat for drinks.  We met Dirk and Nancy and their cat Butters, and Dan and Ruth from another boat also in the mooring field.  We had a great time!  Dirk had made delicious conch fritters and Ruth brought some conch salad – all of which was made with conch that Dirk had caught and cleaned himself!  Quite a talent!

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera

The boys decided to go fishing on Saturday.  I tagged along, since I wanted to see if I could get some snorkeling in.  Chris went diving with the guys, and within minutes had caught a fish with his Bahamian sling!  Quite amazing, since it was really the first time he had ever used it!  He caught a Barjack fish which was about 3-4 pounds.  Wow!  Impressive!!  He was the only one who caught anything on our expedition.  We are going to cook it tonight.  We’ll let you all know how it tasted! 

Bahamian Spear Man Chris!!!

We are likely staying here another day or two.  Then onto the southern part of Eleuthera Island.  Catch you all later!