Eleutra!

Oakley Blog Post #3

Oh how good you’ve been to us. We are coming up on two weeks on this spectacular island. We arrived midday after the most eventful night thus far during which we discovered that 6.5 feet is just a tad too shallow for Tarwathie to anchor in with her draft of 5 feet. We reached the only small isolated island between Nassau and Eleuthera at sundown and anchored what we thought was a safe distance from its shore. Around 1:00AM we were awakened by the jarring thud of Tarwathie’s keel sitting down on the soft sand with every passing wave. This went on for several hours and Jos and I opted to go up on deck and stargaze rather than listen to the unsettling, yet not harmful, noises below. It was near the new moon and we had a splendid show of shooting stars. After an hour or so the new moon tide reached dead low and was just enough for the keel to finally rest on the bottom causing the boat to rock slightly from side to side, but not enough to actually cause us to tip over on one side. Around 4:30AM Tarwathie was finally lifted completed off the ocean floor and we got a few hours sleep before setting sail for Eleuthera.Lesson learned.

In comparison our anchorage in Hatchet Bay on Eleuthera could not have been more comfortable. In fact a sign welcomes you to the town reading “Home of the Country’s Safest Harbor”. Unfortunately that was proved drastically wrong not that long ago when the harbor received a direct hit from a hurricane. There was no sign of the damage left however and we enjoyed relative calm despite strong winds and an angry ocean on the opposite side of the Eleuthera Coast.

We spent the first few days in Hatchet Bay doing some much needed laundry, enjoying the local cuisine, and admiring the brightly painted homes of Alice Town. One day’s long walk down a dirt road brought us past abandoned silos once used to hold feed for the country’s largest black angus herd to a long soft sandy beach backed by tall dunes. Walking the line of Sargasso we were appalled by the amount of plastic that had been washed ashore from the open ocean. The most common items were by far shoes of various shapes and sizes and tooth brushes. It was a good reminder to do our best to avoid plastics whenever possible in our every day lives.

In addition to being a place of renowned beauty, Eleuthera was a particular draw to me and Jos because it is where our great friend Micah works. Micah has taught at the Deep Creek Middle School for the past three years and it has been a major goal of ours to visit him. Fortunately for us our arrival coincided with Micah’s brothers/our friends, Tim and Jamie, also flying in for a few days. So two days after our arrival we found ourselves waiting on the side of the one major road, Queen’s Highway, for Micah to round the bend. We could not have been happier to see our old compadre after sailing hundreds of miles to get to him. We were whisked up in the modern automobile he was renting and driven at what seemed like unbelievable speeds to meet Tim at the airport (the rate of travel was only unbelievable compared to what we had grown accustom to aboard Tarwathie). With Tim riding shotgun we journeyed farther North to the top of the island and a place known as “Preacher’s Cave” where the first religious “Adventurers” took refuge after wrecking their ship on a nearby reef. Long before that time the cave was home to the native Lucayan people and archaeologists have unearthed several burial sites there. The ceiling of the cave had numerous round holes that had eroded away from above and left amazing natural sky lights. I felt that the place possessed special powers and was honored to be able to set foot in such a historical place.

On our way back to the “highway” Micah pulled off on an unmarked side road and revealed a blue hole that was smaller and bluer than the others we’ve seen so far. There was a prime cliff for jumping off of and we were quick to do so. Our next stop on Micah’s all star tour was a much deeper, more extensive cave that required head lamps and a lack of fear of cramped wet places. Some of the formations looked like perfectly constructed layer cakes ready to be dived into with a fork. I came out the other end a changed man, not quite sure how, but definitely changed… After a quick stop for pina coladas at a pool bar overlooking the Atlantic we drove on and enjoyed conch salad as the sun set over the Bahama Bank.

Tour guide Micah soon had us back on schedule the following morning. We put the rental car to the test on a well rutted road and reached one of Micah’s favorite snorkeling reefs. The waves were a bit over-powering for Jos and I without fins, but it was a fun adventure all the same. We had to meet a deadline that afternoon for Micah and Tim’s scuba dive off Cape Eleuthera. Not being certified divers ourselves, Jos and I opted to kick back in the luxury villa Micah had booked for us. We felt pretty bad for ourselves, but somebody had to be in charge of putting the beers in the fridge and testing out the pool… After fetching James from the airport we met back up with Micah and Tim and had one of the swankiest nights I have ever had.

We had another righteously fun beach day and a night at Casa de Micah before we parted ways with the Conkling bros. Tim and Jamie caught their flights back to the states and Micah had to return to his role as Mr. C at the Middle School, so Jos and I decided ti hitchhike our way back up the island to Hatchet Bay where Dad, Carol, and Tarwathie were waiting for us. We had an easy time hitching and met some really friendly locals along the way. A lot of the Eleutherans we have met were born and raised on the island and have found it such a pleasant place to live that they have decided to stay. I certainly understand their sentiments towards their home. I am lucky enough to feel the same way about the place I am from.

After another lazy day and a half in Hatchet Bay Dad and Carol rented a car and the four of us drove back up north amidst a series of rain squalls. The deluge abated when we reached the ferry landing where we were taken on a quick trip by a skilled captain across to Harbour Island, where there is a larger settlement than any on Eleuthera. The island has a direct ferry to Nassau and is the center of tourism in the area. We had a good morning walking the narrow streets and along what was supposedly one of the world’s top ten beaches. The sand has a pretty pink hue caused by offshore coral breaking down. We also visited another small island and the town of Spanish Wells, which supplies over half of the Bahamas fish, conch, and lobster. Surprisingly enough we were able to draw several parallels to Vinalhaven and the fishing fleet there. Most notably were the off color boat names and the deer hunting and fishing stickers on the vehicles, only instead of giant jacked up trucks the local all drove gulf carts.

On the drive back down the island we crossed over the narrowest section known as the Glass Window. The East and West coasts of Eleuthera are so close on this stretch of coast that the rock has worn away to nearly sea level. On the Atlantic side the deep blue sea was thundering in and crashing on the ragged cliffs, on the Caribbean side the sea was a brilliant aqua blue and was as flat as bath water. The contrast between the two was awe inspiring. The view seemed to defy reality. Just beyond the southern end of the bridge connecting the two sides of the Glass Window there are two massive boulders that the immense force of hurricane waves once tossed like pebbles to the cliff top, a humbling display of the force of nature.

We pulled up anchor yesterday in Hatchet Bay and motored down the coast to Governor’s Harbour, unfortunately the wind was on our nose which prevented us from sailing. We were visited again by Micah last night and this morning Jos, Micah, and I went for a glorious sail aboard Libby, our dinghy, up and down the harbor. We really like the town here and I even got to join the locals in a couple rousing games of soccer. After a game I was told by one player that I am “bad,” which I took as meaning good. In a few short days Jos and I will leave the beautiful Bahamas and fly back to the colder temps of the states. It is hard to believe our time living aboard Tarwathie is coming to an end. We have felt extremely lucky to have been a part of this grand adventure with Dad and Carol and we will be very sad to say goodbye.
Fair winds and following seas Tarwathie and crew.