On to Chub Cay and Beyond

Now we're getting somewhere!

Morning shining down on Jack & Carol aboardToucana 

Rhumbline at anchor watching the sunset

Getting off the boat at Bimini Big Game Club required skill and assistance! Our fellow boaters came to us since we couldn't leave the boat.

When my passport arrived on Sunday and we were cleared through immigration and customs,  we headed  straight to the restaurant at Bimini Big Game Club for lunch. What else but cracked conch! Quite yummy. Then a walk on the beach with Cappy and found tons of sea glass. Back to the dock for cocktails, nibbles and a fun game aboard Toucana.

We were off the dock at 7:05 am on Monday and readied ourselves for a long day. We arrived at Chub Cay at close to 6pm and chose to eat aboard. The chef (yours truly) made Beef Stroganoff and the Captain was happy and full. The next morning, I used Chub Cay’s laundry room (spic & span compared to most in the Bahamas) while Jeff cleaned the boat for most of the day. We went to the beach and pool for a short time, then enjoyed happy hour aboard Rhumbline before heading to our 7pm dinner reservation. There were eight of us as we had run into friends of Dan & Sharon’s from Blue Ridge, GA and we had a great time watching the sunset. Dinner was fantastic. Not the old Chub Cay of years past. This will be a regular stop from now on.

 

Quite the clubhouse!

The first of many Kalik's for Jeff

Dan & Sharon

Jeff & me with my new palm tree hat

On Wednesday, the 5^th (Happy Cinco de Mayo) we tossed the dock lines and were on our way at 7:05. The anchor went down in West Bay (New Providence) at 11:30 and we took Cappy to the beach and explored the area by dinghy. A beautiful day. Dinner aboard then heading to Royal Island in the morning. We’re getting closer to our first REAL destination, Harbour Island.

Peter Nygard may still own this property but he's in jail.

 

Royal Island is part of North Eleuthera and has a very protected oval harbor with a cut through the rocks to enter. It is sheltered from winds in any direction. There is an old house in ruins there which was quite the mansion with a private harbor in its day. It was on track to be developed into a harbor community in 2006-08 but like most dirt dreams in the Bahamas, it went bust early and remains undeveloped with some rusted excavation equipment left ashore. It takes VERY deep pockets to complete a project in the Bahamas.

The water is always so clear

Carol, Jack & Lili returning to their boat after exploring Royal Island

When cruising, weather rules your life. Our planned stop in the fishing village of Spanish Wells was postponed because the winds were favorable for passage through the “Devil’s Backbone”, which is the passage from Spanish Wells around the north shore of Eleuthera to Harbor Island. It is a 6 mile passage bordered by coral heads on one side and shallow sand beaches on the other. It is not a passage to make with the wind from the North and a sea on.

Entering Spanish Wells

EXILE bringing up the rear

Straight on through to the Devil's Backbone

That day Bandit, one of the local pilots, was leading a gaggle of boats through the Devil's Backbone. We just happened to be behind them by chance. Although we have traversed this several times, both with and without a pilot, it was the most boats we've seen going through at once. What a show!

Leaving Spanish Wells on the east side.

The water is as beautiful as ever

The reason a lot of folks hire a pilot to maneuver around the coral heads

There are several beautiful beaches along the way

We arrived at Ramora Bay after a six hour trip from our anchorage at Royal Island. We absolutely love this place and the people there along with the welcome Rum Punch delivered to the boat. After settling in we walked up to Sunset's, the marina bar & grill for lunch. Always good! 

We rented a golf cart to purchase a new sim card for the Aliv modem/hot spot that our friends Jon & Leanne loaned us for the time we are here. After getting that squared away we returned to the marina for the evening. There was a DJ playing at Sunset's so we returned there for music, snacks & drinks and crashed aboard after a long day. The following morning all of us loaded into the 6 seater golf cart and headed out to tour the town. Jeff did all of the driving since he had a fairly good idea of where he was going. The men waited patiently while we girls popped into some of the shops (more like ALL of the shops) for some retail therapy although not much was purchased.  From there we continued on to Coral Sands for lunch. The pizza is always fantastic. Mine was proscuitto and artichoke.  Yum! 

The scenery is gorgeous along the water with the pink sand beaches as fine as sugar. Along the drive there are always lots of roosters. There will never be a shortage, as there were a multitude of babies running around. 

There were about 8 chicks in this family and only one was yellow,all the rest were black

 

Back at Ramora Bay Marina a fishing vessel had a good day! Lots of Mahi!

Carol and Gus chilling at the pool

That evening we ate dinner at Acquapazza, the Italian restaurant at the top of the hill above the marina. We enjoyed a great meal (too much food!) and another beautiful sunset. EXILE and Rhumbline can be seen tied up along the wall in the picture below.

The following morning we bade farewell to our dockhand friends and headed out to the next island over, a short 40 minute motor. It's a beautiful anchorage with beaches on both sides of the island. In past years we have found an incredible amount of seaglass and shells however this year would prove to be different. Perhaps the hurricane winds shifted the sands. At any rate it was a fun excursion. The dogs spent a long afternoon on the beach running, splashing and digging up crabs; they were content to stay aboard while we explored. A large iguana was passing by and I was thankful he didn't spot Cappy. Nevertheless, while I was snapping a couple of pictures Carol picked Cappy up to be sure there were no mishaps.

Once we returned to the boat, Cappy was fascinated with the Romora swimming at the stern of the boat. They hide out in the shade under the boat and come out for dinner scraps. There hasn't yet been a time when they didn't show up.

Treasures

One pooped out puppy!

Tomorrow's another day.