The Crossing to Eleuthera

 We had plans with our buddy boat, Encore, to be moving at 6am on February 24^th. I was up around 5 and raised our mainsail while we were still at anchor. It was a very calm morning with almost no wind, but the forecast was for some wind as we moved south. We led the way through the cut in the reef. There was very little current and almost no swell. I was glad to have the cut behind us. Now it was a beautiful sunrise and open ocean.

The sunlight just starting over the calm Atlantic Ocean

I really don't know how to describe how beautiful it is at this time of day.

OK, just one more shot.

As we made our way south we could see Great Abaco Island to our starboard side. There are not any great anchorages or marinas on that part of the island, so we decided to make the 50 mile crossing from Little Harbor. We had some 3 foot swell on our port aft side, but it was a very comfortable ride. We raised all of our sails to catch as much wind as we could, but when I tried to sail without the motor, we dropped down under 3 knots. We decided to just motor sail. We were making about 6.5 knots over ground with both the sails and the engine at 2000 RPM.

There were a number of other boats along with us and Encore. We had Bees Knees, with just Ann and her Springer Spaniel aboard. There was also another boat that joined us during the trip.

As we cruised along, I thought about our time in the Abacos. We really enjoyed our time there. We knew that it was winter and we would see a number of weather systems move through from the north, but there a 4 harbors that have great protection and mooring balls that make that safe and comfortable. We were told that the Abacos are the “kiddy pool” of the Bahamas and I now see why. It is a great place to get your feet wet and learn the way of the Bahamas without feeling like you are all alone out there. We were now heading to a place that promised more seclusion, less boats and less services. We will see how that plays out.

During this trip we crossed over a very deep ocean trench. The water was over 15000 feet deep. That amazes me. The water was the deepest blue I have ever seen. We trolled our fishing lures the entire trip, but did not catch anything except seaweed.

This picture does not show how deep blue the water was. It was stunning!

About 8 hours into the trip, the wind started to pick up out of the east. I shut the motor off and we were under sails alone. We had made such good time in the first 8 hours that it was fine to now sail at about 5 knots. At the 9 hour mark I spotted the Island of Eleuthera. We skirted the island to the west and went down to the end of Egg Island. Once coming through the cut onto the bank we were in 15 feet of water. What a change! We said our good byes to Encore and wished them well. We decided to stop at a place that Ann on Bees Knees had told me about called Royal Island. We pulled in through a narrow inlet and found paradise!

That is Bee's Knee's anchored in front of the inlet. Ann moved on the following day to Spanish Wells. 

It was very calm in there. You can see the rocky shoreline in this shot.

Another nice sunset on this night. It felt so good to have the crossing behind us and be in a calm, safe spot. Life is good!

Royal Island is a private island, so you are not allowed on shore, but this little bay has almost 360 degree protection. The water is very clear and is surrounded by limestone rock formations. The only question now was: How long would we stay?

I will answer that question and tell you about our wonderful time at Royal Island in my next entry.