After making the run up from Hatchet Bay, we spent a rolly night at Meeks Patch and were really surprised at all the boats there. I suppose it’s that time of the season when Spanish Wells tends to fill up. We got a slip for the week at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven – between a friend’s visit in the early part of the week and needing to do laundry, get propane and provision, it only made sense. Plus, we love the Yacht Haven with their well maintained docks, great marina staff, beautiful grounds and great on-property restaurant, so it was a win all around. We also rented a golf cart for the week which made life SO much easier.
Dan and Holly of S/V Sandpiper were just a couple slips over – they were anchored in Hatchet Bay with us and had been in Warderick Wells at the same time we were, but we didn’t get to meet them until a random chance encounter at the Glass Window. They were touring Eleuthera by car for the day, and we’d sailed in. We had dinner and drinks a couple times at Wreckers, and it was obvious we’d found more members of our tribe.
We managed to squeeze in stops at most of our favorite places on the island – J’s Conch Shack, Savy Styles & Treats (we were excited to find that they, along with J’s, have moved into a spot just a short walk from the marina), The Shipyard, Sandbar, Papa’s Scoops – but we didn’t have time for everything. I guess that just means we need to come back next year!
One of the things I love about island life is that running errands so often turns into a wonderful conversation with a local. Richard Albury fills propane at his home after he finishes up work at the local garage, so we hopped in the cart with Dan and Holly to get our tanks filled. We ended up having a wonderful conversation with him and his wife Ginny (and their sweet dog Sassy insisted on joining in) about their lives on the island and their family histories.
I got a couple loads of laundry done at the marina, and while it wasn’t cheap ($6 per machine), at least the machines were big and I was able to get almost everything done. We also did a big provision run – we’re finding that this year, even though we’re cooking aboard more, our grocery bills are really reasonable. I think we’ve learned how to shop here (and what to load up on in the US).
Before we left the marina on Saturday, we refilled the jerry cans and picked up a few things we forgot at the store. A couple local artists were set up in the parking lot, and I found a nice gift for a friend back home – I especially love that it was both locally made and created from found materials.
Our original plan for the day was to snorkel the wreck of the Arimoroa, a 200′ freighter that sank in 1970, but the wind was up from the SE and we had 2-3′ short-period waves so we scrapped that plan and instead took a short sail under jib only – even with just the jib out, our speed bounced between 6-7kts – and it was nice to get a short sail in just for the heck of it. We dropped the hook off the west side of Meeks with 20+ other boats – while we enjoyed being in the marina for the week, it was nice to get back out on anchor.
The Sunday forecast was for rain and thunderstorms all day, so we didn’t make much by way of plans. Since weather held off, we went over to the locals’ beach with the intention of snorkeling, but it was kind of chilly, and we ended up chatting with a couple we met on the beach instead. Back on the boat, I grabbed out my book and found a perfect sunny spot on the bow, and Chris went with Dan to snorkel along the ironshore along the north side of the island (I didn’t want to try to get back in the dinghy from the water with my back still being messed up). Later that night, the storms rolled in and we had intense thunderstorms off and on all night and throughout Monday, and there was a sloppy, leftover swell that didn’t align with the wind, making for an uncomfortable couple of nights (sleep was in short supply).
Tuesday morning we moved over to the east side of Meeks, and while there was still some fetch, it was much calmer. Even when an intense cell of thunderstorms passed through overnight, we were relatively comfortable.
Last night we finally got to have our beach bonfire/s’mores night – one of my favorite little silly traditions. I found square marshmallows in the US, and we had sea salt dark chocolate squares which made for really yummy s’mores. Next year I need to remember to bring more chocolate – we have plenty of marshmallows and graham crackers left but used up all the chocolate (which, for what it is, is relatively expensive here – although a friend suggested getting chocolate digestive biscuits/cookies, which seems like a brilliant idea!). Our timing was perfect – we got to the beach just in time for sunset and left before it was too dark to see.
This morning we moved over to the Egg Island anchorage on the west side. There are lots of small coral heads, but I was able to guide us into a spot where our chain was clear of any coral. There was only one other boat when we first anchored, but throughout the day more boats showed up, until there were 11 of us here. It’s a nice calm day, and we were able to hop in for a quick snorkel around the boat. I would LOVE to explore more of the reefs out here, but I was just happy to get in the water at all. This may be our favorite anchorage in the Bahamas so far! We had sundowners aboard Sandpiper and headed back to finish getting Windara ready to sail.
Early tomorrow morning, we’re heading to the Abacos. I’m really looking forward to getting back there, and we have a bunch of friends who are up there now. At the same time, we really love Spanish Wells and the surrounding little islands, and we’ll be sorry to leave this area behind.
