Eleuthera

After Spanish Wells we headed south along the west coast of Eleuthera.  Eleuthera is an interesting island in that it is long and skinny measuring 110 miles long, but only two miles across at its widest point. It is actually the site of the first European settlement in the Bahamas. In 1648 one William Sayle convinced a group of London investors – called the “Company of Eleutherian Adventurers” (most of whom never actually set foot in Eleuthera) – to put their money behind a group of pilgrims who wanted to pursue religious freedom in Eleuthera. (“Eleuthera” is a Greek word for “freedom.”) Investors were promised substantial return on "wrecks which shall be recovered upon or near the islands... and also all mines of gold, silver, copper, brass or lead, ambergris, salt; and all rich woods, either tincture or medicaments which shall be found on the island." To make a long story short, the ship upon which the settlers set forth from Bermuda – along with almost all their worldly goods – sank along a reef that is now known as the “Devil’s Backbone” just off the northern coast of the island. They took refuge in the “Preachers Cave” and continued their settlement efforts with varying degrees of success.

That doesn’t describe our efforts, however. We were very successful. When leaving Spanish Wells for the main island, boats must pass through the dread Current Cut. It is a relatively small passage through the group of islands that stretch southwest from Eleuthera. It is called current cut because there is a lot of water flowing through the passage and it is often moving very fast. During the spring tides, it can move at over 10 MPH. For a sailboat whose top speed in 5-7 MPH, this can be a major problem. It can also be a problem for a power boat with substantial engines (like us). However, if one plays the tides and tries to traverse the cut at slack tide, it is not that big of a problem. (Just for your information: Determining when slack tide will occur is more difficult that you might think. Often, slack is at the same time as high and low tide; when the tide stops coming in, it stops for a bit before it starts flowing out – thus it is slack. However, when all the water that can build up during high tide tries to flow through a small opening – like Current Cut – it can’t get through in time, thus slack occurs some time after high or low tide. Here is the catch – no one has thought to make a table of slack tides, so we approximate the timing for slack tide by waiting 30 or so minutes after high (or low).)

After cutting through the chain of islets, we headed down island. We spent the night at Rainbow Cay – a small island just off Eleuthera – but it really didn’t look like it had anything for us to see or do, so we moved on to Alabaster Beach. Wow! It is not as magnificent as Treasure Cay, but it is beautiful. It is about a mile long, 20-30 yards wide, very, very clean and has a bunch of different kinds of shells. Moreover, while we were there they were holding the RIDE FOR HOPE, a long-distance-for-fun bicycling event. Many of you know I really enjoy bicycling when I am not on the boat, so maybe next year I can combine both hobbies – we’ll have to wait and see. At any rate, they had a very festive atmosphere, giving away water and selling beer, wine and other consumables. We only stayed for a little bit, but it was fun and interesting. We also learned that the Bahamas now has at least one “craft beer.”

An old gas pump at the abandoned Naval Base

For years, Kalik and Sands have had a virtual monopoly on beer in the Bahamas. Just about the only foreign beer was Heinekin, so you had three choices. For the same reasons that craft brewing became popular in the States, however, it seems to have become at least acceptable in the Bahamas.  The Pirate Republic Brewing Company makes three different kinds of beer and all of them are pretty darn good – certainly a change from Kalik and Sands.

After learning about the bicycle event, learning about the new beer, and talking with some of the cyclists, we went exploring. We had heard that on the other side of the island there was an abandon US Navy Base. What? I asked myself; what would that be like. We had read that it was only about a 15 minute walk, so we set off. About 45 minutes later, we found the base – and yes, it was abandon. It had started in 1950 as an experimental center and became a full-fledged naval base in 1957.  Over time it evolved into a combination SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System – to track Soviet submarines) base, and part of the Air Force’s Atlantic missile tracking system. It eventually closed in 1980. It seemed like the US just took everything that could be moved and walked away, leaving buildings and infrastructure in place. Since then, it has turned into pretty much a dump as the locals get rid of their large trash there, e.g cars, toilets(!), and trucks.

The pink sand beach below the abandoned Naval Base

Just below the base, on the Atlantic side, there is a magnificent pink sand beach. While it has its share of flotsam and jetsam, it is not as bad as you might think. If the Navy had held on to the property, I would have been glad to take it off their hands J

After Alabaster Beach, we headed down to Rock Sound. We had been here last year, but we liked it as an anchorage in that it had pretty good protection from most directions. It also had an excellent grocery store, a good liquor store, a nice gift shop and a really cool “ocean hole.” The ocean hole is about a mile inland and looks just like a lake or pond – except that it is 600 feet deep and has salt water from the Atlantic, not the sound! It connects through the limestone that is the Bahamas. We tried to take a picture of the fish, but I don’t think it came out very well. Anyway, it is very cool.

After we walked up to the Ocean Hole, I thought it would not be that far to walk to the other side of the island and catch another Atlantic Beach or two. Well, after we had been walking fifteen minutes, a Bahamian lady came by and picked us up. It turned out the beach was much further than I thought it was, (at least an hour’s walk, maybe even longer) but she owned a restaurant on the north side. It was Rosie of “Rosie’s.” She asked us if we wanted to have lunch at her place, and since we preferred to have ride back rather than walking, we did. Below her house/restaurant/inn there was another nice beach. She served us some excellent grouper fingers and a nice, wholesome Kalik beer. Ah, what more could a man want! And yes, after we paid the bill, she did take us back to the boat.

We only anchored for three days at Rock Sound. We moved to a marina for two reasons. First, there was supposed to be a cold front coming through that would involve some fairly stiff winds that would start in the east, go to the south, then the west, etc. Even more importantly, however, we had a boat issue. I had noticed for the past couple of weeks that our batteries did not seem to have the capacity that they once did. Now they are 3 ½ years old, so you can understand how the capacity might decrease. BUT, these weren’t just any batteries, they were Lifeline (brand name), 8D (size), AGMs (type). I am not going to go into detail on battery construction right now, suffice to say that Lifeline is supposed to be the Cadillac of batteries AND they have a five year warranty AND their price is commensurate with their reputation, so I was a little upset when it looked like they were failing after 3 ½.

I had read up on what needed to be done and I e-mailed Lifeline. Everything said I needed to “equalize” the batteries. Over time, battery plates tend to acquire a sulphate coating which hinders the chemical action between the electrolyte (sulfuric acid) and the lead plate.  By equalizing the battery in a controlled overcharge the outer layer of the plate, including the sulphate coating, is blown off, rejuvenating the battery and allowing all the surface area of the plates to interact with the electrolyte. For my Lifelines, I needed to generate 15.5 volts and keep it up for 8 hours. If that failed, I intended to do it a second time, so we thought it better to go to a marina rather than keep the generator going for that long. The only real test we could give the batteries would be after we left the marina. And guess what … it looks like it worked!!!



Doubled-up fenders at the Cape Eleuthera Marina

The marina experience itself was kind of so-so. It was a resort marina, which means among other things that they have swimming pool – and yes, Ann went swimming. It also means they had a pretty good restaurant. Unfortunately, it also means there is nothing else to do within walking or biking distance. We rented a car and went to Governor’s Harbor and a few other places, but we had done the same thing last year – we were running out of things to do. To make matters worse, the weather front did come through and we learned the marina does not handle westerly winds well; in fact, it handles them terribly.

And that brings us to the end of our Eleutheran Adventure. Our next entry will be from the beautiful, ever-changing Exumas.

Ann’s Notes: I really do not have much to report…Michael has covered much of what went on. I think I am learning more than I really want to know about batteries. I do know for sure that I like batteries when they work properly and I do not like them when Michael becomes worried about them. He had been keeping track of amps, volts, and inflow charging. I think he may even have a power point presentation if you are interested. All I know is that several times at night, at random times, my fan stops working, the fan that is next to my side of the bed to keep me cool-ish. So when the fan turns off, I wake up. Michael is testing the batteries. Getting the picture?  My concern over the batteries is much more self-centered, Michael wants the whole boat to run well, I just want my fan to run all night without interruption.

Ann at the marina's swimming pool

Our walks have been pretty interesting. Our standard joke now is that our destinations are “only about fifteen minutes away.” They must be “island minutes” because forty-five minutes later we might be close to our destination. I think any place that has been abandoned is rather interesting, I just wonder what it would have been like to live in that place and what the history is of the location and the people that spent part of their time on earth living there. I feel the same way about old books and photographs. I find it interesting to see how quickly Mother Nature and her plants can reclaim the ground once people move on. I found a beautiful wild orchid growing in the midst of all this rubble. We also saw a small herd of wild goats; they just appeared in the middle of the road.

While at the anchorage at Rock Sound a call went out from a fellow boater. His wife was having some major back pain and really was in a lot of pain. They managed to get her to the local clinic, the doctor’s advice to her was to fly back to the US, start doing Yoga and move off their sailboat. Not very helpful to say the least ... SO…. most cruisers have a pretty good first aid kit on board designed for their personal issues. With all of Michael’s Achilles heel surgeries and my neck (I am fine ... no worries), we have some GOOD pain management meds on board. I also have some Rx strength lidocaine patches that my wonderful friend Joan gave me before we departed, to add to my personal kit. People offered all sorts of help and brought – medication, my Lidocaine patch and a few Ambien – to their boat. I offered Reiki and reflexology, but she needed rest more than anything. I just got a thank you message from her today so I guess with all the cruisers pulling for her and pooling our resources, we helped get her through a bad week or so.

Spot is doing well, roaming the boat while we are at anchor, hunting patches of sun during the day, rolling over to have her tummy and chin scratched and generally loving her time with us.

Thank you for following us…stay tuned…the adventure is not even half over..

Oh…just FYI…the wonderful restaurant called French Leave at Governor’s Harbor, still have a beautiful view but NO LOBSTER PIZZA…Damn..

 

Traveling Soul…OUT