Moving south thru Eleuthra

Week 3

     As the winds have calmed  we spend a few days wandering about the northern anchorages. A day in Spanish Wells with a stop for lunch at a local rest/bar called Buddas where we met up with a few other cruisers. Pickings were slim for fresh veggies in town as the supply boat was due later in the week. Also hauled 12 gallons of water to the boat but after testing it decided not to add it to our tanks. My new dissolved solids meter read off the scale so apparently their reverse osmoses system is poor. Rather than dumping it we used it for laundry.

    The following day we motor sailed thru aptly named Current Cut at slack tide. When the tide is running it can flow at over 4 kts so we try to time our transit for the short period (20 minutes or so) of slack tide. Onward to one of our favorite spots to anchor at the beach near the Queens Baths for a couple of calm nights.

Queens Baths

the queen

    Once again it's time to seek shelter with anticipated stormy weather so we motor south to the totally protected Hatchet Bay pond. To our surprise we found 30 other boaters anchored with the same idea of getting here early to grab a prime spot.. Holding here is rather sketchy but we found a spot in the crowd we were happy with. Spent 2 quiet days here with a hike to the oceanside beach and walks thru the tiny town followed by drinks with fellow cruisers at a local waterfront dive called Boaters Haven.  The stormy weather hit at dinnertime on our third day and at least 5 boats dragged during the night having to reanchor in 50 kt gusts. I ended up assisting on a neighbors boat as he was alone and having trouble getting his anchor to hold. With winds this strong it's difficult to slow the backward movement of the boat and control the anchor rode at the same time.  Spent much of the night on watch  as  the winds roared.

entering Hatchet Cut

 

 

 

Pirate Ship????

full moon over anchorage

   

Our continued quest for the perfect deserted beach- Hatchet Bay oceanside

By Thursday we move south with lite winds knowing that the next few  anchorages may be uncomfortable as they offer little protection from the predicted  NW winds. We stop in another favorite ancorage at Governors Harbor. The prevaling winds in this part of the Atlantic are from generally the east and most of our travels keep us in the calm waters in the lee of the islands.  When a front passes winds clock thru the compass requiring us to seek out the few anchorages that offer protection assuming the weatherman is correct. The winds built overnite and even tucked into what we had hoped was a protected corner the swells are rolling in making for less than ideal sleeping conditions. We plan to head to the oceanside beach but need to find a spot to land the dinghy where the waves aren't crashing.