Saturday marked the first time in a long time that we were sailing somewhere as a fleet of one.
Having left “SYL” in Hawksbill, we headed to Ship Channel Cay, a long rock in the northern tip of the Exumas. It was a 20 mile motor sail up to a wide open spot of shallow sand on the ocean floor where we set the hook. In front of us was the low-lying rocks of the cay and behind us open ocean. There wasn’t another boat to be seen, further proving we were in transition between the cruising grounds of the Exumas and Eleuthera.
After a short swim and quick dinner, we spotted a yellowfin tuna hanging around the boat. It seemed to be attracted to the spaghetti scraps we had thrown overboard. And, always looking to fill the freezer, we baited a hook with a small meatball and tossed the line over. Moments later it went taunt as the tuna swam away unspooling yards of line from the reel. After a brief tug of war on the line, we had the large tuna right up to the boat. With gaff hook in hand (a large hooked pole used to pull a fish onboard) it bit clear through the wire leader on the line and escaped to freedom. It returned soon thereafter, much wiser to our fishing attempt, and circled us (possibly in mockery) waiting for another course in its dinner.
Just before sunset, we were treated to a figurine-sized fireworks show on the clear ocean’s horizon from the Atlantis Resort in Nassau almost 40 miles away. Over the distance, the colorful explosions looked about the size of a quarter and the boom made its way rumbling across the water to us about a minute later.
At sunrise on Sunday, with the wind gauge reading 0.0 knots, we motored for Eleuthera cutting through the ocean’s glassy surface along our way.
The trade-off for no wind was the spectacular and unique view down to the ocean floor at depths up to 50 and 60 feet. With no wind to create ripples or waves, we felt like a toy boat being pushed along an aquarium’s surface as we peered overboard to take in the magic of the exposed sea world below. Within it, we caught glimpses of radiant starfish resting against the white sand, colossal-sized sea turtles lazily cruising by, sea cucumbers vegging in their ocean gardens, and our lone sailboat’s shadow clearly trailing our progress.
By late afternoon we sailed into Royal Island Harbour in northern Eleuthera and set our anchor in a protected cove for a good night’s rest.
Monday morning we moved Kaleo a few miles over to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera to grab a mooring ball and to meander about the town. Spanish Wells is quaint well-kept settlement with many boat yards and an industrious waterfront. It’s also the stopping place for the Bahamas Fast Ferry, which we planned to take to Harbour Island the next day.
N 25° 30.90 / W 76° 50.72
