By Kevin
We’re sitting in Treasure Cay right now, about 150 miles due east of the coast of Florida. When the weather gods smile upon us, we’ll be leaving the shores of the Abacos and Bahamas and heading home.
We are planning to shove off early Monday and sail two nights northwest to arrive in Jacksonville by Wednesday.
As always, our itinerary is written in sand.
By Jennifer
Another stop along the island chain as we near the end of the Bahamas. Treasure Cay is very built up with resorts and condos.
By Jennifer
We sailed from Hope Town for a lunch stop at Man-o-War Cay, where the Loyalists are known for their boat crafting skills. The other main attraction was the Sail Shop — where women sew a variety of bags from sail cloth and other fabrics. It was a complete craze in there with visitors elbowing there way around the shop, including us!
It was a very nice birthday. Thanks!
By Jennifer
Hope Town was by far my favorite stop in the Abacos. Hope Town was settled in the late 1700s by Loyalists, people throughout Colonial America who fled after the American Revolution. Throughout the town you see the brightly colored cottages and quaint, narrow roadways. One of our favorite spots was the ice cream shop! We made back to back stops there during our four day stay. We also hiked to the top of the red and whited striped lighthouse, one of the remaining kerosene lit lighthouses in the world.
By Jennifer
Our first stop in the Abacos was near a Bahamas Land and Sea Park, where beach combing on this small beach in the Abaco Sea revealed many treasures.
By Jennifer
Crossing the Northwest Providence Channel to the Abacos Island chain, Zach tossed overboard a message in a bottle.
By Jennifer
While in Spanish Wells we took a day trip to Harbor Island, a popular resort destination near Eleuthera. Part of the attraction is getting there. The only way to see Harbor Island is by navigating through the Devil’s Backbone, a stretch of ragged coral reef that has been know to shipwreck vessels trying to come ashore. The guidebooks supply pages of reasons why NOT to try and navigate this area without a local pilot. We heeded the warning, and decided to take the Bahamas Fast Ferry, the “Bo Hengy,” to go see the island. The ferry ride was quite a luxury with American satellite television, air conditioning, plush seats, and a concession stand selling all of our favorite treats.
Harbor Island was nice, too.
By Jennifer
Spanish Wells offered a nice dose of civilization after weeks of sailing through the Bahamas wilderness. One thing that oddly stood out during our visit was the number of locals on their golf carts (the preferred method of transportation) that simply lapped the 2-mile long and half-mile wide island. On a quiet Sunday afternoon when ALL of the businesses were closed we decided to walk the island. On our trek, one teenager buzzed around the island at least five or six times with her music blasting. A woman in her late 70s also lapped the island, but I lost count of how many times because she continued lapping the island over the course of our five-day stay. The images disturbingly reminded me of caged animals…
By Jennifer
Spanish Wells, unlike most of the Bahamas, has its own unique history. This is evident when you come upon the island and, by stark contrast to most of the Bahamas, it is highly developed. The people who live on Spanish Wells are direct descendents of English Puritans called Eleutheran Adventurers. They set out from England in 1648 seeking religious freedom. One hundred and fifty seven Eleutheran Adventurers came ashore after wrecking their ship on the “Devil’s Backbone,” a stretch of ragged coral reefs. They lived in caves on the northern tip of Eleuthera for two years before 57 of them left to Spanish Wells and another 100 left to nearby Harbor Island.
Today, Spanish Wells is a thriving commercial fishing ground, the Bahamian capital of lobster fishing. The Spanish Wellsians have an unusual accent — sounds sometimes British and sometimes Bahamian.
S/V Real Life 