Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 We lucked out - there was a cancellation at R&B Boatyard in Spanish Wells so we gladly filled that slot for new bottom paint.

Robert, one of the owners, and the crew met us at the dock to guide the boat in.

This is a new experience for us in several ways.  We've never had anyone else do the bottom paint, so that is nice!  Also, R&B has a platform lift, not a travel lift.  The huge platform is lowered into the water.  Then Robert goes down on SNUBA and places the support stands.

After all is in place, the platform is slowly raised.

Look at all that algae and growth that was slowing us down!

Soon the boat & platform are almost out of the water.

The workers immediately start the washdown process.

Since we'll be here for a few days, we rented a golf cart....fun touring the island a bit just to pass the time.

We ended up at the Sandbar Grill....it was lunchtime....

And time for our first cold Kalik!!

After a bit more island touring, we came back to see the progress.  They've done a good job sanding and washing.  We're staying out of their way.  They are allowing us to stay on board - which will be interesting since we can't discharge any water.  Paper plates will be in order.

 

Egg Island to Russell Island, Eluethera, Bahamas

 After a lazy morning, we went out for our first fun snorkel of the season.

Out to Egg Reef - it's a huge area north of Eleuthera.  We only saw a tiny portion.

Lots of life - I'll just let you look thru the photos.

 

I spotted and Duane speared our first lobster - nice one!!

After a nice long swim, back to the boat.

Sojourn all alone in the anchorage.

And lunch included a lobster roll for me!!

At nightfall, the winds picked up a bit so we pulled the anchor (windlass working so far!) and eased back to Russell Island for a little more protection in the dark, not my favorite way to travel but uneventful.....

Egg Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas

With almost calm winds, we planned to snorkel the outside reefs on the north end of the island. 

First we took the opportunity to top off the fuel with inexpensive diesel at the power plant. 

I had called ahead and the worker met us at the dock. It’s not really made for small boats like us- very tall and no boarding ladders! 

It was mid-tide....at high tide the dock is more accessible.  We paid in cash so we didn’t have to climb off to the deck and were on our way in just a few minutes. 

Love that clear water!

As we approached Egg Island, we saw a familiar Manta shape in the anchorage.....Kris and John from Imagine came for a short visit.  They were heading on south so we'll see them again, I'm sure.

Unfortunately, while dropping the anchor, our windlass motor failed!!  It's one of the things that we don't carry a spare for.  Duane disassembled it - it's worn in several places.....and a real mess with black powdery slime from the brushes. 

We tried to find new brushes on the island at an electric repair shop but were not successful.   We did a lot of cleaning and Duane did some grinding.  Reassembled it and it's working for now!!  Friends will bring a spare.  Who knows how long it will continue to work - if it fails, Duane will have to lift the anchor by hand which would be NO FUN!

But that took the entire afternoon and no snorkeling was accomplished!

Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas

   

Another night and morning - light winds but the sails helped a little....more ship traffic.

 

Another sunset at sea, they all run together as I quickly get a little weird feeling when doing overnight sailing. 

 

 

And at least 5 cruise ships during the night - wow, that's a popular sport!  They passed within about 1 mile of us as we were directly in the shipping lane.

 

 

We arrived mid-day to Spanish Wells and put up our yellow quarantine "Q" flag until  we could clear customs.

 

As usual, gathered our boat documents and passports, having filled out most of the paperwork online.  Took the dinghy in to the customs office at the public dock.

Some rules have changed this year - long story but we ended up having to go back to the anchorage, retrieve the "big boat" and take it to the government dock for an inspection by the customs officer.  This is the first time we have been boarded by a Bahamian official.  No worries, it was professional and quick.  We then had to wait for an immigration officer for about 3 hours.  But no problems - we received our immigration stamps in our passports with 120 days before we have to renew.  Glad that process is over for a while!

Changed the "Q" flag to the Bahamian courtesy flag.  Will keep an eye on this new flag over the coming months - the harsh sun and winds tend to wear them out pretty quickly!

Back to the anchorage - beautiful calm sunset.  Early night as we didn't get the relaxing afternoon we'd planned due to the customs delays.

And a beautiful day is in store for us today!  Hard to believe this is a normally very busy anchorage...we're a little early this year so we'll see how things progress as the weeks go by.

Offshore near Grand Bahama

 Pleasant end to the day traveling just offshore. I believe this was just north of West Palm Beach right at Sunset  

It was a very busy night with five different cruise ships and several tankers and cargo ships. The stretch always keeps you on your toes because there are lots of buoys and traffic that is difficult to maneuver around in the pitch black.

Sunrise approaching Grand Bahama  

There is a huge Oil depository on Grand Bahama.  Strangely, one of the world’s largest.

And quite a few tankers lined up to go into port.  With decent winds, we’ve decided to head on to Spanish Wells to check in.