Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas

 The 30 hour passage from West Palm Beach to Spanish wells was a bit of a drag for me. We pulled the anchor at 4AM and Bluejacket did the same.  As we went out the inlet, the seas were larger than I had anticipated, not dangerous but the swells were pretty large.  We also had 7 other boats that apparently set their alarms for 4AM as well, all outgoing in the channel at the same time.  

The seas are lumpy for the first few hours and I had failed to take any sea-sickness medication.  I had looked at the forecast wind and it was very light so I assumed that the seas would not bother me.  But I definitely got a case of the 'ole mal de mer.  Over the first few hours I did take some medicine that helped a bit.  But otherwise I slept some and made sure I stayed hydrated.  By Saturday morning I was feeling pretty good but not hungry at all. 

Bluejacket stayed about a mile behind us and matched our speed for the entire trip.  We did chat on the VHF a few times overnite just to say hello.   

Saw many cargo and cruise ships - fun to see them all lit up in the middle of the night.

 

By mid-morning on Saturday we were passing the small islands at the northwest tip of Eleuthera.

 

Nice to be back in the clear water again!

 

Anchored near town - amazingly only one other boat anchored here.  The time we were here last spring there were dozens of boats anchored in this bay. 

 

 

 The sun is blazing so we put out all our sunshades.  Note the yellow "Q" flag we're flying.  This means that we have not cleared customs/immigration so we are in "quarantine".

 

Bluejacket arrived a few minutes later.  We both got in the dinghies to go to customs.

 

Down the channel.

 

The customs officer was not in the office.  Donna inquired at the shop next door and the nice lady, Ashlay made a few calls for us to find out when we could return.  While waiting for a customs officer, Donna and Jerry rented a golf cart for the day. We joined them for a fun tour of the island going all the way to the tip of Russell Island.  Stopped at the Eagles Landing Restaurant for a fun meal then Jerry drove us all around to see the sights.

 

 

Nice to see all the houses decorated for Christmas.  They really get into it on this island!

 

This person's yard is an amazing light show.  We spoke to the guys doing the install - it will be ready to light this coming weekend.  Unfortunately, I expect we will have moved on by then.

 

Pretty view from the park.

 

We drove by the concrete block factory.  Pretty cool process - I didn't realize they actually manufactured blocks on the islands.  I assumed they were shipped in.

That's about it for the island tour as my camera somehow corrupted the rest of my photos.....

The customs officer did meet us at the office eventually - so we're officially checked into the Bahamas for the winter!  The Q flag came down and now we're flying the Bahamian courtesy flag.

 

Supper was some Thanksgiving meal leftovers and an early night as we were a bit tuckered out!