ELVIS Has Left the Abacos

Well, after two days in Little Harbor moored outside of Pete's Pub, BJ wants to find some new scenery. The seas are predicted at 4-6 and the winds are 15-20Knots from the NW. There is an anchorage just around the point about 10 miles south of here, as our destination is south, we did not want to back track up to the north and we are in the southern tip of the Sea of Abaco. I plotted the trip to Cherokee (10 miles south) as well as Nassau and Harbor Island. I thought it might be tolerable since the wind would be to our back and we were also on the leeward side of the island. Soon we stowed all of our gear, had a little breakfast and by 11:30AM we were off.

We left Little Harbor at low tide, and there were times my depth sounder was reading less than 3 feet, which is what we draw, but we made it out safely, and started to plane. We went through the cut, which look a lot nicer than when we came in due to the wind direction. Right outside the cut was the first waypoint. We had to decide whether to go SE for Nassau, SW for Harbor Island or hug the coast to go to the settlement. BJ thought it was a little rough but passable so we decided to go to Harbor Island, since it was only 50 miles through the open water vice 80 miles to Nassau.

The waves were 2-4feet with long rollers so I tried to pick a speed and direction to make our journey somewhat pleasant. It worked for a while, but then the waves started to grow. About half way there, my crew was horizontal in the back of the cockpit trying to keep her sea-sickness under control. The waves were more like 3-5feet at this time, and it was really starting to get hairy. We ran like this for a couple of hours. I would try to tack out to sea for the best ride, then turn back to our target waypoint. Occasionally we would hit it pretty hard. I was climbing up the back side of the waves, and surfing down the front side, without being able to keep the right pace to stay in between the peaks.

Well, at least we were over half way through, it should lighten up the closer we get to land. That is what got me through the rough water until we got closer to land. I did forget about one little thing when it comes to the sea; the closer you get to land the more undertows and rips you get. So as we closed within 10 miles of Northern Eleuthera, the waves got bigger (at least 6feet), and the period between peaks got smaller. This was like a rodeo, but I could not get off after 8 seconds. We (I-- BJ was still lying down in the back) would be looking straight up, then it was everything I could do to keep the bow above water. The distance between the peaks were only about twice my boat length. I tried every speed and tack I could to try to get a better ride, but I did not have any luck, so we motored through.

Then I saw it! Land, and the waypoint was rapidly approaching on the GPS. Finally it would smooth out. We still had another 15 miles to go after we got to the island, but at least we would be in protected waters. so I thought. As we headed east at the waypoint, only about 20 yards from the shoreline where the water was breaking up to 15 feet in the air, I realized that the protected waters, was really the only passage between N. Eleuthera and the shallow breakers north of it. So now we are basically in some really rough surf along the beach and my boat is parallel to the waves. I did not want to go too fast because we were really close to the shore, and the depth was getting extremely shallow.

I should take the time now to tell you that most people opt to pick up a pilot in Spanish Wells to take you Harbor Island because it is very tricky and extremely shallow. This was our original plan, BUT the water was so rough, and we would have had to turn west at the waypoint, PLUS BJ was not doing well, so I figured we would just trod through. OK, back to the adventure.

I have been studying the colors of the waters for nearly a month, but still get leery around the light teal colored waters, especially with the brownish looking rocks that seem to be right at the surface. So with this in mind, I am picking my way through the surf for about 1/2 mile studying the GPS, looking at the depth sounder and using my visual readings. I should also mention that I do not have the paper charts for the Far Bahamas, so as soon as we headed SE this morning, we were literally "off the charts". We finally rounded the corner south into the protected waters, and my crew rejoined me for the remainder of the trip. I used the GPS and zig-zagged through the tricky waters until we had Valentines Marina directly ahead of us.

I called the marina and the dock hand met me at the dock. Docking was surprisingly easy even with the wind. He asked where we had come from and was aghast when we told him "The Abacos". We were the only boat to pull into the marina today, and amazingly enough the only boat I saw on the water. Hmmmm, I wonder why!?!?

So here we are: Harbor Island.