Happy Easter!
08 April 2007 | Royal Island, Bahamas
Jim Lea
Easter Sunday dawned with a beautiful day. A cloudless sky covered us with a light north-east breeze, making it a perfect morning for breakfast in the cockpit. We bought some fresh local fruit yesterday on Harbour Island and had it for breakfast with yogurt and granola, both healthy and tasty! We were on a mooring at the east end of the harbour, just off where the fast ferry docks, so we watched it come in from Nassau then pull out to Harbour Island. Not as big a crowd as yesterday, but still full. Last night we had a take-away dinner of grouper, cracked conch, cole slaw and potato salad. It was from a home just a few feet away from our mooring, so I just dinghied over to pick it up. It made a perfect end to a great day. Then this morning, we went to church at the local Methodist church. Yesterday I mentioned that Spanish Wells has some unique characteristics. One I forgot to mention is that its inhabitants are just about 100% white. Apparently, according to our cruising guide, they are the descendants of United Empire Loyalists who left the United States after the American Revolution. They established here and have really prospered. Although their accent is a bit different from most Bahamians, it is still a bit unusual to hear the Bahamian lilt coming out of a white mouth. And it was the same in church, with the preacher's accent. The music was a mix of traditional hymns and modern music with a definite Bahamian twist. The organ was accompanied by a piano and drums, and none of the musicians were shy! After church, we were offered a drive back to the marina where we had left our dinghy, and we dinghied back to the mooring and had lunch from last night's leftovers. It was just as good re-heated. Then we went for a short walk, came back and dropped the mooring to head back to Royal Island. We came back to Royal Island, as it gives us a head start of about an hour and a half for tomorrow's crossing to the Abacos. We will leave (assuming the weather forecast holds) about 7 am and be there in late afternoon. Because of the distance, we will want to kep our speed up above 6 knots. So if the wind lightens, we will have to motor-sail. If the forecast holds for 15 knots out of the east-south-east, we should have a beautiful sail on a beam reach. But they are forecast to die later in the day, so we may have to motor the last few miles. We'll just see! Tonight we will have pork loin on the BBQ with salad from local gardens (so much more flavour!). I forgot to mention last night's coconut cream pie... Excellent!!! Tonight Bill and I are going to try to make contact via short wave radio. We only managed once before, but radio conditions seem to be better, so hopefully we'll have success tonight!