Dancing Down the Devil's Backbone
04 April 2008 | Harbour Island, Bahamas
Jim Lea
Yesterday we left Alabaster Bay just before 8 am. The night before, I looked at the tides to try to calculate when slack water would be at Current Cut, about 30 miles away. And based on that and an estimate of our speed, 6 knots, I decided that we should leave about 9 am. Current Cut is so named for the strong currents in it, up to 6 knots at peak. And it is not straightforward, as most are, but requires us to approach the shore about 1/2 mile south of the actual cut and run along the rocky shore just 50' off, and at the last second when you are just about being swept over a shallow reef, you take a sharp 90 degree turn and shoot into deep water and through. So I tried to time our arrival for slack current, meaning departing at 9 am. But two things sped up up; first, the wind was quite light when we woke, so we wouldn't be doing 6 knots, but more like 5. And second, every other boat in the anchorage was already underway. So the herd mentality took over and we roared out.
A half hour later, we were doing 6.5 knots under main alone, and I was back calculating. But everyone else pressed on, so I thought maybe I was wrong. Hearing the first boat through report speeds of 12 knots, I began to realize I was right. But we carried on and were through about an hour before slack, with the curent still running at 4 knots. But we were safely through and heading for Spanish Wells. It is a tiny harbour with a marina and about 6 moorings and no room to anchor. Our objective was Harbour Island, but that was another day. So we diverted to a small place we had never been, The Bluff. In the cruising guide, the description was downright unflaterring but it had a good anchorage and was just 4 miles from Spanish Wells.
Anchor set, we took the dinght ashore, expecting to find a community that had never recovered from two recent hurricanes, and mostly empty. But that's not what we found. We found a tidy bustling community. Sure, there are some buildings that have not been repaired, but most have been and are neatly painted. And there is an agriculture community here growing bannanas, mangos, tomatos, etc. And we bought some excellent fish from some fishermen on the waterfront.
So dinner was grilled Snapper with a Papaya/Mango Salsa, and for dessert, more fresh fruit!
Then this morning, we were up early, as we had agreed to meet a pilot, Little Woody, in the Spanish Wells harbour at 8 am. Woody arrived with fresh Johnny Cakes and a fresh Carrot cake for us, and jumped aboard. The route into Harbour Island runs from Spanish Wells through a region called The Devil's Backbone. It runs along the northern coast of Eleuthera and is strewn with reefs, and as usual in the Bahamas, without any navigation markers. I have never heard of anyone trying it without a pilot, but Woody said that some try, and few make it. In January, three tried and two struck reefs, one just towed off with a lost rudder, another a total loss. So he took over the wheel and with no apparent attention, towing his boat, through we went. I started to show him the Depth Sounder, but he said "I don't need that! If I need that, you need a new pilot!". One minute we were heading dead for the rocky shorline, next heading out to sea, weaving between the reefs with the ocean swells breaking over them, all the time Woody chatting away. But we came through without incident, and Woody set off to pick up his next boat. We are about the smallest that he has done. His next one was a 130' motor yacht. He typically does about three runs a day in his busy season.
Safely anchored, we went ashore to bustling Dunsmore Town, the only community on the Island. In fact, it takes up the entire Island, so the town name is rarely used. It is an odd combination of Bahamian out island town and upscale resort town. Its pink sand beach on the Atlantic shore is justifyably famous. For lunch, we went to a "fish fry", an area where shacks selling food set up on the beach, each with its own specialty. We went to Woody's recommendation and had excellent grouper fingers, cole slaw and "mac" (Maccaroni & Cheese, a Bahamian staple). And it was excellent. For dinner we went next door to the conch bar and got conch salad to take back to the boat. So with Woody's Johnnycakes and Carrot Cake for dessert, it was an excellent day on the meal front.
Tomorrow we hope to meet Linda Evans if the planes cooperate. Then early next week we'll look for a weather window to head across the North-east Providence Channel (about 55 miles) to the Abacos.