Total Distance: 51 Miles Under Sail: 48
Average Speed: 6.38 kts
Conditions: Clear, 75-80 F, Wind Southeast at 5-10 kts, Seas 1-2 ft

Nassau to Spanish Wells
Weather, skies clear, wind 110/10, seas 2' , temp 78, 51 miles
When sailing in the Bahamas, one has to pay attention to the tides for most places to get into and out of anchorages. So route planning for the most part is based on when low and high tide is. This at times can make getting underway either early in the morning or later in the afternoon. Of course getting into an anchorage during the daylight is also the most important. Like all sailing, weather plays important part. Getting weather in the Bahamas can get tricky if one doesn't have SSB radio.
I do not have SSB on the Rhapsody in Blue. I have been told that a small receive only receiver can be had for around $120. Next time I go, I will buy one of these. This will become especially important if one travels the Exumas. In Nassau I had access to Wi-Fi as well as throughout the Abaco's. Also in the Abacos there is a cruisers net that gives out the daily weather. More on that later.
It was a perfect day to sail almost Nirvana. I left Nassau on a rising high tide at 0730. The plan was to go through Porgee Rocks where depth can be a problem at low tide. Sailing down the Nassau harbor is interesting because of all the traffic. One has to check out with the Harbor Master on channel 9 for clearance to leave the island. Information was passed to my next destination, Spanish Wells. A left turn to Porgee Rocks pass turn into an non-event with good depth all the way through it. At 0810 I was through that on my way to Meeks. With the wind on the beam, Rhapsody was doing 6.2 kts. 1310 hours I was at Current Rock the entrance to Eleuthera Island on the west side. The marker/bouy on the rock was knock down. This bay is shallow with average depth around 10'. There are some interesting harbors on the way to Spanish Wells that will need checking out on a later sail when I return in the future; Lobster Cay, Royal Island. The Pole of Death came up goose eggs, Zero.
Entrance into Spanish Wells is Daylight only, Visual Piloting Required. It is a very small entrance no more than 100' wide. For most sailboats high tide would be required. A tug pushing a barge was racing me to the entrance. He was moving real fast. Since he knew the way, I eased up and let him go first to show me the route. I figure when he got to the entrance he would slow down to make the sharp left turn.. Man he took that turn full throttle and skidded the barge through the markers. Impressive but stupid in my opinion. But he did show me the way in with a stirred up dirt trail from his spinning propeller. I hailed Bandit to see if they had a mooring ball, for there is no anchoring in the tight harbor. I got the last ball available. There is only 6 mooring balls here I believe. Picking up a mooring ball in a tight area with only 50' from shore and shallow water is tricky at best. I snagged it the first time. I got the line around the cleat and started to set up the bridal line. As I feed the line through the loop I had to take it off the cleat to do that. If anyone has followed my blog knows I can do stupid things once in awhile. I lost the mooring line over the side due to the engine was still engaged in forward idle. I could not hold the boat before I could get the bridal attached. So in a very tight area I was in a major panic with the shore close by and 2 other boats on mooring balls. Current and winds didn't help either. I did manage to control the boat barely missing one of the mooring yachts by a few feet. Of course said yacht personnel was coming back from shore in their dinghy to witness this cluster I was in. They offered help but in the end it wasn't need as I snagged the line again this time without the engine engaged.
After settling in, one of the neighbors came knocking on the hull and introduced himself. Bob was a solo sailor, living in the Bahamas full time on a S2 yacht. He gave me the full rundown on Spanish Wells, a map of the town and introduced me to his cute little dog he was traveling with. I think he was the suedo ambassador to Spanish Wells. In the morning Bob knock on the hull again to give me a pair of coral earring he made. Found out later he did this all the cruisers gals that visited Spanish Wells.
Spanish Wells is the most prosperous town in all of the Bahamas. 50% of the fishing is done in this small town. Since lobster season was over, most of the fleet was in port. I was told most of the residents are quite wealthy. However, they still live a modest life compare to us in the US. Nice change for once. Being British descent they have to have nice gardens though at their homes. I launched the dinghy to explore the town. After tying up at the town's concrete wall I found that the Little League was playing. The whole town was there complete with hot dog and hamburger vendor cooking up a storm. I watch the game Spanish Wells vs Nassau team I believe. Spanish Wells is an all white community where I was told blacks are not very welcomed except to do domestic work. The Nassau team was a black team and they made a sharp contract to the rest of the population. They kicked the Spanish Wells team butt, 10-0. I got to talking to some of the mom's there. Complete with British accents of sorts. All the kids looked the same with blond hair and pug noses. As one travels the Bahamas their history is very interesting. Seems that white population is mostly British Loyalist from the American Revolutionary War. They came over to the Bahamas after the war to remain in British control. They settled in the Abacos and northern islands for the most part. Certain families occupied each island and outsiders are not welcomed. Certain last names are dominant on each island. After a few hundred years it is truly evident that all the folks there look alike. This was true throughout the Abacos as well. After the game I walked around the island some to get a feel for the community.
I went back to the boat to get ready to sail to Marsh Harbor. I had to leave at high tide that evening to make it through the northern cut.