North to Eleuthra

The trip north up the Exumas was perfect. We have chosen our weather windows well this time around--waiting for the best possible conditions to venture out into potentially dangerous waters and it has really paid off for us. The journey was made in record time and 10 hours/58 miles later, we dropped the hook into the sheltered cove at Sampsons Cay--one of our favourite places to be. On our way into our anchorage we passed one of the largest yachts I had ever seen, anchored discreetly about a mile out from the Cay. It was surrounded by three smaller speedboats--supposedly guarding the privacy of the bigger vessel and we wondered who could possibly be aboard. Later that evening as we were enjoying after dinner coffee in the cockpit, one of the speedboats left its “mother ship” with 3 passengers and crew. As it sped by our boat on its way into the marina I got a good look at who was aboard--a large black man, small slender woman with shoulder length white blond hair and small brown child with dark curls--and I could’ve sworn I was looking at Tiger Woods and his family! I shouted to Vince to turn around and confirm what I was seeing but he did so too late. They had already passed, with the man ducking his head as they approached the deserted landing. So, who knows?

We were surprised to find “Oconee” and “Cats Paw” still at Sampsons after leaving them here more than 6 weeks ago! I guess this is one of their favourite places too. We had lunch with them at the restaurant the next day and also made contact with “Ultra” and “Seas the Day” who were anchored only a few miles away at Staniel Cay. We stayed at Sampsons for 2 days while waiting for a weather window to cross the wide stretch of deep ocean which separates the Exumas from the island of Eleuthera. During this time we did our laundry, boat maintenance, showered and visited friends. We had planned to move further up the Exuma chain before making our ocean crossing but the weather suddenly changed before we had a chance to do so and we found ourselves having to make a quick decision to go--NOW! It was 7:00am, the dinghy and motor still had to be manually hauled from the water and stowed away, and the first safe harbour in Eleuthera was almost 60 miles away. It would be a close call whether we’d be able to get there before dark. But the winds were right, the seas almost flat and we decided it was worth a try. For the next hour we hustled about the boat stowing everything away, getting out life jackets, and securing both dinghy and motor aboard. And then we were off. We knew that if we couldn’t make the necessary speed to do the crossing in time that we could always turn back. But conditions were perfect, the wind was a close reach and, once out, we found we could make between 6-7 knots--enough to ensure a daylight passage.

We saw no other boats out on the water during our crossing but when we turned the final corner into the comfortable Rock Sound harbour in Eleuthera, we saw a dozen boats already there and swinging at anchor. Shortly after settling in, Sherri and Lee from “Alesto” dinghied over to welcome us into the anchorage. We were too tired to go ashore with them--content simply to prepare a nourishing meal and spend a quiet evening aboard planning things to do on this new island over the coming weeks.