Royal Island and Spanish Wells

4-29-2013
We had a long but uneventful day to Royal Island. We thought the seas might be rough so we took Bonine the night before we left. Shay took half of one the next morning and I took another whole one.  

FFF heading to Royal Island

Our anchorage

The water was a little rough, but I would have probably been ok. But I was medicated, so I dozed most of the trip. We left around 7:30 and got there about 3:00 pm.

We are in a well protected cove called Royal Island Harbor. I certainly can’t see anything “royal” about where we are. It is probably the least scenic place we’ve been. The water is not clear. The area looks like it was supposed to have been built up but the money ran out. That happens a lot in the Bahamas. There are trucks and building equipment sitting around. Well, we are protected so that’s all that matters. We saw on the Bahamas Chatter a few days later that more investors have decided to help with the improvements to Royal Island. So maybe it will happen.

This is the area they are trying to develop.

The waves hitting on the entrance of the harbor.

A beautiful sunset.

I told Lauren that this is the least pretty island we’ve been to. She didn’t sound too sympathetic. She said, “Boo-hoo, an ugly island in the Bahamas, I feel so sorry for you.” Or something like that.

Shay talked to the guy that manages the island and he said there are several private residences that are rented out on the other side of the island. David said he saw some buildings, but they were well camouflaged and were difficult to see from the water. Guess that’s what they wanted. Shay said he could see that it was landscaped at the dock he went to. Well since its private that means we can’t get off the boat, so no exploring.  

See the construction equipment.

Escape and FFF are anchored on different ends of the harbor. The next morning FFF asked how our night was and we told them great. It is the calmest place we’ve been in days. Well, their night was not as peaceful as ours, so the next morning they moved to our side of the harbor. FFF called about moorings at Spanish Wells and the only one that we will fit on is taken at least until tomorrow. So we will move if the mooring is open and if not we will stay here. We told FFF if they want to go to a mooring, they can go and we will come when it’s open

FFF anchored in Royal Harbor.

We spent most of yesterday afternoon to evening with FFF on our boat looking at weather, talking about internet and phones, and talking about where to go and when to go. Shay said he probably didn’t spend 5 minutes a day thinking about the weather before we moved on the boat. Now he sometimes spends hours on the internet checking it out!

We all had dinner on our boat after all the looking and talking. We didn’t really make any decisions except to wait for the weather.

Everyone had a quiet night and a good rest last night. FFF moved to the mooring balls this morning. That’s good since they will be able to see when the guy on the big boat mooring leaves and let us know. They needed to get water and we offered to give them some, but they said they had enough to last until they moved. We will miss them, even though they are not far away. We are used to looking out our window and seeing them everywhere we go.

So early on May 1, 2013, FFF moved to take their mooring.  They stopped to fill up their diesel and water then checked out our mooring ball. The boat that was on it was just leaving, so they called us and told us to hurry over before someone else came in and picked up our reserved ball.

Heading to our mooring, we saw this freighter at the dock.

We had a dolphin welcome committee.

We got to the mooring and got settled in about 1:20 pm, with some help from Emma. When she saw us getting close, she jumped in her dinghy and helped us by running the lines thru the mooring. Shay told her she was going to spoil me. What will I do when I get back to Vero Beach and she’s not around?

FFF

Escape

As we were entering the channel, we noticed 3 differences from the other stops we’ve made. First there were lots of houses. We got our dinghy down and went for a walk around town. As I said, there were lots and lots of houses that were really big and well maintained. They were all painted pretty colors-- blue, coral, pink, mint green, yellow, turquoise, purple and they are all pretty. The yards were all landscaped with lots of bushes and flowers.

The second difference was there was lots of activity. There were cars, trucks, golf carts, and bikes everywhere! Now Georgetown had cars, Black Point had a few and there were even some golf carts at Staniel Cay, but it’s been a while since we were in those places. No where have we seen so much activity at one time!

One of many ships we have seen at the dock.

David said this is a working town. They have a busy waterfront. There is a lot of commercial fishing done here. At one time they supplied over half of the lobster, conch the fish that was shipped from the Bahamas. Now, most of the fishing is for lobster. The season is from October to April. When the season is over they work on the boats—sanding, painting, repairing and what ever else needs to be done. These boats are their means of making money, if they don’t take care of them, no money.

This boat had just had a paint job and was being put back into the water.

They had to move part of the road to get the boat in the water.

All the fishing boats are in good condition.

Shay talked to one of the fishermen and he told them that a big boat goes out with as many small boats as it has. There a people that get in the small boat, put on hula gear, and then dive for lobster. When they get their bag full, they bring it to the big boat, empty it and start all over. When they get the big boat full, they come in, unload it, and go back out. They may stay out for several days or even weeks, however long it takes. We saw big boats with 1, 2, 3, or even 4 small boats tied up beside them. I guess that man had lots of money.

This captain must have lots of money--he has 4 helper boats!

The waterfront is also busy unloading the large cargo ships that bring in supplies. Now, we were at Black Point when the supply ship came in, but that was nothing compared to this. They unload tractor trailers full of supplies from these ships. The ship that came in today had groceries, so tomorrow is the day for grocery shopping. This island has the biggest grocery store we’ve seen since we got to the Bahamas. Not a house that someone has put shelves in and calls a store. This is a big building with coolers and real freezers, not chest freezers you buy at Lowe's Hardware. Of course the prices at not like the states. I looked at a cheesecake variety pack that would cost $15.00 in the states. It was $22.00 here. Of course, we will not have cheesecake for dessert tonight or any other night.

The third difference we noticed was the number of white people. Most of the people we have seen on the islands have for the most part been black, except for visitors. We have been able to tell the cruisers and tourists from the islanders. But on Spanish Wells, the islanders are white. There are some blacks on the island, but we were told that they were mostly Haitians that come to the island to work, since the islanders won’t do the hard manual labor. Sounds like the states with Mexicans coming to work. 

But when the islanders talk, you can definitely tell they are from the islands. They have a different sound. They have been very kind and helpful. Several have given us rides in trucks or golf carts. When we’ve asked questions about where things were or about the island, they were very informative. Of course, Shay has spent lots of time talking to them. As always.

We had a long walk around the town to the grocery stores, to the restaurants, to the ice cream stands. Emma was very excited about ice cream and I admit it sounded good to me also. For some reason, they don’t open up until 7:30 at night. That’s too late for us since we'd have to walk back to the dock and get back to the boat.





We had asked several people for recommendations about where to eat and all of them told us the Anchor Snack Shack on the docks. So we decided to wait until they opened at 5:00 and eat there.

Now remember, we have been traveling for over 6 weeks since we left Marathon. We have eaten at a few places along the way but not for over 2 weeks, so we are ready. Shay had even told me on the way to Spanish Wells, he was going to treat me to a meal out.

We took a long time enjoying the air conditioning, looking at the menu and trying to decide what to order. Shay asked if they had sweet tea and if refills were free and they did and refills were free, so yeah! We had been out walking for a while and it was hot, humid and sticky. We were ready for lots of tea. And it was sooooo gooooood!  And sooooo coooold!

Shay and David got the grilled mahi-mahi, after asking if it was the whole fish or a fillet. We explained that the last time they ordered fish they got the whole fish with head, eyes, and teeth in Staniel Cay. She assured us it was a fillet.

It took Emma and me longer to decide. I ordered fried fish and fries and then changed my mind when I heard Emma order. She got grilled chicken fillet, salad, baked potato, and mixed veggies. I got the grilled chicken fillet, baked potato, salad and fried plantains. I had said I wasn’t going to get much since I knew I’d drink a lot of tea, but I decided what I didn’t eat, I’d bring back to the boat.

We all really enjoyed our meal and will definitely give this place a good recommendation. We took a dinghy ride down the channel to look for a better dingy dock then back to the boat to work on the blog and catch up on emails and phone calls.

All Ages School

Looking toward Eleuthera

The "fast" ferry from Nassau stops here 2 times a day.

Tropical Island

The next morning around 7:15 Emma, Shay, and I took another walk around the town. We picked up yogurt and bananas for breakfast and invited FFF but David had calls to make and Emma had laundry to do.

We went for another walk and to get more groceries later and of course it rained. Not much, just enough to get us damp. When we got back to the boat, Shay spent over an hour giving the boat a spit bath, using the little bit of rain we had. It looks lots better.

We can not complain about the weather since we have been traveling. We’ve had no real storms. We did finally get a good rain the next day. Now the decks, stainless handrails and teak don’t feel salty now.

We and FFF decided we’d have a treat and get ice cream. We got the ice cream at a store near the boat and went back to enjoy. We got a half gallon of Breyer’s Praline Carmel Crunch and it was fantastic! It cost $10.50 and was worth every penny. After we ate, we went back to town to walk our ice cream off and then ate at the Anchor Snack Shack again. Emma and David shared a spicy chicken sandwich, a hamburger, and a large order of chile cheese fries and tea. Shay and I had spicy chicken sandwich, chile cheese fries and a double bacon cheeseburger. That’s double the bacon, cheese, and burger! We were all stuffed again.

Emma looks happy!

David, I know we can get this ice cream out!

Finally! And we did enjoy it!

We have made plans with Sea Salt. They are leaving Nassau on Monday and coming here. We are moving back to Royal Island tomorrow to anchor. Sea Salt will join us there. We will have a cookout on our boat when they get here. We hope they will supply fresh fish, but if they don’t we have a back-up plan.

We talked to David about heading back to the US. We need to get started. I need to be back in Mount Airy in a month, so I can stay with daddy if he needs me. We think we will leave Royal Island and head threw the islands to stage for the US. David and Emma will probably head to the Abacos and then get back to the US in about five weeks. They have tickets to fly from Orlando to Canada, so they need to be back for that. Sea Salt will head south toward Staniel Cay to spend time with family that is flying in.

Beautiful sunrise

Visitor on the boat

View from the back of Escape. See the shallow water behind us.

Different shades of blue

Beautiful waterfront  of Spanish Wells. The houses are so pretty.

We will really miss FFF. We have been with them the whole trip and they have become treasured friends. Emma always has a smile to share and never seems to be in a bad mood. David is our “weather guru’ and has been invaluable on this trip.  We certainly hope we will keep in touch with them. They have planned an exciting 6 months. First Canada to visit family, then UK to visit more family, then Thailand to get in shape for Nepal, then Nepal to climb mountains (because they are there), then dog sledding  to the North Pole, and maybe France to ski. It makes me tired to write about it! They spend 6 months a year on the boat and then 6 months traveling to other places.

I probably won’t be able to post anymore until we get back to the states. The places we are traveling thru to get back won’t have internet. We will probably leave the Bahamas the middle of next week; do about a 36 hour crossing and to get back to the states.

We are not sure where we will go back to. It depends on me, the gulfstream, and the weather. If I don’t get sick and can help Shay, we can go farther. He can only go so far without someone to help him, he has to sleep. If the gulfstream is calm, we can go farther north. If the weather is good we can travel longer and go farther north.

If everything works out perfectly---we could go all the way to North Carolina, either Wrightsville to visit Lauren or Morehead City, our home port! Please wish us “safe travels”.

Big clouds

This had been an absolutely amazing adventure! I still can't believe we did it! We came to the Bahamas and saw and did so much. There are lots of places we didn't get to stop at and so many things we didn't get to do, but what we have done has been fantastic! We have made friends that I hope we will have forever, seen sights that were amazing, and done something that others only dream of! The Bahamas mon!