Day 280
April 16,
2016
NM Today: 51
NM Total: 4315
For the most
part I enjoyed the Exumas but after so many days and nights of “roughing it”, I
was excited to be heading to the Eleutheras and a marina in Spanish Wells.
Spanish Wells is on St. George’s Cay and was named by an explorer who found
fresh water there. The Eleutheras Adventurers left England and moved there in
search of religious freedom.
Since Clark
was up for his Chris Parker report, he managed to capture one last Exumas
sunrise.
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| Sunrise at Allen’s Cay in the Exumas |
We left
Allen’s Cay in the Exumas at 7:30 and arrived at Spanish Wells seven hours
later. Most of the time I entertained myself or provided food and drinks, but
as we crossed Middle Bank, Clark put me on rock alert duty. Using the weather
reports he had available to him, Clark timed our passage through this area to
the best of his ability to coincide with when he thought the sun would be out.
He succeeded quite nicely!
The rocks
only appear as darkened shadows in the water causing the water to have a maroon
tint in those places where the rocks lurk below the surface. Clark showed me
the chart with the markings for known rocks. Our route took us through the middle
of them with no way around them. I felt like we were traversing a mine field
and started replaying scenes from various war movies I have seen in my past
where a ship had to navigate a mine field during WWII.
We survived
the “mine field” with no battle scars. As we crossed this area we saw water
depths as low as 6 feet. At some point well after we exited this area Clark
mentioned to me that his depth finder no longer showed the depth as the chart
indicated we were in over 2000 feet of water! Talk about extremes!!
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| First View of Spanish Wells in the Eleutheras |
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| First View of Spanish Wells Yacht Haven |
When Clark
handed me the power cord so we could plug in for electric he said, “Hey, what’s
this? I hardly remember what it is used for!” After getting the boat settled we
had some discussion about what we should do first. Clark decided that taking a
shower had top priority over anything else. Since neither of us have seen a
shower in two weeks, it seemed reasonable to head their first.
The marina
has two showers for guests – Clark took one, I took the other. I don’t think we
were in the showers that long, but a woman came and pounded on the door and
said that a line had formed of three people waiting for their turns. I wondered
if their last shower was also two weeks ago!
When I
exited the shower to head back to the boat, it started to rain. By the time I got to the boat it was
seriously raining, so I got my second shower in two weeks immediately following
my first! We tried to set up our RainSnare to collect the rain. In doing so we
both got wet, but Clark got soaked. We managed to add some small amount of
water to our water tank, but with the deluge we sustained I had hoped for much
more than we appear to have collected. The report is for more rain tomorrow, so
we can try again. Water from the marina costs $.50 per gallon, so if we can
collect it from the sky for free, that is preferable.
The rain
stopped just after 5:00 and the sun came out, so we decided to walk into town
for dinner. I had hoped to go shopping at some of the stores, but with it being
so late now, I was afraid they had all closed. At 5:45 we found a food market
still open that closed at 6:00. They did not have anything I wished to purchase
today, but they had a good supply for a trip back on Monday before we leave for
the Abacos.
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| Road to the Food Store along the Water’s Edge |
I wanted to
buy some art supplies, and the woman working the food mart was kind enough to
direct me to The Islander shop. Since they also closed at 6:00, the woman from
the food mart called them to ask if they sold what I wanted and told them to
wait for me to get there. They did and I was able to purchase my item and be
leaving their store at 5:58! I was very happy!
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| The Islander Shop (note no sidewalks and lots of puddles to dodge) |
Earlier, while
I scouted out the store, the woman at the food store had given Clark some tips
on where to find dinner. With my purchase in hand, we went in search of one of
the places she had recommended for dinner. We ended up at The Anchor Snack Bar.
Contrary to what the name suggests, this place operates as a full-service
restaurant. I had a steak dinner and Clark chose fish. We finished the
delicious meal with a shared apple pie a la mode that was truly yummy!
Just as the
waitress took our order for dessert, the skies opened up and it poured yet
again. I leaned over and whispered to Clark, “Take time eating your dessert so
the rain has a chance to stop before we have to leave.” For a “snack bar” we
were surprised to find almost every table in the place with a reserved sign on it. In fact I think we
were lucky to get a table. At 7:00 the place filled up as people filed into the
restaurant one after the other.
Our timing
worked out well. By the time we finished dessert and paid the bill, the rains
had stopped. Clark had his raincoat with him, but all I had was my rain hat and
an extra shirt. Had the rain not stopped I would have been soaked to the skin.
Timing is everything! We had walked several blocks to find the restaurant, so
of course we had to walk several blocks back to the boat.
The problem
with Spanish Wells is that it is not designed for pedestrians. Almost no
sidewalks can be found on any street. Because of the recent heavy rain giant
puddles made walking on the side of the road impossible in many areas, so we
had to walk in the street – sometimes in the middle of the street. I have to
keep reminding myself which way to look for traffic since they drive here as in
England. Truly it is a recipe for disaster!
The most
popular vehicle here appears to be golf carts. They are licensed to drive on
the roads. We saw many zipping back and forth on the streets. Many are labeled
by their owners to differentiate them from others. I saw one with big print
saying “Crazy Frank’s” and another supporting the NY Yankees. On our long walk
back to the boat, we passed by Crazy Frank’s house (he had a sign there too)
and I recognized his golf cart parked in the driveway.
Many people
who work in Spanish Wells, at least based on those I have encountered thus far,
have a British accent. The houses are more refined and the town / city larger
and busier than anything we saw in the Exumas. I feel like I have returned to
civilization, and boy did I miss it!
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