April – May 2026

“Part 2” of our time in the Bahamas took us from the Exumas in early April through Eluethra and on up to the Abacos by early May where we will launch back to the US. So this is the last of our Season 3 “cruising” time. Overall the weather has been quite windy (20+ knots) and cool – which has made for less beach lounging and more hiking and exploring. Still amazing and beautiful.

Our great friends and Bradlee’s End next door neighbors, the Lewis family (Carol, Rick, Cristin and her husband Nate, Trent and his girlfriend Annagayle) met us in the Exumas at Staniel Cay and we spent a couple of days pinned in by the winds, but we still had fun visiting the swimming pigs and the nurse sharks at Big Major and starting what turned out to be an epic game of mexican train dominoes.

We had planned to sail east to the southern tip of Eluethra to explore some new harbors, but once again the winds had other plans. Instead we stayed on the western side of the Exuma chain sailing up to the Warderick Wells National Park where we had am surprisingly good snorkel (lots of fish and coral) at Emerald Rock. Cristin and Annagayle (who had never snorkled before) loved it so much we had a hard getting them to come out of the water! We made a quick stop at Highborn Cay before launching across to the northern part of Eluethra.

The crossing took a full day and we had to be diligent watching for the coral heads in an area called the “Middle Ground”. Nate spent the whole day with us in the helm station keeping a look out for the “bombies”. The Lewis gang only had one day in Spanish Wells before they had to fly back home – but at at least we made it to Wreckers for lunch.

We aboslutely love Spanish Wells. Not only will the locals help you coordinate trips to the airport (water taxis and van rides), if you need anything they’ll help you find it. To refill our propane tank we were told to go to Richard’s house (“coming from the waterfront side count the house from the side street, its the 8th one on the left”) and go after 5 pm (that’s when he gets home from work). Lo and behold there he was in his side yard with his old black dog named Sparit (prounounced “spare-it” the Bahamian way of saying spirit).

When we stopped into the local machine shop on a Sunday (most shops are closed on Sundays) we found a mechanic who was working and after chatting a bit, he found and gave us the spark plugs we needed. He said to just come back the next day to pay since the office staff was off. Helpful, trusting, and kind.

While BIlly’s sister Pam has helped us sail to the Bahamas she had yet to spend any time there, so it was fun to have her come and spend a week with us. Billy’s sister, Beth and her husband Steve were supposed to join us as well, but they have bought a cool new condo in Vero Beach FL and were busy with the closing, settling in and decorating their new digs.

We decided to head over to Harbour Island to the east which requires a trip through the Devils Backbone, a reef which is as dicey as its sounds. We hired a local pilot, Capt Neil Curry, to guide us through and arranged to have him meet us just after Pam was due to arrive on the water taxi. We raced out to Carried Away and pulled the anchor. In what has happened way too often, just as we pulled the anchor we realized our very good friends Dawn and Stephen Bell on SV Pilar had dropped their anchor right next to us! Neil was calling us to come along so we had no time to stop. All we could do was wave as we flew by them! Argh

Captain Neil pulled up to our stern in his center console and swiftly jumped on board, tied his boat off and headed right to the helm station to take over. Honestly, it was pretty nerve wracking as it was a bit rough heading into a steady NE wind, but Neil knows every nook and crany (and importantly turn) through the reef. While it took just over an hour to get through, Billy enjoyed hearing Neil’s stories of growing up on Eluethra. We arrived safely to Man Island where Neil jumped off and headed back to bring another boat through.

Harbour Island turned out to be a great stop. We took a slip at Valentines Marina since the weather was going to get a bit rough. It’s a high end spot with mega yachts and big time fishing boats. We were highly entertained by all the “below decks” activity. We cruised around in a rental golf cart which is the primary vehincle in many of the Eluethra settlements. We headed back through the Devil’s Backbone to Spanish Wells where Pam jumped off to head back to Key West.

For our final leg in the Bahamas, we sailed up to the Abacos to meet the Hoyt clan (Karl, Nea, Josie, Josie’s boyfriend Cam, Harry and his girlfriend Katie). We met in Marsh harbor where we were able to start our week with a snorkle at Mermaid Reef where we saw lots of fish and a huge lobster! With yet another heavy wind forecast, we headed for the protection of Hopetown harbor on Elbow Cay. An added bonus was that Karl’s sister Phoebe and her husband Bob were on vacation nearby and we met them for lunch at one of our favorite beach bars: “On Da Beach”. We rented a couple of golf carts to explore all the way down to Tahiti Beach on the southernmost point of Elbow Cay. We sailed over to Great Guana for the requisite visits to Nippers and Grabbers for the Goombay Smashes. Karl actually saw the green flash!

We were determined to find another good snorkle spot so we headed south to the national park at Iron Cay – and while we saw a few rays and turtles darting around, overall it was disappointing. On our way back to the boat the winds picked up and we got totally swamped in the dingy. While we made it back safely, a lesson learned: 8 people is too many for the dingy in heavy seas!

We did manage to fit in a Mudslide afternoon – too cool for floating in the Sunchill but never too cool for Billy’s now famous concoction! Before we knew it, we were back to Marsh harbor having our final dinner at the Jib Room with Cathy & Todd Barr joining as well.

And that’s it for “cruising” in season 3. Scott and Karl arrive next to help us with the passage back home. I will write a final installment once we reach home – hopefyully it will be a short and uneventful report!

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