Royal Harbor and Spanish Wells

We left Governor's Harbour on Thursday, March 19, with the intention of going to Spanish Wells. We did make most of the 42 mile sail, going through the narrow Current Cut. The water us always choppy here, as it funnels down to a narrow channel, plus there are the effects of outgoing tide against incoming wind, etc. It was no problem, but it certainly was choppy.

After we cleared the cut, only about 6 miles from our destination, we watched a large squall forming over where we wanted to go. A squall is basically a local downpour, with or without lightning. Always higher wind, in the direction it's moving. We watched it move on our radar and decided to skirt around it and go to Royal Harbor instead. Royal Harbor is a private island, formerly the location of a large mansion in the 1950's. Of course, it is in ruins now. The harbor offers nearly complete protection from winds in any direction, relatively rare in the Bahamas.

Construction was started a couple of years ago on a large resort, but was halted due to the economy. The trucks and some land clearing are all that are left now. But the island is still private, so you can't go ashore.

We left Friday morning, bright and early, for Spanish Wells, only 7 miles away. The name is said to have originated three centuries ago, when Spanish explorers declared local well water the sweetest in the Bahamas. Spanish Wells is the only all white settlement in the Bahamas, all either Loyalist descendants or descendants of the original Eleuterian Adventurers who sailed for religious freedom from England back in the mid 1600's. Their boats shipwrecked on these shores and they stayed. Until a couple of years ago, all blacks had to be off of the island by dark. There are a few black natives here now, but only a very few.

The island is relatively prosperous, due to fishing. The houses are (mostly) painted and well kept. The population is about 2500. Here are a couple of views of the town. Purple house...

Oldest house on the island, complete with year-round Christmas tree (check the far right corner of the yard carefully...)There are cars, but just as many golf carts. The roads are NARROW and there is often NO place to step aside for oncoming cars. This is old English --- they drive on the wrong side of the road... Here is an example of a cute house, trash cans painted pink to match the house, but look at the street - concrete on one side, shrubs on the other.

Even the cemetery is colorful, all graves decorated.

We crossed the island (only 2 streets wide) to the Atlantic side. It's shallow forever and then drops to 3000 ft and gets rougher.

The drop off where the depth changes is where the fishing is best. And we'll be going over that area when we finally leave here, probably on Thursday, the 26th. The winds are too high for sailboats, so everyone is staying put, where ever they are, until the winds subside. SO --- since we're going over that area, my search for a new reel has been intensified. I've looked for one at ever since the original one broke, and no place in 5 settlements has had reels for sale. There aren't any here, either, but the owner of the local marina had one that he says he used three times and didn't want any more. We bought it a reasonable price instead of a new price, so we are all happy. Check it out --- this boy is a little more beefy than the old one....

It is actually larger and heavier than I had planned on buying, but at least I could get one. We'll put it on the rod today and be ready for trolling for that big mahi as we cross over to the Abacos next week and again as we cross the Gulf stream.

Since we'll be here for a few more days, we'll probably have more on Spanish Wells later.