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This was unfortunately my last trip to the Bahamas on the Luna Sea.
Unfortunately, Rick had a conflict and could not make this trip, so it was just my friend Jerry (who owned ¼ of the "Luna Sea", a 33' Morgan Out Islander) and myself on this trip.
I flew into Fort Lauderdale, Florida and spent the night at Jerry's. I was in such a hurry to pack, that I did not realize that I had packed no underwear. First trip when I got to Florida was to buy a dozen pairs of under shorts. We did not need to buy any provisions since Jerry had already loaded up the boat with our food before it left Florida.
On most of these trips, the Luna Sea stays in the Bahamas for about 2 months. The four owners schedule the time they want on the boat and there are normally four crew changes while the Luna Sean is in the Bahamas. The first group takes the boat over to the Bahamas and the other crews charter a flight to deliver and pick up crews during the 2 months. On this trip, we were the last crew so we flew the chartered flight to Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas and would be bringing the Luna Sea back to Florida when we were through.
After landing at Governor's Harbour airport, we met with one of the other owner's, Mike, and he told us where he had left the boat. He had left the Luna Sea anchored in the bay at Governor's Harbour and the "dink" tied up to a pier near the road. After finding out the status of the Luna Sea, Mike's crew left on the chartered flight back to the States and we took a taxi to the dock where the dink was tied up.
After loading up the dink with our gear, we headed out to the Luna Sea. Mike had anchored with two anchors (a plow and a danfor) in a Bahamian Moor fashion. After unloading our gear, storing it on the Luna Sea, and checking the anchors, we took the dingy over to Governor's Harbour to look around. Governor's Harbour is a small town (as are most towns in the Bahamas) so it did not take us long to see most of the sights. The most notable place here is a Club Med which is on the Ocean side of the island but we did not take the time to walk to it.
We returned to the Luna Sea and organized our gear.
On the Luna Sea, most of the storage areas, under and behind the seats, were packed with food and drinks. Even if the storage areas were not already storing food items, they are not easy to get to and do not make a good place to put your clothing. There are not many drawers on the Luna Sea so we normally live out of our suit cases (soft sided bags) which normally live on the seats around the table. Although the Luna Sea has a refrigerator, we also have a cooler under the table which keeps the drinks we want to use for the day so we are not letting out cold air from the refrigerator. Techniques for sailing on a 33' boat.
After straightening up the cabin area and having dinner, we relaxed in the cockpit for a while and then went below to get some sleep.
During the night, we had numerous storms pass through the harbor. Unfortunately, each one came from a different direction. About 2:00 AM we heard the Anchor alarm go off (GPS setting) and we realized that we were dragging our anchors. Since the storms came from different directions, they had worked the Luna Sea around the anchors and dislodged both anchors. When the alarm went off, we were in the middle of another storm so visibility was poor. Although we could not see the shore, we could hear the waves breaking on the rocky beach which lines the harbor. While I started the diesel, Jerry went forward to untangle and retrieve the anchors. We motored out to the middle of the harbor and re-set the anchors. I do not think we got any more sleep that night.
The next morning, after breakfast, we pulled up the anchors and motor/sailed to Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera. Hatchet Bay is an excellent hurricane hole. The entrance is hard to see since it is a narrow channel between two hills. After going through the channel, the bay opens up. We had a hard time finding a good anchoring location. The anchorage was crowded and most of the good spots were taken. We tried a few places, but would drag the anchor when we backed down on it with the diesel. We finally found a good spot near Olive Island which held. Since this was early afternoon, we got things “ship shape” and just chilled for a while. About 5:00 PM we took the dingy into shore at the dingy dock. There were so many dinghies there that we had to tie up two deep. Apparently, there was a pot luck dinner being held by many of the cruisers. We talked for a while and then headed into AliceTown Settlement. There we stopped into a small bar and had an Island drink. Then after walking around town (didn't take long), we headed back to the boat.
The next day was drizzly and overcast so we just did a few chores on the boat and laid back. Although it was raining, there were many dinghies zipping around the anchorage. This got to be a bit much for us, so we decided to leave the next day.
The next day, we pulled up the anchor and left Hatchet Bay for Spanish Wells. To get to Spanish Wells, you have a choice of going around Current Island or going through “Current Cut”. We chose going through Current Cut. One mistake we made was when the cruising guides tell you to “hug” Current Island when approaching the “Cut”, we stayed to far from the Island. Therefore, we ran aground just before we reached the “Cut”. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of traffic here so we had no help in getting out of the shallows. We were lucky in that there was some wind, so we put up the main and got enough of a heel to get us off the shallows. We then went back, the way we came and came in closer to Current Island. This time we made it through the “Cut”. The current through the cut is strong, we were glad our diesel was working fine. After making it through the “Cut” it was a nice sail to Spanish Wells. We went around Charles Island to the east and took dock space at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. We needed “hot” showers and time to relax. We walked around Spanish Wells for a while (very well kept community) and then returned to the boat for some exploring with the dingy. After a fun day, we came back to the boat (for another hot shower at the Yacht Haven) and then had dinner. Since we wanted to go to Dunmore Town the next day, we arranged for a guide to lead us through the “Devil's Backbone”. Although we had GPS coordinates to get us through, we felt like it was more prudent to have a guide. We were glad we did, because even with the GPS coordinates, this is a tricky area.
The next morning, we splurged and had a nice breakfast at the Yacht Haven restaurant. Then we met our guide and proceeded to Dunmore Town. With the guide, it was a nice, relaxing trip through the Devil's Backbone. Once we got to Dunmore Town, we anchored out from Valentines Yacht Club & Inn Marina. Not that we are cheap, but we are frugal. After straightening up the boat, we dinghied into Valentines for a few cocktails. We meet a nice couple who were on their honeymoon aboard their boat and they treated us to a few drinks.
The next day we wanted to explore Dunmore Town, so we took the dinghy to the town dock and went on a walking tour. I bought a straw hat (Miami Vice style) with a black band. (Unfortunately, I lost it sometime on our way back to Miami.) We also went to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island and walked the beaches. I was very nice and we got to swim in the Ocean.
The next day, we had a mission. Since I am a Jimmy Buffet fan, I wanted to find the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” that was here. In my “Parrot head Handbook” they list the 10 best places for Cheeseburgers. One was at Ruby's on Harbour Island. We took a “golf cart” and headed to Ruby's. We had a beer and a burger and like Jimmy said “you can't beat the Bahamian Bread that it was served on.” We had a very enjoyable experience. We had our SOPs (Sunset Observance Parties) on the beach near “Girls Bank”. Although not as isolated as we would have liked, it was a nice way of ending the day.
Unfortunately, paradise has to end, so the next day, our guide picked us up and led us through the “Devil's Backbone” again. This time we were a bit more frugal and anchored out from Charles Island. We set the anchor so good that the next day, we had to dive on it to bring it up.
Finally, we had to head back so we pulled up our anchor and headed to Royal Island. We had been here before, so we knew how to approach the protected harbor. We anchored and went exploring. We meet a nice gentleman who was waiting for his girl friend to come and meet him from New York. There was also a large barracuda who liked to hang around the bottoms of the boats looking for scraps.
After a nice day and night at Royal Island, we headed across the Northwest Providence Channel to the Berry Islands. We had good weather and arrived at Little Harbour Cay late in the afternoon. Although the weather was good, this was a tricky anchorage for us. Since the Luna Sea draws 3'6” draft, this is a very shallow anchorage. We had to thread our way through the channel and then anchor to the west of Cabbage Cay. After anchoring, we were secure and wanted to go to Darville's but we were low on gasoline for the dinghy. Therefore, we just stayed at the anchorage and had our SOP on the beach. A catamaran was beached near us and we enjoyed their using the trampolines as shade in the hot sun. Nice way to travel in the Bahamas.
The next day, we headed for Chub Cay. The stepping off point across the Great Bahamas Bank. We spent a day here and then left for North Bimini, Bahamas. Chub Cay has a great beach for SOPs which we enjoyed.
After arriving at Bimini, we anchored and enjoyed a restful day there. We always enjoy going to the Compleat Angler for a few libations. Bimini is a fun place, either coming or going. After spending the day wondering around Bimini and having a good breakfast, we knew we had to head home, back to Florida.
The next morning we left Bimini and headed towards Miami, Florida. We had good weather most of the way, but it got a little dicey when we arrived at Government Cut, Miami, Florida. When we arrived, we had large following seas and our dinghy was trying to beat us to the U.S. Coming into the channel was a struggle but once past the breakwater, it calmed down a lot. We passed all of the leaving cruise ships and stopped to check in at customs. After making our call, we topped off our tanks and then proceeded to Lower Matecumbe Key. Unfortunately, we could not make it in a day, so we anchored just above “Featherbed Banks”. Although we anchored a ways from the channel, we did get “buzzed” by a sailboat out for a late evening sail.
The next morning we headed up Biscayne Bay into Card Sound. When we passed Pumpkin Key, we hit a thunderstorm. We could not see more that three feet in front of us, so we just tried to hold our position until the storm passed. After the storm passed and we could see again, we headed up Card Sound to Barnes Sound to Jewfish Creek. Since we had to wait for the Bridge to open, we dropped the sails and motored the rest of the way.
We finally arrived at Lower Matecumbe Key late that evening and headed back to Fort Lauderdale after we got the Luna Sea ship shape. A very enjoyable trip but sad since it was my last one.