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Once the weather settled we were able to move straight down to Little Harbour and then make the 60 mile Atlantic passage down to Royal Island in Eleuthera. Not much sailing but very straightforward. As often happens the weather closed in again and we had to amuse ourselves for a few days before departing through Current Cut and on to Pineapple Cays. We put up our cruising spinnaker and hurtled along on a beam reach at up to 9 knots in up to 23 knots of wind. It meant the skipper hand steering but was a not-to-be-missed experience, curtailed only when the tack rope started to chafe through.
The coast of Eleuthera looks very interesting and we will try to visit when we return north in March. We were treated to an amazing sunset by Pineapple Cays and then an equally amazing sunrise by Tarpum Bay the following morning as we headed for Warderick Wells.
Cape Eleuthera Marina provided a handy place to refuel and fill the water tanks for those boats with no water-maker. The trip south west was mainly before a very light breeze but we had the foresails filling alongside the iron topsail for the last few miles.
We were lucky for all four boats to be placed in the north lagoon anchorage and we were all keenly looking forward to shore time. The following day we engaged in a four hour hike covering about eight miles of difficult terrain. The limestone is weathered and has huge holes where it has eroded over the millennia. It is quite difficult to look up and about you when at any moment you may disappear down a deep hole or the limestone crust may break over the top of a large void.
We were exhausted at the end of this hike but had also had great fun. The island is amazing and this time we saw our first hutia. These are rabbit sized rodents which look much like smaller versions of their south american cousins the capybara. Their tracks are everywhere on the beaches but they hide in the palmetto scrub by day.
On neighbouring Narrow Waters Cay we saw the tracks of a large iguana but did not see the animal himself. It would appear that the animals have arrived from more northern cays on their own and not brought by the park staff. Hopefully the colony will become self-sustaining.
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