Spanish Wells to Little Harbour, Abacos

July 1, 2010

O.K., I have been a little behind in keeping the blog current, time to catch up (we've had some family down - that's my only excuse). 

We pull away from the Spanish Wells Yacht Haven and head down the harbour to a fuel dock (the Yacht Haven has not had fuel since Hurricane Andrew).  We have a long passage to Little Harbour (about 60NM) and it is no place to run out (way out in the Atlantic).  The diesel here is $4.44 peer gallon, the highest price I've seen so far, and we take on 160 gallons.

As we pull out of the harbour and turn northwest towards Little Egg Island, we notice a thunder head building over Royal Island.  We skirt the edge of it and begin to see and hear lightning.  Watching the radar to see which way it's moving we realize it's basically going the same direction that we are.

We manage to get in front of it and stay about one mile ahead of it for the next 30 miles or so, turning slightly more to the east to avoid another big thunder head to our left.  While this new one has no lightning, we continue to hear the big booms from behind, the wind picks up and the waves are 4-5 foot swells.  We are in an area that few boats cross, although we are glad to see a freighter heading north about 5 miles away.

Since we are not heading into the waves we are able to maintain a 20 knot cruise speed.  We follow on the charts the distance to Little Harbour - 40 miles, then 30, 20, 10.  Finally we are glad to see land appear on the port side and the point comes into view.  Much relieved we storm through the inlet and take a left turn towards Little Harbour, home of Pete's Pub.

It is a welcome sight indeed and a place we have enjoyed over the years with many friends.