Tag: Spanish Wells Yacht Haven marina

Old Bight, Cat Island

Carl and Yvonne Rolle are now fully open for business. Rollezz Villas Beach Resort is located right on the beach about one mile west of Joe Sound Creek. They have eight units for rent and a charming outside dining area serving drinks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There is no doubt their hospitality will make you want to spend more time anchored in Old Bight. Call ahead for reservations at (242) 557-0005. rollezz.com

North Cat Island
Bennett’s Harbour has several good places to anchor and lovely beaches. Odette and Derek manage Yardie’s, which is a short walk from the government dock. Yardie’s has gas and serves delicious meals and conch salad. Sammy T’s Beach Resort, a little further north, is open for more upscale food. Best to call ahead: (242) 354-6009.

Alligator Creek and the creek that runs in from Bennett’s Harbour are beautiful places to explore by dinghy or kayak. If you paddle up Bennett’s Harbour near the end of the flood tide you can go all the way through to Alligator Creek, then come out the entrance and back around on the west side. This large mangrove area is teeming with wildlife.

When the wind is east or northeast you can anchor off Arthur’s Town or Orange Creek. Arthur’s Town has a couple of good restaurants and is home to the Rake and Scrape Festival, the island’s signature yearly celebration of The Bahamas’ indigenous music on the first weekend of June. People come from all over to join in the festivities.

Margaret Cleare’s Orange Creek Food Store is a well-stocked island store with a laundromat attached. Be careful going into Orange Creek in your dinghy. The sandbar’s constant shifts can make it difficult to get in and out at low tide.

If the wind is east the anchorage in Port Royal is nothing short of spectacular. Three things are important here. The beach runs from the north end of the bay, around Orange Creek Point, all the way to the mouth of Orange Creek. The anchorage gives you access to Sand Point and the extreme north end of Cat Island, which can be romantic in settled weather and has some of the best beachcombing. Perhaps most important is Shannas Cove Resort run by Gabi and Frank Wolff. The restaurant that serves the finest food on the island faces the setting sun and is high enough up the hill to see all the way to Little San Salvador. Make reservations far ahead of time for Shannas Cove five guest villas as their occupancy is unusually high. (242) 354-4249; shannas-cove.com

Rock Sound
The anchorage at Rock Sound (among my favorite harbors) has excellent holding ground, where moving short distances around the harbor might be all that’s needed to ride out anything short of a hurricane.

The main facilities are still open for business. Dingle Motor Service is the best place to start because it is right near the dinghy dock. You can get fuel, drinking water, rental cars, laundry, Internet, some hardware supplies, and convenience-type food. It is also the best place for local knowledge and advice.

The BTC office (Bahamas Telecommunications Company) is just north of Dingle, and up the road there is a shopping center with hardware, supermarket, bank, and liquor store. This all makes Rock Sound a great place to rest and resupply.

A good day in Rock Sound begins with breakfast at Sammy’s Place, one of the few restaurants in The Bahamas that serves Bahamian breakfast daily. Choices may vary slightly, but stew fish, boiled fish, sheep’s tongue souse, chicken souse, corned beef, and grits, and other traditional dishes are on the menu. For less adventurous cruisers there are plenty of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and so on. Sammy’s also serves excellent lunch and supper.

Wild Orchids Water Front Restaurant (the old Four Points restaurant) is on the water just north of the mail boat dock. Tie your dinghy up to their dock if the wind is right and you are careful—the little basin is tight, rocky and shallow at low tide.

Spanish Wells Yacht Haven
Spanish Wells Yacht Haven & Marina is finally completely rebuilt. While people expect delays in The Bahamas, those at Yacht Haven resulted from the owners’ wish to upgrade their original plans. The new facilities, restaurant and accommodations easily compete with anything in Harbour Island, and the marina has far superior all-weather protection.

Navigation notes:
When going around to Port Royal from Orange Creek in Cat Island, take care and give the rocky bar off Orange Creek Point a wide berth. Or, approach Port Royal from the ocean to the north. Large yachts are beginning to visit and may stay several days.

By Stephen Connett, Southern Boating Magazine March 2016

Take care of sea grass and coral when you cruise and anchor in The Bahamas

The Bahamian government is currently drafting new regulations—that include severe penalties—to protect coral throughout the islands. All vessels, from yachts to cruise ships, will be liable for any damage they cause to sea grass beds when they anchor, run aground or discharge pollutants. Sea grass beds are more fragile than most people realize and are very important to benthic ecosystems. Turtle grass is the principal food for green turtles, and queen conch graze on algae that grow in the sea grass beds. Use moorings when available and anchor only in clear sand. Many national parks have moorings with more planned. The Elizabeth Harbour Conservation Partnership in Great Exuma is in the process of installing a number of snorkeling moorings in Elizabeth Harbour, and a few yacht owners have committed to installing large moorings in West Bay, Conception Island. elizabethharbourpartnership.org

Firearms

Cruisers in the Bahamas are allowed to retain firearms on board for their entire cruise, although Bahamas Customs insists that all firearms and ammunition be declared upon entry and listed on the vessel’s Cruising Permit. Failure to declare firearms is a serious breach of Bahamian law.

If cruisers plan to leave their boats unattended for more than a few days, it is a good idea to contact the local Customs or Police who can secure the firearms ashore in a locked government facility—a sensible precaution to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands. Cruisers can recover their firearms when they return.

Fuel in the Central Exumas

The increased number of boats and the closure of the fuel facilities in Samson Cay have made it difficult for the Staniel Cay Yacht Club to keep up with demand. This summer the club occasionally ran out of gas. As fuel shortages are not uncommon in the out-islands, it is prudent to stay topped off and call ahead to your next destination.

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Spanish Wells

Spanish Wells is becoming even more cruiser friendly. A new restaurant, The Shipyard, has one of the prime locations in The Bahamas—the very east end of Spanish Wells overlooking the water to Gun Point. The restaurant has a full-service bar and excellent food at fair prices. There is also a two-for-one drink special at Happy Hour. The restaurant is usually closed Monday and Tuesday.

Spanish Wells Yacht Haven marina is being completely rebuilt with a new restaurant and bar, and guesthouses scheduled to open in December. The marina remains open with good electrical power, water and Internet access at all slips. The docks are scheduled to be rebuilt in early 2015. Call Dockmaster Leroy Kelly on 16 VHF or (242) 333-4255.

These improvements make North Eleuthera even better as a cruising destination with a variety of places to visit, the peace and quiet of Royal Island, Meek’s Patch, and the anchorage off The Bluff, for example. Spanish Wells offers friendly citizens and full services and supplies, including mechanics, welders and R&B Boatyard (rbboatyard.com). Harbour Island is an easy run—a pilot is still very much advised—and is rightfully called the Nantucket of The Bahamas.

 

Conch

The queen conch (Strombus gigas) stocks in The Bahamas are in a dramatic decline. The Bahamas government, the Bahamas National Trust, commercial fishermen, and others are working hard to draft new regulations that will help rebuild the stocks throughout The Bahamas. Foreign cruisers are still allowed to take conch, but in respect of the conch’s decline cruisers might consider leaving the conch for the local fishermen and eating their conch at restaurants ashore. It’s a good way to support the local economy. (To learn more about this culturally important species, see Dee Carstarphen’s The Conch Book.)

Junkanoo

It’s not too late to consider celebrating Christmas and New Year’s in The Bahamas. Skip the usual presents and buy plane tickets for the family to join you. The beauty of The Bahamas, the friendship of the Bahamian people and the intimacy of your own boat will draw everyone in. Children from up north will be glad to know that Santa Claus puts pontoons on his sled when he heads for southern waters. 

By Stephen Connett Southern Boating November 2014
Stevie Connett has been sailing in The Bahamas for several decades. For the last ten years Stevie and Barbara Crouchley have been cruising throughout the islands aboard FOXY LADY tagging sea turtles and working with the Education Department of the Bahamas National Trust.

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