Bahamas Journey Update - 4/18/24
We had an absolutely awesome day with Grandma Kerry and the Jones family (Tyler Jane, Tanner, Bode (age 4), and Hadley (almost 2)).
Thursday 4/11 - Arrival Day, Governor’s Harbor
After spending the morning finishing up some provisioning and getting the boat ready, Steve headed ashore to the Majestic No 9 Barber Shop for a (much-needed) haircut. He may have gotten a little more than a trim, but it will last for a while. After a small delay in Nassau, the crew arrived at GHB on Eleuthera around 3:30pm and were met by Stanton, the taxi driver. Stanton was a character and gave everyone some background on the island in the short 20-minute drive from the airport to Governor’s Harbor. Everyone got settled in on the boat, and we went ashore for dinner at the Buccaneer Club in Governor’s Harbor. The kids were total troopers after such a long travel day and held it together through dinner (plus there was plenty to explore at the outdoor restaurant along with some live music). After dinner, it was straight back to the boat, and everyone went to bed early.
Friday 4/12 - North Along Eleuthera to Hatchet Bay
We got up on Friday morning and decided to move up to CocoDiMama Beach early before breakfast. CocoDiMama is just a short way away from Governor’s Harbor and is located in Alabaster Bay (on the west side of Eleuthera). When we arrived, we had pancakes and then spent several hours on the beach which was perfect for the kids (shallow, calm, tons of shells). In addition to shelling, sand castle building and playing in the water, Bode and Grandpa Steve were able to find some pirate treasure which was a big hit. After a morning at the beach, we had lunch on board and headed north. Our goal was Rainbow Beach, but on the way, we passed through a squall. When we got to Rainbow Bay, the swell wasn’t great, and we weren’t comfortable spending the night there, so we moved on to the super-protected Hatchet Bay. It took a few tries to find good holding in the bay, but we ultimately found a spot where the anchor dug in, and had a calm (albeit buggy) evening. Tyler, Tanner and the kids spent time on the paddleboards and we had a nice dinner on board.
Saturday 4/13 - Meeks Patch South
On Saturday, we sailed from Eleuthera, through Current Cut, and over to the Meeks Patch South anchorage. It was a longer (4-5 hour) journey and the kids did great. We had a nice sail and uneventful transit through the cut and then we enjoyed some beach time on Meeks. After a nice dinner and putting the kids to bed, we spent some time playing a dice game and had a fun evening with the adults.
Sunday 4/14 - Egg Island Day 1
On Sunday morning, after breakfast we took the dinghy a little north on Meeks to see the pigs. The kids really enjoyed it and the local entrepreneur who is running the spot does a nice job (the baby pigs were particularly cute). After the pigs, we moved over to one of our favorite spots in the area, Egg Island. We enjoyed a great beach afternoon on Sunday and had a nice evening as well.
Monday 4/15 - Egg Island Day 2
We had a full day of adventure on Monday. We loaded up in the dinghy and started out by visiting the swings that are located on a sandbar near Royal Island. You can only reach them by boat, so they’re not super crowded. There are tons of rays there and you can walk forever on the sand in what feels like the middle of the ocean. After the swings, we spent some time checking out a sunken tractor that fell off a barge and is now underwater between Egg and Royal Island (there’s some cool Go Pro footage on our google album). Our final morning activity involved a hike up a mangrove river. After that we went back to the boat for lunch and rest time and then spent the afternoon back on the beach at Egg Island.
Tuesday 4/16 - Sandbar, Russell, Meeks South
We left Egg Island after breakfast and motored over to the Sandbar restaurant on Russell Island. We anchored and took the dinghy in, and had a nice lunch. After that, we moved closer to the Spanish Wells harbor entrance and anchored off Russell Island while Kerry, Bode, Tanner, and Steve went into town (we needed diapers and a few things from the store). Before dinner, we moved back to Meeks South for the night, where we had a nice dinner and some evening beach time.
Wednesday 4/17 - Spanish Wells Yacht Haven
On Wednesday morning, Tyler, Tanner and Steve did a bit of snorkeling by Meeks Patch and then we headed over to get settled into Yacht Haven Marina. While we generally prefer to be at anchor, we definitely enjoyed being in a marina. We picked up a golf cart and spent the day exploring the island. We had lunch at Budda’s Snack Shack and then spent some time on the sandbars and beaches of Spanish Wells. After that, Steve and I hung out with the kids at the marina while Kerry, Tyler and Tanner took the golf cart to explore more of the island. We had our last dinner with the whole crew at Wreckers, the restaurant at Yacht Haven and then after dinner, Kerry and Tyler packed up while Steve, Tanner, Jen and the kids did some evening golf cart exploring and got some ice cream at Papa Scoops.
Thursday 4/18 - Departure Day
At 5:30AM, we loaded everyone (and all the bags) back onto the 6-person golf cart and drove the crew down to Pinders where they took a water taxi over to Eleuthera. From there, they took a taxi to North Eleuthera Airport for their flight to Nassau. After a long layover in Nassau, they made their way back to Denver via Miami (unfortunately had some delays in Miami, so a long day ended up even longer).
It was an absolutely amazing week with the whole crew - it was good to spend time with Tyler, Tanner, Kerry, and the grandkids. Everyone did well on the boat and were so fun to have on board.
Photos
If you’re interested in seeing photos from the last week, that album is linked below
Bahamas Week 11/12 - Jones Family & Kerry Visit
We’ve also started an album for this next week which will include time in Harbour Island before making our way up to the Abacos to meet Shay & Randy on 4/25
