Our approach to Spanish Wells on St. George's Cay took us through Devil's Backbone. Ben mentioned that there was going to be a bunch of coral as we got closer to the islands and that it could be visible from the bow, through the crystal-clear water. He sent me off to see if I could see any and warn him if we were getting too close to it.
Little did I know how dangerous this spot had been for other boaters, especially those going through it for the first time. Snaking through to the east side of the island, a wrecked ship was visible from where we were. It was tipped to one side and looked like it had been there a while, with water covering 2/3 of it. Still, I trusted Ben and knew he wouldn't do anything TOO risky. We followed a bigger boat in, and Ben said if they could fit, we'd be fine too. He sounded confident enough that I didn't have to worry! I was wondering why they'd give it such a violent name if it wasn't such a big deal. It was only after passing through this channel, not once or twice, but three times that I remembered that Ben is good at covering up things so I don't get too anxious in the moment. Thanks, Babe! (Side note: Even after getting home and reading the above article, I still can't believe we navigated through without a pilot so uneventfully numerous times! Apparently, it is a very dangerous and well-known part of the Bahamas to cruisers.)
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| We cruised through the channel and wound up going through the cute little town of Spanish Wells. There were a ton of boats and friendly people working on them and waving to us along the south side of the island off a road, aptly named South Street. |
Just south of Spanish Wells was our next stop. We dropped the anchor and got ready for a secluded beach adventure on Royal Island. Ben wanted to be sure the anchor was secure before disembarking, so he jumped in the water to take a closer look. While he was headed toward the anchor, he saw a giant stingray right next to our boat! The kids were excited to watch it, but that scared them from swimming ashore, even several minutes after it swam off.
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| Stingray! |
Bear and Moose finally were coaxed into the water with Ben and they snorkeled to the beach. This was the first time the beach was close enough to swim to and not worth the work of taking the tender off the davit. Roo and I finished getting beach toys together and took the SUP to the island. It was a good thing the others went before us because the SUP was getting pushed by the current faster than I could manage steering on board with bags full of toys and a little (almost) swimmer. Ben had to pull us up to the shore so we didn't drift away.
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| Moose taking the lead, with Ben and Bear following him to the beach. |
There was no one on the island. We got to swim, snorkel, play in the sand, and enjoy the ocean life for a while. The tide was coming in, so we had to keep moving our belongings further inland on the beach, not too far because this island was really narrow and we could climb up just less than 150 feet and be on the beach on the west side of the island!
In true Carter-fashion, we decided to explore the island a little bit, on shore. There was evidence of other people who left behind their trash that was found by island inhabitants that we guessed were pigs- based on other boaters' reviews of the anchorage. Sadly, we didn't run into any pigs while we were there. Our journey back involved a little rock climbing into the water (we're all super grateful for our $14 water/boat shoes that protected our feet from sharp rocks) and then a walk (swim) through shallow water back to where we left our belongings.
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