2015 - 7/21 - 7/22 - Eleuthera - Current Cut to Hatchet Bay

7/21 - Anchor up about 10. Today we would pass through Current Cut and then anchor in Hatchet Bay, about a 4 hour trip. 
First, a note about Current Cut taken from Bahamas Cruising Guide: "Current Cut is your Panama Canal to take you directly (or as directly as you can go) from Spanish Wells to Hatchet Bay. Current Cut looks rather like a canal when you first see it, broader than you thought it might be, & has dark blue water, which is always reassuring. It carries a tidal flow well-known in diving circles as giving you the greatest drift dive ever. (we had 30-40 foot depths going through) As a diver you're rocketed totally out of control through the Cut at 6 knots or more... 
In a boat, up on the surface you may have to contend with the full force of the tidal current & wind, & if you've not got the power to punch through it, you may regret taking the Current Cut..."  
We had the power to punch through but all of us had white knuckles. It was hard for Laurel & I to focus as look-outs for coral & rocks because we were trying to take in the beauty of the many changes in the colors of the water - it was breathtaking. I was a bit scared & never thought about taking pictures.

I took this picture of a picture in the Cruising Guide book - sorry, it's grainy.

From Current Cut it's a straight course of 105 degrees held for 16 NM to Hatchet Bay. It was an uncomfortable crossing as we had swells on our starboard beam & the water was too shallow to deploy the flopper-stoppers. 
We knew we were getting close but could not eye-ball the opening.  From the Guide Book: "The entrance to Hatchet Bay, kept well concealed from you by the cliffs, looks forbidding at first sight, (we can attest to that fact!) far too narrow, but has good width (90 feet) & good depth (10 feet)...the Harbor was man-made (1929), formed by cutting through the limestone cliff to form an entrance into a hitherto landlocked pond, thus giving the developing Hatchet Bay cattle-raising project a harbor it could use." 
The wind & current were opposing - the water was confused & rough and full of swirling currents. Wayne had to use full power as there were scary rock jetties on either side of the opening. (another white knuckle event) 

Entrance to Hatchet Bay

We circled the bay to get a lay of the 'land' & decided to anchor in the NW quadrant in a patch of sand.

Most of Eleuthera, especially Current & Hatchet Bay took a direct hit from Hurricane Andrew...you can still see the devastation everywhere.

Used & left for dead

 

Remnants of Hurricane Andrew

We fed the pups & went to search for food. We tied up to, what we thought, was the government dock but didn't look like a very functional dock to us.

Two restaurants here that we knew of - one high above the harbor called (I think) the Back Porch & one a bit in-land called Twin Brothers - both closed. So we got back in  the dinghy and re-positioned a few hundred feet to a rather new looking, partially covered dock. We were in Alice Town area now. 
A family was relaxing in the shade &amp fishing ; we asked if there was another place to eat close by. A very nice young man started to explain the directions then decided it was easier to take us there. We walked along the harbor then turned left up a hill - he pointed to where the Sea Side Takeaway restaurant & Towne Liquor store was - a small blue & white building on the right down the hill.

A few guys were hanging outside side & told us the restaurant wouldn't open until 6pm so we got a few Kalik beers from the liquor store,went to the water's edge, sat in the shade, enjoyed the view & waited.

Difficult to explain this little place.

Extremely basic (an understatement) but the food is cooked fresh to order. Funny how we've gone from extravagant places like Coral Sands & Valentines to this...but we like places like this & feel comfortable. I ordered cracked conch as usual & I think Laurel & Wayne ordered fish.

The food is served in take out containers with plastic utensils. We had to get our drinks from the liquor store which is attached to the 'restaurant'. The food was very, very good. We adjourned to the liquor store where we tasted dollar shots of mostly Coconut Rum made by Ricardo & Fire in De Hole rum ...yum, yum, yum!

Wayne, Navar & Johnnie

We had a good time with the very friendly locals. 

Little Matson

Johnny, Razzy, Navar, Tyson

Mitch, the cook extraordinaire (aka Judy) joined us which rounded out the crew.

We returned to the dock happy to see the dinghy was still there
 Next day  7/22  Goal for today - visit the Hatchet Bay Cave - a mile long cave system filled with hundreds of bats, stalactites & stalagmites. Hundreds of bats?! really?  So, Wayne, this is where you want us to go?  

Wayne visited the cave 20 years ago but I think he rented a car so he had no memory how far it was from town. We asked the locals & were told...Oh, it's about a mile...it's maybe a mile & a half...we got different distances from everyone we asked. OK, 1.5 miles...we can do that. It was hot, the sun was unrelenting as we started on this journey. I know we walked at least 1.5 miles maybe 2 - no sight of the cave. By now, we were very hot & tired & talked about turning back when we heard a car heading in our direction. I put my thumb out then folded my hands as if praying. It was a commercial pick-up truck - they stopped. The vision of me trying to get into the bed of the truck was something to behold so even if I had a picture I wouldn't post it. We drove for what seemed to be many miles. We looked at each other thinking the same thing...what the hell were we thinking & how will get back??
The pictures should tell most of the story of this cave.

You can see how it was decimated by graffiti & lots of rubble. Not a pretty site...shame.

Laurel said she thought she saw one bat flying around but we didn't see 'hundreds'. Even the path from the road leading to the opening was overgrown & not cared for.We were lucky to find the opening.

 

Laurel helped me with almost every step I took.

I wasn't going to get any closer to the opening to get a better picture

Wayne descended down a ladder into another part of the cave which he said was really cool, however, he didn't take the camera with him. He said there was a red yarn that he followed & when it ran out he decided to return.

from the Guide Book: "We were in silo country, grass land run wild, & scrub vegetation. These silos were built by British Plantation owners before the Bahamas became independent and the land has reverted to it's natural state since the Brits left.  It doesn't seem Bahama-like at all, but Eleuthera is in many ways typical of the Bahama Islands...You might wonder at the lack of any development taking advantage of Hatchet Bay, which is arguably the only good 'natural' harbor in Eleuthera. The reason seems to lie in that when the cattle-raising scheme failed in the 1970's, the land passed into the hands of the Bahamian Department of Agriculture. Wheels can turn slowly in governments ...agriculture is rarely a torch bearer in promoting concrete development schemes...Hatchet Bay has remained locked in a time warp."
We had no choice but to start walking back in hopes that another kind soul would pick us up. Many cars passed us but kept going despite my folded hands in prayer. We were exhausted & very hot. I must have looked really desperate to a young couple who finally stopped. They actually passed us then stopped. I could imagine them saying, "well they look like nice people-doubt they would harm us". We squeezed into the back seat ever so grateful for the lift & the A/C. 

We were not cooking after that adventure... We had a choice between Twin Brothers & the Back Porch?? There was someone at the Back Porch who said the cook wasn't even there yet - it was almost 6. We stopped to talk to a guy working on his car under the shade of a big tree. He said he's never eaten at the 'porch' but suggested Twin Brothers.
This is the sign for Twin Brothers that greats you when you tie up to the seawall.

We learned later that these events happened a very long time ago. In addition to a bar & restaurant,

Twin Brothers has a few, nice looking rental units & a small shop for tourists. 

Such a ham

The property seems very well maintained - fresh paint etc. Our first issue happened when we ordered their 'famous' daiquiris. They were frozen & we could hear the machine grinding away (obviously on its last leg), all over the property. Laurel & Wayne ordered a medium size. I got a 'taste' in a small cup as I don't care for frozen drinks. We 'assumed' there was rum mixed into the brew - after all, that's what it's supposed to be - not so!   So Laurel & Wayne ordered a shot of rum each, which was certainly not enough to make any difference in that size cup. I got wine - can't screw that up. We sat outside & Laurel ordered Conch fritters - she got fritters everywhere we went - no lie!  The bugs arrived so we moved into a very cozy, screened in and brightly colored 'restaurant' (room) located on the porch where we were sitting. A sign said 'air conditioned' - not! - "broken" the server said. Wayne asked if they could turn on the TV so we could see the weather forecast - not! - "broken" she said. 
Checked out the menu...we ask questions about this & that. Every this & that we asked about the server said they didn't have...so, being the smart ass I am, I said, "so, what do you have?"  
I got cracked conch (my go to) - they got snapper,  they wanted it grilled - the server said, "we can't grill it now",  (what??). I think she described the fish as baked but I really wasn't paying attention. The food arrived. My conch looked &, thankfully, tasted as it usually does. Then she brought their two plates with WHOLE snapper served with lots of rice, beans & Cole-slaw. (just BTW- these snapper were waayyy smaller than legal size) I wish I had a picture of Wayne's face when he stared at the snapper who was staring back at him.

Laurel ate hers...Wayne did not.   Advice; do not eat here!!

7/23  Anchor up at 9 & down at 4 outside Green Cay - too shallow. We quickly moved to Rose Island just east of Nassau.