Hatchet Bay, Take 2 (we get off the boat!)

Once the wind chilled out a little we were able to goof off on a nearby sandbar have a relaxing Easter. 

Happy Easter!

We started the next day by shifting our anchorage to southern Alabaster Bay and taking a morning walk over to the abandoned Navy base. After those days on the boat we were ready for a nice, long walk! The beach was just as glorious as we remember from last year!

We LOVE the beach at the old base!

Lehe Paine looking good in Alabaster Bay

That night we headed to Hatchet Bay, our COVID quarantine spot from last year! That was the last place that Frank went ashore last year (we were minimizing our contact by only sending one person in) before the lockdowns started. We spent weeks there, just on our boat, so this visit was a bit of a re-do!

The narrow (but deep!) entrance to Hatchet Bay Pond

We got up early Tuesday morning for a big breakfast and a 1-hour walk along Queen's Highway to the Hatchet Bay Cave. This is the most extensive cave system on Eleuthera, extending about 1100 feet underground with over a mile of twisting passages. The crew was starting to lose their sense of humor when we finally made it to the access road. Then we just had to survive a 5-minute walk through some guard and stray dogs to get to the access steps at the "front" of the cave. Shortly after entering our world went completely dark and we descended a ladder to the next level of the cave. The air was warm and water dripped from the forming stalagmites. And no bats that we could see! And a thin string ran through most of the cave...just in case your light goes out! And there is graffiti pretty much all throughout the cave, some dating back to the 1800's. At the "back" of the cave is a square cut out of the overhead rock with a rope ladder to climb out. While it was a haul to get there on foot, we liked it! We spent the afternoon recovering, doing school, and getting a few groceries in town.

Very cool cave!

The next day, we hit the road again! This time, the walk was only about 40-minutes each way to Sweetings Pond! This inland lagoon is believed to have been closed off from the sea for 6000 years. Seawater seeps in through the limestone, but there is little-to-no recruitment of animals from the outside. The result is a unique, yet fragile, environment that is known for its seahorses! While we did end up seeing one pregnant male seahorse, we saw so much more! Harry Clinging Crabs, a Striped Burrfish, Brittle Stars, Red Fireclams, Fringeback Dondice, needlefish, mussels, barnacles...tons of life! Visibility was 10-15' and we were pretty cold after about an hour in the pond, but it was such a great experience!

Tons of life in Sweetings Pond

We hit the store on our way back to check out their fresh produce delivery (awesome!) and were excited to see S/V Yemaya anchored in the harbor when we got back to the dock! We immediately ditched our plan to get underway and stayed another night. I met Ian when we were both stationed in Washington, D.C. and now we are both retired and cruising. The adults shared a lovely evening and sundowners on Yemaya...such a great way to close out our return to Hatchet Bay!

A fabulous spot to wait for our take-away lunch in town.

Frank, Jo, and Ian together again after over a year! 

COVID UPDATE: If you haven't figured it out by now, given the new COVID orders that apply to travel from Eleuthera to any other island, we have decided that we will slowly enjoy Eleuthera and close out our cruising season here. While we again feel like COVID has robbed us of our visit to the Abacos we are thoroughly enjoying taking our time here in Eleuthera. We will get to the Abacos someday!