Stats for March 27, 2019

Origin: Norman’s Cay Whale Tail

Destination: Cape Eleuthera Marina

Distance: 32.8 miles

Speed: 8.2 mph

Time on the Move: 3 hours and 59 minutes

We had a calm, sunny morning to head across the Sound to Eleuthera. This is a deep water crossing that is fairly exposed to the Atlantic, so we definitely wanted a good travel day and we lucked out.

Since we were expecting a big cold front to head through that would bring high winds and heavy seas for a few days, we decided to hunker down at Cape Eleuthera Marina. We hadn’t been to a marina since the end of January, so docking felt new and tricky and nerve-wracking again!! This marina has a restaurant, a pool, and a $300 credit when you stay for 4 nights so it was PERFECT!! Plus, our friends on SummerCamp met us here, so that made it even better!!

Cape Eleuthera is on a point at the southern end of the island, so it is surrounded by beaches and water. We could see both the Sound and the Atlantic Ocean from our slip. Amazing.

Of course we spent plenty of time at the pool each day. Tobin was swimming on his own so much that by the 2nd day, I didn’t even bring his lifejacket to the pool anymore!! Amazing!! It also helped that we had friends there to motivate him to swim. The beach was just on the other side of the pool, so it was a great set up.

Mike and I were so lucky that SummerCamp offered to watch the kids on their boat one night so that we could go out to eat at the restaurant onsite. DATE NIGHT!! Having friends around is definitely fun for the kiddos and the adults, but it leads to some late nights!!

This mega yacht was parked in our marina for the first few days we were there. One morning another boater told us that the marina is owned by the owner of Amway from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I stopped cold because I realized that is Betsy DeVos’ family. I don’t want this to be a political blog, but let me say that as a public school teacher, I was instantly ashamed to be staying in this marina and disgusted that I was supporting their family. In that exact timeframe, DeVos was in the news defending her plans to cut funding for special olympics and explaining how larger class sizes can be beneficial. It did lead to many good jokes between our friends for the rest of the stay, and we felt vindicated because of our $300 credit and we may or may not have peed in her pool. I would never stay here again knowing that it is owned by DeVos.

The beach was decked out with all kinds of hammocks and tikis for relaxing.

Later that day, we entertained the girls from SummerCamp so their parents could have a solo date night. We got out all our sporting equipment and played a little of everything. Wall ball, frisbee, football, soccer, sidewalk chalk, and finally a fairly organized game of baseball. We followed it all up with mac ‘n’ cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and a movie. What more could a kid want?!

On our last day we rented a car to go exploring. I’ve read that Eleuthera is best explored by car, so we set off to explore the 110 mile long island along the *only* road, trying to remember to drive on the left. There were a lot of little settlements to drive through and we got a little glimpse of local life.

We ran a few errands and then stopped at this food truck set up right in someone’s backyard. It is interesting how some Bahamians have come to be so resourceful, that they find ways to fill a need or find a void and make a living. When we passed by this spot later in the night, it was a full on party!!

We stopped at French Leave Beach which is a pink beach on the Atlantic side, right in front of an old Club Med. It was a very light shade of pink, and darker where the waves washed up on shore. It sure was fun to look at. Like a trick of the senses.

On our next stop we hiked to The Cliffs, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was an area of high cliffs overlooking the menacing Atlantic Ocean. The gusting wind was dying down, but the waves were still pretty intense.

The area around Hatchet Bay had rolling hills and lots of old silos.

The next stop was the Hatchet Bay Cave. We weren’t quite sure what to expect here, but it turned out to be a gem!! Probably the highlight of our day. We headed toward the cave right after another couple, and while they didn’t get very far before turning around, we traveled deep into this cave and saw some amazing history. It’s interesting how great adventures often lead to questions and curiosities about other things, isn’t it?!

After the picture below, we went down a ladder under a spray painted sign saying “Welcome to Hell.” The other adventurers down there with us turned around at this point, saying this was the stuff of their nightmares, but we pushed on. It was pitch dark from here, and we relied on cell phone flashlights to see. There was a thin string on the ground running through the cave, so it was easy to find our way as long as we followed the string. There were several “rooms” and other pathways we did not travel.

I was equally amazed by the cave itself AND the signatures and years on the walls. We saw dates back to 1849 and even King George VII. This cave has some amazing history!! Just imagine people venturing down there with oil lamps or torches and writing their names with cinders. You can tell this writing is from long ago just by the formation of the letters. There were also signs saying there was hidden gold, but it was marked as found….bummer!!

I wish we would have taken more pictures of the walls to examine closer later, but to take a picture literally everyone had to stop walking because we had to point our flashlight/phone/camera over to the side of the wall. Then we all stood still in darkness while the picture took and until we could shine a light on the path again. It took quite a bit of coordinating, and of course, we had no idea if they were turning out at all.

The kids are amazing and were not scared at all really. It helped that there were no creatures that we saw, though we have read that there can be a large number of bats down there. Eventually, Hayley, Tobin, and I turned back. We weren’t sure if the cave was going to have a dead end or another exit, and we were ready to be done traipsing through the dark. We turned around and followed the string all the way back to the entrance. Mike and Colin said we only needed to travel through one more “room” before we could see the light streaming in from the exit.

Look at that smile once Colin could see light pouring in from the exit. Such a good feeling!!

There was a rope ladder at the end to climb out. The boys had such a feeling of accomplishment after traveling through the cave from start to finish. They were ecstatic they stuck with it. In hindsight, we should have pushed on, too.

Even though I was disappointed we didn’t travel the whole way through the cave, I was thrilled that Colin and Mike did and very happy with how brave everyone was on this uncertain adventure. We estimate the cave is about a mile long to walk through, but less than a half a mile on the surface. If you want to read more history on this cave (it was first mentioned in a magazine in 1874!!) or learn about it’s diverse biology, check out Project Eleuthera. I recommend this site for lots of great info on adventures in Eleuthera.

Driving past the governor’s residence in Governor’s Harbour we had this spectacular view.

The Glass Window Bridge was our last touristy stop. This is an very narrow part of Eleuthera where the Atlantic Ocean is on one side and the Sound on the other side. When the waves really get rolling, they can go right over the road and it has to be shut down. People have been swept away from this area. It is beautiful to see the deep, dark blue water on one side with no one except for the crazy cruise ships far out to sea, and the shallow, light green water on the other side with cruisers and boats anchored nearby. Such a dichotomy.

This picture (borrowed from the internet) gives you an idea of what the Glass Window Bridge looks like from the side. We never went close to it in our boat, as it was slightly out of the way. I sure hope they check the integrity of the bridge regularly, especially with all that salt water corrosion!!

We were starving after this long day of adventuring, so we found a great restaurant overlooking the sunset. Mike had fish and Tobin just had to eat another eyeball. Gross!!

After dinner, we still had a 2 hour drive to get back to the boat. Luckily the kiddos were exhausted so they conked right out which made it easier to focus on driving in the dark on the left side of the road.

The next day we were off to explore Eleuthera more by boat! Thanks for reading and following along on our adventures!! Make sure you follow our Facebook page, INNTWadventures, for real-time, daily updates, too!!