The weather forecast was looking excellent to depart Abaco & head the 80 miles south to Spanish Wells on Eleuthera the day after Christmas (nice not having to be underway on Christmas Day). We always love stopping at Little Harbour, which is right before we head out of the Sea of Abaco. The main feature of Little Harbour is Pete’s Pub. The origin of Pete’s goes back to his father Randolph Johnston, a world renown bronze sculptor, who wandered into Little Harbour in the 50’s on his sailing schooner with his young family & never left. The foundry is still there in it’s original building & we scored a private tour a few years ago – very fascinating. So I guess you could call it a foundry with a fishing & drinking problem!
A Pete’s Pub lunch with friends & crew of ADVENTURE – Maryella, Mike & Gene. We introduced them to Pete’s signature rum drink the “Blaster” – at a foundry – get it?!
Lori’s family tradition (over 50 years) of baking Babka for Christmas continues even aboard.
Christmas Eve sunset over some of the Pete’s Pub & foundry buildings
What to do in the Bahamas on a beautiful Christmas morning? Go fishing & snorkeling of course! Gene took us out on ADVENTURE & Maryella caught a few small fish, but both the fishing & snorkeling ended when this little but curious lemon shark wandered by & didn’t want to leave.
A Christmas dinner feast aboard TWIN SISTERS with grilled chicken, lamb chops, fresh baked bread & lots of laughs.
Fish on!! Should have bought a bigger net! A nice Mahi landed while trolling off the coast of Abaco. Actually, a bit smaller than my “normal” (really!), but the most delicious ever!
A “tiny” 174′ yacht we passed by – with a helicopter, of course. This is one of over 50 yachts we passed near Staniel Cay in the Exumas – a bit smaller than most, but had the helicopter, a small tender alongside, plus some sort of large, covered 40’ish vessel it could launch off it’s stern with a crane.
We’re next in line for fueling up with diesel at Staniel Cay. The water is especially beautiful in this part of the Exumas – crystal clear!
Speaking of fuel – obtaining fuel in much of the Bahamas may be a bit of challenge for a while … the fuel tanker TROPIC BREEZE was rear-ended & SUNK by the “super” yacht UTOPIA IV (photo on right -likely traveling 26! knots in the dark) on Christmas Eve. TROPIC BREEZE sunk in 3000’+ of water minutes after this photo was taken (if you look carefully you can see the decks already awash). While the crew was rescued, the tanker (with it’s tens of thousands of gallons of fuel) cannot be, due to the extreme depth. In addition to being an environmental disaster, the TROPIC BREEZE was THE fuel tanker which delivered to over 50 “out” islands. Very few islands have large docks with enough depth, so this small, shallow draft, specialty tanker would anchor off each island, rigging long hoses pumping to tanks ashore – we’ve seen it in action many times. It supplied all of the fuel for cars, trucks & boats, plus cooking propane for homes & restaurants and it was the only diesel source for the islands themselves, which are powered exclusively by diesel generators.
While we had planned on spending a few days at Spanish Wells & the rest of Eleuthera, continuing perfect weather & upcoming COVID regulations kept us moving to the next island chain of the Exumas, where our final destination of George Town is located. We made brief stops along the way at Normans Cay (the 70’s base of the Medellin drug cartel & Pablo Escobar which used the island as a base to fly cocaine into the U.S.), Staniel Cay (jammed with charter boats & yachts for the holidays) & Black Point (for Lorraine’s Mom’s famous coconut bread).
Beginning Jan. 7, the Bahamas will begin COVID testing requirements traveling between island chains. While it is yet unclear if/how it will apply to boaters, remaining in the Exumas will make it simplier for us. Hopefully they will not reinstitute curfews or other restrictions as they have in the past. COVID over soon?? We certainly all hope so!!
Have a safe & Happy New Year from Russ & Lori at Little Farmers Cay, Exuma, Bahamas!
Cruising along the East Coast and Bahamas 
Happy New Year to you guys as well!
Glad you have good sailing weather. How sad for that fuel loss end contamination.
When we were in Georgetown in 2017 there were no gaz pumps for our boats. Remember, we had to fill our 5 gallon tanks!
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And still no boat fueling now! Pretty sure it’s still “use those five gallon jugs”! Which is another reason we topped up at Staniel.
Hope your year is filled with lots of love and joy and new adventures. L
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