SPANISH WELLS

A tidy,colorful little community and usually grouped with Eleuthera in tourist guides, Spanish Wells, St. George is much different from the other towns we have visited lately. Famous for its prosperous fishing fleet, Spanish Wells supplies much of the Bahamas’ commercial crop of lobster, conch and fish. Ronald, better known as ‘Ole Pot,’ was pleased to let us know that his fleet supplies lobster to all Red Lobsters. In addition to fishing fleets, water taxis as well as flat bed barges transport passengers, cars, and ‘whatever’ to Gun Point, a short trip to the east end of the main island of Eleuthera. The only businesses in Gun Point are Gene’s Ferry Dock and Liquor Store; people must use the busy water taxis to travel to work in Spanish Wells or to work on the mainland, not to mention those needed trips to the only liquor store. In addition to the water taxis and the flat bed barge, the Fast Ferry picks up passengers for trips to Nassau or Harbour Island. A cargo ship, tanker, or mail boat arrives in Spanish Wells almost daily.

The island is small and we walked the mile or so from the dingy dock to the main shops several times. Only one main street goes through the town, and the vehicular traffic is heavy, with golf carts, scooters, cars, and pick ups constantly traveling the narrow street that leaves little room for pedestrians. We soon discovered that walking the side streets results in a great way to see the town, and is a safer walk as well. Colorful cottages and splendid well-kept gardens and grounds cover the landscape. While many of the homes are historical, a number of large, modern homes sit on great lots overlooking the water, more evidence of an industrious and affluent island. The island is narrow and small houses and businesses back to the pink coral beach on the north side.

We shopped found at the large Food Fair grocery. Our stash of dark chocolate is alarmingly low, but we’ve had no luck replenishing it. We are rationing, but it will soon be gone.

We found wifi at Computer Concepts for $10 an hour. but it was a good, fast hookup. After two hours, I was mostly caught up checking our post mail (we have SBI mail forwarding), reading and responding to email, conducting banking, and posting a blog. I could always use more time for all of those activities.

CW’s, a tiny little grocery, has one washer and one dryer for pubic use, and we were glad to wash two loads. My mom asked me how we managed since it was usually weeks before we had washing facilities available. We have lots of wash cloths and undies, plus I wash our quick drying shirts and shorts in a bucket, using a plunger to agitate the clothes. I use seawater to wash and fresh water to rinse. It works. But it’s always nice to meet a washer and dryer.

A few diners are open for lunch, but we only saw a small snack shack open for dinner. No alcohol is served; in fact, no alcohol is available on the island. Founded in the 17th century by the Eleutheran Adventurers who left England looking for religious freedom, this independent, little town of 850 people does not depend upon nor does it cater to cruisers.

The town has its own Reverse Osmosis plant for water, which is what everyone drinks. We weren't out of water, but are always looking for an opportunity to fill our tanks. We worked out a plan to buy water from the local water plant, which is run by one couple. Both we and Solar Eclipse pulled up to Ron's dock and Shell station, where the water plant delivered 10 five-gallon water bottles for each of us to the dock. We had to pour them in, but that was easier than hauling our water cans to them, and then pouring the water in our tanks. In fact, if we wanted to wait one more day, they would bring a small water tank to the dock and we could just put it in our tanks with their hose; however, the weather was right and we were ready to go. We topped off our diesel tanks, and with our expert plan of leaving Spanish Wells at high tide, we sailed away. Having plenty of water under us made this trip much more pleasant than the trip into Spanish Wells. In less than two hours, we were anchored in the protected anchorage of Plantation Island, with plans to leave early the next morning for a 54-mile sail to Little Harbour, Abaco.