On the suggestion of a few DeFever friends, we decided to pay a  visit to Eleuthera as we make our way northwards.  We caught a nice fast ride through the aptly-named Current Cut and headed up to the town of Spanish Wells.  This area is home to a lot of commercial fishing boats, and claims to be the largest source of conch and lobster in the Bahamas. 

The town is very nice - pretty cottages and flowering landscaping, clean and well-supplied.  There are some good marine services available on the island, as well as a few shops and cafes.  The Anchor Snack Cafe right on the waterfront gets our vote for an extensive menu, good food, reasonable prices, and excellent ice cream (frozen pies as well as treats).  Jim is still talking about it!

Spanish Wells is on an island about a mile from the main part of Eleuthera, and small ferries run constantly between the two, some for people and some little mini-barges with an outboard motor to transport cars and golf carts.  On the islands nearly everyone gets around on gas-powered golf carts - some with more style than others.

 As with all the islands, the mail boat is the source of most everything - fuel for the generators (and to power desalinization machines to make fresh water) and supplies of every shape and size.  These mail boats look like small freighters with a big drop-down ramp on the front.  It's amazing to watch the captains maneuver these behemoths into and out of the tightest little places!  When the mail boat arrives the town is abuzz, distributing pallets and truck loads of supplies. 

Spanish Wells is close to the trendy community on Harbour Island, so we took the fast ferry over for a little day trip.  The ferry is one of several that provides service between Nassau and bigger towns on some of the out islands.

The ferry transits a notorious area of reefs called the Devil's Backbone, and if you want to make the trip in your own boat all the cruising guides strongly recommend the services of a local pilot to guide you through.  $50 is much less than repairs to your running gear or a hole in your boat!  The fast ferry has the right local knowledge and zips across the Backbone at an impressive 25 knots!

We rented a golf cart on Harbour Island and toured the tree-lined streets, with pastel-colored houses and magnificent royal poinciana trees in full bloom.  We stopped for lunch near the waterfront, bought a nice pineapple from a road-side stand, and walked on the famous 3-mile-long pink beach (with a storm in the distance).  It was a lovely trip, capped off with another ice cream treat back in Spanish Wells (Jim insisted, after a long hot day).

On Friday (6/11) we headed out past the coral-studded Ridley Head, into the ocean for the 50 mile passage north to the Abacos.