Entertainment

George and I were entertained this afternoon by a large fishing boat maneuvering in the narrow harbor beside us. Several fishing boats here in Spanish Wells appear to be getting ready to leave and are loading supplies onto their boats. To make it easier, they move their boats to the wall across the harbor from us. The boat we observed this afternoon, First One, came from up the creek, turned around right beside us, then maneuvered into a tight space on the wall. It was quite windy today so the operation was not an easy one. First One did not seem to have thrusters, so two small boats acted as its thrusters—or tugboats—and pushed it into place. It was quite impressive. 

Earlier in the day we took the dinghy up the creek so we could go ashore and walk to the grocery store. As we dinghied past another fishing boat we watched the crew handing supplies one to the other as in a bucket brigade. That went on for hours. 

We plan to leave Spanish Wells tomorrow and head NW toward Lucaya, Grand Bahama. Our plan is to stay overnight in the Berry Islands, halfway to Lucaya. We are a little concerned about a possible swell in the harbor leading to bouncing or rolling. If we find the conditions too uncomfortable we may pull up the anchor and finish sailing overnight to Lucaya.

First One and one of the smaller “tugboats” just after it had turned around beside us. You can see how the water was churned up. 

First One and the two smaller boats keeping it pinned to the wall until the lines are tied. You can see a crew member standing on the bow of the small boat on the right. He has jumped down from First One to hang on and keep the smaller boat up against First One. 

With the wind shift today, we are in the lead of the other boats in our small mooring field. It is tight quarters in here but we have been comfortable through a few episodes of strong winds from various directions.