Cape Eleuthera – hiding again

The first week of March is living up to the saying, “In like a lion”. When the forecast is for winds with a “W” in them, meaning with a west component, we usually find a protected place to go hide in. Currently NNW 18-25Kn/gusting 32. Our weather here is being driven by the bomb cyclone that is currently blasting the US east coast. As it pulls away the trailing winds are touching us. We are getting off easy, but still a bit uncomfortable.
This says, “marina” to us so a few days ago we crossed over from the Exumas to Eleuthera and Cape Eleuthera Marina. That crossing, from Staniel Cay, was quite pleasant. Winds under 10 knots and calm seas, perfect for fishing, except we didn’t catch anything. Frustrating as all the other boats following us in had Mahi aboard. Hamburgers tonight I guess.

This is a very nice marina, although the entrance is open to the west. Since there is some westerly component to the current winds, we are getting some slop in here. We are not moving much but the sailboats next to us are bouncing around a bit. I would guess that if the winds were directly out of the west, and above 15 knots or so, this place would be uncomfortable for small boats. Luckily, strong west winds are quite unusual,…except for this week and next.
The winds are predicted to lay down tomorrow and Tuesday, before again blowing from the west. Since the forecast is for 20 knots or more directly from the west on Wednesday, we will bail out of here and head up to Spanish Wells. We had planned to cruise the leeward coast of Eleuthera as we wandered north, but I don’t like the options for anchoring around here with 25 knots out of the west predicted; Rock sound is crowded now and Hatchet Bay has more underwater hazards to anchoring than I care for.
So we are headed to a marina in Spanish Wells for a few days. The town is supposed to be attractive, with some nice restaurants. We will play land vacation for a while, rent a car and see the sights. When the weather improves we will head over to the Berry Islands.