Spanish Wells

May 18, 2012

Part of the fleet

Spanish Wells is a bustling small island (about a mile long) that sits between Royal Island and Eleuthera.  The island was named by the Spanish slavers because they were able to find an abundance of fresh water on the island, uncommon in these parts.  Today's residents trace their roots to English Puritans who arrived in 1648 in hopes of finding a place where they could worship in any manner they wished and to Loyalists who fled America during the Revolution. As a result, the population is predominantly white, unlike the black majority population of most of the rest of the Bahamas.  It takes a careful ear to be able to understand the locals when they talk because they don't speak just traditional American English, British, or Bahamian, but more like a combination of all of them.  I think it is the friendliest island and cleanest we have ever visited.

The unique community's economy is based on fishing, not tourism like a lot of the other   islands I've described so far on this trip.  Several of the commercial fishing vessels are visible in the opening photo.  The two small boats were pushing the big boat from its side into the dock so it could take on fuel. These fishing boats are the cleanest, best painted, and most well-kept commercial fishing boats we have ever seen.  One of the locals said it is because the entire crew owns the boat (as opposed to an off-site owner or corporation) and takes pride in its upkeep and how it looks compared to the others. 

The stone crab season just ended, and we talked to one of the local crabbers who told us about going out for 3-5 weeks at a time, all the way over to Andros and the far southern Bahamas before returning home again.  There is a seafood packing plant right in the middle of town, at dockside.  It is as clean as a whistle, no debris or fish smell, just like the boats.  They have a marine railway and lift dock for hauling any size vessel out of the water to work on the bottoms.  So, all facets of marine work are taking place within this interesting community.

All things seafood

Ronald's, dockside, is the place to buy any kind of locally caught seafood you want.  We bought some stone crab claws as a lunch treat for $10/pound. The colorfully painted storefront is a real eye-catcher.  Since there are really only two streets on the island, the one along the waterfront, and the one “upland”, it is easy to find everything if you just take the time to walk around.  “Progress” has invaded this island too, with an abundance of golf carts, owned by most residents, or for rental.  Some of the carts have custom paint jobs and are named.

The big island of Eleuthera is only about a mile away, just across a narrow channel of water that is right in front of the mooring we tied up to for the night.  Spanish Wells is a “dry” island, i.e., no liquor is sold, but you can buy it on Eleuthera and bring in back over.  In fact, there is a liquor store steps away from the government dock where the ferries land.  After getting off the ferry, you can probably run into the liquor store and buy what you want and get back on the ferry before it leaves to go back.  Several types of ferry vehicles run back and forth many times each day between the two islands.

Vehicle ferry

I was going to call this a car ferry, but I saw it carrying golf carts and even some kind of small kiosk.  The people sit in their car and chat with the ferry driver.  Early in the day, the ferry driver's little boy (about 5 yrs old) was aboard, dressed just like his dad: work pants, suspenders, boots, but no hat.  That little boy was running all over the ferry, picking up the big planks to position them to load the vehicles on the barge, actually learning how to do productive work early in island life.  We laughed and remarked that if we were witnessing this back in the States, the father would be charged, sadly, with numerous counts of child endangerment:  no safety gear, not in school, too much physical labor, no access to electronic devices, etc.

Big island ferry

This government operated fast ferry travels from Nassau to several of the out islands, including Eleuthera, and even has a stop at little Spanish Wells, on a limited schedule throughout the week.  It is a good way for the out islanders to be able to link themselves with bigger population centers to get medical and business matters taken care of.

In the vehicle ferry photo you can see some of the colorful island homes in the background.  The homes are well-kept, some with interesting architectural decorations.  Most of them also have hand painted signs giving the home an island name like I've pointed out before on other islands.

Dolphin theme

The use of the dolphins on the corners of the house is a pretty touch.

It is not an island without palms

Even though they don't sway in the breeze, they are still nice to see.

Clean and quiet

One porch had a flock of these cute gulls sitting on the railing.

Artsy recycling

Another porch had several of these fishing net floats that were painted with different animal faces.

Coconut fish

Even some of the boathouses had colorful decorations.  There were a couple of large fish pens under this boathouse that had several big grouper of various species in them, one of which was a jewfish that must have weighed 100 pounds. 

Garden color

I admired the efforts of the people to try to grow anything with the limited fresh water that they have.  Most of them have to rely on cisterns, so there isn't a lot for yard use.  Yet, some of the homes have nice small lawns with a variety of ornamental and flowering plants.  This queen conch plant bed edging was extensive and must have taken a lot of work to keep the grass from growing into the shells.  The  exposed, flat island has been hit by hurricanes in recent years, so there aren't many large trees left to provide yard shade.

No one plays hooky

School was just getting out for the older students as we were taking our island walk.  Notice that the boys are wearing ties.  The girls do too, but they dress in skirts, tucked in shirts, and black, flat shoes.  It appeared the students had to walk home, not get picked up in a golf cart.  Island life is tough on the young ones!

When you are done learning

The cemetery was the most colorful we have ever seen – anywhere!  The orderly, well-kept graves were heaped with artificial flower decorations.  Looking at the headstones, about 3 names predominate, indicating a real tight knit genealogy.  That might explain why so many of the people look alike!

Both the school and the cemetery are on the “upland” road, where you can access the beautiful beach on the north side of the island.  Because it is protected by an offshore reef, there is a wonderful sandy beach.  At low tide, sand bars extend way out into the water; the scenery would fit well on any island post card.

Take off your shoes or even your clothes!

There is a deepwater channel that runs between Spanish Wells and the northwestern point of Eleuthera, Gun Point.   The channel weaves its way through an area filled with coral heads, part of the offshore reef area called the Devil's Backbone.  Cruisers wishing to take that route are encouraged to hire native pilots that know the waters to guide them through the heads safely, especially when visibility is limited by overcast skies or bumpy seas.  The FLUKESTERS had no need to go that route on the eastern side of Eleuthera in the open Atlantic since we had charted our course to southward on the western side of the island.  We still enjoyed the view of Gun Point and took a short dinghy ride out through the channel.

Gun Point, Eleuthera

We visited Spanish Wells on this particular day because we thought the weather was questionable, with overcast skies and possible showers, the usual fare these days.  However, the sun came out enough to make the day bright.  Once we finally got back aboard FLUKE a storm cloud moved in east of us.  Instead of dropping any rain though, it gave us a pretty rainbow, very fitting for such a pleasant island.

There's gold in these islands