Another short sail took us to Fernandez Cay, where we anchored in front of a few nice houses with another lovely creek and a few small cays where we went snorkeling. Fernandez Cay had an interesting swim through, a fairly nice selection of fish, nice corals and when we went there was no current, so it was very pleasant. We went to another small cay and snorkeled there but there was not many fish – probably too close to shore.
The creek was yet another beautiful creek with crystal clear water, mangroves and many different branches that can be explored.
Our next stop was Smiths Bay and really didn’t expect much, but it was a lovely little settlement, with a government dock where the mailboat docked on a regular basis, a good grocery store and a few bars and restaurants, but most of them were closed. We had a fabulous full moon over a mirror-like ocean before we left the next morning for the next anchorage.
We found a little beach, not much more than ten yards wide, where we landed the dingy to go ashore and then walked along the main road towards the government dock. The views from the road were gorgeous and gave a very tropical feeling with all the coconut trees lining the shore. Andre got a few green coconuts which we use in lovely tropical drinks. The dock had a few colorful little restaurants and food stalls which presumably only opens when the mailboat arrives – a great idea since it seems as though island life in the Bahamas revolves around the arrival of the mailboat. It is after all the only way for the local inhabitants to get any supplies from Nassau or even the USA.
Late in the afternoon we hoisted the sails and literally just glided over the water, close to shore go our new anchorage about six nautical miles further.
We anchored in front of The Cove and thought it would be a quaint little spot, but unfortunately we didn’t pay close attention to the charts and missed the fact that the Bahamas Electric Company’s generator system for the island was right there and made some noise throughout the night. Fortunately we didn’t hear much of it when we went down below.
As we went ashore the next morning, we found that the ruins that can be seen from the anchorage, was a church that must’ve been ruined for quite some time. We walked towards the generator and was greeted by a couple on their porch. They invited us into their little store and it had most of the essentials that one could need and the price wasn’t different from the larger shop right next to the government dock. The name of the shop is “Aunti Miss Hazel” and the owner, Carolyn grows all sort of fresh vegetables and fruit to sell at the market near the government dock.