We had an excellent ride from Rock Sound to Little San Salvador. For the first 13 miles the wind was mostly behind us, and we sailed "wing on wing," with the jib out to one side and the main out to the other. Sailing like this is relatively slow, very quiet, and incredibly smooth in the protected water on Eleuthera's lee.

The rest of the way we had to motorsail almost directly into the wind, which was bent by the island such that it was southwest as we rounded Powell Point and then southeast as we motored parallel to the island's southeast shore, but with such light wind the waves were tiny, and the windspeed kept dropping. By the time we turned due east for Little San Salvador the water was almost glassy.

We also had an incredible fishing day. We caught and released two large mutton snappers and a barracuda in the shallow water east of Powell Point; then in the deep water off southern Eleuthera, we caught THREE mahi-mahi. We kept only one, but it was fun to reel them in because they're extraordinary fighters and very pretty, with vivid blue and green flashing from their scales as they leap into the air. Both Britt and I got lots of exercise!

As we paralleled the southeast shoreline, we could see what looked like a huge apartment building in our path. It was the Star Princess cruise ship, anchored on the shelf off the Princess Cruise Line's "Princess Cay." I put that in quotes, because it's not actually a cay: it's a stretch of beach in southern Eleuthera owned by the cruise lines and operated as a day resort.

Through our binoculars we could see red-roofed pavilions, and cabanas, and row upon row of beach chairs. Small boats (well, the size of OUR boat!) ferried people back to the humongous mothership, which loomed above us like a city block mysteriously set afloat. I set our course to pass close to its stern; while we took pictures of the cruise ship, the people on it took pictures of us. Look, a charming tiny little sailboat!

Motoring toward Little San Salvador, which is ten miles east of the southern tip of Eleuthera, we looked behind us and saw the cruise ship, which must have collected all its passengers and lifted anchor shortly after we passed it. As we watched, it ponderously turned north, heading back to Florida.

This encounter was an appropriate harbinger for our destination, because Little San Salvador was bought in 1997 by Holland America cruise lines, and turned into a private island resort for their passengers. They renamed it Half Moon Cay, although the only place it's called that is on the T-shirts and postcards they sell in their gift shop; it's still unapologetically Little San Salvador on the charts and in the yachtie guidebooks.

When we were here in 2000, there hadn't been much development on the cay. Now there is a whole little fake villagelet, with open-air restaurants and bars, a gift shop, a castle-like facade complete with moat calling itself "Fort San Salvador," and even a "Bahamian church" which is essentially a 15x15 room with two benches and a steeple. There are paths along the beach and leading up to the ridge where visitors can walk or ride horses - yep, horses, which are stabled among the sand and scrub. And
of course there are the requisite beach cabanas and jetskis and kayaks and inflatable toys.

Fortunately, Holland America still allows yachts to anchor here (although we're supposed to stick to the corner of the bay farthest from the development), because it's a well-placed stopover between Eleuthera and Cat Island (although a somewhat rolly anchorage). They also don't mind if we walk around ashore when a cruise ship isn't in, so we hiked the trails and wandered through the weirdly empty pavilions and shop areas.

We've only seen a few employees, although one told us that there are about 30 who live there. The whole place has a kind of hush around it, tables with nobody sitting around them, empty booths marked "Hair Braiding" and "Souvenirs." A vacant village, quietly waiting for the right moment to spring to life. Waiting for the next ship to come in.
- posted by S/V Windom @ 4/29/2007 [link]