The Life of Brad: April 2026 - Sailing Bahamas; Eleuthera, Spain Wells and more Exumas

In this month I get swayed to sail North to Eleuthera which was dynamite, then made my way back down to George Town to prepare to go East. Lots of sailing in April for sure making over 300 nautical miles.

Hanging out in Big Majors/Pig Beach area. I was anchored back and near the path in, next time a little closer and a little more North.

Need to sort this out

beautiful

It's $10 to go on to Pig Beach which at this point I still had never been to. Took the paddle board almost there...

Running into Alex and Karly anchored close ish

Cpt. Dan and Vancouver
charter w Deja/Tyson.
Dad pre-Cancer booked boat 2
years ago. He couldn't come.

Strolling around Staniel

Radio tower to help orientate
when walking around

Queens Highway, not quite like Alberta's 4 lanes

Lots of private planes

Staniel actually has a lot
of money come here

Alex with a background in fiber and electrical came over to figure out why I was smelling burning plastic/rubber while putting a high load on my inverter...Oh look a glowing connection!

Simply a loose connection.
Tightened up and good.
There were a couple of those.

He also installed my remote
control for my anchor. Yes!!

So I fed him one of the worst
meals I had ever made in my
LIFE! Fish and chips...Grease!

Captain's Log 2026.04.04 - Anchor: Staniel Town, Bahamas 24 10.150N 76 26.847W - 1 NM

Notes: Strong 20kts wind.

A quick boat move over the Staniel town for the night making it easier to get gas and provisions. Surprisingly ended up right beside Mitch and Avi SV Miocene. Unfortunately lots of wind so not as comfortable as I thought it would be and I was near a taxi route which makes waves when they blast by.

There's Miocene

Can see the boats from land

Is that dinner?

One of three grocery stores

Staniel is probably the most expensive spot in the Bahamas as you have rich yachts come here and they have some famous attractions as mentioned before, Thunderball Grotto, Pig and Iguana Beachs. And the Staniel Yacht club with nurse sharks and fancy people.

Most expensive bananas in my life. I got 5 pounds at $3/lbs as my friends ask me to pick some up too. Even crazier is that they grow bananas on some of the islands, but these are imported from Costa Rica via the USA...seriously???

and over ripe too

Captain's Log 2026.04.05 - Anchor: Pig Beach, Bahamas 24 71.053N 76 27.464W - 1 NM

Notes: T and A.

Selfie Selfie Selfie

This guy hangs around
the sail boats, so amazing

Back a pig beach

Captain's Log 2026.04.06 - Anchor: Warderick Wells, Bahamas 24 22.813N 76 37.740W - 19 NM

Notes: Main sticking on rise due to previous reef. 4-5kts on 8-11kts wind. Smooth. New furling line needs adjustment.

Captain's Log 2026.04.07 - Buddy Boats: Fairwind, Fool Hardy - Anchor: Rock Sound East, Bahamas 24 52.056N 76 09.924W - 46 NM

Notes: Warderick Cut, good sea state, beam waves, 4-5kts on 9-10kts wind. Wing on Wing! Jib clew needs stitching halfway up.

Pass the entrance to Warderick mooring field

Buddy boating but not really as both boats kept engines on to go one knot faster and left me behind.

Wing on Wing!!

Tasty fajitas

South Eleuthera

Big gap to cross to get to Rock Sound

Met up with Alex to dive a couple Blue Holes before he took off again to go West to Governor's Harbour for the rough windy days coming. Rock Sound was definitely a better shelter as Alex's anchor would eventually drag at Governor's.

Alex got this photo as the crabs were too deep
for me to get a stable shot

Side Story: Around 3am while a major storm was coming through I went for a pee and looked out to the flashes of white and heavy down pour to see my dinghy bobbing up and down. When I looked closer it seemed like the line holding the dinghy from the davit was not there. "That can't be" oh but it was. Great timing as it happened right while I was standing there and started to float away. When I thought to jump I realised I was naked and that could be a mess, then I thought paddle board, but with the wind and rain that wasn't the choice either. I went to the radio and simply marked the direction "The Hoff" (my dinghy) floated away. Luckily my buddy boat was on the radio and 20 min later when the storm had calmed we were able to search for The Hoff which was 1.5 miles away, but in the exact line I thought it would be. Wild! Check out the metal tab that snapped off!

snapped in half

After the recovery of the dinghy I needed a new way to secure it and no longer trusted the other davit still intact either. Chad suggested making shackles with dyneema, bingo! Worked like a charm and can hold 3000 lbs.

Leslie testing her splice strength

The peanut gallery; Russ and Chad

Rented a car and drove up half the island to where the other boats had decided to anchor at Governor's habour in deep anchorage and not the best bottom. Hence why Alex dragged.

Nice organic fruit and veg market and meat.
Eleuthera Island Farm

Some $15 wrap at Squire's in
Governor's Habour

Almost getting ripped off for propane, $35!

A very shallow harbour at Governor's

finally reasonable prices at Jimmy's. Load up!

Right hand drive $80 a day

Cathedral Caves

The red trunks are poisonous

Go to the cow to get your milk, or propane truck
to get your propane $15.

Wild Orchids was reasonable
$30 for a good rib plate

Captain's Log 2026.04.11 - Buddy Boats: Sideout, Mallie - Anchor: Ten Bay Beach, Eleuthera, Bahamas 25 07.230N 76 09.208W - 25 NM

Notes: Anemometer failed, Starboard engine failed, 18kts NE wind and could not go into it with one engine so peeled off to coast for much more comfort.

Rough

Waited for lower wind, but forecast was wrong
so came in out of the chop.

Lovely coast

Beautiful Ten Bay Beach

Chad and Russ

Captain's Log 2026.04.12 - Buddy Boats: Sideout, Mallie - Anchor: Coco DiMama, Eleuthera, Bahamas 25 15.781N 76 19.177W - 14 NM

Notes: Starboard engine power cable repaired. 20kts on broad reach. 7kts on 2 reefs. Then 8kts on 24kts wind. Few showers. Anemometer still not working.

Found the issue with motor
corroded power wire

keeping a few reefs

Just ripping even with two reefs in going past Sideout.

Got in early so had time to
finish my trampoline

Captain's Log 2026.04.13 - Buddy Boats: Sideout, Mallie - Anchor: Goulding Cay/Twin Sisters, Eleuthera, Bahamas 25 25.842N 76 36.064W - 19 NM

Notes: 7 to 9kts on 20 kts and 28 kts gusts. 2 reefs on main and jib. For the first time I dropped main as I anchored.

Taking in the Eleuthera coast full of small cliff and rock.

Hatchet Bay

Glass Window

Walking from Caribbean to Atlantic bodies of water

Glass Window where the Atlantic pushes through to the Caribbean

Queens bath

Instead of walking back to the dinghy I decided to swim back to the boat

Nice little snorkel around then up for lunch at El Karaka.

Over to the Glass Window

Great views at El Karaka

Captain's Log 2026.04.15 - Buddy Boats: Sideout, Mallie - Anchor: Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas 25 32.302N 76 45.817W - 23 NM

Notes: Slow to set sails pulling out previous reefs. Wing on Wing getting 5kts on 8-10kts. Stopped to drift snorkel at "Current Cut". Last 10 miles tight to wind gusting up to 24 kts for 6-7kts with 1 reef in.

Drift was calm at the beginning

In order to do the snorkel through Current Cut we had to sail through the cut first, anchor, get our gear on and Chad dinghied us back through the cut so we could drift snorkel through. Amazingly fast at the end of the drift. It was quite the work to get back through the cut with the dinghy.

Here's where it picks up in speed.

Anchored and said good bye to Alex who left right away then connected with Mitch and Avi and checked out Spanish Wells inviting Mark, Emily, Charlie and Karly to join in at Wrecker's which carried on until late on Mark's boat. Awesome time.

A quick little chat about my initial thoughts on Spanish Wells

$6+ for 300g of chocolate best
I can do in Bahamas

Wrecker's happy hour $9.50 usd for a cocktail

Robert gives rides and his
testimony to people like me

Wrecker's is a good spot

Side Story: My dinghy started to lack movement and it turned out that the prop had spun making high speed impossible. Luckily I could still limp between boats etc. I went to town to see if anyone had a replacement as I had lots of props on my boat but only for my main engines. One shop said they could get a prop in 4 days from Nassau including a $35 delivery charge for a total of $150. The bad part of this was having to wait for 4 days so I tried for a used one at Ronald's Suzuki service shop. What a good idea as Ronald welcomed me in to look at some old motors he had laying around at his non-yamaha shop. Bingo, we found one and Ronald just gave it to me even though I tried to pay him a few times. What a great moment in the trip to receive this kindness. Thank you Ronald!!!

Rubber end sheared off

All these spares, but not one
that I needed

Prop found at Ronald's

Captain's Log 2026.04.18 - Anchor: Big Fish Beach, Bahamas 25 19.434N 76 51.100W - 16 NM

Notes: Light wind 6-8kts for 3.5kts to no wind for 30 minutes then back to 6-8 kts. Noticed jib leech is frayed and needs attention.

Autopilot is great

No wind, just wait for it I guess. This is true sailing when you don't feel a time pressure to get going.

Big Fish Beach which is a good spot before crossing back to the Exumas although it does have a healthy current it is lovely.

Captain's Log 2026.04.19 - Anchor: Sail Rocks North, Exumas, Bahamas 24 56.196N 76 46.669W - 25 NM

Notes: 4 kts on 6-7kts East tight reach then lost wind kts and direction. Crossed back to the Exumas.

Sail Rocks may have been the best place I have anchored at so far. All to myself and incredible.

Nice calm day ahead

After crossing some coral ahead

The red marks represent coral heads

Doesn't look to dangerous, but they are once
they grow up.

Looked like quite a few
hazards coming in

Look at Sail Rocks, amazing!!!

Heading out to explore

Feeling like a kid

This is a creepy video...

About 4 feet long

Paradise

Captain's Log 2026.04.20 - Anchor: Norman's Cay 3, Exumas, Bahamas 24 36.671N 76 49.162W - 22 NM

Notes: Passed over coral heads to get out of the sounds current going out. Went from 20ft to 5 ft over the heads! No wind most of the day. Touched bottom on sand near Highbourne Cay. Then Lukas from s/v Ona installed anemometer at top of mast but broke wind indicator in the process. Anemometer working again with big thanks to Mitch who gave me the new battery.

A few last moments in Sail Rocks before moving down to Norman's Cay. The water is like an aquarium.

That's 10ft down

Remora feasting on yesterday's
dinner.

Enjoy buddy, there's more

I didn't want to leave, but not a spot to be
in high winds which were coming that night

Older building, lighthouse?

Settled in Norman's Cay for 3 nights with a slight move South to see if I could get out of the swell, but not really. It was ok.

Norman's Cay 3

Anemometer up and
Wind instrument down

Norman's Cay 2 by
government dock

Two things to do before leaving 1) Snorkel Escobar Plane Crash and 2) get Lukas to put the wind indicator up after I glued it together again (after Dale had dropped it in Florida).

Snorkeling the plane can only really be done at slack tide as the current can be uncomfortable.

Norman's Cay Marina

some one put "Costa"

Pretty cool

A quick install and I was on my way. Thanks Lukas.

Lukas jumped on dinghy
while my boat was underway

Captain's Log 2026.04.23 - Anchor: Big Major/Pig Beach, Exumas, Bahamas 24 11.048N 76 27.473W - 36 NM

Notes: One reef main; 6-7kts on 16 kts. Sea got rough and couldn't hold close reach after Shroud like always and man was I angry about it. 6 ft waves and a jammed jib furler as winds up to 19kts true. Fought to get closer to land and was able to unjam furler and bring it in. I hate that Shroud to Warderick corner!

Ferry cleared and I was underway

Colours showing water depths

Spinnakers are lovely

Yeah, jammed furler

Back to my home away from home.

Five Waves; 36 meter super yacht
So James Bond Villain!

Trying the other food option in Staniel, "Big Dogs" bar. Didn't love it.

I see these signs in Bahamas

Take your family to see sharks
in a dinghy

Nurse sharks hanging out at the yacht club

"Don't swim with sharks"

Back in Big Majors for a week to do some repairs and relax in this beautiful spot.

Lots of boats hanging out for the afternoon

Wild video of flipping fish going nuts, may me go nuts too, hahaha

Hand sewing over missing
stitches in jib

Instagram work

More day boats

This boat was full of DR
people living in Nassau

Amazing moment of this pig swimming all the way from the beach to my boat in hopes of food, but I only had bacon...

Look how far they swam
Like 200-300m

Solving a leak in my quarters

Tidy and ready for silicone

Good days

Alex is back!

What a hunter at 25 ft down

Captain's Log 2026.04.28 - Anchor: Rudder Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 23 52.231N 76 14.306W - 26 NM

Notes: Tight on 8-10 kts for 3-4kts. Steady and calm.

Some messing around with the guitar while auto pilot handles things.

Good bye Big Majors

3rd times a charm

Finally found the Musican

Captain's Log 2026.04.29 - Anchor: Kidd's Cove George Town, Exumas, Bahamas 23 30.286N 75 45.770W - 44 NM

Notes: Rudder cut was ok, but could be very rough. Sailed 90 deg off course to get a better tack to George Town. 4 NM East then headed South. Wind 8-16 kts true for 4-6 kts. Swell built and wind died in last hours. 1 Reef main. Auto pilot struggles on close haul.