Current Cut tends to weigh on the mind in the days leading up to its passage. It is a cut between the northern tip of Eleuthera and Current Island. It i deep and fairly straight but has a strong current that can get up to 4.5-5 knots. When a boat motors at 6 knots, this current against you going through a narrow channel is ill advised.
We wanted to pass through near slack high tide which is reported to be 1.5 hours after high tide in Nassau. Nassau high tide was around 11 am so we planned to cross the cut around 1230. We got up early to get there in time.
There was no wind and what wind we did have was against us for a while. We motored along easily on the calm water. We would arrive very early at this pace so when we got within a few miles and the wind changed so we could sail, we had a few hours of very slow gentle sailing with only 7-8 knots. We saw small starfish on the bottom below.
There was one boat ahead of us waiting on the tide. We approached the cut directly over the sand flats, glad it was high tide. The boat in front of us gave a securite call on the radio and started into the cut. A few minutes later, we heard a securite from the other side and saw a boat coming through. The boat on our side had to cross in front of the cut and let them through. He then headed through.
A catamaran passed us near the entrance and we gave our securite call and we followed them through. It was not quite slack but there was only about a knot of current against us so it was fine. There were some snorkelers on the edge and a fishing boat in the current at the end of the cut but we had no trouble.
We headed to through the next harbour to Royal Island Harbour, a protected cove on a private island. We anchored easily with only two other boats.
Today, we had enough energy to go exploring and get off the boat for a few hours. We launched the dinghy and paddleboard and headed out to explore the lagoon. Royal had a failed development so there are some ruins of a dock and some buildings but it as been private for some time and it is beautiful and full of life. The homes are at the west end of the island so the whole east side is wild.
We saw birds and butterflies, starfish and so many turtles. At some times, you could see 3-4 turtles popping up in any direction. They were impossible to photograph but beautiful to watch from the paddle board.
We parked our board and dinghy on a small low tide beach and snorkeled around. We could not catch a turtle in action but snorkeled out the cut along the rock wall and saw some great sea fans, some coral and some fish. David spotted two lionfish.
We spoke to our neighbors on Leor breifly. They have an interesting small boat, shallow draft, with a roller furling mainsail.
It felt great to have some exercise. We raised the dinghy and deflated the board for another passage across the Northeast Providence Channel to the Abacos tomorrow.