Abaco - Eleuthera (Harbour Island) - Exumas

[Catopia]

We’re planning on leaving the Abacos for the Exumas next week, with a stop at Harbour Island (Eleuthera). It looks like entry is best at Harbour Mouth on the East side. Has anyone done this late in the day (after sailing down from Abacos)?

Trying to decide about a night sail with early morning arrival or a more relaxed day sail with late afternoon arrival.

Thanks!

[Lowcountry]

It's strongly recommended to hire a pilot to cross the Devil's Backbone. I'd say your best bet is an early morning departure from lower Abaco and laying up at Spanish Wells for the night, then hiring a pilot the next morning. I wouldn't try to cross the DB with the sun low in the sky and no pilot on board. Just my 2 cents.

[a64pilot]

I did it a month or two ago, had a Cat in front of me, he got lucky and didn’t ground on the reef but just do to luck and a shallow draft.
It’s sort of a question mark entry, well laid out on Explorer charts, if you pay attention your fine, but you can apparently hire a pilot to come out to the boat with a short notice.
You are talking about here and not the entry into Spanish Wells?
If so you can see it’s kind of tricky, add to it that there can often be significant swells, and those are rocks, not sand bars.

[a64pilot]

Harbor mouth you should be fine, it’s protected waters and grass and sand, much kinder than rocks

[Catopia]

Thanks for the comments. We did a night crossing from Abaco to Harbour Mouth. Spent a day at Harbour Island and heeded the advice and hired a Pilot for DB. Glad we did, it gave us more time to enjoy the trip through. Had a great sail down from Spanish Wells to Great Exuma with plenty of great stops along the way.