Rock Sound, Eleuthera
With a nice SE breeze we set sail under sunny skies just as a giant cruise ship enters the anchorage. With the wind at our backs we make good time but the seas have us rolling about until we turn north around the southern tip of Eleuthera. The hilite of the trip was bringing in a nice 40 inch Mahi followed by a couple of Barricudas. We finish out the trip motoring the 6 miles up Davis Channel into choppy seas into a rain squall. Anchored by 3 pm after a 7 hour day in the protected waters off Rock Sound where we treated ourselves to a dinner of grilled Mahi and Steak.
With the arrival of the expected stormy weather we spend the next 4 days catching up on chores such as laundry, baking and shopping for groceries. Joined our friends aboard Will-lo-wind for happy hour one evening and hiked to the ocean beach between showers. During the early morning hours of our 3rd night an unexpected wind shift accompanied by a wild thunderstorm had us up on anchor watch for a few hours as we bounced about. In the middle of this storm a freighter (mailboat) come thru the anchorage to unload at the Govt pier and I'm sure a few of the boats were on edge as they were anchored close to the narrow channel. The following morning we moved to the now calm western side of the harbor along with 7 other boats.
Governors Harbor
With the arrival of fair weather we set off north for a great 6 hour sail to anchor off of this pretty colonial village. The local mens club hosts a fish fry every Friday with the profits benefiting various local projects. We make a point to attend whenever we are here and we convinced 6 other boats to join the festivities. Dinner and drinks on the beach was followed by a few of the ladies joining the dancing in the street to a much to loud DJ.
On Saturday a festival celebrating the Haitian heritage of many of the residents was setting up with loud music set to blast well into the wee hours so we moved to the far corner of the harbor. Glad we did as even from a distance the music was loud.
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| frying up a mess of snapper at Fish Fry |
Alabaster Bay
A short sail north has us watching storm clouds in the distance and we decided to play it safe and stop for lunch off this beautiful beach. Ended up staying the night and the next morning hiked to a nearby abandoned US Navy base where we spent the morning exploring the ruins and magnificent ocean beaches . I'm always amazed how quickly nature takes over and it seems a shame the buildings haven't been put to a new use. Apparently the base was used during the Cuban missile crises to keep an eye on Soviet Subs using undersea sonar and was manned by mostly civilian contractors. We did get to tour the reverse osmosis water plant now run by the local govt that utilizes existing water tanks and wells that draw from a huge concrete catchment basin.
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| Abandoned Navy Base-large clearing in background is concrete rainwater catchment area, a section not pictured was the base housing near the beach |
Hatchet Bay
A leisurely sail brought us next to the protected harbor of Hatchet Bay. We were joined for cocktails and my conch fritters by new friends aboard the Ketch S/V Compassion who we have been traveling with the past few days. The main reason for this stop is to get a meal of Stone Crab Claws. The past few times we have stopped they havn't been available so we made sure to get our fill this time. The local fisherman boils the claws then ships them out by air to the US the evening they come in which makes it hard to catch him. When we saw the boat going out we knew we would stay a second night just for this delicacy. I purchased two 1 gallon bags stuffed full for $20/bag and we managed to stuff ourselves while freezing half. Since these sell in Fl for $25-35/lb this is the only time we get this treat.
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| $20 plate of Stone Crab |
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| Using channel lock pliers to crack the claws |
Meeks Patch
With the winds expected to build we move on thru Current Cut and anchor in the lee of this tiny group of islands. As expected the winds built by nightfall to over 20 kts and held there thru the following day. Our anchorage was quite pleasant and we spent time walking the beach and exploring.
Spanish Wells
Since it looks like we will be here for a while waiting for the winds and seas to settle down before we make our next open ocean passage north to the Abacoes we decide to move to town to enjoy what civilization has to offer. With the big winds a dinghy ride from the anchorage wouldn't be pleasant so we move to a dock are able to snag a private slip from the same owner as we had on our last visit for engine repairs. We convinced our friends on Compassion to join us and it looks like we will be here for a few days.
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