Week 4 South Eleuthra and Marina life

A glorious day at one of Chris' favorite oceanside beaches  (abandonded Club Med from the 80's) was followed by an evening at the local Kawanis Clubs' fish fry on the towns waterfront. Fish Fry (noun) is a tradition in many Bahamian towns but is normally a group of shacks serving food and libations but  run for profit by locals.  These party spots are always located on the waterfront and only operate on Fridays and special occasions such as Easter and Homecoming. The difference at Governors Harbor is that it is set up in a permanent structure and is operated by a local mens group with profits benefiting causes throughout the community.

Club Med (French Leave) beach

French Leave Resort

dancing in the street at Fish Fry

  Rock Sound
     We sail south to the better protected anchorage at Rock Sound where we join 25 other boats seeking protection from the next cold front. We spent our three days here with trips to the well stocked grocery store, hauling water and fuel in 6 gallon jugs and hikes to the oceanside beach. Hosted a happy hour with neighbors sailing for the past 3 years out of the Netherlands  and were entertained by their stories.

Marina Life- Cape Eleuthra Resort
    As many of you have gathered we never stay in marinas during our Bahamas travels. This is due mainly to the costs involved and also to the remote spots we enjoy visiting. The cost of an overnite stay here is $2.50/ft plus 12% tax equating to $95/nite. Hearing about a deal they were offering of  a  credit of $300 towards a 4 nite stay found us taking a slip here where we enjoyed the resorts amenities.  Our final bill worked out to be $20/nite which is what we normally pay to pick up a mooring in some harbors we visit.
     This resort was originally built in the early 70's with an airstrip, 18 hole golf course, enclosed marina harbor plus many dredged harbors along with 7 miles of paved roads serving the 4000 acre complex to accompany the expected building boom. As with many Bahamian resorts the early 80's saw the 40 cottage main complex abandoned and falling to ruin. In more recent times  the property was purchased by the billionare Amway founders the DeBos family (Trumps Sec of Education Betsy DeBos). Who leveled the original buildings and have built a world class resort and marina on a small portion of the property.
     We were quite happy to enjoy hiking the miles of paved trails along with the pool and beaches. Chris was able to catch up on laundry and enjoyed long hot showers each day(a luxury on a small sailboat).

 

 

 

 

Betsy DeVos' 50 millon dollar 160ft yacht

With our marina stay behind us we move a short sail south to the tiny Plumb Creek entrance. A beautiful shallow sandy cove but it is only protected by the prevailing easterlies. From here we need to make a decision on whether to head west to the Exumas or continue southeast to the far islands of Little San Salvadore, Cat, Conception, Rum and finally Long Island before ending up in Georgetown, Exuma. It's been a couple of years since we took the eastern route but with limited protected anchorages the weather plays a major role in our decision.  We will consult the weather gods and decide in the morning.