Southern Eleuthera

 

The Bridge 

The early morning hours brought the expected wind shift to more west than south. We left at 8 AM Sunday April 3rd and the wind angle was perfect for a great fast sail. Our trip from north Cat Island, behind Little San Salvador brought us over an area called the bridge. It is  between Little San Salvador and Eleuthera and the water goes from several thousand feet deep to less than 50. For less than a mile the surrounding water is forced up and over the shallow area creating an exciting turbulent ride. It was close to slack tide when we went through but when the current is running I imagine it’s a very difficult place to pass. At one point a wave broke over the enclosure and got the boom wet 12 feet above the surface. We hit our high speed for the day there at 8.2 probably riding a wave.

Checking out the cruise ship at 
Princess Cays Eleuthera 

An hour later the water and wind settled and the asymmetrical spinnaker came out to assist us heading north. We followed a boat called Happy Together and closed a 2.5 mile gap to about a half as we neared Rock Sound. 

At anchor Gary and Leslie from Happy Together stopped by on their way to dinner and we talked about what a nice sail we had. Over the next couple of days we would get together with them and several other boaters who were visiting Rock Sound. This is a reprovisioning stop so we scheduled time for the supermarket, hauling diesel and water tanks in between the fun. 

On Tuesday, April 5 we went to the Ocean Hole. First we tied up to the new dock. What a plus for the boaters.

The trapped version of the Ocean  Hole

This hole is a saltwater fed pond a 1/2 mile inland from the beach.

Experienced spelunkers Andrea and Brett with Sheri
 

There weren’t bats here last year 

There we met Andrea and Brett from Happy Jack and we all went together to the Cathedral caves. We invited them to the boaters gathering later that afternoon. On the way back Sheri and I stopped by Glorea’s fruit and vegetable stand.

One proud Lady

It was one of those simple moments that turned out extraordinary because of Glorea and a friend of hers Warren. He explained the local vegetables and took 

Sesame plant

Sheri to show her the plant that produces sesame seeds. This plant had reseeded from Glorea’s garden along a wall. We even picked wild dill there.

We got together with 11 new boaters from 5 boats. We share a lot of common topics and then there is always finding out how they came to be here. We got together  Monday night at Wild Orchard’s happy hour,

The group enjoying comradely 

Gary piping the
sunset 

 Tuesday afternoon/evening a gathering onshore with everyone bringing appetizers and Wednesday we were focused on laundry and water so we missed the gathering but we had a great dinner at Wild Orchards then back to the boat prepping for our morning departure to Ten Bay.

Once again we caught the wind right and had a quick 24 mile sail. We reached the fastest sailing speed ever for us briefly at 8.8 knots by surfing the crest of a wave. Not normal but fun. We anchored just off the Ten Bay beach and had to side tie the anchor in order to keep our bow pointing into the swells.

We packed our chairs and dinner and went to the beach for the late afternoon. Walking and swimming we met a young man from Vancouver and I questioned him on what to do when we visit there in August. A couple walked over who were traveling in a large trawler. They had spent years traveling by sailboat in the Bahamas and Carribean and are enjoying driving their trawler slowly through these islands. 

Friday is baking day at Eleuthera Farm Market so we anchored off the Beach at South Palmetto Point and walked just over a mile to get some bread, cheese and amazing gooey cinnamon buns.

Almost worth the danger 

The winds whipped up 3+ foot swells that lifted the stern over 2 feet above the dinghy making getting on and off dangerous. Soon we were back on our way to Governors Harbor for Friday night fish fry festivities.