Hatchet Bay to Rock Sound

On Friday, we awoke to glass calm seas (and thick mosquitoes!) What a beautiful day to travel. The seas were flat all the way, the sun was bright, the water was so calm we spent most of our time on the bow, with the remote autopilot in hand, as we pointed out stuff on the bottom to each other in 30+ feet of water. We stopped once for a swim break, and there was a remora under the boat.

Calm enough to lose the horizon

Tom, on the Daydream was running with us, and had a problem from the beginning with his stbd engine. Allen went over and steered for him while he worked on his electrical problem. So, for awhile Allen had his own trawler!

When we got into Rock Sound, we spotted a pretty blue hole pretty quick, and anchored up near the blue hole to snorkel. The hole was in about 11 feet of water, and dropped to about 24. The edges were undercut at about 18, and there was quite a thermocline where the clear water was coming into the hole. The water on that tide was salt, so I suspect it always is.

Tom has an underwater scooter he let Allen try, which was great fun as he circled the hole.  Allen spotted three lionfish for me, that I promptly speared. I discovered with the three prong paralyzer head, you can slide them off the end with a jerk, and quickly spear them again. After multiple punctures, they are dead and breaking into pieces, which we hope encourages other fish to eat them. A sting ray became interested, and was eating the dead ones.

The lionfish are a Pacific species, with an exotic introduction into the Atlantic and Caribbean, with devastating consequences. The have no natural predators in the Atlantic basin, multiply worse than the proverbial rabbit, and eat enormous quantities of juvenile and small snapper and grouper, which could have serious consequences to the fish stocks. Many divers are trying to keep the population in check.

After our great snorkeling at the hole, we moved from our temporary anchorage, to a great holding, sandy anchorage in the NW corner of the sound. We stayed far enough off the beach that we hoped only the more adventurous mosquitoes would visit.

We had a gorgeous sunset, and a tranquil night, so I'm well rested and ready to explore!

Allen at Allen's Chapel in Rock Sound