Rock Sound, Cape Eleuthera, and Davis Harbour Marina

Monday we stayed in Rock Sound. We went to the bank, the store, the beach, and a couple of blue holes. I cruised by one area that had free wifi, and posted the blog with no pictures.

Tuesday, we departed Rock Sound and went into Cape Eleuthera for fuel and gasoline. The harbor there is beautiful, and the fuel and gas were much lower than Marsh Harbour. We went into the marina office, and there were several teen-agers there from the Island School. They were all in there buying snacks. The dockmaster was friendly and accommodating.

We meandered along the wall off Eleuthera, which begins at about 60 feet and drops faster than my fathometer can even find it! My track weaves back and forth as I patrolled the wall. There is 30' of water right up next to the island at some places, though the wall is out a little further.

Our destination for the night was Davis Harbour, and the marina there. We came in, plugged in, turned on the a/c and I started laundry. Allen and Tom made pizza on Tom's boat from scratch. For those of you who have never eaten a conch-pineapple pizza, you don't know what you are missing! They made three pizzas, but only one was their Caribbean special!

A young man named Lynden approached me in the late afternoon wanting to know if I would like the boat washed down. I sort of blew him off, until I realized that I needed to put that young man to work. He had already worked a full day as a diesel mechanic, and was out scouting to pick up extra cash. It isn't often that you see a young man work "as unto the Lord," but this guy put the effort in, and did an outstanding job. He told me that he could return after work on Wednesday with his cousin to wax the superstructure, and I made arrangements with him to do it. The gelcoat is oxidizing badly, and I can see the vessels here in the harbor that he's waxed. It should be good for both of us.

This morning, Wednesday, Mercy and I walked up the road a couple of miles with Tom and Amber the dog. There is a small settlement, Waterford, and there several folks walking, as in looked like heading to work.

Allen, Tom, and I took the Whaler and ran back to the north a few miles to a couple of spectacular shallow dives. We made a dive in about 32 feet of water on some rocks that came up to about 18, and the water was crystal clear. There were lots of tropical fish, lots of squirrel fish, mangrove snapper, and one fair sized lobster.

Then we moved to a second spot (we spotted a mooring!) that had some larger rocks and coral coming up from 48' to 8.' The rock was like a mushroom, with great overhangs, and had a hollow crack in the middle that we swam up from the bottom into about 10 feet of water. There were lots of lionfish on that site.

We worked all afternoon on cleaning up the boat, defrosting the refrigerator, and the Engel, moving everything off the roof and deck so the guys could wax, and cooking dinner. I'm tired!

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we'll head to Little San Salvador for the day/night and on to Cat Island.

The people and church at Rock Sound

We moved the MERCY to find an anchorage towards town with free wi-fi access. I puttered up and down the sound, trying every signal. There were a few commercial sites, and some password protected ones. Finally I found a blue hole and a free wi-fi at the same time! I anchored by the hole, and uploaded Friday's blog, and checked email. It just doesn't get any better than being able to anchor on a blue hole that has free wi-fi!

From yesterday... a tree I had to climb

Almost as soon as I anchored however, I left to attend church in Rock Sound. The people were friendly, and sent greetings to the DeLoaches and the Carey's. There were announcements about the community Independce Day celebration on the 9th, which sounded like fun, but, I think we'll be long gone by then.

The Assembly of God church in Rock Sound

I returned to the boat, and checked out the hole, and moved to anchor in better holding for the night before I uploaded Sat blog. Now we're anchored almost off the dinghy dock, in good holding sand.

Tree roots (see yesterday's log) growing through the cavern roof

In the evening, I returned to church.  Some of the folks said there are a lot of crfuisers here during the winter. I may be one! This is a beautiful little town, and worth returning to. No fuel or gas is available (like Hatchet Bay) without doing it by jerry jug.

Rock Sound area caves and ocean holes

Saturday Allen, Tom, and I took the Whaler to the public dock in Rock Sound, armed with hiking shoes, lights, cameras, water bottles, and a few places we wanted to find.

First, we headed south of town a little more than half a mile from the dinghy dock. Directly across from the AME church, is an Ocean Hole. I guess that here they are calling it an ocean hole if it is inland, and a blue hole if it is offshore. The hole was not something we'd have swum in, though we did watch some turtles and fish in it.

The reason we were there however was to find what someone in Active Captain had described as the biggest cave system he'd seen in the Bahamas. While it wasn't what I'd call a cave system, we found something twice as good! There were caverns that were a part of a sink area.

 They lay sort of in a circular form, and there were enough holes in the top that there was adequate light to look around. We also had our flashlights to look in the dark crevasses. Tree roots had dropped straight down many of the openings. The photos really don't show the size of the complex, and the flash on the camera makes it appear we're just outside somewhere. There were bats in some places, and mosquitoes in other places. We had split up looking for "the cave", and we were yelling Marco Polo to keep up with each other. The guys entered the cavern from one side, and I from another, and we were working towards each other without knowing it. When my "Marco" was met with muffled rock, I worked my way to the entrance, and we promptly teamed up again. I let the guys excitedly take me through what they had found, and then I took them to the area I'd been in. I was convinced they had to connect, and sure enough, we went in my side, and came out theirs. It was great fun.

Then we walked back into town, and went to the city park, which is on a big ocean blue hole. It has to be one of the greatest locations for a park I've ever seen. All around the water was landscaped, and there were stairs and a ladder down to the water. There were a few signs, including one that said the hole was over 600' deep. Hope you're making a list of these must see places in Rock Sound.

We stopped for some ice cold lime-ade that was so refreshing! Then we walked to the other end of town to the grocery store. We needed a loaf of bread, and Tom needed a few more items. I walked back and got the boat and came to pick them up.

On the way, I got new directions (I'd asked where we bought the drinks, but the directions weren't good) to the Assembly of God church, and went by to make sure I could find it the next morning.

In the afternoon, with it hot, we took the dogs to the beach for awhile, then took the Whaler blue hole hunting. We found several that we snorkeled, a few that I quickly looked at with a tank, and killed a few more lionfish. I think I got 11 Sat.

We went back to the bluehole we'd snorkled on Friday, and went around the ledge with SCUBA. It was pretty interesting, and COLD!

After supper, we went to bed exhausted. You really can pack too much into a day!

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

Royal Island, Spanish Wells Clinic and a small world

At home in Royal Island Anchorage

Royal Island Anchorage is a great place to be in a blow. The bottom is great holding, and the surrounding terrain keeps the bay pretty calm. It is still windy enough to not be too hot.

Monday we cleaned the inside of the boat a little, and played chess for several hours. We're listening to audiobooks, and well, it was sort of a "down" day. I've been fighting an ear infection for a few days, and in general, felt miserable.

Tuesday, I decided I'd better get some antibiotics. Allen and Mercy stayed with the MERCY while I took the Whaler to Spanish Wells. It was blowing about 25, and I was really surprised that I could make it to Spanish Wells dry! I will say, however, that every bounce was like someone hammering my head...

I went to Pinder's Grocery Store in Spanish Wells, and Gurney Pinder greeted me at the dock, and told me where the clinic was. I asked him if he knew the two men I'd gone to tankerman's school in Ft. Lauderdale with, and he told me that the one was his brother-in-law, and pointed to a woman driving off, and that was his wife, my sister! I decided to try to make contact with them before I left.

I went to Spanish Wells Yacht Haven Marina, and Treadwell greeted me, and let me tie the Whaler up to go to the clinic. He gave me great directions, and off I went.

The clinic was an interesting place. In the time that I was there, I saw one other patient, who was coming in as I was leaving. I walked in, told them about my problem, filled out a registration form, and was accompanied back to a room by the nurse. The nurse took my vitals, my medical history, and my blood sugar, looked into my ear, and exclaimed how inflamed my ear was. She called the pharmacist across the street to see if he had an otic antibiotic with a steroid for inflammation, and issued me some oral antibiotics as well. The clinic visit was $30, and the antibiotics were $8. She asked me if I needed any pain killers, and me, not big on pain meds, said no. She said she could give me something that evidently they don't have in the States, the name I can't recall, that was popular in the Caribbean. I declined, although I sort of regretted it later, as I was swallowing more Alleve. I walked across the street to Food Fair, and had my script for the ear drops filled. Fast, clean, efficient, thorough, competent... what a great clinic!

Before I left the clinic, I asked the lady at the desk if she knew my friends, and the next thing I knew, she'd picked up the phone, called them, and Donald came to the clinic, picked me up, took me to his house to meet his wife, and offered me a ride anywhere I needed to go. By that point, I just wanted to get my script filled, and go back to the boat!

I made it right before the rain hit. Allen changed to a swimsuit, and scrubbed the boat down, and then we caught enough water to top the water tank off and fill the sunshowers. Water at the marina is .20/gal for city water (that you would NOT put in your water tank) or $.50/gal for RO water, I was glad we topped everything off!

It rained and blew all night, while we slept in a great anchorage.

Coconut bocce ball instead of Harbour Island

Sunday

We decided that, in spite of the wind, we would see if we could run the Whaler around to Harbour Island. We ran to Spanish Wells, and then stuck our head around the point in the Atlantic Ocean, still hiding behind the reef. You should have seen the size of the breakers! We figured out very quickly that while great to look at, definitely NOT something we would do that day in the Whaler, wisdom being the better part of valour, and all!

When the high speed ferry went from Spanish Wells to Harbour Island, we stuck our nose out once more, just to watch him go around the corner. I would think that the passage could get impassable for the ferry if the weather turned really bad out of the north!

Then we returned along the lee side of Royal Island, and found a sand bar, about a foot under water at low tide, where the wind wasn't creating many waves, and turned into a submerged beach day. Allen and Mercy climbed up on the rocks, and Allen pulled a piece of fruit off a tree, about the size of a lemon, green, with a kind of rhind on it, but otherwise, kinda hollow in the center. I have no idea what it was, but they were just the tiniest bit bouyant, and made the best toys! He brought two, and a coconut, and we spent awhile playing bocce ball with the coconut. It gets pretty interesting with the coconut bouncing on the slight chop, moving downwind with the current. It took us awhile to perfect our game, but now we are ready to take on any challengers.

Mercy had a blast with the fruit as well, for when she would bump it with her nose, it would go underwater for several seconds. I know, we should have got a picture of the fruit, but it is hard to play in wet stuff, and still remember to get dry pictures.

We returned to the boat tired and hungry, and cooked a turkey, with potatoes, onions, peas, cranberry sauce... it was pretty good!

Royal Island Anchorage and Spanish Wells

This morning dawned a little windier, but we were in the perfect anchorage for that! The long oval anchorage is open directly to the Eleuthera Sound in a pretty narrow cut to the south, and aside from that, surrounded by land in all directions.

We ran in the lee of the island out to make a dive on the wreck of the Arimoroa. The water was super clear, and there were a lot of fish, including the largest lionfish I have killed to date! It was a little surge-ey, but we were diving at slack tide, so it wasn't bad.

We went back to the boat, had lunch, showered, and got ready for our trip to the town of Spanish Wells. The trip by Whaler was nice, as we ran in the lee of the islands, and we idled through Spanish Wells, looking at all the commercial fishing boats. There is a high speed ferry that runs from Nassau to Spanish Wells to Harbour Island every day, and it only takes 2 1/2 hrs from Nassau. It is an impressive looking boat!

We stopped at the local grocery for a loaf of bread, and then returned to Royal Island anchorage.

We climbed around the old ruins from the 1920's of a fallen estate, and saw some older walls as well.

After supper, we're enjoying some audio books, writing our logs, and enjoying air conditioning as the battery charges. Since it is almost dark, it is almost bedtime. Truly another beautiful day in paradise!

Little Harbour, Abacos to Royal Island, Eleuthera

We awoke to some passing thunderstorms and rain before daylight. It was nice to get a good freshwater rinse for our salty, salty boat.

I listened to the weather on the SSB, as I do almost every morning, and decided that today was the best day to jump across the 50 mile stretch to Eleuthera. We moved the compressor from the roof to the cockpit, and pulled the tanks out of the Whaler, to place in the cockpit as well. It proved we didn't need to move the compressor, as it was a gorgeous, smooth crossing, but, better safe than sorry!

The Atlantic Ocean was calm, with barely a gentle swell. We saw two ships in our crossing, and a couple of sportfishing boats.

We entered the reef at the cut between Little Egg and Egg Island. As I puttered on to our anchorage a couple of miles away, Allen took the Whaler to look at the wreck. The freighter had a galley fire in 1970, that quickly spread, until her fertilizer cargo combusted. The captain ran the ship on the reef, and evacuated the crew. The cargo smoldered for months, and I'm told it killed much of the surrounding reef.

For the next 22 years, she sat upright, looking like an anchored ship. Hurricane Andrew broke the ship into, and sunk her, making for an interesting shallow wreck, and we may dive it tomorrow.

I brought the MERCY into a great holding anchorage at Royal Island, where you could find protection from almost any direction. I've heard a couple of boats rode out Andrew here.

After supper we sat on the bow and watched lightning in distant clouds of a front line. The clouds never made it to us, so we never got rained on, and it was just far enough away to be enjoyable to watch!