Rock Sound via South Palmetto Point

Settle in; this one’s a bit lengthy…

Our last morning at Governor’s Harbor we went ashore early to avail ourselves of the laundromat to wash our sheets. We can and have washed them aboard Indigo Lady, but it’s challenging, so we hold out for laundromats when we can. Going ashore also afforded us the opportunity to get some gas for dingy, a couple of bottles of wine for Dave, a coffee from Da Perk for me, and some cinnamon rolls from the local bakery. We were back on Lady and underway by 10:30 am, enjoying those fresh and still warm cinnamon rolls!

It was a quick trip to anchor off South Palmetto Point, a stop I wanted to make because I’d heard about the amazing Island Farm with fresh produce, honey, jams & jellies, baked goods, etc. We were just preparing to go ashore to the Farm when @sailingseadragon dingied over to say hello. We’d met them back in Alabaster Bay. They were heading to Rock Sound. We arranged to meet up there the following day and spend some time together. Dave and I went ashore and walked the mile to Island Farm. We missed out on the baked goods, but we stocked up on fresh produce, including locally grown bananas, plus local honey, cheese and fresh salami. We also sprung for a Bahamian rum cake, commercially baked, but at least in the Bahamas. 

About 6:00 am the following morning, we woke to a few mosquitoes buzzing around our heads. After swatting a couple of them, we decided it was best to just get up and get underway for Rock Sound, though earlier than we’d planned. As soon as Dave got to the salon, he discovered that our magnetic screen door had blown open along 5” or so, which is what let in the mosquitoes. Dang! 

We had a quick breakfast of fresh, local sugarloaf pineapple that we’d bought in Governor’s Harbor, along with half each of the third cinnamon bun we’d bought there as well the morning we left. Double yum! We were underway by 7am. This was a longer, 23 nm trip, so I had a few hours to get ahead on blog entries and periodically go cabin to cabin rousting and killing mosquitoes. By the end of the evening we’d collectively killed about 3 dozen of the blighters, at least half of which had already bitten one of us.

At one point about halfway through our trip, a fish hit the line Dave had out trawling, but it got off before he could see what it was. We told ourselves it was just a barracuda, which we would have thrown back anyway. About a mile from the anchorage, in about 10 feet of water, we hit another fish. This time Dave landed a 25” black grouper! He dispatched it and put it in the bucket to clean after we’d anchored a few minutes later. Our new friends on Sea Dragon had passed us as the fish hit. As soon as our anchor was down, their nine-year-old son was on the radio excitedly hailing us to find out what we’d caught and how we’d caught it. He loves fishing and is learning how to spear fish this season. We invited them over for drinks and snacks for later in the afternoon. Dean and Sarah came over for some adult time, leaving the kids on board for some solo time of their own. We had a lovely chat for 3 or so hours and then they left for the very short dingy ride back to their boat and kids. 

We went ashore shortly after breakfast the next morning and headed about three quarter of a mile south to Cathedral Cave, also known locally as Spider Cave. The local nickname of Spider Cave is due to the numerous webs stuck to the rocks. They reminded me of Halloween decorations. The cave itself has lots of openings in the ‘ceiling’ allowing in sufficient light from above to not require flashlights. It was fun to poke around the nooks and crannies in this spacious cave. Lots of tree roots reached down from above seeking the cave’s floor. There were also lots of bats, lots more than we’d seen in Hatchet Bay Cave. This also meant lots of bat guano in some places, so we had to be careful where we put our hands. There are, of course, pictures and video of the caves and bats in the slide show below. 

We walked back into town looking for a place for lunch. Rock Sound Harbor is a large, well-protected harbor about 1.75 miles wide and 4 miles long. Their public dock is huge and new with at least a dozen ladders to climb up. Impressive. There is an airport at the north end of the harbor. So I expected there to be more in town, but there wasn’t much, which surprised both of us. Most of the stores and restaurants mentioned in our 8-year-old chart books no longer exist. Not sure what happened over those 8 years, but there’s not much here anymore. If the shiny new public and government docks are any sign, perhaps the town is working on building itself up again.

We had heard about Wild Orchid’s, however, through the Bahamas Land & Sea Facebook group, and that’s where we ended up for lunch. They are extremely boater friendly with both street side and dock side signs welcoming boaters. They let cruisers tie up to their dingy dock and even drop off their garbage. Lunch was really good, too, and the staff friendly. It was slow, only one other couple there. The bartender noticed a dingy drifting off and once she established it didn’t belong to either couple present, she drove Dave down to the town dock where our dingy was tied, and Dave zipped out to tow it to and tie it off to Wild Orchid’s dock. Great teamwork! Later in the afternoon the owners of the dingy stopped by to thank us with a bottle of wine.

We returned to Lady to pick up our snorkel gear, then headed back to shore to visit the famed Ocean Hole. It was green, and not a healthy green. But we bought a few slices of bread to feed the fish and I got in the water with the camera to document it. Then Dave came in and we swam for about 5 minutes before deciding there was nothing to see because (a) the fish hang out where they get fed, and (b) the visibility was abysmal. We later found out the hole used to be crystal clear and a place locals hung out on the weekends to swim and play in the park on the south end. I fear the feeding of the fish to draw in tourists was the demise of the ocean hole. So sad. Before heading back to Lady, we dingied around the ample harbor looking for the in-water, small blue holes (ranging from 24’ to 45’ or so) we’d seen on the charts and stopped to snorkel at one. That one was shallow enough to almost see bottom, but the visibility wasn’t great. Still, we felt cleaner after the swim in the green hole.

The next morning I made a final shopping list and we headed to Wild Orchid’s dingy dock to drop off garbage and walk to the supermarket for a final provisioning run. We were followed by a dog we’d met the prior day. He actually followed us all the way to the market, waited for us while we were inside, and followed us all the way back to our dingy. Dave had given him a small piece of bread the prior day when we were feeding the fish. No wonder the pooch followed us. 

Later that afternoon Dean, Sarah and the kids from Sea Dragon joined us aboard Lady for drinks and homemade pizzas. They brough cookies for dessert. We talked nonstop for several hours, adults and kids alike, with our evening winding down on the tramps gazing at the stars with an astronomy lesson from Dave. Alas, the following day we would part ways, but have been keeping in touch through texting and social media. 

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again (and again, and again), but one of the most enjoyable parts of cruising for me is meeting other cruisers. Dave and I both love spending time with other adventurers of all ages and backgrounds, who are each exploring this world from the sea. Our time together may be brief, but each meeting leaves and indelible imprint on our lives- a new friendship, a new perspective, a new way to think about life aboard, or life in general. To each of you who have touched our lives while cruising and who may be reading this now- thank you!

Thus concludes our exploration of Eleuthera. From Rock Sound we headed to the northern Exumas for some diving until it’s time to head back to Great Harbor Cay at the end of June. I will start to tell you about this part of our adventure next time. Until then, stay safe and take care of each other.