Enjoying Rock Sound

Nice sail down from Governor’s Harbour to Rock Sound on Thursday.  No worse for wear in Wednesday Night’s frontal passage as we held fast in the notoriously (so we are told) poor holding in Governor’s.  I seem to have lost track of the days and had convinced myself that the front was the next night in coming.  Wednesday?  Thursday?  Who cares? 

Headed out early Thursday into 20 to 24 knots from the Northeast.  Perfect sailing for us, essentially behind and on the stern quarter the whole 27 nautical miles.  And windy enough to move a 30,000 pound Island Packet.  We averaged 6 knots the whole way in winds from 20 to 27 all morning.  The engine was on all of 15 minutes just to get us out of the harbor.

Arrived Rock Sound at 1230 (that’s 12:30 for you non-nautical types) to the welcoming “Hello!”s of Painless and Messenger.  Good to see familiar faces and anchored within hailing distance (that’s yelling distance to you non-nautical types).  Went boat-to-boat to touch base and ended a quite nice day with a Game Night aboard Endurance.  Played “Golf” but only Elizabeth and Aidan were real competitors (read, Winners…we were all competing!) and then a game of “Last Word” which had no intelligible way to keep score or keep order.  Home-made cookies and watermelon made it feel like home.  The cold wind helped there as well, but no snow here (and you?).  Dominoes and Pictionary have been saved, and promised, for another match.

Friday was an adventure!  Dinghied over to the two in-water “Blue Holes” here in Rock Sound Harbour.  Though we were in chest deep water surrounding the holes, the holes themselves are charted as more than 60 feet deep and connected to the Atlantic Ocean through a series of tunnels and caves.  Pictures from this snorkeling foray don’t do justice to the place.  See the August 2010 National Geographic for a great story on Bahamas Blue Holes (likely available at www.ngm.com).  (Truth in advertising:  we’d just had nice hot showers, it’s a little chilly here today.  Two “inspirational” Dads jumped in the holes with snorkels and masks while the rest of us sat warmly in the dinghy eager to see the pictures!)

Lunch was at the Nort’ Side Restaurant on the Atlantic side of Eleuthera.  Arranged by Beth of Painkiller, restauranteur Rose picked us up in her 1993 Honda Accord (two trips since there were eight of us) and served us lunch. She’s a one-woman operation, offering us a lovely walk on the shore of the Atlantic (we’re on the protected Eleuthera Bank); entertainment by Teddy the dog and all sorts of artifacts of shore living assembled on tables throughout the porch; and then feeding us a real Bahamian feast family style.  Cracked Conch, Fried Grouper, Stewed Grunt, Jerk Chicken, Rice & Peas, Fried Plantains, Potato Salad and Cole Slaw.  More than our group could eat (and at $12 per person, including beverages).  Rose’s place sits high above the Atlantic and a sandy beach that seems to go on forever.  She is a next door neighbor to Simon Pearce (yeah; the glass guy from Vermont) and often cooks for him and his guests on the island.  A real treat for us.

At the end of lunch, Rose drove us back toward the harbor, dropping us off at Ocean Hole Park where there is a huge land-based Blue Hole (did you read the National Geographic article yet?  You would know this.).  Jacques Cousteau’s team has explored this hole but never found the bottom or any connection to the sea.  Though it is filled with fish and rays and is visited by sea turtles.  It rises and falls with the tide.  So somewhere….

Thanks to Painless there is a tinkle in my glass of Johnnie Walker again.  Apparently, there are still some civilized people in this world who believe that ice may be just as important as food in a sail boat freezer.  God bless them every one!

Tomorrow we hope to enjoy more of Rock Sound and Eleuthera.  To those of you stuck in the snows of January (and that seems to be all of you except those in Florida), all we can say is try to stay warm and stay dry.  And just think how much fun you would be having if you were here.