Plan A: sail to Rock Sound, approx. 42nm trip and after spending a few days, work our way up Eleuthera to Spanish Wells

Plan B: sail to South Palmetto Point a 52nm trip and anchor at Pau Pau Bay then backtrack to Rock Sound for provisions, laundry, etc and have protection from the SW winds expected Wed, then head north.

Reality: sailed to Kemps Point and as we turned north toward SPP, the wind died and shifted from SE to South, dropped the main and motored. Poured rain when 4nm out from SPP and the temp dropped from 84 to 71 in 15 mins. Passed at least 6-8 lines of white floats which we guessed might be crab pots.

We made great time, but we got going at 7:15 to be sure and arrived at South Palmetto Pt at 3:30. Russ declared that Pau Pau Bay (small but good holding in sand close to shore) was no good with any kind of south winds. Very close by was Sheep Cay but the bottom was hard and rocky and after 3 tries we gave up. Also tried where the chart book said was the best (and they use that word loosely in Eleuthera) anchoring, off the old town dock, and that too was almost as bad. Next option was to head south about 2nm to Ten Bay which offered protection from NE to South. The chart indicated sand and grass, but we needed to get ourselves anchored before the sun got so low that we couldn’t see the bottom. We found more sand than grass and the Rocna dug in acceptably well.

Noticed another cat, s/v Salty Paws anchored in the northern part of the small bay and they confirmed “crabs” when we saw the one they’d speared the next morning. It looked like a grunge large land crab. Although ESE at 14kts gusting 16 is not a big deal when sailing, or when anchored with protection, it is when the waves and swells head for exposed shoreline.

We wanted to walk around SPP – I mean we did alter Plan A just to check out a new place since Rock Sound would be mostly closed down on a Sunday. The wooden section of the dock was still usable but the concrete part that connected to shore was ruined, so we had to land on the beach.

Oh that was fun in the swells but our method of turning Bunting into the waves after tossing in the small Fortress works well. I hold the anchor line at the bow, slowly letting more out until the captain says “stop”, then tie the line at the bow tab. Russ gets out at the stern holding the second (folding grapnel) anchor line walks toward shore and pulls the dinghy in so I can climb out into hopefully less than one ft of water. We gather our stuff, let the dinghy out a bit so she’s floating then put the grapnel in sand on the beach. This takes practice and patience and we have now had plenty of both.

We walked the road that lead to the Queen’s Highway and came upon Nate and Jenny’s restaurant- oh bummer they don’t open until 5pm on Sundays- no surprise there. Street signs indicate population and prosperity but plenty of places, including a good-sized market, were no longer in business. The 22nm trip down to Rock Sound was a motor, make water one that we expected to do in low South-ish winds, but ended up being 11-15kts… right on our nose(s).

Rock Sound Harbor offers most everything a cruiser could want, including 3-sided protection; you only have southern exposure but even that is moderately mitigated by distant shore. The first order of business included a grocery stop and since we’d be near a liquor store and ATM, those were easy too.

The gas jug for the outboard was dangerously low.

The Esso station is the same short walk and we declined two ride offers on the way back in order to work those muscles. We each hold the handle and carry the jug between us.

Lunch and a tall cool beverage at Pascal’s was welcome after several trips back and forth. We each ordered a Parrot Punch which was a lovely green thanks to curacao mixed with pineapple and orange juices, not to mention three rums. We caught the end of the entertainment lunch for the cruise ship folk who come by Eleuthera Adventures bus from the Princess cruise ship anchorage down at the tail end of the island.

By Tuesday we were one of a dozen boats clustered in the “good holding” section near Pascal’s.

S/v Time Enough II organized a cruiser happy hour at Pascal’s who offered reduced prices on drinks and appetizers.

We’d gone in for laundry at 3Ts that morning, another clean and reasonably priced Laundromat owned and operated by the friendly and obviously educated Villimae. S/v Side by Side (Manta catamaran) told us of the get together and we were impressed that they knew Ortolan was a Maine Cat.  The ashore happy hour was a great success and we met many new boats, exchanged boat cards, stories and travel plans. Surprisingly, about 40% of the boats were heading south, but then not everyone crossed very early like we did.

Tuesday afternoon we’d planned lunch at Rosie’s Nort’Side but a large dark cloud with water spout kept us aboard instead.  Forget the Chinese calendar, this is the year of waterspouts.

Wednesday morning we walked a ways down the main road to check out the ocean hole and caves. A well-marked entrance was appreciated as was the sign display with birds, etc described.

Wednesday afternoon, most of us moved across the harbor to gain protection from the westerly winds and waves that would steadily intensify overnight.

Thursday looked good to move up to Governor’s Harbor, the capital of The Bahamas prior to Nassau.