Eleuthera North to South

Hi everyone,

Nearly a fortnight since our last blog.  How time flies when having fun!  We've been exploring the west coast of Eleuthera Island.  We rejoin our story in Glass Window and move on Hatchet Bay, Rock Sound and Starved Creek.

Red Sky at Night

We continued our stay at Glass Window for several days.  We spent one day patching several leaks in our dinghy.  Then we had a windy and slightly wet day when we stayed aboard.  From the anchorage we could see Atlantic swells breaking through the Glass Window into the Sound - spectacular!

When the weather cleared we ventured ashore to visit the Queen's Baths and the Glass Window Bridge.  The Atlantic still had a swell running so we didn't go down into the Baths.

Queen's Baths

Queen's Baths

At the bridge the contrast from one side to the other was amazing.

Atlantic side

Sound side

With an E wind forecast we departed Glass Window for Hatchet Bay.  It was hard on the wind and a great sail.  We couldn't quite lay down the coast so tacked in to reach the cut.  The entrance into Hatchet Bay is about 25m wide.  Inside it's a very well protected anchorage.  Locals claim it to be the best hurricane hole in the Bahamas.

Glass Window to Hatchet Bay Track

Hatchet Bay Arrival

Glass Window to Hatchet Bay Graphs

We anchored in the NW corner of the bay in 6m over silty sand.  Very good holding.

Approaching Hatchet Bay cut

Through the cut!

The main cruiser's spot in Hatchet Bay is Farrington's Boaters Haven on the far SE corner of the bay.  They do fantastic burgers for US$7 and beers for US$4 - good value by Bahamian standards.  The Farrington family built everything themselves, including the 'dinghy dock' which is actually a large jetty.

There's a fresh water tap 100m up the road.  We did a series of dinghy trips to refill our almost empty tanks and jerries.  We used some of the water to do our laundry aboard since the one ashore was a long walk away.  Only a 200m walk away is a small supermarket where we found fresh bread, veggies and some frozen meat.

Farrington's Boaters Haven

Dinghy Dock!

View from the 'dinghy dock'

On a quiet day we took the dinghy out through the cut and E about 200m to explore a small cave.  You can dinghy into the cave easily, except perhaps at high tide.  Of course the sea needs to be calm!  Inside there are bats and interesting rock 'sculptures'.

Cave Entrance

Inside the Cave

Inside the Cave

We walked around Hatchet Bay town.  It's quite a pretty place overall.  As everywhere in the Bahamas there are many churches, all neat and tidy.

Hatchet Bay House

Hatchet Bay Church

Another Church

On several evenings we went ashore to the Boaters Haven.  The owner Emmett is a pretty good guitarist and he serenades all guests.

Emmett serenades all visitors

One day we dinghied ashore to a launching ramp N of Zen Again.  This gave us easy access to the road W out of Hatchet Bay.  We walked to the Hatchet Bay Caves which was an interesting walk along the main road.  Most of the traffic was very considerate, but not all!  On arriving at the caves we realised we'd forgotten our torches so our exploration was seriously curtailed.

Ashore at the northern launching ramp

Walking to the Cave

In the Cave

After a great stay in Hatchet Bay we had another weather window to sail SE to Rock Sound.  We had another great sail, this time a close then beam reach.  Water depth in Rock Sound was nearly a metre deeper than the charts indicate.

Hatchet Bay to Rock Sound Track

Rock Sound Arrival

South towards Rock Sound

Rock Sound is another nice anchorage.  We anchored in 2.5m over silty sand with good holding.  It's not as 'snug' as Hatchet Bay but there's limited fetch across the quite shallow Sound.  We went ashore at the Wild Orchids Restaurant dinghy dock.  Another dinghy dock which is a quite well-built jetty, albeit not on the scale of Farrington's.  We had several meals at Wild Orchids.  Very nice indeed.

Wild Orchids Dinghy Dock

Wild Orchids

Nice Spot!

The main dinghy dock at Rock Sound has been recently rebuilt.  It's enormous!

Main Rock Sound Dinghy Dock

Zen Again at Rock Sound

Ashore at Rock Sound settlement we found a good supermarket, much bigger than the small store at Hatchet Bay.  But of course very expensive.  There's plenty to see around the settlement, including the Ocean Hole, a nearly 200m deep sink hole connected to the ocean.

Rock Sound Old House

Rock Sound's Ocean Hole

Fish in the Hole

Outside the settlement there are other natural wonders to see.  The Boiling Hole and Cathedral Caves are worth the walk.

Rock Sound's Boiling Hole

Cathedral Cave

Cathedral Cave

Cathedral Cave

Another watering hole in Rock Sound is Frigates.  It's a short walk from the supermarket or the laundry.  Sadly their dinghy dock is in poor shape.

Frigates

Frigates

Some of the official buildings in Rock Sound settlement are impressive.

Rock Sound Administration Building

After 6 nights in Rock Sound we moved a few miles south to Starved Creek.  There's a 'blue hole' there and we anchored close to it in 2.5m over silty sand (again).  We snorkelled over the blue hole.  It's pretty impressive but sadly the visibility was poor on the day.

Rock Sound to Starved Creek

Blue Hole

Anchored at Starved Creek

The next day was wet and windy.  One rain storm passed us by.  The next one had our name on it.  Happily the anchor proved to be well dug in and we filled our water tanks and jerries in the rain.

Uh Oh!

Starved Creek was as far S as we were going in Eleuthera.  From here we turned N again.  We plan to visit several more places on the W side of Eleuthera.  And then we'll be Great Abacos bound!