By the time we left Tranquility Bay, we had decided to continue on to the Exumas — the next group of islands to the southwest. But first we had get further down the inside of west shore of Eleuthera to the large protected bay of Rock Sound near the southmost tip of Eleuthera.
Skinny Land, Skinny Water
The majority of Eleuthera is a very skinny band of land that runs Northwest to Southeast. There is no choice but to follow the coastline as a huge shallow shoal area prominently marked on charts as “Unsurveyed Area” is riddled with shifting sandbars. “Shifting Sandbars” sounds like a good name for a Caribbean bar band. It’s up to you to connect the dots to “Rock Sound.”
That body of water is called “the bight” and is considered “Da Calm Side” of Eleuthera thanks to those shifting sandbars. The Unsurveyed Area serves as a buffer between the Gulf Stream and the island. About 60 nm from Gozz, Rock Sound could be reached with a long day’s sail, but we had been encouraged to break up the journey with a port of call to Governor’s Harbour, the administrative center for the state of Eleuthera.
Governors Harbour
Governors Harbour from Tranquility Bay was a two-hour sail with our big new genoa deployed the entire way and the diesel engine off. The winds were from the northeast at 16 knots over our port quarter we maintained a leisurely 5.5 knots with just that forward sail. It’s amazing what a difference a new sail makes – will have to start saving pennies for a new mainsail!
We stayed two nights in Governors Harbour, anchored close to the southern shore of the small lagoon that serves as its harbor. There are no marinas or even any docks to encourage sailors to go ashore. In fact there was only one concrete structure on the low east bank to tie a dinghy. Otherwise, you can anchor a dinghy 100 feet off a sandy beach and wade ashore. The limited anchorage and poor shore access didn’t make this the most inviting harbor we’ve visited.
Governor’s Harbour is the oldest European settlement in the Bahamas and the Bahamas’ first colonial capital. Currently home to 1,500 people, it is the administrative and physical center of Eleuthera. The settlement is touted for its colorful colonial houses and government buildings, and we spent an afternoon exploring part of the town on foot with our friends from S/V Shadow.
I usually determine how well we like a place based on the number of photos that we take along the way. Governors Harbour rated no photos. Zilch. There were few stores or cafes, and the streets were mostly empty. Descriptions of the settlement mention that it is a quiet place, but this was more like a ghost town. We had been greeted with smiling faces every place we had stopped so far in the Bahamas. In GH, we just got cold stares from most of the people we encountered. Perhaps they were just tired of the tourists. We made the usual provisioning run, but the selection of groceries at the only store near the harbor was dismal. The storied charm of this historic town was lost on us.
Rock Sound
On the second day after our arrival, we departed Governors Harbour for Rock Sound into southeast winds, the general direction we were heading. We motor sailed with the mainsail and genoa out, making headway of about 5 knots.
Rock Sound is a large, well-protected bay a couple miles wide and maybe four miles deep from the entrance at the south end of the somewhat bean-shaped bay. Depending upon the weather, boats in the bay move from one side of the bay to the other. The middle of the bay is shallow, so boats drawing more than three or four feet of water have to go to the shipping channel at the south end of the bay to get from one side to the other. We Initially anchored on west side the first night due to heavy winds in the forecast. The next day was calm, and we moved to the anchorage in front of the Rock Sound settlement.
Showboat
Our laundry bag was full, necessitating a trip to 3T’s Laundromat, a short walk from the dock . We were greeted inside the door by the owner of 3T’s Laundromat, a grizzled and gregarious Bahamian known as Showboat. Showboat informed us that all the machines were busy and instructed us to come back in 45 minutes. He assured us we could safely leave our laundry bag behind — he would safeguard it for us.
Showboat is an institution in Rock Sound, and perhaps a legend. Rumor had it that he had been a member of the Bahamian National Baseball team in his earlier years. His friendly, chatty conversation made up for the cool reception we had received in Governors Harbour.
We wandered off in search of breakfast and found a local spot called Louis Delights. We ordered our breakfast and then watched a steady stream of locals picking up food to go. And while it was still early, the majority were ordering a typical Bahamian breakfast of Souse or Boil’ Fish – which we would consider more of a soup.
We arrived back at the laundry and Showboat directed us to a couple machines he was holding for us. He runs a very tight ship. When he says come back in X minutes, he means X minutes!
Moments of Fame
While we waited on our laundry to finish, some uniformed Bahamian officials came in to visit Showboat. They wanted a picture with his customers, and we ended up joining Showboat, the Police Chief, and others for a photo op. Maybe we ended up in the local paper; probably not.
With our laundry underway and under the watchful eye of Showboat, we wandered around the settlement. The highlight was Ocean Hole, the best known of several blue holes in the area. A blue hole is a water-filled sinkhole on land, usually emerald blue and often the collapsed ceiling of a cavern. Many blue holes connect to tunnels that run deep underground and fill with groundwater. Some tunnels open miles away in lakes, bays or the ocean.
These underwater openings are also called blue holes, but may be called boiling holes if they create turbulence. The other end of Ocean Hole is said to be in the Atlantic Ocean. The water level rises and falls with the tides and contains saltwater fish and other sea creatures that navigate from a boiling hole several miles out to sea. Ladders for swimmers and divers allow access to the Ocean Hole. The fish were clearly accustomed to getting fed as they showed up as soon as we walked down the steps to the edge of the hole. While swimming and even scuba diving is permitted, fishing is not.
Is there a Protest?
While on our walk we heard lots of yelling, horns honking, and drumming. We went in search of the noise, but it seemed to be moving and always out of our sight. Turns out the local school was celebrating the success of their soccer team, who were now heading to Nassau for the Finals.
Second Breakfast
We then ventured back towards the laundromat and came across a park where another group of local officials were passing out free breakfast – souse consisting of chicken, carrots, and potatoes. They insisted we take some along with cornbread and water, even though we had just eaten. Not wanting to insult anyone, we accepted their offers and figured we would just have to enjoy a second breakfast!
With our laundry done, we opted to eat our soup for lunch once we got back to the boat. It was delicious with lots of surprising flavors.
Provisioning-ouch!
Rock Sound turned out to have one of the best and well-stocked grocery stores we encountered in the Bahamas. It was a bit of a hike but worth the trip. Not sure what we might find in the Exumas, we opted to stock up.
Groceries are extremely expensive in the Bahamas as everything must be imported. Our provisioning run ended up close to $500! And that did not include any adult beverages! Might have had something to do with me asking the butcher for thicker cut steaks and ending up with the equivalent of ribeye’s at $40 per pound!
We also found a very good liquor store a block past the grocery store. It was a very expensive day!
With the groceries stowed, we headed back to shore for a late lunch at Wild Orchids, a restaurant right on the water. Wild Orchids has a very good dinghy dock and have no issues with people tying up even if they are not eating there.
We also learned that Wild Orchids has their own laundry machines – which are available to the cruisers for a fee (less than Showboat’s price but not as many and not as nice). In the end, you spend more having drinks or food at the restaurant while you wait for your laundry, which has a lovely deck area.
Another Storm Front, Another Boat Shuffle
After a couple of nights on the east side of Rock Sound, another front was approaching, necessitating a move back to the west side of the bay. We opted to move early and ended up very close to our prior spot. By the time the rest of the boats moved, there were 40 some boats – a mixture of monohulls, catamarans, and motor cruisers.
The storm came and went. No boats dragged that we could tell and the squadron of boats all moved back across to the Settlement on the other side of Rock Sound.
Hauling Water
Many boats that cruise the Bahamas have onboard water makers, allowing them to convert salt water into fresh water. A good water maker is pricey, even portable options. The latter may be less expensive for the actual water maker, but they require a generator – another item that Gaviidae does not have.
If we had been planning on spending more than one year in salt water, we would’ve installed an onboard water maker. But since we were planning on heading back into fresh water, it didn’t make sense from a cost or storage perspective.
Anytime we stopped at a marina, we topped off our water tanks. We have three, which total around 120 gallons of water. Water is generally not free – usually around 50 cents a gallon. Sometimes as high as $1 a gallon. But you have the convenience of being able to fill up at the dock.
In Rock Sound, we found a source of free water down on a beach. It was next to a bar that was open on a random schedule. A long line of PVC pipe ran along a stone wall. At various spots there were spigots which we made use of filling our five 6-gallon jerry cans. We usually made 2 or 3 trips so that at least 2 of our 3 tanks were filled at all times.
Lugging 5-gallon jugs of water across a rocky sand beach is not the easiest, even with our trolley cart. This would fall under the category of Unglamorous Cruising. As is getting them onto the boat!
New Tricks (duh)
While cruising with s/v Shadow, we watched Mike routinely tie his dinghy to the side of the boat rather than off the back. We didn’t really understand the logic until we tried it. It was quite easy to unload provisions onto the side walkway rather than onto the narrow drop-down swim platform at the aft end of Gozzards.
It was also much easier to raise/lower the 115 lb outboard with the dinghy lined up on the side rather than off the back. Such a simple and obvious solution – can’t believe we didn’t think of it ourselves!
Ready to Go
After one last provisioning trip to get Sands Pink Radlers and Kalik Beer, Gaviidae was ready to set sail.
February 23, 2025 – March 11, 2025 24°52.306’N 076°11.380’W 2998.6 Nautical Miles
