In Rock Sound at the southern end of Eleuthera, we spent a day exploring while we waited for our sailing friends, Kendra and Jeff, on Finley. We explored the local area of Rock Sound, including the inland “Ocean Hole”, a “fresh- water- on- top, salt- water- on- the- bottom “natural lake that feeds in from the ocean via tunnels and the fresh water is supplied by rain. It’s full of fish and a great place to walk around and read about the history of Rock Sound. We also met a very interesting man, Mike, who played some guitar for us and also told us great stories and history of the Rock Sound area from the early 60s through to the 80s. It was time well spent and we learned a lot from him. His stories would resonate in our land-based travels over the next five days. Jeff and Kendra arrived the next day to Rock Sound from the Exumas to lead us on some adventures. We had a great lunch at Sammy's Place upon their arrival. With ice cream hard to come by on a boat, Ava and Reed were most excited about the huge banana split dessert! They were married on Eleuthera and have visited by air/land several times so were experts on the best things to do and see on the island. Because Eleuthera is such a large island, it is best to see it by car. Kendra used her connections to get us a good deal on a minivan and we were in business. We had five days and they were jam-packed! Day One: There are seemingly an infinite number of dirt roads on Eleuthera – each begging to be explored to see what magical place they lead to. Jeff and Kendra had done much of this exploring and took us to their favorite places. The first stop was a beach called Islandia. We carted along fishing and snorkeling gear, snacks and beverages. Along the road was a side spur road that led to a shallow bay. There were beautiful shells lining the shore and small turtles swimming in the shallows. Continuing along the main road, we ended up at a nearly deserted beach. The excitement began immediately as Jeff spotted a school of large barracuda just off the shore. He handed Reed the fishing pole and Reed cast the lure right into the school. A very large barracuda took the bait and started leaping out of the water. Reed reeled it in onto the beach, it was bigger than him! After posing for a few pictures, we let it go and it disappeared at lightning speed into the depths. Eric and Jeff snorkeled on the reefs further off shore while Karrie, Kendra, and Ava walked the beach. Reed continued his shore fishing quest. It was a great first day of exploring! Day Two: The very southern end of Eleuthera is a place called Lighthouse beach. Again, down another very bumpy dirt road – but this one is one of the worst on the island! Only 3 miles long, it takes about an hour to get to the end. It became routine for everyone but Jeff, our driver, to have to get out of the minivan and walk ahead in order to avoid bottoming out along some of the roughest patches. Every effort to get there was worth it as the beach was spectacular and the view was even better! We hiked, snorkeled, and swam until the weather started to change and threaten a bit of rain. We left via the same road and process of getting out often for the worst of the potholes. All in good fun, a very memorable and fun day. Day 3: After a late brunch at the little restaurant where we land our dinghies, we decided to explore a bit around an area called Turtle beach. It was down another unmarked road, this one got so bad we decided to park the van and walk the rest of the 2 mile road to the end. It was a wonderful walk through abandoned palm forest from estates long forgotten. We saw huge orb weaver spiders awaiting their prey lining the vegetation on the road, interesting plants, flowers, and too many geckos and lizards scurrying about to count. The end of the trail opened up to an expansive view of the ocean and over a cut that fed in to an inland lake. Perched on the cliffs above the water, we could see several very large stop light parrot fish in the surf, eating the algae from the rocks. They were close to four feet long and easily handling the pounding waves and current. It was amazing to watch them – we all wished we could have snorkeled with them but the conditions were just too rough. We renamed this part of the trail Parrot Fish Point! Eric, Reed, and Jeff had their fishing gear along and cast away at some ledges to see if they could land a prize grouper. No large ones this time but one nice sized fish (NOT the parrot fish) was caught for dinner. We made the trek back to the car and had an made an early evening of it to prepare for a big day the next day – Ava’s birthday! Day 4: On April 18th, Ava’s 14th birthday, we all agreed she could set the itinerary for the day. Ava had long heard Eric and I talk about the beautiful pink sand beaches of Harbor Island on the northeast side of Eleuthera and picked that as her favored destination for the day. It was about a 2 hour drive plus a ferry ride to get there but there were lots of interesting stops along the way as well. Ava got the privilege of sitting in the front seat AND controlling the radio! Many of these places we would later visit by boat as we sailed north but having a car made it easy to really explore. We left early from Rock Sound with our first stop planned for Governor’s Harbor, about 45 minutes north. There is a small, non-descript bakery there that sells fresh made donuts and home-made curry chicken pastries. They were delicious and a great way to start the day. Further north is the small village of Gregory Town, where we stopped at a wonderful gift shop. Ava chose for her birthday present a t-shirt depicting her favorite animal of the Bahamas – the Potcake dog. Seen everywhere in the Bahamas but more so on Eleuthera, Potcakes are a mix of many breeds, smart, loving, and loyal dogs. She wore the shirt for the rest of our travels that day. Just before the ferry to Harbor Island, the road passes over a bridge that spans what is known as the “Glass Window”. This is the narrowest section of Eleuthera and it separates the deep blue, turbulent, eastern ocean side of the island from the calm, brilliant turquoise, western bankside of the island. We stood on the bridge and watched the swells from the ocean build up and crash/spray against the rocks and foam over the ledge out onto the banks. Gorgeous! Our next stop: Harbor Island! We parked the van and took a 10 minute ferry ride over to the public docks. First stop was lunch at the Queen Conch restaurant overlooking the bay between Harbor Island and the mainland of Eleuthera. From there we walked the historic streets reading the history on the placards posted about and on buildings. The houses and churches were colorful and well-kept despite being over 200 years old! Our next destination was the pink sand beach on the eastern shore. As we approached, a rain squall forced us to duck into a swanky hotel lobby to wait it out. Once cleared, we hit the beach and Ava was determined for her swim. Reed and Karrie joined her for a bit but the surf was pretty strong so the dip was short lived. The final act was Ava scooping up some of the pink sand to save in a glass jar as a souvenir of the day and dream. We stopped at Valentine’s marina on our way back to the ferry for a quick refreshing happy hour Kalik and then were on our way. Driving on the roads of Eleuthera can be a bit dodgy at night so we headed straight back for rock sound. About ½ hour from our destination, the engine heated up too much and we had to pull over. Eric and Jeff walked to some nearby houses to get some water to refill the radiator – eventually getting some help from a wonderful woman who ran a pie-making business called “The Queen of Tarts”. At that time, we didn’t know we would meet her later as we sailed northward. All in all, it was a memorable birthday celebration for our not-so-little miss Ava! Day 5: After such a long day for Ava’s birthday, we took it a little easy on our final day with the car. We did a first visited the lovely Island Farm for fresh produce and other treats. The boys wanted to fish so we dropped them off at the start of yet another unmarked trail to hike to their spot. Kendra, Ava, and Karrie drove to the newly created Leon Levy wildlife preserve near Governor’s Harbor. We walked the grounds and learned about the history of plant in the Bahamas, including medicinal plants, edible, poisonous plants to watch for, and some of the efforts to preserve the horticultural heritage of the Bahamas. The last part of the day was spent provisioning and getting ready to start traveling by boat again. Both Night Music and Finley had fared well on their anchors in Rock Sound during our five days of exploration. Enjoy the post and thanks for following! | |
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AuthorsWe are Karrie, Eric, Ava, and Reed Sanderson. Our house is in Seattle but our home is wherever the four of us are...and for the next two years, our home is Night Music, a Tartan 37 Sailboat. Archives
June 2016
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