Storms, Birthdays and Caves in Eleuthera, Post 25-11

Saturday, March 8 through Thursday, March 13

Half Moon Cay, Little San Salvador to Rock Sound, Eleuthera

89 nautical miles (102 statute miles)

Our northbound trek through the Bahamas continues and we’ve now reached Eleuthera.

Half Moon Bay, Little San Salvador Island to Poison Point, Eleuthera Island

Saturday, March 8

40.5 nautical miles (46.5 statute miles)

It was a long day with light winds crossing from Little San Salvador Island to Eleuthera Island. After leaving the Exuma Sound and passing through the Davis Channel, we set anchor behind Poison Point. There was one other boat anchored at this point, and it was about 1,500’ away from us.

Poison Point to Cape Eleuthera Marina

Sunday, March 9

10.9 nautical miles (12.6 statute miles)

We had reservations at Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina to hide out from an incoming front. It has been nearly two months since Utopia has been in a marina, so I was a little nervous about getting safely into a slip. After reviewing maps of the marina, it appeared that it may be best to back into the slip, so after we had the anchor was free this morning, I practiced controlling the boat in reverse. When wind caught the bow, swinging us around, I paused my practice until the boat settled some. I was able to eventually move the boat in a straight line but had difficulty turning the stern into a selected direction. Eventually we ran out of room behind us, so I switched to forward gear and the boat turned sharply, in reverse. I think I’d like to practice with these moves again in another calm, empty anchorage, learning to use the fast-acting reaction of forward gear when steering in reverse is non-responsive.

The winds picked up some by the time we got to the marina, and I was still planning to back into the slip. As we did a drive-by and saw all of the piles that Utopia would have to squeeze between, with first pile offset into our slip, Jimmy asked “Are you sure you want to back in???”, I chickened out. It was a super easy, mellow, controlled docking, bow in first. Oh well, perhaps some other day. Thankfully our power cord was just long enough to reach the pedestal, and managing Baxter is easier with the stern facing the basin instead of the dock.

Cape Eleuthera Resort & Marina

Sunday - Wednesday

When we first arrived, around 1 p.m., the marina was virtually empty. By the time the sun set there were just a few spots left which nearly filled up Monday morning. Lots of talk about the incoming front could be heard on the docks.

Cape Eleuthera Resort & Marina is commonly used to hideout during strong blows

The storm arrived Monday night with the worst of it between 2 and 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. At one point Utopia began to thump loudly against the dock requiring us to put on our rain jackets to make fender and line adjustments in heavy winds and pouring down rain.

Strong winds hung around a good bit of the day on Tuesday which was Jimmy’s birthday. It was a very mellow day for us after the storm limited our sleep. I did some remote work in the morning then defrosted the fridge in the afternoon, and when he was not trying to solve some water issues onboard, Jimmy enjoyed just relaxing the day away.

Before the front arrived, we went on a bike ride using the free bikes provided by the marina. The loop around the cape was enjoyable despite the condition of the bikes. They may have been a tad less rusty than those we rode in Great Harbour. At least this area is not as hilly as the Berries, so it was easy to coast to a stop whenever the bike chains popped off track after riding over bumpy terrain.

While here, we have been eating out each evening at the marina restaurant because we are having some water pressure issues onboard Utopia. Over the past few months, our water pressure has been declining and recently only a trickle will come out of any faucet. It happens frequently yet is also intermittent enough to make troubleshooting a bit tricky. Recently the problem was bad enough, we only had a trickle coming from our faucets.

This also affects the ability to do a freshwater flush after making water, which has been another source of concern for us. There is a leak somewhere on the suction side causing salt water to accumulate on top of our diesel tank. The exact location of the leak is behind some equipment, so this is a project that needs a good bit of time to schedule around. In the meantime, we sponge up water each time we make water.

Cape Eleuthera Marina to Rock Sound

Wednesday, March 12

12.4 nautical miles (14.3 statute miles)

The wind direction was still coming from the NW, pushing us towards the dock, but at least it was very light. Backing out of the slip went pretty well, thanks to Jimmy reminding me of the last pile that sticks out into our slip. Although the wind was light, it was still enough to push us sideways once free of the slip. Here I took advantage of the wide basin and was able to slowly turn Utopia around with a lot of patience and no panicking.

The trip to Rock Sound was with very light winds and we motored with the jib out. We picked our way through the shallow parts of Rock Sound using the fishing charts from Navionics and set the anchor near the settlement of Rock Sound.

Rock Sound

Wednesday - Friday

Rock Sound is a neat little settlement. According to a local artist we had met, at one time Pan Am had direct flights here and it was a big vacation spot. Over the years tourism declined and the 2020 shutdowns really hurt the community. It seems that just recently cruisers are starting to return to the Sound.

While here we visited the Ocean Hole, made famous by a visit from Jacques Cousteau, who never found the bottom of this tidal, saltwater hole. We also explored Boiling Hole and the Cathedral Caves. There was a map indicating that one can walk a loop through the caves, however we ended up doing sort of a figure-eight and even had a moment of not knowing which way would lead us to the exit. Since the caves are full of sunlight and not very extensive, we were never really worried.

These caves were definitely worth a visit.

Meeting local artist Warren Knowles was a delight. Learn more about Warren and Rock Sound in SV Evergreen's blog post.

Our stay at Rock Sound was topped off with Jimmy discovering the cause of our loss of water pressure: a clogged water filter. It is that simple. We now know to change the whole house filters more frequently. I must say that first shower after the new water filter was installed had the most incredible pressure, a welcome change after the dibbling pressures of the past month.

Photos from Eleuthera

Next stop: Governors Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas

P.S. We haven’t made a cruising videos recently because we are working on a nine-episode video series of our Appalachian Trail hike.

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