Eleuthera

We had a great sail back north to Eleuthera, Bounty at her best. We arrived at Rock Sound ahead of schedule and just ahead of the northerly front. Pleasant change to see hills and the settlement has some lovely old buildings in pastel shades. The next day we successfully provisioned but then had one of those small epics that punctuate the dream. The skipper and I headed back to the boat through the swell and wind which had risen to a near gale, fully laden with groceries. These conditions are not the Skippers favourite as he nearly drowned rescuing a mate in the surf of the Solomon Islands after a inflatable full of mangos overturned. Halfway to the boat the Tohatsu outboard gave a cough and died. Not good. As we rocked in the swell an anchor appeared and we were able to grab the side of an Island Packet (reflecting as we did so that I wouldn't like to fall overboard one of these boats as there is nothing to grab hold of to get back on) anyway we boarded this boat and off loaded our groceries. Meanwhile back at the dock Freya was watching with increasing concern. With no one on sight she decided to 'borrow' the other dinghy at the dock. Fortunately the starter cord was in the bottom of the boat and she started it up and came to our rescue. All that experience on the Mac Bay rescue boat comes in handy at times. So all worked out well and we weren't arrested for trespass or theft. Gary went to see both other boats the next day to apologise and neither had noticed a thing.

After Rock Sound we had a boisterous sail North to Hatchet Bay. We had to keep as much sail up as possible to make the entrance before dark. It is an entrance that demands respect, being narrow between rock cliffs. It's funny with meeting other cruisers and their different impressions of places. We'd been told to avoid Hatchet by one group - depressing, run down- and yet another boat had stayed for 3 weeks and love every minute. Yes, Hatchet is rather run down but the people are so friendly and mostly very helpful to yachties. With a hurricane every year it must be tough to try and keep everything tidy. The harbour is brilliantly sheltered and its a great place to get a hire car and explore the rest of the island.

The Glass Window where the Atlantic meets the Sound is spectacular. No photos can do it justice. Harbour Island was beautiful. The haunt of the wealthy and celebrities but you can still access the gorgeous pink sand beach. Getting run over by golf carts may be the only down side. We saw our first real celebrity- Reese Witherspoon shopping in the local stores. This island was settled by the Loyalists escaping the American Revolution and the architecture has been mostly preserved. Well worth a visit and the taxi over was a motor boat with twin 200hp Yamahas, full of laughing Bahamians and no speed restrictions.