Day 42 May 3. On to Rock Harbor Sound, Eleuthera Miles 25.2 Total Miles. 631.8

Day 42

Another beautiful day in Eleuthera, Bahamas! Bill took the drone up and took some shots of Governor's Harbor before we left.

We weighed anchor and left Governor's Harbor to turn south toward our next destination- Rock Sound Along the way we had one foot seas and 10-12 knots of wind. The turquoise water was 15-25 feet deep.

As we headed south, the shore slipped away for 12 miles until we got to Tarpum Point. Again small settlements dot the coast line, fewer the further south we go. Names of the settlements are South Palmetto, Savannah Sound and Tarpum Bay.

Bill likes to ponder the seas as we travel! I prefer to sit and ponder the sea.

About 18 miles into our trip we cruise closer to shore and the waters calm even more. One section of the water is dotted with rocks. Is a bit disconcerting to see all the rocks in 12-13 feet of water. You have to get used to telling ourselves that those rocks are not a worry, but they sure seem close!!

As we get closer to our destination the shore to our east is beach with pines and shrubs.

The island of Eleuthera curves to the west to form the Bight of Eleuthera, as shown on the chart.

We traveled through the Bight and rounded the point to turn into Rock Sound Harbor proper. The settlement of Rock Sound lines the shore.

We anchored off the town, near Blowhole Bluff, and settled in. We have two other boats as company tonight. Rock Sound is one of the largest settlements on Eleuthera whose name has changed over the years. Originally the town was called New Portsmouth as it was settled by some of the original Adventurers. The town was also called Wreck Sound, a nod to its major source of income- salvaging ships that wrecked along its reef strewn coast and harbor. As the economy changed the town's name became Rock Sound.

After lunch, Bill took the drone up and here are some of his shots.

We then we went into town to find the Ocean Hole and walk a bit around town.

We liked their hand painted street signs.

We found the Ocean Hole and enjoyed watching 15 teenage boys jumping in and racing across the hole.

Water is fed into the hole by a series of underground channels from the Atlantic Ocean. This hole has pretty good sized fish in it!

Bill couldn't let the teens out class him so he jumped in also.

Once Bill got dried off and we watched one last race, we headed to town. Along the way we met Warren, a retired nurse turned artist at his gallery.

Warren talked a blue streak and introduced us to sapodilla fruit. Very sweet!

Bill ended up purchasing one of his paintings.

We then walked a bit through town and then headed back to the boat, stopping to collect a few old conch shells that we found on the beach.

Our last task today is to nail down the details of our trip tomorrow. Gotta go get that done!

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

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