Sailing With Serenity: Cat Island to Eleuthera Island

After New Bight, we moved a few miles north on Cat Island to Fernandez Bay, and the Fernandez Bay Resort.

We stayed for steak and lobster night with some cruiser friends.

Then we moved to the north with a touch-and-go at Arthur’s Town. Didn’t seem to be a there, there.

Because the Hard Rock Café was closed, we moved on to Orange Creek, the northern most anchorage on Cat Island because we needed provisions.

But, the store was not open on Saturday.

So, we went out for pizza with cruisers from 5 other boats. It was a hike, but we made it to Shannas Cove Resort (www.shannas-cove.com). This place was great! Gabi and Frank, the owners have done a fantastic job at creating a little slice of paradise.

After a deep water passage, we went into Cape Eleuthera Marina on Eleuthera Island. After taking on water and doing laundry, we took off again. We are beginning to understand why so many cruisers shun marinas. This place was very unprofessional, and overpriced.

Our next stop was Rock Sound Harbour on Eleuthera Island. There we found about 20 other boats enjoying a picturesque little Bahamian town.

On a whim, Pollie and I rode our little bikes uphill both ways to the eastern shore and to Nort’ Side Restaurant (http://www.northsideinneleuthera.com/) for lunch.

The proprietor, Rose Gibson, fixed us lunch and chatted us up. Rose has put her 5 kids through college including graduate school. One daughter is an attorney in the UK, another is in medicine, and her youngest son is a project engineer in Sidney, Australia.

There is a reason people return to the Nort’ Side.

Grouper fingers, Bahamian rice & peas, and coleslaw

That had to be worked off, so we rode to Ocean Hole a natural "blue hole" that the locals say is bottomless. It is actually an inland salt water lake, a mile from the oceans, yet it is filled with salt water sea life, and rises and ebbs with the tides. Therefore, it definitely has a connection with the ocean, although no-one has found the connection (Jacques Cousteau, formerly a part-time resident of Windemere, tried unsuccessfully.)

Caves are very common in the Bahamas as the limestone is very porous and is in a constant state of erosion. On up the road, we found another blue hole with a very interesting cave nearby.