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Rachel's Bubble Bath at Compass Cay
A landmark that's named for a former resident is Rachel's Bubble Bath, a lagoon on the north end of Compass Cay. It borders Conch Cut, an "inlet" from Exuma Sound, and the southern boundary of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. The lagoon is fed by water from the Sound breaking over a notch in the lava rocks, which often causes froth to form on the surface, hence, "Bubble Bath."
Exuma Park
Exuma to Eleuthera
April 24, 2012
It was a fast sail across the Exuma Sound to Eleuthera. We anchor in Rock Sound Harbor off the small community of Rock Sound Settlement. It is a well-protected harbor and the town has several small nice restaurants, a very nice laundrymat and grocery store that actually has grocery carts and aisles! After the sparse amenities of the Exumas this feels like modern living! We are still carting water to the boat in our 5 gallon jugs, but one of the restaurants has a faucet near their dock that has the town R/O water, we are told it is for the boaters.
Another front is going to pass through the Bahamas so we will be here for another week. By the time we leave, we will have eaten lunch at Rosie’s on the other side of the island, Sammy’s near the grocery store and had pizza several times at Pascal’s, which has their own dock.
There is a Blue Hole in Rock Sound Settlement that is an easy walk in town. A Blue Hole is an underwater cave; the one in Rock Sound looks like a small lake in a rock quarry. The fish love to be fed and provide lots of entertainment for the price of a few crackers!
We decide to head for the Abaco’s without spending any more time in Eleuthera. It feel like we are running out of time in our Bahamas visit. The trip to the Abaco’s takes three days. The first night we grabbed a mooring ball in Hatchet Bay. The entrance to Hatchet Bay is invisible until you are almost at the opening. It is 80 ft. wide but seems a lot narrower when we were passing through. The next night we are anchored off Current Settlement near Current Cut. Traversing the cut needs to be timed with the outgoing tide and depth issues are always a bit unclear. All goes well, even though there is a large fishing vessel anchored in the middle of the cut!
It was a fast sail across the Exuma Sound to Eleuthera. We anchor in Rock Sound Harbor off the small community of Rock Sound Settlement. It is a well-protected harbor and the town has several small nice restaurants, a very nice laundrymat and grocery store that actually has grocery carts and aisles! After the sparse amenities of the Exumas this feels like modern living! We are still carting water to the boat in our 5 gallon jugs, but one of the restaurants has a faucet near their dock that has the town R/O water, we are told it is for the boaters.
Another front is going to pass through the Bahamas so we will be here for another week. By the time we leave, we will have eaten lunch at Rosie’s on the other side of the island, Sammy’s near the grocery store and had pizza several times at Pascal’s, which has their own dock.
There is a Blue Hole in Rock Sound Settlement that is an easy walk in town. A Blue Hole is an underwater cave; the one in Rock Sound looks like a small lake in a rock quarry. The fish love to be fed and provide lots of entertainment for the price of a few crackers!
We decide to head for the Abaco’s without spending any more time in Eleuthera. It feel like we are running out of time in our Bahamas visit. The trip to the Abaco’s takes three days. The first night we grabbed a mooring ball in Hatchet Bay. The entrance to Hatchet Bay is invisible until you are almost at the opening. It is 80 ft. wide but seems a lot narrower when we were passing through. The next night we are anchored off Current Settlement near Current Cut. Traversing the cut needs to be timed with the outgoing tide and depth issues are always a bit unclear. All goes well, even though there is a large fishing vessel anchored in the middle of the cut!
May 4, 2012
We are anchored near Little Harbor in Abaco. This small community is well known for the sculpture artist Randolph Johnston who settled here in the 1950’s with his family when the area was largely uninhabited. He and his family lived in one of the caves and he built his own foundry. Today his son Pete carries on the artistic legacy as well as being the proprietor of Pete’s Pub, a popular tourist destination in the Abaco’s.
We spend the next day snorkeling Sandy Reef, a beautiful coral reef between Little Harbor and Hope Town.
We are anchored near Little Harbor in Abaco. This small community is well known for the sculpture artist Randolph Johnston who settled here in the 1950’s with his family when the area was largely uninhabited. He and his family lived in one of the caves and he built his own foundry. Today his son Pete carries on the artistic legacy as well as being the proprietor of Pete’s Pub, a popular tourist destination in the Abaco’s.
We spend the next day snorkeling Sandy Reef, a beautiful coral reef between Little Harbor and Hope Town.
Little Harbor
Sandy Cay
Hope Town
May 7, 2012
We are on a mooring ball in Hope Town. Hope Town has a lighthouse that is manually operated by the dockmaster Sam, at Hope Town Inn and Marina. He grew up on the property; his father ran the lighthouse before he did. The Hope Town lighthouse is one of only three kerosene-powered lights in the world. (All three are in the Bahamas.) The light “floats” on a bed of mercury and is powered by a “grandfather’s clock” type chain mechanism, with pirate cannon balls as the powering weights. Every two hours day and night the lighthouse the weights have to be pulled to be rewound. The view from the top of the lighthouse is perfectly picturesque!
We snorkeled, went out to lunch and rented a golf cart with our friends Rich and Linda from Side by Side. Hopetown is a quaint small town that has many vacation rentals and beautiful homes. We listen to the weather every day as people talk about their plans to return to the States. Chris Parker on single side band is a favorite for weather forecasting.
We are on a mooring ball in Hope Town. Hope Town has a lighthouse that is manually operated by the dockmaster Sam, at Hope Town Inn and Marina. He grew up on the property; his father ran the lighthouse before he did. The Hope Town lighthouse is one of only three kerosene-powered lights in the world. (All three are in the Bahamas.) The light “floats” on a bed of mercury and is powered by a “grandfather’s clock” type chain mechanism, with pirate cannon balls as the powering weights. Every two hours day and night the lighthouse the weights have to be pulled to be rewound. The view from the top of the lighthouse is perfectly picturesque!
We snorkeled, went out to lunch and rented a golf cart with our friends Rich and Linda from Side by Side. Hopetown is a quaint small town that has many vacation rentals and beautiful homes. We listen to the weather every day as people talk about their plans to return to the States. Chris Parker on single side band is a favorite for weather forecasting.