Southern Eleuthera

4.2.11

Half Moon Bay was definitely not as impressive as we had hoped. The cruise ship was leaving as we were pulling in. The harbour is very deep to accommodate the large ships so we had to anchor in 15 feet of water and the waves were already rolling in from the open western side, even though the wind had not shifted to that direction yet. We cleaned the bottom of the boat for a bit and then went to bed. We were surprised that the trawlers had also made the stop at this anchorage, as we had expected them to head on up to Eleuthera. We may be traveling with them for longer than we thought!
The next day we woke up to huge rollers coming in from the deeper water. We decided we didn't want to stay another night and we left the same time as the trawlers did that morning and headed up to Southern Eleuthera. It was a long sail, but the wind was good and we made it much farther than we had hoped. We anchored in Rock Sound by dusk and, again to our surprise, right by the trawlers!
The following day, they hailed us on the radio to let us know they were heading into town if we wanted to join them. We, unfortunately, had to TCB that day, so they went off exploring the town while we went to do laundry, use internet and try to find some replacement parts for the boat.
That night we had a real treat – an ice cream party on one of the trawlers, “Barbara”!! Ice Cream! We haven't had ice cream in ages! And not only did she have ice cream, but she had toppings galore – hot fudge, chocolate syrup, gummy bears, warm brownies, nuts, whipped cream, cherries, everything we could imagine! Their boat is very nice and the perfect place to have a mini-party. We are getting an “in” with the trawler group – they have taken us under their wing, despite the fact that we are sailors.

Quick note: In the boating world, trawlers tend to hang out with trawlers and sailors with sailors. Crossing the line to the other side is a no-no! So for these guys to take such a liking to us is unusual for all involved! We may very well be shunned from the sailing community!! :-)

We all left early the following morning, the trawlers going to a small town just 5 miles North of our current anchorage while we were heading up another 10 miles. We had a great sail, although a bit slow and dropped the anchor around lunchtime. We took some time to eat and pack for our day trip inland, then loaded up Koa and the dinghy and headed in. As we were heading to the dinghy dock, we passed a large trawler coming in to anchor – one of our friends! The other two trawlers were close behind. They had stopped at the previous place, looked around for a few hours and made it up to where we were almost at the same time as us! Diesel motors will do that for you I guess!
We went in and walked to two miles across the island to the East beach and then back again. We were exhausted and ready for a quiet evening in. But, when we got back to the boat we were invited over for dinner on “Barbara” again! We all met on their boat and had a DELICIOUS dinner on Linguine with clam sauce – and I don't even like clams! It was great! She had also made homemade bread and a pie for dessert! This lady thinks of everything! They are so hospitable and so generous and we are so lucky to have fallen into the hands. They gave us younguns' the leftovers and also the recipe for all the delicious food she had made for us so far.
We were heading our separate ways the following day, so we said our goodbyes and went home to get some sleep.