March 13th
After 5 days in Rock Sound we are ready to continue our cruise north to other destinations on Eleuthera. We had a lovely cruise north to the Pineapple Cays near the towns of South Palmetto and North Palmetto with the namesake trees near the beach. We liked this little town as we drove through by car, so we decided to spend more time here however it was not to be. The only three sailboats there were leaving as we arrived and maybe we should have taken that as an omen. We spent the next hour trying to set the anchor but with no luck. There was not much sand under the grass and hard bottom. We decided to push on to our next destination a few miles north which also had the reputation for bad holding. We arrive in Governor’s Harbour and drop the hook. Ted spotted a cable or rope in the water but thought we were okay. I dive in and swim to check the anchor and sure enough the only thing that is holding our anchor is a cable about an inch in diameter that looks to be in line with the Batelco Tower. I hadn’t mentioned this before but all of the islands are connected with cables that lie on top of the sand as opposed to buried cables so sure enough we found one. We decided that since the winds were light in the lee protection of the island we were better off to leave the anchor as is since it was actually holding and deal with untangling it when we are ready to leave.
It’s Sunday so everything was closed but we do a walk about town anyways. This is a very prosperous town in comparison to the ones we have visited earlier. The influence of money is felt here. There are lots of old stately homes with beautiful gardens. Even the town is cleaned with less garbage on the streets and many more colourful bushes.
Colourful trees
We walk the mile to the Atlantic side and find the former Club Med Beach far easier than we did by car. What could be salvaged from the resort after Hurricane Floyd is now called French Leave which is now a gated resort. The beach is often used so there is not much in the way of shells and sea beans. We meet some people on the beach from Alliston, Ontario who have a winter home nearby. Back at the boat there are only three other boats in the anchorage with us, a far cry from the hundreds in George Town.
Monday March 14th
We tour the shops in town, purchase fuel, beer and more rum. Our kids are probably reading this and smiling. We find the post office (in the pink building) and also the internet access to update the blog.
Diane updating the blog in from of (you guessed it) the government office.
On the outer edge of Governor’s Harbour is a plot of land known as Cupid’s Cay. The first inhabitants could only walk across the cay at lower water carrying whatever supplies they could handle. Over time a wooden bridge was build that was later destroyed in the hurricane of 1929. When the current causeway was built people moved to Cupid’s Cay now home for 100 people. Most of the pastel coloured homes are old and close together and the road is very narrow.
Cupid Cay homes are yellow and pink
We were told by Neilson, a local resident that homes are cheap in Cupid’s Cay compared to the prices of Governor’s Harbour where the colourful homes are spread out on the hillside overlooking the harbour.
Governor’s Harbour is also home to the Globe Princess Theatre, the only theatre outside Nassau which was playing Narnia.
Relaxing view of the harbour
We walked around the old graveyards in town and read the headstones dating back to the 1800’s. We went to the Buccaneer Club, a rather civilized and touristy restaurant for Klick’s and conch fritters. I was disappointed (and annoyed) that they include 15% gratuity with the bill since our waitress could not crack a smile. We would have been much better off to go to the hole in the wall bar called Ronnie’s Hi-D-Way on Cupid’s Cay. The good conch fritters and the murals on the wall (almost) made up for the bad service.
I could write a whole page on this. When do they roosters crow in the Bahamas? The answer: they crow morning, noon and night. Ask any cruiser why the rooster’s crow all day long and they just laugh. And it’s not just here in Governor’s Harbour it is everywhere we go. At New Bight on Cat Island they crowed all night long. And there everywhere, they wander around the streets like stray dogs. We finally asked Nelson who lives on Cupid’s why they crow loudly all day long, and he just gave me an odd look. I explained that it was only in the Bahamas that they do this, that in Canada and the US roosters crow at daybreak. He said “yes they crow at 4:00 am” but I asked why they don’t EVER stop crowing and he just laughed. We’ll never know the answer and you never get use to hearing them crow mid day or a midnight.
Rooster wondering around
Tuesday March 15th I have already posted the pictures from our diving north and south of Governor Harbour a few days ago.
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