Rock Sound, Eleuthera Island, Bahamas
Sailing away from Governor’s Harbour
Time to pull anchor and set sail from Governor’s Harbour to go see more of Eleuthera Island. We had great wind with small waves for our sail to Rock Sound. Unfortunately the wind was coming closer than we would like from the direction in which we were heading. We also had to weave in between a few crab pots so 35 Nautical Miles later we finally approached the shelter of Rock Sound. Sailing into an anchorage without an engine is always funny especially when people stare at you wondering why you haven’t turned on your motor yet. We no longer had that luxury and only relied on the wind and our skills to maneuver around before dropping the hook exactly where we wanted.
Exploring Rock Sound by foot
The following day we didn’t waste anytime and made our way into town. Rock Sound is a quiet little village which offers everything a sailor needs, from food, water, restaurants, various little stores and tons of adventures. At Ocean Hole we found a bus full of kids having the time of their life swimming and jumping in. So we left them to the blue hole and instead walked around it while following a little trail. I don’t remember how we happened to cross the island, it might have been that sailing couple we met. But we found ourselves on the Atlantic side of Eleuthera with our private pink sand beach and instantly undressed to jump in. After a long walk this was exactly what we needed to cool down. Followed by an ice cream once back in Rock Sound.
Meeting Sailing Vinyasa
What happens when two Sailing Channels meet in Eleuthera Island? Lots of fun adventures. While exploring Rock Sound in the Bahamas we ran into Sailing Vinyasa, another young sailing couple. This doesn’t happen very often as we tend to be the young ones usually. We were on our way to shore with our dinghy when all of a sudden we recognized a Norwegian named Therese and an American named Cody heading to land as well. We only knew each others from Instagram and all laughed at the odds of being here at the same time. The four of us immediately got along and decided to go cave hoping and blue hole searching.
Our mission today was to find Cathedral Cave which was said to be breathtaking but we weren’t entirely sure where it was. Thus our search begun along the water edge while looking at a little map from AquaMaps. We eventually veered off the main road to find ourselves climbing over sharp limestones. It lead us to what resembled to a small cave entrance. After further inspection which involved Cory crawling through tight areas with a headlamp we quickly came to the conclusion that this was NOT Cathedral Cave. The cave search continued as we followed the water edge to then end up bushwalking out to the road. Good thing we didn’t run into any poison tree.
Boiling Hole was only a few feet away so we decided to go for a peak. We instantly knew we had to take a closer look and made our way to the edge of this blue hole. The Bahamas have so many blue holes of all sizes. This one gets its name from bubbles coming up to the surface as the tides rush in and out. It is connected to the ocean but it was so murky and dark that you couldn’t see any deeper than a foot or so. The hot day and explorations tempted us in going in for a swim. Cory even found a great cliff jumping spot which we all had to test.
At last Cathedral Cave!
Refreshed and still looking forward to finding Cathedral Cave we carried on a little bush path behind Boiling Hole. And guess what? It lead us straight to the caves. As we climbed down the stairs we gazed into the Cathedral Cave. It was stunning with its tall ceilings and wide open caverns. Now I really understand where the name came from. Sun rays were lighting the way through holes in the limestone above our heads. Cascading roots found their way to the ground which Cory did not hesitate to monkey his way up. Adventuring with others brought a new dynamic and we couldn’t stop sharing stories with each others.
Home-made pizza and sundowners with new friends
After being fully satisfied with our cave hopping adventure we decided to stop at Hall’s grocery store. We treated ourselves to ice cream while chatting with other sailors. At the end of the day we built up quite the appetite which Therese solved by making home-made pizza that night. We met back with Therese and Cody on their beautiful Jeanneau sailboat for a lovely evening. It didn’t take long until Cody and Cory were deep into a fishing conversation. Cody was pulling out squids, lines and different lures while sharing his knowledge.
Cheers to a wonderful first few days in Rock Sound and stay tune for more Bahamas adventures! If you want a more visual experience check out our video on our Wildly Intrepid Sailing channel.
4 thoughts on “2 SAILING CHANNELS meet in Eleuthera | Adventures with Sailing Vinyasa”
Hello Alex and Cory. This is Cody’s dad. Have really enjoyed every Thursday evenings watching your YouTube videos for a while now. It was nice that Cody and Theresa met you both during the uncertain times in the Bahama’s and it made us feel better that they had a buddy boat to help if needed. It was cool to see the handline Cody and I came up with worked. Keep the videos coming.
Thank you so much for the lovely comment Mark. Wish we would have met you too. The hand line has been wonderful although this season we’ve only caught barracudas. It was great having a buddy boat, Cody and Therese became our family and it was a pleasure sailing with them. Cody is the most generous, kind and sociable person, good job! We’re really looking forward to cruising with them again. There’s talk of potentially next winter but everything is so uncertain in these times. The videos will keep coming and Cody should reappear soon as we make it back to the USA.
The Beautifu Rock Sound Eleuthera, where i was born & raised. Not one word was exaggerated when speaking of this Historical Place. Thank u for this article of exposure for of my birth place.
It really is a beautiful place and we enjoyed every moment there even while hiding from a blow. Glad you enjoyed the read.