Sail to Rock Sound- Eleuthera, Bahamas

We got up and moving this morning, ready to hit the high seas and make our way south. Our boat had rotated around the mooring ball and we knew that the winds were the way they were predicted and what we were looking for! This all started off so promising, but there was no telling until we made our way out into the Great Bahama Bank for our trip south.

As we exited Hatchet Bay, we were sent off by waves from Malaika. It's sad to part from our traveling group, but we all have different plans with visitors and where we need to be. We all hope to meet up again around March, so that's something to look forward to. Dolby and got out into the Bank, and the winds were just as we wanted. The swells were also rolling-- but in the direction we were heading- which is a plus. We raised the sails, turned off the engine, and were off. SAILING! YES! This is what we've been looking for. It's been well over a month since we've actually been able to shut that engine off and use the wind, and let me tell you- it's such a satisfying feeling.

Riding the wind and the swell kept us between 5 - 6 knots, great cruising speed. About an hour into our trip, Dolby looked over to his fishing rod, and said "I think I have a fish on." Well, he called it, for sure. A few minutes later he had a nice sized mackerel in our cockpit. Three to four feet long, and about 20 pounds, we had quite the successful catch. Dolby fillet it within a few minutes of being on board, and our ice box was soon filled with two gallon sized baggies full of mackerel meat. I had never had mackerel before, so I was excited we got a new fish! After that, Dolby didn't even dare putting his line back into the water- because knowing our luck, we'd pick up a barracuda, and they're just no fun to deal with, especially when under sail.

HOLY MACKEREL!!

Pete and the meat!!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful to be honest. And we didn't have a problem with that one bit! After all we've been through in our trips in the last few months, an uneventful day of just sailing is a good day in our books. Our trip took about 9 hours, and around 5:00, we anchored in Rock Sound. It was nice to drop the hook somewhere different. There were about 12 other boats anchored in here as well, so it was easy to find the protected area.

Dolby and I were both pretty exhausted from the day of travel. It wasn't long until our heads hit the pillows and we were out. I'm excited to see a new town here in Eleuthera!