We rocked through the night with the west winds. We had grown used to the sw winds of the day so were able to snooze a bit before we turned west at 1 or 2. Around 9 or 10 pm we made our turn north where we had more protection.
There was a little rain shower but nothing serious and then we waited for the swells to settle down. It was cloudy for the morning with brief periods of sun and a little chilly with the northwest winds.
We tore the boat apart looking for the charger to our hand held vhf radio and found it. David managed the charging rotation while I cleaned the boat. We saw Deb hanging up boat laundry. Around 230, we decided it was calm enough to launch and head to the beach for at least a walk.
I brought my dive gear, hoping that the sun would come out enough for a snorkel around our little island. We walked down the beach the opposite way from where we had walked before. We cannot see the dwelling on that end but the landscaping is very impressive with a massive green lawn coming down a hill lined by palm trees. A road winds down along the trees and looks very well maintained. We saw some heavy equipment on the road there.
We met a woman named Emily and her six year old daughter Charlie on the beach. They were building sandcastles. They have been coming to Eleuthra every year since Emily was a teenager. They are from Michigan. They stay in different houses, rent a car and explore the island. They love the Goulding Cay beach and decided to come out for the day. She told us that Lenny Kravitz owns the big houses on the cliffs that we named “over da top” 1 and 2. Apparently, he built number 1 and bought number 2 when it became available. She also told us to visit the restaurant Daddy Joe’s on the main road behind the beach.
We didn’t need much encouragement to go explore the road and possibly end up at a restaurant. It was still cloudy. We found the road and walked about 1/2 mile to the main road which like all main roads in the Bahamas is named The Queen’s Highway. We were waiting for Jeff and Deb to explore the other sights but walked over to the restaurant. It was open and we went in. We shared some appetizers, grilled shrimp and wings. Both had a version of Bang Bang sauce that was delicious.
The owner was there eating a plate of cracked conch that looked amazing. Her name was Tiffany and Emily had told us to give her regards. She was very nice, welcoming each visitor and striking up conversations with them. We spoke about the young couple on Suzy Manuela. She had felt very maternal toward them and had been very kind to them, offering water from the restaurant. She had even driven out the dirt road to the beach this morning to check and make sure their boat was safe after last night. We told her they had left for Nassau around mid day.
We walked back to the beach in sunshine! The sun had brought others to the beach. I snorkeled around the island twice. the first time around, I saw a turtle on the far side. I tried to follow him but he was swimming fast. There were corals and lovely fish at the end of the island. I had a nice swim back to the boat. It was chilly in the evening and we put on warm clothes and had some soup. We watched the sunset listening to Lenny Kravitz and then blew the horn. Jeff followed with their horn. We checked our brackets and read a bit but were probably asleep before it was fully dark.
Tomorrow if it is calm, we will explore some tide pools called the Queen’s Baths and also the Glass Window Bridge. Then it is probably on to Egg Island from which we will make the jump to the Abacos and northward.