Raised anchor at Little San Salvador (Half Moon Cay if you live on a cruise ship) on Sat Jun 16, headed for Eleuthera (which is NW). Weather was wind NE 5-8 Kts, so we were able to fly the jib but also needed the engines to make it before dusk (because 5 kts of breeze is not a lot, even in a catamaran).

As we left, we passed again a beautiful white sand beach point with waves crashing in from two sides. It looks like something from Hawaii, even in settled weather, and it's absolutely gorgeous! Wish this picture showed it more clearly, the white sand has waves curling as they crash upon it and the surrounding water is crystalline turquoise shading into deep azure as the depth goes from 3' over white sand down to 20', until it rises again in fish'filled coral ledges to the north, and the shallows on the eastern side extend for a couple of miles along the island, where fringing coral reefs protect the white sands and scattered heads:

The snorkeling in the ledges just north of this beach is excellent!
Derek could have spent hours chasing the beautiful fish there, he saw large Nassau groupers, hogfish and triggerfish of admirable size, who use the ledges to shelter from the current that rips through that area, called 'The Bridge" on the charts because it's more or less a bridge of shallower water between Little San Salvador and Eleuthera to the northwest. There is some deep water there, however, as the Carnival Destiny headed out that way when it left the anchorage last Thursday.

There were specific rainclouds of varying size all around. One of the largest formed up ahead of us as we traveled and and started to move SW, had a lot of lightning in it and extended a long way to the west, and fortunately we skirted just at the E edge of it -- got rained on, but the big lightning strikes into the ocean were a mile to the west at the closest and receded as we continued, which was a relief to us.

The southern end of Eleuthera has another cruise ship stop, at Bannerman Town, and we passed a red-roofed complex there in somewhat better taste than the "fake pirate ship" building at Little San Salvador. The beaches looked lovely, even in the alternating sun and rain clouds. The interesting thing about this was that we were going halfway up the island before we could stop -- we were heading for the anchorage at Rock Sound. South of that on Eleuthera there are a couple of marinas of varying degrees of exclusivity and smallness, but not really cruiser stops, and definitely not anchorages. Rock Sound has groceries (including one that everyone on the island -- a big island -- goes to, called The Market. We met people who drove there from the far northern end of Eleuthera once a month or so for special provisions), gas, wireless access, and a cruiser-friendly restaurant and bar called Pascal's, with the best-located dinghy dock for accessing The Market and the Scotia Bank and the Shell station (which is right in front of The Market).

We anchored out near a large church at the southern end of town, near where the guidebook told us Dingle's (one of their advertisers) had a dinghy dock. When we pulled up to the dock, it was a very tall wooden dock with side ladders, that was being used to clean and sell fish. We tied and and walked slightly north to Dingle's, which is a gas station and hardware store that tries to provide many services cruising sailors would want, such as laundry and internet access ($10/day or $24 for 3 days). But although it has good prices on butter (below The Market's), it's not really a hangout. We bought butter and internet access, and IIRC we had to pay cash.

Next, we took the dinghy to the north end of town, to something that looks like a gazebo from the water (it's actually an elevated tiki bar in the round), which identifies Pascal's Caribbean Restaurant and Bar dinghy dock. We stopped there and were met by Pascal, who was fishing off the dock, and we told him we were planning on going to The Market (which closes late, at 7 pm, on Saturdays), but would stop by afterward for drinks. Pascal had his lady, La'Tisha, drop us off there on her way home with the kids, and we provisioned with gusto, again paying cash. The Market people were so nice, they too offered us a ride back to Pascal's!

Back at Pascal's, we had wonderful Bahama Mamas (well, Grant had a Coke) and such good conversation from La'Tisha (who is the bartender, and who had returned), that we resolved to come back for a meal: Father's Day was the next day.

Derek and La'Tisha at the bar at Pascal's


The entertainment stage and elevated Tiki bar at Pascal's, sunset


Grant found a stick! He can find sticks anywhere...


catamaran in sunset from Pascal's restaurant beach

We also discovered that after sunset, there are voracious mosquitos at the dock and in the anchorage if the wind isn't brisk, and it was glassy calm -- they ambushed us in the cockpit and swarmed about as we put the screens up -- thanks goodness we'd left most of the ports closed for fear of rain!

We ate at Pascal's on Sunday (Father's Day): fresh grouper curry over jasmine rice for Derek, perfectly (i.e., lightly) cooked shrimp curry over jasmine rice for me, and a club sandwich for Grant that he described as having "three kinds of very tasty meats" -- which is high praise from him!

I make Thai style curries for the guys all the time, but this was educational: light, with the vegetables beautifully sliced and colorful, perfectly cooked al dente, and with the sauce adding zest and zing without drowning any of the ingredients. I'll admit, I like a lot of sauce on mine, and since the recipe uses an entire can of coconut milk, there's usually a lot of sauce. I will change my ways after this! Even the jasmine rice was perfect; I began to get the impression that Pascal is a perfectionist. When you're a chef, that is often a Very Good Thing.

It was a sunny Sunday, but the breeze from the east blows through Pascal's and along the back deck where most of the tables are... great design. The view weas even more spectacular in daylight:

Pascal's view by day

The following is an excerpt from the TripAdvisor entry I posted about this restaurant (I call it Pascal's CFBR because that's how Pascal set up his gmail address for the restaurant): We found out a little more about the restaurant since the people are so friendly: Pascal's CFBR is run by Pascal, a five-star chef who has finally opened his own place in this quiet tropical paradise location, and his lady La'Tisha, who mixes wonderful mojitos and splendid Bahama Mamas, and who often doubles on table service. These are friendly, helpful, interested and interesting people who give their visitors a real feeling of what it means to be in Eleuthera. Pascal is a second-generation chef who grew up on this island, and the fare is pleasantly varied -- NOT just the usual cracked conch and burgers. Whether you eat in or order a take-away lunch, Pascal is a perfectionist chef who will make sure the food is exemplary. We saw several local people ordering takeaway each time we were in.

Pascal's pizzas have already been singled out for praise by other reviewers. Pascal acquired his pizza recipe in Sicily, although he uses a thin crust rather than the New York "Sicilian"-style thick square crust. He insists on fresh ingredients and that was reflected in the Father's Day lunch we enjoyed on Sunday.

The setting is gorgeous: tropical palms waving over a white beach by the sheltered turquoise waters of Rock Sound, everything painted in beautiful tropical fashion, open-air dining with shelter from the rain if it ever rains, even a small stage for entertainment and a tiki bar and dinghy dock.

Speaking of the dinghy dock, these are very cruiser-friendly people, they love the sailors and sport fishermen who visit their island to drop by, do their marketing and banking (the shortest walk in town to The Market, the gas station, and Scotia Bank), and maybe stop in for a drink or a snack. They ever provide water at the dock for those who need it enough to jerry jug it back to the boat in their dinghies.

The fun part about posting reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor is that you can help some wonderful, deserving business owners, not just by word of mouth to your friends and fellow cruisers you meet, but by word of internet to fellow journeyers you have never met! :-) In some ways, this blog might serve a similar purpose, but we generally assume that here we're writing for friends and family: hi, friends and family!

It got really rainy on Tuesday, and there is a trough coming through. We will be staying here and waiting it out.