4/1/16 - 4/4/16 To 23 21.571N, 75 08.148W Thompson's Bay, Long
Island 46.7 NM
,
 |
| Sunset at Conception Island |
 |
We were so busy looking at the sunset, we almost missed these clouds in the east
lit up by the setting sun over Conception |
We finished our game of Mexican dominoes aboard Imanja Thursday
evening, and made plans to head for Long Island in the morning,
taking advantage of the SE wind. The first 20NM were perfect, a
broad reach with a steady 15kts of wind and we averaged 7kts. There
was a 4-5' swell, just enough motion that Leonard wished he'd taken
a pill before we left. The swell disappeared once we reached Cape
Santa Maria at the N end of Long Island, but so did our broad reach
as our course became more to windward to head down the W side of the
island, turning our reach into a beat..
 |
| White cliffs and the Columbus Monument at Cape Santa Maria at the N end of Long Island |
We watched as a number of cumulus clouds developed and moved NW,
thinking maybe we'd get a welcome fresh water rinse for the decks.
Once again, all we got were a few sprinkles, enough to raise the
humidity. Not so a bit to the W, where it looked like rain was
moving ever so slowly away from us. We thought about diverting, but
knew we'd most likely chase after the rain much longer than we
wanted. After we were anchored, we heard a boat report very heavy
rain with limited visibility, even with radar as they approached
from the SW.
To reach Thompson's Bay from Conception there is about a 4NM
'trough' between sand banks with charted sections of 2.1 meter
depths, that we wanted to do on a rising tide. Granted, our charts
use low, low water depths, so you don't get any surprises with a
spring tide, and usually have an extra 6" or more of water, but you
still don't want to wander too far off course. We weren't sure if
the hurricane might have moved some of the shifting sand banks. The
chart gives a couple of positions along the way, which are the way
points we've used in the past. Knowing other cruisers have taken
this route this year helped lessen the stress level, and neither we,
nor Imanja, with her 6'4" draft had a problem.
We tried sailing once we reached deeper water, but the wind switched
direction around every cloud, involving numerous tacks since we were
close hauled. We'd have plenty of hot water for showers to rinse
off the salt once we were anchored. Vessels, some 18-20, were
anchored in the various areas of the harbor depending on their
draft. Much of the bay is shallow, even for us. Leonard figured
we'd lose 2-2.5' of depth at low tide, so we nudged our way toward
shore, dropping the hook in about 9' of water. He said it was about
7' when he checked about 2330. The tidal data on the chart plotter
doesn't cover this side of the island, making it a best guess
proposition for tidal times.
It was great to hear an 0815 morning net in the harbor with tides,
weather, and local information. Being a Saturday, there was a
farmer's market at 0900 by the Batelco tower. Ernie requested the
hours, and was told although it started at 0900, it was frequently
sold out by 1000, so we planned on arriving early. When we left the
market at 0930, there was very little produce or baked goods left in
the stalls. I'd hoped to buy some local bananas (they're small and
much tastier than the Dole bananas at home), but was told no banana
trees survived Joachim last October. One farmer said he has a small
tree started in his yard, and maybe next year it will bear fruit.
The 4 of us walked up to Hillside Grocery to see what they had in
stock. We heard it's the largest grocery store on the island, so
we're lucky to have access to a good selection of fresh produce. We
also checked out the liquor store next door, and were surprised to
find hardware and gift sections in other rooms. Always good to know
where you might find what you need!
The water was down even further when we got back to the dinghy
dock. This sturdy dock is new since Island Breeze dock closed,
built by the folks who own the adjacent property. Unfortunately it
is a fixed dock with a single ladder, and it was about 8' down to
the water. We spoke with another boater and confirmed the little
harbor by the church, which is closer to the boat (but further from
the store), is still available for landing too. For garbage, water
or fuel, we'll need to dinghy even further, to Long Island Petroleum
next to the government dock off Salt Pond. The fuel dock is too
shallow to access by Antares, unless we time it to arrive at high
tide - we watched the other year, as a boat came up about 8' short
of the fuel dock.
 |
| Leonard took this shot of the beach and waves while sitting in the shade along the bank |
Bette joined us for a walk on the beach after lunch. It's a bit of
a hike, over the hill, to the beach, and we took the scenic route
with a view of one of the salt ponds for which the town is named.
Other than the lack of palm trees (or any tall trees), we saw less
hurricane damage than expected. Sometimes it can be difficult to
know if a house is under construction - a slow process down here,
sometimes taking years - or being repaired. We did see new shingles
on a couple of roofs and other roof damage.
 |
Doves - they were smaller (8"?) than mourning doves, possibly common ground doves,
but the closest image in my bird books was the Inca dove which have dark slender beaks,
but shouldn't be in the Bahamas. |
Sunday was a quiet day. Other than the grocery store being open for
a couple of hours, town was closed. With light, shifting winds, it
was hot. Fortunately we had a little breeze, and we strung tarps
from the boom and over the forward hatch to provide a bit more
shade. They really made a difference, but being plastic, they won't
work in the wind. It was a good day for cleaning the cabin. The
morning net mentioned a shore side gathering on the beach for
cruisers at 1700, so we'll have a chance to met more of our
neighbors. With fewer boats, Long Island is a bit more laid back
than Georgetown. The way we like it!
 |
| Some of the boaters attending the Sunday afternoon gathering |
The Sunday shore party was well attended by both people and dogs
- more boats had arrived during the afternoon, and a radio
announcement was made to make sure they knew about the party too.
The variety and quality of the snacks is always interesting at these
gatherings - we rarely come away hungry enough to eat dinner. We
met quite a few folks, some of whom we're likely to see again.
Monday morning we joined the group a cruisers helping clean up the
LI Regatta site in preparation for the June regatta, picking up
shingles and other debris. One of the cruising boats has been here
most of the winter, helping to organize cruiser assisted clean up
for some of the more damaged parts of the island. It's a great way
to interact with other cruisers while helping the locals. The
Bahamians are resilient folks - it make take time, but they manage
to bounce back and continue to thrive.
We also managed to purchase another month's data time from BATELCO
since ours expired yesterday. It was relatively easy once Leonard
figured out the 'little' details. While there aren't many BATELCO
offices, cards for time can be purchased a lot of places, in this
case, the liquor store.
Note: Thanks to Doug White, an LCYC friend, I learned one
name (of several) for a bunch of butterflies - a kaleidoscope -
which is a wonderful description of how they look as they flit from
flower to flower.
Also the creature I IDed as an iguana and was corrected that it was
a monitor lizard at Bill Baggs State Park, actually has been
identified as a spinytailed iguana or
Ctenosaura,
that looks similar to a monitor, but isn't as nasty. Glad it wasn't
a monitor! - Thanks Jeanette (who also helps with bird IDs)
It's great having help and corrections with identification - we
don't always have internet (and when I write, I don't necessarily
have the time to do a detailed check) !
4/5/ - 4/7/16 Thompson's Bay, Long Island
Monday afternoon we all hiked down to the 'Pole 108 Beach'. The
utility poles along the Queen's Highway are numbered (a great help
for locating problems for the utility folks), which also made it
easier for us to find the trail to the beach. I don't think we
walked far enough 2 years ago when we failed to find the trail.
Unlike the long beach off Salt Pond, which got cleaned up when the
rally from Georgetown came over to Long Island after the cruiser's
race, this beach was littered with a lot of junk, much of it
plastic. Plastic has many uses, but takes forever to breakdown, and
it would appear boats are losing (or tossing) tons of the stuff
overboard given the amount that piles up on the beaches.
Bette, Leonard and I tried to find the trail over the headland to
the next beach S - Ernie, not know how adventurous we are, had left
his shoes at the start of the beach, and you don't clamber over the
rough rocks and sand burrs sans shoes unless you have really tough
feet! After about 10 minutes of trying various leads, we gave up,
and caught up with Ernie who had found a place to sit in the shade.
Tuesday Leonard and I explored the beaches to the S of Salt Pond. I
lost count, but think we walked at least 5 which are joined together
by trails over rough headlands. There were more, but we'd had
enough of both sun and walking, and took the 'road' along the
utility line back into town rather than walking the back along the
beach.
We made arrangements with the Reuters to rent a car Wednesday to the
island. We debated doing a noon - noon rental, doing S in the
afternoon and N the next morning, but that would limit the options
to leave, or help the cruisers do relief work if any was scheduled.
We agreed to keep our options open and just do one long day.
Beside the vagaries of wind and weather, Minnie, the Reuter's cat,
developed a UTI problem over the weekend, and they made arrangements
to pick up more meds (for possible future use since she's prone to
UTI) and special food at the Humane Society in Georgetown, either
Saturday or Sunday, depending on which day the vet would be in
town. Minnie's doing fine, and doesn't have to be seen by the vet
who will be in town Sunday with the necessary supplies. It's
amazing how well the net works in getting help when requested, be
it health - people or pet, or boat issues.
Wednesday morning we headed S in the car. We'd wanted to to
schedule the Hamilton cave tour with Mr. Cartwright that we'd
enjoyed previously, but he wasn't doing tours - things are not back
to normal after Joaquin, and many folks are still busy doing
repairs. We saw evidence of a lot of new shingles and construction,
an area of dead mangroves and swamp where salt water must have been
deep enough over a prolonged time to kill the vegetation, many
destroyed buildings. One of the things we didn't consider, was the
lack of signs - most had been blown away by Joaquin and not yet
replaced, making it difficult to find places we planned to see.
We stopped at Dean's Blue Hole, one of the deepest at 202 meters
(663'), and home of one of the world's free dive competitions. We
were surprised to see a number of cars in the parking area - we'd
stumbled upon competitors training for the competition, April 22-May
2. The divers use a double flipper that looks like a mermaid's or
whale's tail. As we approached the beach, a stunning young woman,
Marianna Krupnitslaya, was coming ashore and we asked about the
fancy flipper. By serendipity, she was the winner of the women's
competition 2 years ago with an 86 meter free dive, and more than
willing to talk with us and answer questions along with her equally
good looking male safety diver. The competition is limited to the
top 30 qualifying divers. We also spoke with Adam Stern, from
Australia, (90 meters 2 years ago) who said the $20,000 purse is
divided between the top divers, though that's not the reason they
dive. Most have sponsors and travel the globe from one competition
to another. The US has 2 divers in this years competition, the
others are from all over the world Check out the websites
-http://events.verticalblue.net/
http://2016.verticalblue.net/
 |
| Marianna with her 'mermaid' tail -dive platform behind Ernie |
Marianna told us there are 2 'balconies' or overhangs at Deans Hole,
the first about 20 meters down. Most dives take about 3 minutes,
and utilize the cable attached to the dive platform down into the
hole, and a 1 meter tether. After a certain depth, the divers reach
a neutral buoyancy stage, after which the dive is like a free fall.
The real work is kicking yourself back to the surface with the big
flipper. The safety person has a line as well, and can feel a light
tug when the diver reaches the bottom and starts to come up.
Fascinating stuff, but not for me!
 |
| Deans Blue Hole as viewed from above |
 |
| View of Deans Blue Hole from the beach |
We climbed the rocks above the hole - the water was remarkably clear
and calm given the 20+kts of NE wind blowing out on the sound. The
hole is in a small cove, protected by reefs and a cliff. Just plain
folks can also swim or snorkel the hole, but we opted not to bring
gear and spend the rest of the day, salty and damp, as we explored
the island - there are no changing rooms or showers. We walked out
along the beach to watch the waves break on the reef.
 |
A tiny hermit crab residing in a tiny colorful shell perched on a sea urchin -
he grabbed Leonard's finger and didn't want to let go! |
We weren't as lucky exploring the interesting old churches. Unlike 2 years ago, they were all locked, and we could only look through the windows. We were surprised by the lack of old gravestones - most were relatively recent given Loyalists arrived here after the Revolutionary War.
 |
| A small church, no longer in use, with a much newer modern church next door |
 |
| Another interesting church - note the thickness of the walls at the windows |
We had some delicious, really fresh, grilled fish tacos at the Outer
Edge Grill at the Flying Fish Marina in Clarencetown while we
watched the supply ship arrive and tie up at the nearby government
dock. The marina docks which we walked after lunch appeared to be
new since the hurricane and had fewer boats on them than 2 years
ago. Although there always tends to be surge in the harbor and the
anchorage area with enough depth for most boats is small, it is
along the 'Thorny Path' between the Caribbean and the east coast.
 |
| Clarencetown from St. Peter and Paul Church |
 |
| St Peter's and Paul's Catholic Church with its iconic twin towers |
 |
| Canal dug by slave labor to make salt farms |
After lunch, we ventured a bit further S on the island. It's 80
miles long, and 4 miles wide at the widest portion, with a
population of 4000. There's a lot of empty space. Most settlements
consist of a handful of houses and possibly a small store. You're
through the settlement before you realize it! We drove E toward the
beach at Morrisville to what turned out to be a small development.
There were several dead end 'roads' and a couple of houses, most in
some stage of construction. With nothing but brush and views of the
ocean or bank, it was very isolated. Guess, maybe if you're really
into fishing it could be fun, but the nearest store was miles away.
We parked y one house overlooking the ocean, and climbed down for a
short walk on the beach.
 |
| A wreck off the beach at Morrisville |
On the way back, we were looking for the Loyalist ruins at
Densmores, and turned up a track toward a small church. Several men
were putting in footings for a house, and pointed out a couple of
walls of ruins close to a couple of houses. We also talked to a
couple of women, who were delighted to be visited and requested
donations for groceries which we were happy to make. One woman had
a new house, but no income and a disabled husband. We gave her our
small bag of food I'd gathered from our on board stash that I'd
planned to give to Bess, the cruiser who was organizing volunteer
work parties and donations.
 |
| Loyalist ruins at Densmores - new house to the right |
 |
| Densmores church |
 |
| Church door and bell - door was broken, so we could peek inside |
The men were working on a new house for the other family - 3
generations, living in a very small house. It appeared the
residents must have weathered the hurricane in the church. It had
sustained some damage, but had been built with thick, sturdy walls,
that could withstand the winds. The settlement had the good fortune
to have been built on a hillside, so avoided flooding problems.
Wednesday evening was party night, with the cruisers gathering at
Club Washington, about 2 miles N of the anchorage for drinks and
dinner. Most cruisers had signed up to attend at the morning net
for the dinner, advertised as more than you can eat for $15. Any
dinner I don't cook is good. With the car, we didn't need to hitch
a ride to attend. After dinner, we dropped the Reuters off close to
their dinghy, returned the car and were back aboard just after
sundown. A long, interesting day. Sometime we'll need to explore
the N end of the island - it's a deal when you have folks to share
the expenses, and a great way to see things not readily available by
boat.
Remember my comment about no signs? Thursday afternoon a sign
painting party was organized for the cruisers to lend a hand making
a number for local businesses. In the morning, Leonard and I headed
for a beach walk and a quick stop at the store, planning to get back
in time to lend a hand with the signs. Even the cruisers operate on
'island time' - it was past 1330 when we got back to the dinghy and
saw the Reuters approaching in their dinghy wondering if there'd
been a change in plans. No one had been at the beach for the
scheduled 1300 start. Things had gotten delayed, and were just
getting started when we arrived after 1400. We joined in and
helped sand and paint - I was reminded of the old adage of 'use up,
make do, or do without' - all signs were recycled, either wood or
metal. Hopefully the 'new' signs will help the local businesses -
signage being necessary, but way down the totem pole on the work
list.
 |
| Tanker as we depart Long Island in a flat calm - can't
differentiate between sky and sea |
According to Chris Parker (as well as the GRIB and WindPredict) the
wind would collapse. It did. We woke up to absolute calm Friday
morning. Not even a cat's paw (maybe Minnie should have dipped a
paw into the water). We'd been dithering between departing Friday
or Saturday for Georgetown, expecting to motor either day. We
needed to charge our batteries thanks to the lack of wind, and
figured we might as well use the fuel for more than just charging,
so pulled our anchor (chain clearly visible next to the boat)
shortly after the morning net. Imanja did likewise, giving them a
day's grace before meeting with the vet.
We'll spend a few days in Georgetown - the NNE wind will fill in,
blowing in the 20's Saturday night, and keep us in port until it
eases during the week. Plenty of time to restock the larder and
walks before we start our long trek toward home. The Reuters plan
on leaving their boat either in the Carolinas or Florida, avoiding
the long trip in either direction, and continuing cruising next
fall. We may connect with Todd and Beth Toesing (and Doug White),
all LCYC, who have purchased a catamaran in Florida and are hoping
to arrive in Georgetown sometime after April 10, weather permitting.
