Exploring Long Island

The day we left Rum Cay was much like the day we came, clear, sunny and breezy. However, this time, instead of going against the prevailing winds and current, our course now took us with it. Like riding your bike downhill after climbing the long steep mountain; we just coasted along, almost dead downwind with the steady 15-20 knot trade winds blowing away. What a difference. With the waves and swell from behind, neither seem terribly imposing and in fact we thoroughly enjoy surfing down the bigger ones. The boat sails dry and flat, no heeling, no spray, no waves breaking over the bow or dodger. Moving about the boat is so much easier as well. And we think the cats really appreciate not having to cling to whatever they can down below just to stay in one place.

Just as we were settling into the downwind pattern, we hooked what turned out to be a 15 pound Blackfin tuna. Starlight, not more than ˝ mile behind us hooked one as well. But how to land and then clean a fish this large on our boat while sailing? We eventually got the fish up to the boat and into the cockpit whence the real fiasco began. Me with one foot on the fish and driving the boat while Joyce fetched the alcohol we use to subdue the fish. (In case I have not mentioned it, if you pour alcohol into the mouth or gills, this usually does the trick.) All the while, the fish is kicking and flapping about. And then the messy part began. It took me over an hour to clean the fish, leaning with my head over in the cockpit, after which the cockpit was a bloody fishy mess. The cats where quite unaware of the whole ordeal until the very end when Atlas came to check out the delectable smell emanating from above. Fortunately, we kept him from stepping through the blood and guts for if he had, he would have tracked it all over the boat. Once the clean up was done, we were able to enjoy 5 fantastic meals worth from just this one fish. Needless to say, we didn't need to do any more fishing for the next several days.

Early in the afternoon, we rounded Cape Santa Maria and ran along in the lee of Long Island to our evening's anchorage 6 miles south of the point. A very pretty spot along the beach, but it turned out to be quite rolly all night as the northeasterly swell made its way down from the Cape and into our anchorage. So the next morning we left early for the 20 mile trek down to Salt Pond.

And talk about wonderful sailing. Once again the trade winds were blowing with a steady 15-20 knot easterly. But now, we were in the lee of Long Island, beam reaching in virtually flat water, especially considering how much wind there was. At this point of sail, most sailboats perform their best; for us that means about 7˝ and sometimes up to 8 knots and on top of this we were sailing through the sparkling turquoise waters that are so characteristic of the Bahamas. It was one of those sails that you wish would never end but at our speed, we covered the 20 miles all too quickly. Like a fun sleigh ride, we wanted to go back and do it all over again. But Salt Pond turned out to be a great stop.

Salt Pond, Long Island

While the morning's sail was under sunny skies and clear weather, shortly after anchoring at Salt Pond, it clouded up, got cooler and started raining off and on. After such a poor nights sleep in the rolly anchorage the night before, Joyce and I were thoroughly whooped, lacking even the energy to go into town. Later that evening after gathering the daily weather information, we ascertained that a front would likely make it through our area the next day. I should explain that the anchorage at Salt Pond is quite good, only lacking in protection from winds from south to just south of west. However, from the southwest is the direction the wind will often blow, and sometimes hard, out ahead of a cold front. Thus Brian and I were discussing over the radio whether we should pick up anchor early the next morning and scurry away from Salt Pond to a better anchorage. It was about this point that someone with a call sign of ‘Wendy Ann', monitoring our conversation, hailed us with every intention of trying to convince us not to go. Not at all sure who ‘Wendy Ann' was or why he would be interested whether we stayed or went, we decided to assess the weather the next morning. As it turned out, the cold front did make it through earlier then expected the next day, but with little if any wind out of the south. And lucky for us we stayed put because 1) we wouldn't have had time to get anywhere before the front hit and 2) we ended up having a great time in Salt Pond, especially once we found out just who the heck Wendy Ann was!

Turns out that 'Wendy Ann' is Tom and Wendy who cruised their own boat from Ontario to these parts for many years until it got too much to handle their boat. But they so much enjoy the Salt Pond area that they rent a cottage for 2 months every winter here. They fancy staying in touch with the cruising community. In that regard, they provide all manner of assistance to visiting yachtsmen, even holding a social at their cottage every Sunday for all those boaters in the anchorage. One of the challenges in coming to a new place is figuring out the essentials, like where to get groceries, fuel and water and where to get rid of trash. Tom helped with these things as well as many others. He even arranged a car rental for us one day and provided a map with all those must see stops. For all that we were only able to return the kindness by picking up a couple of papayas from the produce market on the day we rented the car.

Unlike many other Bahamian Islands, Long Island is best explored by car. You would think that would not be the case as the island is a mere 4 miles wide at its broadest, 76 miles in length, and surrounded by water with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Exuma Sound to the west. But with few good anchorages and with the southern waters too thin for any but the shallowest draft, there are many interesting areas that one would miss otherwise. As we and Starlight divided the $65 per day cost of the rental car, it wasn't that expensive. Remember how many forms you had to fill out the last time you rented a car? Well, to rent a car here, there aren't any forms. That's right, Mr. Stanley Pinder drove the car down to us at the beach where we landed the dinghy, we drove him back home, he gave us the keys and then we were off. Not thinking, Joyce had given me specific instructions to use a certain credit card to pay for the car as that one had car insurance. What a laugh! He didn't even ask us for a driver's license or credit card as a down payment. It took longer for Stanley to tell use how to open the four jelly coconuts that he gave us from a tree in his yard then it did for him to hand over the keys. So what is there to see in Long Island?

First off, the island has rolling hills with beautiful vistas overlooking both the ocean and the sound. Then, there are the goats and sheep that although domesticated, run freely over the island. There is the stunning white cliffs surrounded by soft white ocean sand beaches. We visited the ruins of the Spanish Church (circa 1500's), one of the oldest known in North America. We visited the Bahamian boat building site where the new champion is being built. Down in Clarence Town, the overlook from the St. Peter's Church in Clarence Town is breathtaking. And we found Max's Conch Bar right on the main highway with the best conch salad and conch burgers anywhere in the Bahamas. (Check out Max's website - we haven't seen it yet and neither has he as his son designed it from Nassau). Even driving on the left side of the road down Queens Highway was a blast, especially considering that I haven't driven any car at all in over two and a half months. But the highlights were in snorkeling the blue hole at Turtle Cove and swimming over to the prettiest little cay in the Bahamas at Guana Cay.

A blue hole, as we found out, is a deep shaft of water surrounded by either much shallower water or in some cases land. The pocket of water is deep, sometimes very deep, for in the case of this particular hole, well over 600 feet deep! This blue hole is touted as the World's Deepest Blue Hole and the 8th Largest Underwater Cavern. Divers have penetrated it to 220 feet and sounded it with lead lines at over 660 feet! From where we waded into the water at a small sandy beach, it was no more than 20 feet to where the bottom suddenly slopes down rapidly and then drops off altogether to a bottom that can not be seen. Thus the pocket of water appears as a deep blue circle fringed by the pale waters around giving rise to the name. Looking down into the blue hole at Turtle Cove was like looking into eternity or perhaps more like an abyss. Proving that once again you can take the boy out of the woods but..., I found a submerged stalk of a small palm tree that I drug over to the blue hole and cast it in. I watched as it quickly sunk down, down and out of sight. We joked that this is probably how the Bahamian Mafia gets rid of its victims as few have ever seen the bottom of this blue hole.

The other highlight made available with our car was our snorkel out to Guana Cay. The picture doesn't do it justice, but imagine if you will that perfect tropical palm fringed paradise place that you long to go to in the middle of a cold winter evening while shoveling snow off the walk, slush in your shoes and the wind biting at your cheeks. There you have Guana Cay!

If there is one disappointment this week, it had to be in missing our friends on Feng Shui and Suzannah as they left George Town for their trek south. In fact, we were able to hear them on the radio, albeit just barely, as they rounded the tip of Long Island. We had just come back to the boat when I could just make out Loren on Feng Shui announce rather excitedly they he had sailed in amongst a pod of pilot whales. We hailed him on the radio and even switched to a working channel, but we were just too far away for us to have anything but the faintest signal. We tried to get someone to do a relay all to no avail. So off they went without knowing where we were. We wish them well and hope our paths cross again one day.

But finally it was time for us to move on. Reluctantly, we made our way back to George Town, both Starlight and Watermark leisurely sailing under spinnakers. We hope that we would be in George Town only long enough to do laundry, get a few provisions, water and fuel. We shall see if we can escape from the clutches of George Town again so soon.