Exploring Long Island

We are exploring Long Island with Remy and Dominique from Demon Du Midi and Brian and Jan from Wind Chaser. We are taking advantage of a long stretch of good weather without west winds, as there really isn't any protection from the southwest in particular. We traveled as far south on the west side of Long Island that is reasonably possible with our draft. We have been in Thompson Bay near Salt Pond for several days. It is a beautiful location. We rented a van with Demon Du Midi and Wind Chaser so we could explore the entire island. Long Island is about 80 miles long and about 4 miles wide. At our current location, we are below the Tropic of Cancer, so we are now in the tropics.

Roadside lunch spot

Cave just off the beach in Salt Pond - yes, they are bats

Old Spanish Church - thought to have been built by Spanish settlers in the 1700's

St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church - built by Father Jerome after he converted to Catholicism

Brian and  Dominique

Remy and Brian are collecting coconuts

Bahamas Images

Typical hiking trail - very slow going

Near a pirate's lair - a camping area of pirates, as evidenced by non native plants and trees from seeds which fell from their belongings

Police Station at Black Point Settlement

Loraine's Cafe - tending bar

Beach Church

The center of activity here in George Town is on Volleyball Beach. This is a regular community organized and run by cruisers. We attended Beach Church on our first weekend here, and it became a hit with us immediately. It is an actual, organized non-denominational church. So far, we have not had any actual ministers in the anchorage, but that has not diminished the quality of the message.

Arriving At George Town

Elizabeth Harbor has to be approached from the east side. Since the winds are generally from the east, we timed our arrival in George Town according to the wind and sea forecast. We moved to Little Farmers Cay to stage for going out the cut the next day and on down to George Town. There were two other boats at Little Farmers Cay, Nikita from Seattle and Free@Last from Sidney, Australia. Both boats had young children on board and had been traveling together since Annapolis. We all departed together at 7 am in perfect sailing conditions. It was a fast trip, and we were generally running 7.5 - 8 knots. Free@Last caught a Mahi Mahi and invited and Nikita and us to share the catch. It was a wonderful evening, and it was fun to watch the kids, two three-year-olds and a five-year-old, keep themselves busy in the cabin while we enjoyed good conversation in the cockpit. Hamish grilled the fish on the Bar B, and it was excellent. Shortly after we anchored, Ann from Borrowed Horse brought three pounds of shark over to us. Neither of us has knowingly eaten shark (we are guessing it is probably in fish sticks and that sort of thing), but we were willing to give it a try. We grilled about a third of it a couple of days later, and while it was a good mild fish, neither of us cared for the texture. We gave our remaining shark to Brian on Wind Chaser as he likes shark very much.

Our New Winter Home

Wind Chaser left Exuma Park a day before us. They spent last winter in the Exumas, so they wanted to see some new and different places and maybe go to George Town at a faster pace than we planned. We will catch up with them later. We had some nice gatherings on the beach for cocktails. The park built a fire for us on Saturday night. After leaving Warderick Wells, we went to Black Point Settlement to do laundry. The laundromat, Rockside Inn, came highly recommended. After some bad and expensive experiences last year in the Abacos, we are very cautious. This turned out to be the very best, not only for the Bahamas, but for the US as well. A little more expensive than in the US, but not bad for the Bahamas. The equipment worked very well, and the place was spotless. We like Black Point Settlement so much that we have decided it will be our home base, the place we keep coming back to after exploring. We met Lorraine, who runs Lorraine's Cafe. We are so comfortable at Lorraine's. She has great, reasonably priced meals, free WiFi, a book exchange, and a television. The bar is self-serve. You just make up your drink or find one in the cooler and note your drinks on a pad to be settled later. Lorraine's mom makes breads, and we started with an initial order for two coconut breads. It makes the best French toast. We bought two lobsters from local fishermen who stopped by in their boat. The catch was fresh, and we didn't take long to get them in a pot of boiling water. This was our first spiny lobster, and they were very good.

Now In The Exumas

From Nassau, we left with a flotilla as everyone was waiting for the same favorable wind conditions. Our first stop in the Exumas was at Allens Cay. On the way across to Allens Cay, we went through an area of coral heads and began honing our skills at reading the water (color). For about an hour, I stood on the bow and directed Linda with hand signals to avoid any potential coral heads. As we approached Allens Cay, all navigation was by sight using the color of the water to determine deep water and to avoid the sand bars. Allens Cay is known for its iguanas. These are friendly, and just about as soon as you land on the beach, they are around, hoping to be fed. We did not feed them, as none of the wildlife should be fed, but we noted that commercial boats bring tourists to Allens Cay, and some provided food for their guests to feed the iguanas.

After spending a couple of nights at Allens Cay, we were off to Normans Cay. Normans Cay was once held by Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder. Remaining now is the air strip, which is active. There is a beach club and a few vacation villas. We let our dinghy drift over a plane wreck. It is perfectly preserved and intact below the surface. The fuselage and tail, which were above the surface, corroded away. Normans Cay is just outside the Exumas Park, where all plants and wildlife are protected. We found the conch to be very plentiful at Normans Cay.

We spent New Year's Eve at Normans Cay and celebrated with pizza on Wind Chaser, but we were back aboard Ariel by 7:30.

On New Years day, we continued on to Warderick Wells in the heart of Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park. This park covers an area of 176 square miles. The entire area is a no-take zone. Nothing can be removed, living or dead. This area has great snorkeling, and the island has some very interesting walking trails. We were assigned a mooring in the north mooring field close to the park office.

We have been traveling with the same group of boats more or less since Nassau, so we are getting to know many of our frequent neighbors.

On mooring