Monthly Archives: April 2014

It’s Sunday around mid-day and we are enjoying a perfect sail back to Georgetown from Long Island.  The wind is behind us and we are cruising along with the water chuckling alongside.  Life is good.

Brenda’s up in the cockpit reading and keeping watch and I am down in the cabin typing away.  It’s a beautiful day.

Here’s the view out of the cockpit.  Puffy clouds, blue sky and perfectly clear water.  Even though we are miles from land it’s less than 20’ deep.  Such is sailing on the Bahamas Banks.On Saturday we rented a car and toured the island with our friends Dick and Anne of Nati.  I have written about them before and we really enjoy spending time with them. 

We stopped in Clarence Town for lunch and had the best grilled fish soft tacos EVER.  And let me tell you that there aren’t a load of places that serve great food to choose from in these parts. 

Long Island has some beautiful old Anglican and Catholic churches that are beautifully kept by their congregations.  This is one that we stopped to visit. The interior was simple and very peaceful.A well known priest here in Long Island was Father Jerome who had a very big impact on the island.  One of his best known churches is in Clarence Town.  What a beautiful spot.  Looks like the top of the right hand tower was struck by lightening.   Perhaps one of parishioners was thinking “impure thoughts”.   Something to think about.  Right?You can climb up into the towers if you have the nerve.  I had enough nerve to climb the narrow and very steep ladders, one after another, to reach the top but not quite enough nerve to do anything once I got to the top.  Once I arrived I was just about frozen and couldn’t take my hands off of the nearly vertical ladder to use my camera.

Oh well, Dick climbed up the other tower and mugged for the camera.  Reminded me of one of the characters from the old TV show Laugh In from the 60s, or was it the 70s?  Hmm…I took this shot of the view from one of the towers last year.  I guess I had more nerve last time.  Go figure.We also visited the deepest “blue hole” in the world, Deans Blue Hole.  In case you are wondering, it’s located in Deans LI.  No surprise there but I did find myself wondering if there was a “mister Deans”.  Blue holes are formed when seawater leaches away the bedrock and creates underwater caves that lead to the ocean.  These “holes” are all over the Bahamas with some being only a few feet across and other 100s of feet across.  Deans has the distinction of being the deepest in the world at 660 feet deep.  Question: If it’s 660′ deep is that at low or high tide? Perhaps they are averaging.  I won’t be checking that fact myself anytime soon.  

And, it’s the site of competition “free diving” where folks hold their breath and swim down, and back up, on a single breath.  Sounds nuts to me.  There’s a plaque nearby that commemorates three swimmers that have lost their lives here.  And, I know that another diver lost his life last fall and wasn’t listed so that’s four at least.  It’s a very dangerous sport. 

While we were there the current champion free diver was practicing. His current record is 100 meters.  That’s over 300 feet deep.   Just the thought freaks me out.  He’s the guy with the cute cap.  Pretty “hunky” guys.  Yes?They swim off of a platform that has a wire suspended that they follow on their way down and back up again.  The wire is reeled down to a chosen depth to guide them so that they know when they have reached their goal.   They also wear wetsuits and carry just enough weight to counteract the buoyancy of the suit. If you are also interested, you can buy a decent man scuba suit, here.

Another popular pastime here is to jump off of one of the surrounding cliffs.  Not sure I’d have the guts to do this either.  Here’s a guy that did.  I took some solace in seeing him stand there for quite a while till he took the plunge.Oh yeah, and here’s a shot of one of the “locals” that was peeking out of a hole in the surrounding cliff.  He, I guess it was a he, was sharing his “home” with a little hermit crab.  Brenda opted to pass on trying to pet him.On our way back to Pandora we were going to take a guided cave tour. However, the “proprietor” was out at the airport picking up a friend so there was  nobody to take us.   I expect that he was the “chief cook and bottle washer” too.   No luck there.  

We also tried to visit the Long Island museum, which we have heard is terrific.  Alas, closed.  Of course you’d expect it to be closed on a Saturday afternoon, right?  Not… So, what are a couple of tourists on “tour” for the day to do?

Here’s an idea.  How about a visit to a local bar?  It must be 5pm somewhere.  No wait, it was Saturday afternoon so it’s OK. 

Confident that it was indeed a “good time”, we followed a sign on the side of the road and there it was, “Seaside Village”.  Perfect. Actually, the entire “village” consisted of a dock with a bar perched on the end.  I guess he could call it a village as there was a half finished guest house, no make that 20% finished, along with a goat and chickens.  You heard it, goats and chickens.   Here’s the main attraction.  The bar.Not exactly a resort or much less a village but a lot of fun.  Here’s our crew. When was the last time you were at a bar with a goat?  Probably never, I’ll bet.  Then you have never been to the Bahamas mon.  Chickens?

Here’s Brenda, fiber lover, petting the resident beach bar goat.  A moment later she butted Brenda in the leg.  “bar fight!”  I guess it’s his/her way of showing love.  What a hoot.Did somebody say goat? Here’s  a few (sheep actually) I spied earlier in the day hanging our at the Clarence Town police station.  Yes, the police station.   That evening, not to let a moment pass unproductively, we headed over to Chez Pierre for dinner.  The owner and chef is Pierre, as you would expect.  I think he’s been running this place for about 15 years and is known for having one of the best dining spots in the Bahamas. 

It’s also perhaps the most remote as it is located several miles off of the beaten path down a badly rutted dirt road.  It’s so far from the road that Pierre has never had power lines run from the main road and uses his own generator that purrs along all day and night.  Pierre also has a few guest rooms. 

It’s a beautiful spot, right on the beach.  However, as the water is so shallow, the closest that we could get with Pandora to shore would be about ¾ of a mile. The view from the dining room is very peaceful. The building is fairly rustic but inside it’s a different story.  Quite unique.We had a terrific time.   I think that the only other folks dining that evening were guests that were staying in the cottages on the property. 

As a funny anecdote, Pierre has a selection of wines to choose from with prices penned on their labels.  When I asked him about a French Chardonnay that I was considering, he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me over to another guest’s table.  He picked up their bottle of wine from the ice bucket and poured a taste for me. I couldn’t believe it.  He gave me a taste from someone else’s bottle, without asking…

It was good, so I ordered a bottle, and everyone seemed to be amused by the incident.  Just try doing that in New York.  You’d stand a good chance of being shot or at least punched.  “Hey you, buddy! Skinny guy!  What’s you think you doin, sippin on my Chianti?  I’m gunna punch your lights out.  Get outa hea!”

All and all, a lovely day.  And, we even were able to find our way back to Pandora in the dark, a 1.5 mile ride from the dock where we landed.

No, we still haven’t arrived in Georgetown and are still sailing along merrily.

Today, it is indeed “about the journey” and a lovely journey it is. Alas, as they say “it’s better in the Bahamas”.  Indeed, roadtrip or not.

It’s Friday morning and we are back in Thompson Bay Long Island (that’s the southern LI, not the one in the USA and it’s a LOT different).  Yesterday we had a ROUSING sail back to Thompson Bay, hard on the wind from the north end of the island where we had spent Wednesday night with our friends on Nati.

On Thursday morning Dick, from Nati, and I went snorkeling on a very nice reef near where we were anchored prior to heading back here.  I have to say that the reef was one of the nicest I have seen with a great variety of fish and coral.  The water wasn’t terribly clear but with about 30’ of visibility it was quite beautiful.  The prior afternoon we had gone into the mangrove swamp to do a bit of exploring and on our way back to Pandora we ran into a cruiser who had been fishing with a spear on the same reef.

We asked to see what he had caught and were impressed with the very large trigger fish he had speared.  We were also blown away by two beautiful large shells he had collected. I am not sure what type they were but they were beautiful and about a foot long.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to get a photo.  Oh well.  Both Dick and I just had to find one too so that’s why we decided to go for a swim.  Unfortunately, no luck but the views on the reef were terrific.  Actually, the variety of coral, sponges and fish were the best we’ve seen.  Very nice.

Our run back here was a bit too exciting as the apparent wind was gusting into the mid 20s and we were hard on the wind really heeling over.   However, the seas were calm so it wasn’t that bad.  I’d love to have a run that isn’t quite so windy which hasn’t happened in a while.  Have I mentioned that this winter has been particularly windy?  Thought so.   We might get lucky as Sunday, as we will be going down wind and it’s supposed to be lighter then.  I think we will head back to Georgetown to avoid the exposed harbor here when the winds clock ahead of the cold front that is expected early next week.

The Bahamas are primarily arid with the only rain that falls being from squalls, usually associated with a frontal passage, or during tropical storms, hurricanes, in the summer months.  That means that water is in pretty short supply much of the year.  As a result, the islands only have vegetation that can stand extremely dry conditions.

As much of the Bahamas are very shallow (you can be miles from shore and still be in less than 10′, or less, of water) mangroves are fairly common.   Mangroves grow in water that is very shallow and can pop up wherever there is fairly sheltered thin water.  These areas often dry out at low tide and have miles of winding shallow channels running through them.  When we anchored in the northern part of Long Island we were just offshore of a large area of shallows and mangroves.  This shot shows how shallow the water is and just how insignificant Pandora looked anchored off of the lee of a small island with Nati.  Pandora’s on the left. We took our dinks up into the shallows to do a bit of exploring.  Here’s Dick and Anne in their dink.I am always so fascinated with the change in color of the water depending on the depth.  Generally speaking, the darker the water the deeper it is, but not always.  You can be sure that water that is very light in color is very shallow.  The contrast of the blue of the water to the blue of the sky is so dramatic. As we were sailing back south to Thompson Bay I got some great shots of Nati.  Dick and Anne have lived aboard full time for the last 6 years.  While Nati is only 38’ long, she has three times the room of Pandora.  And, as we were sailing along, heeled on our ear, they were sailing flat and even a bit faster than we were.  Doesn’t Dick look relaxed? He was.I have to say that the idea of a catamaran is getting more appealing every day.  However, sailing in Maine with two engines and props in the water, one in each hull, is a bit daunting with all those lobster pots to snag.  It’s worth nothing that while there are loads of cats here in the Bahamas there are very few in New England.   However, it seems that catamarans are becoming more popular every year.  To step aboard one tells the story as they are very comfortable and have so much more room than boats like Pandora.  We’ll see… 

However, right now I have to figure out how to round up crew for the trip north in May.  Unfortunately, while I thought I was all set a month ago, changes in schedules and a bit of lack of clarity on my part mean that I am back to ground zero with no crew.  Oops.

While having a full month till I leave may sound like a long time to recruit crew, it really isn’t as most of the folks I know have made plans already on other boats and can’t join me.  I have sent out more invites and am hopeful that I will be able to fill in for the run north.

Getting things squared away for a long run in the crew department is always challenging and I am particularly stressed out now.  Hopefully, it will all work out.  Brenda says so and she’s not even that optimistic usually.  I am trusting her on this.

Want to go sailing?

It’s Wednesday morning and we are still here in Thompson Bay Long Island.  Yesterday we decided NOT to head over to the Jumentos, after all my posts to the contrary, as the weather for next week is looking fairly nasty.  As I mentioned many times, the Jumentos are not well protected when fronts come through and it looks like the next one will be fairly bad as has been the case much of the winter.  As a friend told me yesterday, “the Jumentos will still be there next year”.   Indeed.

Happily, there is plenty to do here on Long Island as it’s quite large.  So, the plan is to do some short sails to the northern part of the island over the next few days and then come back here to where it is “sort of” protected from the expected clocking winds.  Actually, it’s exposed to the south west but hopefully, the winds won’t be from that direction for long or be very strong.

We also plan on renting a car for a few days to see the sights on LI.  Last year we did that and had a great time.  There is only one road that runs from north to south so it’s not hard to find your way around.  We are continuing to “buddy boat” with our friends on Nati so that will make the week even more enjoyable.

One of the things that I really enjoy visiting the Bahamas is watching the dramatic clouds.  Sometimes they are combined along with big winds as well but not always.  Can you say “squall”?  On our last night in Georgetown a front came through the area bringing with it quite a show.  We had drenching rain, if only for about 15-30 minutes.  It was nice to get Pandora rinsed off.  However that didn’t last long as our run over to LI the next day got the boat pretty salty.

I was particularly struck by the sunset that evening.  As the sun set we could still see blue sky above and the orange sun setting below.  It didn’t look real.  Quite a shot.A bit later, a beautiful sunset too.  It’s amazing to watch the light change as the minutes tick by. 

So, today a short 20 mile run north to an area called Joe’s Sound.  We heard that there are lots of sea turtles there.  Should be fun.

More to come but it’s time to shove off.

It’s Tuesday morning and we are in Thompson Bay LI.  Note that I actually know where I am and nobody even told me.  Actually, I called into Cruiseheimers and told them today.   At the very least, my saying it helps me remember.  Thompson Bay, Thompson Bay, Thompson Bay…

Pretty good for a guy who’s spent the last few months aboard dodging cold fronts.  And, I even know that it’s April Fools day.  I can’t think of a joke though.  Sorry…

Anyway, today is a lay day (not going anywhere today) and we plan on having lunch ashore with some friends at the only dining establishment that is near here.  Two couples that we are very fond of Dick and Ann on Nati and Miles and Loreen on Ariel came over for dinner last night.  We had loads of fun and Brenda put on quite a spread.  And, I did a ton of dishes.

Speaking of water (did you follow that segue?), we can’t run our watermaker here in Thompson Bay as the water is a milky color with a very fine sediment that will clog the filters.  Actually, it looks like Bahmas blue skim milk.  Well, skim milk has always looked a little blue to me.  Why is that?

Perhaps if there was a pool of milk 6-10’ deep it would look like the water here.  Perhaps not…  Not sure where I am going with this.   The water is made milky by  a very fine sand dust that floats in the water.  The anchor holds well here but the top layer of the bottom is very, very soft sand that is easily stirred up.

Stirred up?  Did I hear stirred up?  I am all about that as I am STILL having trouble calling my mother. My phone just won’t go through to her land line.  I guess that I should just accept that I won’t be able to connect with her.  MOM!!! I have really tried.   Quite frustrating.   Perhaps I should just admit defeat for now.  That’s a tough one for me.  However, I am retired so perhaps I should try to be less persistent.   Hmm…

It seems that her phone, a land line (Yes, some folks still have those if you can believe it) won’t accept phone calls that don’t have caller ID.  Yes, I get that and changed my Bahamas line so that the number would show up.  However, it only works occasionally and without a pattern that I have been able to detect.  Oh well.

After perhaps ten, count em, ten visits to the BATELCO stores on various islands, they just don’t know what to do to solve the problem.  Sometimes the calls go though, sometimes they don’t.  And, I hate being charged for the “don’t” ones.  Perhaps it’s a Yankee thing or my Scottish heritage showing through.

So now that we have situated ourselves here in Thompson Bay, we are a day sail from the Jumentos, a place that we have wanted to check out since we first sarted talking about visiting the Bahamas.   With all of the difficult weather of late, and the “wind from all directions” that we have experienced this winter, we have to decide if we are ready to head into the “wilderness”.  And to say “wilderness” is saying a lot given the fact that just about EVERYWHERE here in the Bahamas is pretty rural.

The weather for this week looks quite good but there is yet another front expected in about a week and it’s too early to tell if there will be clocking winds this far south.  This matters as the Jumentos have very few harbors that are protected from any winds with a westerly component.  You can move around as the wind clocks but the options are quite limited.  Perhaps I would feel a bit better if we had a “buddy boat” to go with us.  We’ll have to see.  Our friends on Ariel and Nati are both headed north so that’s not an option.

Nati, in particular talked to us about visiting the Jumentos as they spent much of the month of March there.  They said that these remote islands are a “must see” and couldn’t recommend it more highly.   They say that the two best reasons to visit here are for the diving and for the beach combing.  As Brenda’s not too keen on snorkeling (it’s a “girl eating” shark thing) the next best thing for us to do is beach combing.  That sounds perfect.

Another thing that was recommended to me today is fishing for bonefish.  Bonefish are great fighters and such fun to catch.  Perhaps I should try catching some.  Bonefish love the shallows and do much of their feeding in water that is only a few feet deep.  You can catch them with bait on a light rod.  They aren’t great eating (that’s why they call them BONE fish, I guess) but are perhaps the ultimate game fish as they really fight.

I don’t have any new photos of note to share so I’ll reach back a few weeks to when we visited Compass Cay up in the Exumas.  This is a private island with a small marina and some really nice homes.  If you recall, this is the place where they feed nurse sharks at the dock and encourage folks to swim with them.  So far,  Brenda hasn’t “taken the bait” and gone into the water at feeding time. Perhaps on our next visit.

Anyway, at the most northern tip of the island there is a spot called the “bubble bath”.  I wrote about it at the time we visited it but didn’t have an opportunity to share any photos due to difficulties with cell service and uploading photos.  However, now that we have good coverage for posting, I thought that I would share a sequence with you that’s pretty neat.

The “bubble bath” is small salt water pool that is not attached to the ocean on the north end of the island.  Ocean swells coming from the north are funneled into a narrow area cut in the rock.  As the cut narrows, the waves build up much higher than you’d expect.  At the head of the cut there is an area that is above the tide but low enough so that the water just sloshes up and over the reef.  Then the “foam” pours over into a protected pool on the other side in a fountain of white.

Here’s the sequence…

This is how the cut looks toward the ocean.  It’s not that big, actually.You can see that the water on the left, the ocean side, is low and rock is exposed.As the waves rush in the water rises 5-8’ very quickly and tons of foam develops.Then, the foam spills dramatically over the rocks and into the pool.  It’s pretty fascinating to watch.  It looks quite violent but isn’t.  Folks come here to swim in the pool.  We plan on bringing our son Rob and his girlfriend Kandice here in late April when they visit us. 

This is where you beach your dink to make the trek across through the Mangrove flats.  It’s very beautiful.  As you walk through here you can easily imagine being thousands of miles from anywhere.  And, how’s that for clear water?   Amazing actually. I guess it’s time to make coffee.  Enough of this posting stuff for now.