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.