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.