LONG ISLAND TO LAND/SEA PARK WITH STOPS INBETWEEN

TRIP FACTS AS OF:   March 22, 2011

Days gone from VA:                        155

Days in Bahamas:                             93

Miles Travelled:                         1,814.5

Things Overboard:           2 bungee cords rigging up Cuban yo-yo

Trip Firsts:                         Peg’s  first “real” haircut since Thanksgiving…..sorry Liz!

                                          David’s first haircut since Thanksgiving!!!!

                                          DINNER:  First fish caught we eat!!!  No barracuda this trip.

NORTHBOUND:  Headed back to the Abacos.

LONG ISLAND – EMERALD D BAY – LITTLE DARBY – BLACK POINT – BITTER GUANA CAY – STANIEL CAY - EXUMA LAND AND SEA PARK:   FEBRUARY 26 THRU MARCH 22, 2011

I think it will be easier to break this down by stop instead of date so here goes:

While we were crossing over to Long Island we passed through the TROPIC OF CANCER!!  23.30.0

Long Island:   After leaving Conception Island with BAREFOOTIN (Bobby and Francie)  we all made our way to Thompson Bay/Salt Pond on Long Island.  This was a neat spot for a lot of reasons.  We rented a car with Bobby and Francie and toured the island, had dinner at local “club” with new friends, Ted and Cathy from SEA EAGLE and Tish and Ellen from MICLO3, bought some HOGFISH and got a real haircut!!   For people who know me and my hair this was a real exciting event. 

Since there is no internet available cruisers go to the local bar/restaurant to grab it.  Here in Long Island you go to LONG ISLAND BREEZE.  This is a really nice, new restaurant with cottages to rent,  laundry and a pool.



The restaurant is upstairs with laundry downstairs as well as pool.



This is the view looking to the harbor. 

We were there for a week and one of the big highlights was renting a car with Bobby and Francie and driving the length of the island.   Bobby had the right idea …. We rented the car for the day and went south in the afternoon and the next morning we headed north.  It’s way too much to drive in one day.   Here are some of the highlights going south:



Introducing:  Bobby and Francie ....

Bobby introduced us to Max's Conch Bar for lunch.  Max's not only served a great Conch Burger but had the best collection of conch shells we've seen.



Max's Conch Bar and Conch Collection.....

That's a  lot of conch burgers.


Dean’s Blue Hole the site of the World Championship FREE DIVING competition and is 663 feet deep.   The current free dive record is  310 …. Yep….three hundred and ten feet WITHOUT WEIGHTS AND A TANK.  Spoooooky but true.

Next stop was TRASH BEACH, one of Francie's favorite places to get shells and sea glass.

                                     We ended up in Clarence Town at the southern end of the island.

Since rental cars get pretty beat up not only from drivers but the weather Dave found himself holding on to the dashboard so it wouldn’t fall off.

                                 We discovered about 3 major cracks in the dash on both sides. 

The next day we headed north and went to the Christopher Columbus Monument.    It seems my countryman landed on the north end of Long Island back in 1492.  Way before my time.   For any Coastie/and or sailor reading this  I also took a picture of the “light” that marks land for sailors coming from the East.  The light is a 255 millimeter lens charged by a small solar panel with a battery backup.

After we bounced our way back to the main road, remember it’s David’s job to hold the dashboard down so it doesn’t fall in his lap, we decided it was time to have a drink at the Cape Santa Maria Resort.  Since it was 10:00 in the morning we decided Bloody Mary’s were in order.   AHHHHH, living the life.



US!!!!!

Later in the week we went to a cruiser tradition and that’s going to the buffet dinner at TRYFENA’S Club Thompson Bay.   She really put on a spread:  cracked (deep fried) conch, cracked lobster, peas and rice, potato salad, and tons more.    Our new friends from Conception,  Tish and his wife, Ellen, along with Ted and his wife, Cathy, along with Bobby and Francie all had a great time.  Of course,  I didn’t have my camera but Bobby took Tryfena’s picture.  She’s a hoot.   She is also a  Justice of the Peace so she can marry you  AND she has rooms to rent upstairs.  Well, the rooms aren’t open but they’re there.  

                                                                      Tryphena 

After we left  Thompson Bay we were headed to Joe Sound on the northern end of Long Island.

David has been so persistent about fishing he routinely puts out 2 poles and the yoyo.  Well,  SUCCESS finally showed up.   Here is a picture of the one of two MUTTON SNAPPER he caught.  Of course, he caught them both at the same time.  One on a pole and one on the yoyo.  We weren’t sure what they were so he cleaned them up and we put them in the freezer.  Once we anchored at Joe Sound we asked another boat if they knew what they were and they said yes…and they were good to eat.   We had a great meal from them!!!

                  This fish looks like it's eating David's thumb......but we had a great meal from it.

Emerald Bay, Exuma:   We crossed over to Emearld Bay on Exuma.   Emerald Bay has a really nice marina owned by Sandels Resort.  HOWEVER, the only bad thing about the place is the entrance.

When we got close David watched the BREAKERS and timed them.  This is what we were watching as we made the approach as well as a look at the squall that was going through at the same time.

Notice the green buoys to the right....

And we found our new boat.  A 123' Palmer Johnson with room for everyone.

DARBY ISLAND AND LITTLE DARBY ISLAND:  As we made our way north on Exuma we decided to stop at places not mentioned by other cruisers.  Darby is one of those places.   To get there you have to go through a cut and one of the landmarks the Explorer Chartbooks notes is “Whale Facing North”.  “Whale” is a small rock island that really does have the profile of a whale.  Pretty neat when you can pick it out.

Once we got around the entrance we anchored in the little cut with 3 other boats and spent two days in the dinghy.   Since we arrived here I’ve seen what looked like shredded paper on the beaches.  It turns out that it’s really sea grass that is decaying.  If you’ve never seen it …. Here you go…..

                                       Cut between Darby Island and Little Darby Island.

                                                Washed up sea grass  looks like shredded paper.

  

Goat Cay is a small island a little south of Darby and is owned by Faith Hill/Tim McGraw.  I swear we were out in the dinghy one day and a fishing boat came screaming in from the Sound driven by a local with guests onboard.    There was a guy with a baseball cap on …. Tim perhaps????  I guess I’ll never know.

BLACK POINT:   You can tell when a town caters to cruisers because Black Point has the only “dinghy up” laundry drop off site I’ve seen at Rockside Laundry and Lorraine’s Café is a famous cruiser wifi hotspot and gathering spot. 

                                             Rockside Laundry ... look hard under the second tree from the left and  you'll see the dock.   Then we have Lorraine's Cafe ...

On one of our walks we found the BLOW HOLE just outside of town.  This was pretty crazy to watch.  First of all,  the trash from the ocean is scattered all over the place.  At high tide you’ll hear this  WHOOSH sound and then see the spray from the wave coming up through the hole.  Next big wave you get the full force of the water.   I found tons of sea glass and shells here.    Take a look at these 2 pictures:

Then this happened.......

Sometimes the blow back is hugh with very LARGE blowback.  This is the first blow hole we actually were able to sit and watch on the whole trip.
On another walk through town we met these 2 local gentlemen weaving  straw they sell in Nassau.  Monroe Taylor was the first gentleman.  He was  born and raised in the Bahamas and was  just sitting in his golf cart talking to us not missing a beat in his weaving.

                                                                Mr. Monroe Taylor

Later we met Bertram Brown, "The Handsome Dude", as  he says.   He was listening to Miles Davis and then Junkanoo music on his boom box.  He was sitting in the shade across the street from his house and had his extension cord stretched across the street to where he was sitting.     Both  Monroe and Bertram were really friendly and loved talking and laughing with us.

                                                   Mr. Bertram Brown:  "The Handsome Dude"

We talked to Mr. Dude and he told us what the locals weave all goes to Nassau to the Straw Market and was very proud of the pile he had weaved that day.  When you look at it closely it's a incredible amount of work.  Take a look ....

We don't know exactly how long this strip is but watching people weave just a little must be a hand surgeons dream...can you say carpal tunnel????

Here are some pictures of what the REAL Bahamas look like.  It’s not the pretty umbrellas and big houses.    When people talk about the Bahamas they usually think of resorts but after this trip you understand that most of these islands are very, very poor.

                                                          Main Street looking south

 



Government Clinic



Post Office

                                                                                                                                                                                             

For all my law enforcement and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office friends here’s the local police station, jail and police boat.   For all the JCC PD  Marine Patrol guys, eat your hearts out.  This patrol boat is fast and came ripping through the cut between Little Darby/Big Darby and were gone in a flash.  They really know their way around these waters and aren’t afraid to drive fast.

 

The jail windows actually have bars on them......

                                                                                   

                                                              Zoom, Zoom Boat

One night right around dinner time a local fisherman came up to the boat and asked if we wanted to buy any crawfish.  Not one to turn down fresh crawfish we said "sure".  I looked in the boat and he had a 5 gallon bucket FULL of crawfish/lobster.  We eat one that night and the other is frozen, in salt water, waiting for another dinner.   Andy/Kelsey..eat your hearts out. 

                                                                         Yum!

Now one last note.  We think the Road Maintenance people MAY need some assistance in signs.............

 

 

BITTER GUANA CAY:  We were excited about our  next stop since we had heard so much about the iguanas that came right out to greet you on the beach.  They were right.  Get a look at these guys.

The first picture is of one up in the rocks trying to keep cool.   They are really big and scary but if you leave them alone they won’t bother you.  Not sure if the bite or not but didn’t want to find out.

 

 

 

At one point there were 7 iguanas on the beach since someone was feeding them.

STANIEL CAY:   This was our second stop at Staniel.  We were here when we headed south and went to the Super Bowl Party.  This time, we’re headed north, and when to the St. Patty’s Day Party.  Seems to be a pattern with  Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  

When we were here earlier we didn’t get to snorkel THUNDERBALL GROTTO because of the tide but this time David got into the water  while I took pictures of fish……  this is the entrance of the cave and the Sargent Major fish that will eat frozen peas from  your hands.      This is where the cave scene in THUNDERBALL, the James Bond movie was filmed.

 

                                          Thunderball Grotto from James Bond movie

 

These fish will swim right in your face looking for frozen peas to eat .........

BIG MAJORS:  PIGS,  PIGS AND MORE PIGS.  What can I say except everyone comes to Big Major to see the Swimming Pigs.  That’s right….these pigs swim out to your boat looking for food.   As soon as we anchored we dropped the small boat and headed to the beach.   As promised,  three BIG, HUGH, pigs swam over to us.   The current was pretty strong so we headed to the beach trying to give them a break.  Well,  I was snapping a picture and the next thing we knew one was trying to get in the boat with us…..NO LIE……  Of course, in my sternest voice I said “Get down!!”.  like it knew what I was saying.  David had a handful of carrots and threw them away from us so our friend swam away.   Boy, talk about  freaky.   Now we know to stay in a little deeper water or just go to the beach.

 

                             That's right...swimming pigs....coming right at us!

Then this one tried to climb in the boat......

So, that’s it for now.  We’re  back here at the Exuma Land and Sea Park, in paradise.  I’m not going to send pictures from the Park unless we haven’t already sent them.  We'll talk about where we go from here.  Who knows now that we're finally in the swing of not having a schedule.  Our cruising permit expires April 17th so we need to be somewhere close to a Customs Office to get an extension.  Until the next time we'll leave you with another beautiful sunset...

More later.      Dave and Peg 



CONCEPTION ISLAND

TRIP FACTS:  FEBRUARY 22 through  FEBRUARY 25, 2011

Days gone from VA:          127

Days in Bahamas:               66

Miles Travelled:            1,653.5

Toilet Monster:           Struck again….we’re running out of ideas on how to fix it

Things overboard:       Nothing yet again.

Days without internet:      18

February 22 through February 26:   We headed over to Conception Island bright and early the morning of the 25^th.   One of the nice things about cruising the Bahamas is most of the islands are not that far away.  You have to “cross over” from major island chains i.e.,  Abacos to Eleuthera, and those take most of the day but for the most part if you head out in the morning you’ll be anchored by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

We dropped anchor off Conception Island in beautiful clear water and white long beach.  When we were making our approach I looked over the bow and you could see the bottom in 50 feet of water. 

                                                            GIN CLEAR WATER......

                                                            Beach at anchorage

 There were 17 boats in the anchorage compared to almost 400 in Georgetown.   There were a million stars out at night and watching the sunsets is something I’ll never forget.    “Green flashes” happen at sunset and the sun really turns green….

                   BAREFOOTIN took this since I haven't been able to catch one yet.......

The second day we took the dinghy out and just motored over the coral reefs.  We saw beautiful fish and even got a picture of a stingray through our lookie bucket. 

The 23^rd was Zach’s birthday and it was hard thinking about not talking to him.  As it turned out we went over to another boat for sundowners and Francie brought their satellite phone so I was able to leave him a message since he didn’t answer his phone.  We also got to call Steph but yet again, had to leave a message.  Gosh….you’d think the kids would be sitting by their phones waiting for us to call????  But it was good just hearing their voices.

The 24^th we all hiked to another beach but getting there included going up a rope pull as well as walking along very narrow overhangs.  Once we got to the beach we found a display of hard hats that have been there for several  years.  It’s amazing to think of them staying put when a storm goes through but Francie said they saw them last year. 

                                           The trail was narrow and right on the edge..see that water way down there?

                                      Hard hat display on the beach...the hats used to be set on coconuts
                                             but the wind blew them all down.

We wondered farther on down the beach and found two battered lawn chairs and various jugs to sit on where we enjoyed a snack while the guys had a beer, all the while sitting under the Casuarinas trees, which are also called Australian pine trees. 

Our last day there we were able to take the dinghys around the other side of the island to the Lagoon but not before an encounter with three dolphins.  We watched them ahead of us just laying on top of the water until they heard the dinghy motor.  I was able to get a picture of them with my camera (don’t worry – it’s an underwater camera) by leaning out of the dinghy.  The quality isn’t the best since the boat was moving but if you look closely you can see two of them.

 Way to cool to describe...look to the right and you can see two of the dolphins..... WOW!!!!

But  back to the lagoon.     The lagoon is home to thousands of mangroves as well as conch, clams, sea turtles and fish and is protected by the Bahamian government so you can’t take any live creature. 

 It gets shallow as the tide goes out so you can walk on the flats among the mangroves.   Mangroves have an incredible root system and grow in salt water but those roots trap small conch.  As the conch get bigger they can’t get out from the roots  so eventually die since they need to move around the bottom to feed.    As we wandered along you would see a black spot in the water.  It turned out to be a sea turtle darting out from either under the boat or to the side.  I don’t think you could catch one if you wanted they are so quick.

                                                                  Mangroves in clear water

 After going up the different creeks we anchored the dinghys where the guys went snorkeling by a blue hole  while Francie and I looked for a conch shell so I can make a horn.   Kippen likes the water  and gives us a laugh all the time.

                                                  Kippen the water dog guarding the dinghys while the guys
                                snorkeled on this blue hole by the big mangrove tree......

 It’s a cruiser tradition at sunset if you have a conch horn you blow it marking the end of the day.  I found a really beautiful shell to make mine with and as soon as David cuts off the top I’ll be tooting my horn at sundown.   I was able to find a live conch in shallow water so I used the lookie bucket adn then put my camera next to it so everyone can see a live conch.  The first picture is the outside of the shell,  the second picture is of its claw.  Look to the right of the shell and you can see it. 

They use their claw to move around on the bottom......

What a great way to end the day.

Conception Island is uninhabited and surrounded by coral reefs, white beaches and trails and is now becoming a cruiser draw for people trying to get away from Georgetown.  It will definitely be on our list for next year.    We’ll be headed to Long Island tomorrow which is another short day sail away.   Once we get there we’ll see where the wind takes us. 

More later…..