April 19, 2016 Dean's Blue Hole free dive competition, Long Island

The guys spent the morning working on our shaft again.  We noticed after our trip across from Georgetown, we had lost the hose clamp that was protecting the set screws on the shaft.  So Dave used the Airline hookah again to place seizing wire over the screws.  He had to align the screw heads to run the wire through the slot on it’s head and around to the other one.   Then he twisted the wire to hold them in place.  Joe helped and took underwater photos.  We may have to purchase an underwater camera.  We have had fun with it this week, besides helping to check out the condition of the boat.  And Dave will be able to send the pictures to Beneteau when we plan to make the real repair. 

I didn't realize that crack needed fixing

Video of Dave working on the shaft
Erin and I enjoyed a “chick flick” while the guys worked on the boat.  We didn’t think we’d get them to watch one with us in the evening.  We enjoyed Kate and Leopold which Erin had never seen. 

After we had a light lunch, we decided to go to shore together to pick up a few more groceries while we were near a store.  This store was better stocked and had better prices than the one in Georgetown.  We didn’t need much, but picked up some tuna steaks and some snacks. 

We sat in the shade and had a coke discussing what we wanted to do for the next few days. Joe and Erin wanted to get cash at a cash machine that was about 15 minute drive south of Salt Pond.  Everyone said it is common to hitch hike on the island and they would have no problem.  Joe and Erin offered to rent a car to get to the cash machine and to tour the island.  They figured that was something we wouldn’t usually get to do.  It was already about 4:00, but we could have the car for 24 hours. 

Dave and Joe headed to the car rental place across the street.  Erin and I walked to the tourist office to get a map and some information about what to see on the island.  The car rental place didn’t take credit cards.  When Joe explained that he was going to the next town to get cash, he said “no problem, you can pay me when you bring the car back tomorrow.”  I guess he knew we couldn’t go far with the car. 

We drove south to see Dean’s Blue Hole.  This is the world’s second deepest known seawater blue hole over 600 ft deep.  There is going to be an international free diving competition here next week.  When we arrived, we saw a diver just getting out of the water.  And there was a platform in the middle of the hole that was being worked on by someone. 

Dean's Blue Hole

 
 

We hiked around the hole on the canyon wall overlooking one side.  As we were heading back, we met two young people also taking pictures.  As we visited, we found out they were 2 of the divers here for the competition.  They were from France and Russia.  Back at our car, a young Spanish speaking woman asked if we could give her a ride into Clarence Town, which worked out fine.  Her boyfriend was working on the platform and was going to be awhile.  She was the national record holder for Mexico and was here for the completion, too.   We asked her all sorts of questions.  Her name was Camila Jaber and she was 20 years old.  Her deepest dive was 65 meters or about 200 ft.  This is done while holding their breath.  They dive from the platform and there is a weight marking their planned depth on a rope.  They don’t try to go beyond the planned depth.  They wear a dive computer on their wrist that sounds an alarm when they are about 3 meters from the maximum depth so they know to return to the surface.  We didn’t find out how that is verified or how the completion actually works.  We’ll do that when we have better access to wifi.  But they do 6 dives, one a day.  And there are different categories.  Very interesting.  

Erin, Mexico and Columbia's free divers

At the house where we dropped her off, we met the competitor from Columbia.  All these people were in their early 20’s.  There were going to be about 50 competitors here from around the world.  We’re trying to figure out if we should return next week to watch.  But without a car, it would be difficult to get to the Blue Hole. 

We drove into Clarence Town.  There was a lot of hurricane damage here.  It was now after 5:00, so we saw the outside of St Peter and Paul Church on a hillside.  It was one of the churches built by Father Jerome that we heard of on Cat Island. 

St Peter and Paul Catholic church

Anglican Church

harbor view from chuch

We drove to the harbor and checked out the Flying Fish Marina.  There was a lot of construction going on.  We walked out onto the docks to look at boats and sharks in the water.  There was even a sign warning people of the sharks. 

Flying Fish Marina, Clarencetown

On the way back to Salt Pond, we stopped at Max Conch Bar and Grill.  It had outdoor seating and we enjoyed a couple cold drinks while waiting for a couple appetizers.  We shard a conch salad between us.  Everyone makes it a little different, so they are fun to try.  While we were waiting for our chicken wings, jerk pork and Johnny cake, the mosquitoes swarmed in.  We got the rest of the food to go and sat in the car.  We haven’t been around mosquitoes like that since summers in MN.  It also helped that there is no open container law in the Bahamas. 

April 18, 2016 Spearfishing and Sou Side restaurant, Salt Pond, Long Island

 There is a cruiser’s net on the VHF radio here at 8:15 every morning.  It it short and sweet.  They give the weather for the next few days and ask for any other announcements.  The net controller, Penny, stayed on afterwards to tell us about the area.  Where the grocery store is, where to get fuel, etc.  Very friendly and helpful.

Late morning, we went to the more northern dock, which is owned by a local business.  They rebuilt it after the hurricane and allow cruisers to use it.  It is closer to most of the buildings in town.  As a thank you, the cruisers have mounted a donation box to help cover their expenses.  They also have a place for us to leave trash.  So that is worth it. 

We packed up snorkeling and spear fishing gear and hiked to the beach on the Atlantic side today.  There was a road near this dock that was a much shorter hike than the one we took yesterday.  We had the beach to ourselves all day. 

hike over to ocean

funny snowman made of rocks

 

 

 
It wasn’t real hot, so Erin and I just enjoyed sitting on the beach and keeping an eye on Dave and Joe.  Those two, on the other hand, were out for an adventure.  There were several choral heads at the right edge of our beach and a reef further off shore.  Joe spent a lot of time exploring the closer coral heads/rocks and drinking a lot of sea water.  Dave was out further on the reef for a long time.  He finally came in and told us about a huge grouper sitting in a cave like area in the reef.  It was probably 3 or 4 feet long.  He would have to swim down to it and try to spear it.   As he looked at him eye to eye, he came to the realization that there was no way he was going to be able to get him back to shore.   He described the grouper as a “turdy point grouper”.  So Joe wanted to go back and see it.  The giant grouper was no longer there.  Joe found a sea turtle to chase, which Dave was thankful for.  Joe was still getting used to his snorkel gear.  So he was frequently lifting his head and flailing his arms WITH the spear in it.  So some space was just fine.  Dave saw a pompano and started following him.  That’s when the barracuda came around the corner.  They decided to head back to shore with the spear directed behind them to protect themselves.   

hike back to the bay side

We found out a couple days later, from a local, that you have to spear the fish in the head to kill it instantly with no bleeding.  If there had been bleeding or a struggle, the sharks would have been over the reef in no time to take the wounded fish from them.  And we can only imagine how that would have gone. 

Back in town, we decided to have a late lunch at the Sou Side Restaurant.  She didn’t take credit cards and Dave forgot his wallet.  We pooled our money and came up with enough for each of us to have a sandwich, side and a couple beers.  We met a local named Mark that told us more than we cared to know about the island, snorkeling, etc. 

 

our hamburgers were on the grill outside

 
 
 Erin and I walked about a block to the grocery store to check it out and pick up ice cream bars.  We all enjoyed the ice cream and headed back to the boat.

April 17, 2016 Thompson Bay and Salt Pond, Long Island

None of us slept very good last night.  The wind had changed directions and waves were coming around the end of the island causing surge.  These are rolling waves that rocked our boat all night.  We were planning to leave for Conception Island, but with the stronger winds, we knew it would be uncomfortable there, too.   We changed plans and decided to go to Salt Pond, Long Island for more protection.  We had about a 4 hour sail to Thompson Bay.  Once we anchored, we took the dinghy to shore.  There were 2 docks, but we knew we could take our garbage to the Government dock.  Yes, that dictates your plans some days.  The southern half of the island  was hit pretty hard by hurricane Joaquin in October 2015.  You could still see a lot of the damage.  Since it was Sunday, it was also pretty deserted.  It had a strange Twilight Zone feeling to the place. 

 
We had read about a hike to the ocean side in the Waterway Guide book.  So we asked someone on the dock about the trail.  He said it was well marked at post 108 along the highway and we couldn’t miss it.  We took the dingy to the north end of the bay and beached it.  Then we found our way to the highway and headed north about a half a mile.  We noticed the telephone poles had numbers when we were at 93.  Sure enough, the path was at the #108 telephone pole.  It was also marked by buoys.  It was marked with several other boating objects along the way. 

 

snails attached to the palm trees way above the high water line

first view of the ocean

It was well worth the hike.  There was a beautiful beach with crashing waves and rock formations off shore.  But there was a lot of garbage on the beach that must have washed ashore after the hurricane.  And most of it was plastic.  

 
When we returned to the beach where we left our dingy, there were about a dozen boaters having a happy hour on the beach.  They invited us to join them.  We visited for awhile, but were ready to get back to the boat.  We had thawed some of our wahoo from the fishing trip in the Abacos to have for dinner.  Plus we were tired from hiking and not sleeping well the night before.  But nice people.   They gather there every Sunday night.  There were a few tables and benches.  There was also a fire pit where they were planning to have a bonfire. 
///buidlings near Gvt dock, beach and trail, beach party area

we came upon this cistern.  Joe tested it and it was salty.  probably contaminated during the hurricane

Cruiser's yacht club

April 16, 2016 Boat Chores Day

We were all moving a little slow today after all of our adventures yesterday.  Ok, the extended happy hour didn’t help.  We ended up doing some laundry and cleaning up the boat.   We didn’t even do any snorkeling or fishing.  Joe and Erin are loving all the experiences of living aboard a boat.   They were great at pitching in and didn’t feel like we had to be tourists every day.  Good friends!

We were enjoying the sunset in the cockpit and could see a lot of activity on the water off shore.  There was a lot of splashing on the surface and birds diving.  So we figured there was a school of fish near the surface.  It stared to move closer to the boat.  So Joe tried casting for awhile.  Then Dave, Joe and Erin took off in the dingy to try to catch fish, but no luck.  Just fun to chase around in the dingy. 

April 15, 2016 Columbus Monument, Sunset Restaurant and Cape Santa Maria Resort, Long Island

This morning we took our dinghy around the north end of the island to hike to the Columbus Monument on Cape Santa Maria.  There were beautiful white cliffs along the north shore.  Past the cliffs, we had to dinghy into a lagoon to a beach.  It was a little rough going into the bay.  We had Joe on the bow watching for coral and rocks.  Plus there were ocean waves breaking right at the entrance.

After beaching the dinghy, it was a short hike to the monument.  Columbus landed on Long Island October 17, 1492.  There was a beautiful 360 degree view off shore and of the island.
Check out this video
 Columbus Monument on Long Island, Bahamas

on trail up to monument

Columbus monument

 

great photo opp

 


On our way back to the dinghy, we saw what I though was a fossil in the rocks at the beach.  I had seen them in the Abacos.  We asked a family about them and they told us they were actually alive and were a crustacean.  So Dave took a knife and cut around the edge of one.  Sure enough, there was a pink meat on the inside.  The people told us that the locals put them in salad similar to conch salad.  But you have to dig up quite a few of them to make it worth while.   Very interesting.

chitin

with back removed

lifted out of the rock. you remove and eat the pink flesh

 dinghy ride back onto the ocean click for video

We made it back in time to put on dry clothes and take the dingy to the Sunset Restaurant.  We were the only customers they were expecting.  Rodney visited with us at our table.  He used to be a school principal, but retired and opened this restaurant.  He also rents kayaks, is a barber, writes music and plays the guitar, fishing guide, photographer, and is a local Justice of the Peace.  Here that is similar to a notary public.  He said he is enjoying trying new things in his retirement.

Sunset Restaurant

The lunch was fantastic.  His conch salad had a nice spice to it.  The grouper was steamed with a “gravy” of sautéed peppers and onions.  The lobster tails were grilled and also very good.  He doesn’t fry anything at his restaurant.  He served the fish with peas and rice, broccoli and corn on the cob.  

grouper and "crawfish" at top of plate

Rodney's cook

Dave, Rodney, Joe and Erin

We showed him a picture of the crustacean we found in the rocks.  He also said they were used in salad.  Or a couple could be added to conch salad just for the color.  I wanted to know what they were called.  He thought the locals called them “curbs”, but he gave me about 5 different spellings as I was trying to google it.  Finally, I just went through a few photos of crustaceans and found that they are chitin.   We may have to try them sometime.

After lunch we walked into the town of Seymours.  There really wasn’t much more than some houses along the road.  We saw goats and chickens in the yards.  Then we found some coconuts along the road.  We decided to pick a few to drink the coconut water.  Dave worked pretty hard at cutting one open for us. 

 
 
 
It was after 3:00 by the time we were heading back to the boat.  As we passed the Cape Santa Maria resort, I asked for a show of hands for who wanted to go to their happy hour that was from 3-6:00.  Joe, Erin and I raised our hands.  I’m sure Dave wanted to, but his hand was on the tiller.  We look a left and beached the dingy at the resort.  This was a beautiful resort with bungalows to rent and condos for sale. 

beach in front of Cape Santa Maria Resort

Friday special was margaritas

We met a lot of friendly people.  There was a couple from Sweden about 30 with a little boy less than a year old staying at the resort.  We spent a lot of time visiting with some other cruisers.  We ended up ordering some appetizers and staying way past the happy hour.  What a fun day.  Back at the boat, Erin and I went to bed.  Joe and Dave were just visiting.  Then we heard a dinghy approaching and a lady singing “yoo hoo!”.  3 people we had met in the bar came by our boat when they saw the lights on.  So I got up and shared my home made kahlua with them.  These people had to be close to 70 and were leaving for Georgetown in the morning.  I’m not sure we would be able to keep up with them.

Erin has a photographer's eye