Long Island

We arrived in Long Island on the early afternoon of February 9th, as planned. We anchored in Thompson's Bay outside of Salt Pond (that's the name of the town there). After leaving the crowded area of Georgetown, the huge bay with less than a dozen boats was a welcome sight. We settled in, made ourselves dinner, and sat and enjoyed the quiet. We figured out where the nearest dinghy dock was and where to offload our trash. Then we proceeded to enjoy ourselves.

Cruising isn't always about what you get to do and experience, sometimes its about what you see. As we were all sitting around, suddenly a small winged creature flew into the boat (about the size of a small bird). Fortunately for us, this has happened on 2-3 other occasions. Florida doesn't have anything on the size of the insects here in the Bahamas (which is saying a lot since Florida's sizes absolutely dwarf what we were used to seeing in Texas). The first time it happened, there was much screaming and diving for cover - since we weren't sure whether a bird or a bat had just flown in. Turns out, it was a giant moth. It goes by a few different names; Money Bat, Bat Moth, or Black Witch Moth. Of course, despite it's name, it's not a bat. It has been named such because of its large size and fluttering flight, which is a lot like a bat. In fact, I've actually seen smaller bats that this moth! It's wing span was easily 4 inches. Like I said, we had seen its like before, so we knew what it was. However, it still creeped us out. It's a nocturnal insect, but it's drawn to light. So it came flying in, freaking us all out. Having dealt with it a few times before, we knew what to do. We turned all the lights off inside the boat, and shined a light in the cockpit. After awhile, the moth fluttered out (mind you, there was still squealing and mad dashes to duck under the table while it fluttered around).

Saturday mornings in Salt Pond brings the Farmer's Market. This worked out really well in our favor. We met a few people and managed to pick up a Long Island visitor's guide. The visitor's guide was really handy as it showed a map of the whole island and things to do. The only downside to Long Island is that it's really long (duh), for walking anyway. The whole island is 80 miles from the north point to the south end. The things to do are scattered across the island. So, we decided to do something we haven't done yet in the Bahamas so far - rent a car!

There was a car rental place just up the road from the dinghy dock, and while slightly expensive (as everything is here in the Bahamas), they had a vehicle for us to rent. Now for those of you who don't know, here in the Bahamas they drive on the wrong (or rather left) side of the rode. As there is just one long highway that runs from the north side to the south side of the island, driving is still fairly easy - even for those of us used to driving on the correct (or rather right) side of the road ;-)

Our first stop was to get breakfast at a department store (wait...what?). Yes, a department store called "Everything Under the Sun" also serves breakfast and lunch in their back cafe. It honestly was the only place we could find that served breakfast. So we partook of their waffles and bacon special. Then we were off to our first destination: Hamilton's Cave

Hamilton's Cave is the largest underground cave system in the Bahamas. It was also one of the homes of the Lucayan Indians, who lived there in about 500 AD. The cave has recovered the biggest Lucayan artifact findings in history (back in 1935). The cave has parts that have never even been explored. We met our cave guide who took just the four of us inside for a tour. With flashlights in hand, we set out exploring. We saw several species of bats, and a few different species of land crabs. There were also various other insects including ground wasps and very large roaches (the roaches love the bat guano). We saw writing left by other explorers (some believed to be part of Christopher Columbus' group), as well as cave writing and sculptures believed to have been left by the Lucayans. We went into parts of the cave that were so dark you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face (that is, without your flashlight). Obviously there were lots of stalagmites and stalactites (as with any cave), but some of the larger ones have been given names since they depict the objects they're named for. The pictures below don't remotely do the place justice.

After spending a good hour or so cave exploring, we headed off to Dean's Blue Hole. Getting to Dean's Blue Hole proved interesting as things aren't really marked or advertised here in the Bahamas. So, we turned off onto the private road that had a sign for it hoping we were heading the right way. Fortunately, at about the point we thought we'd turned wrong (due to the fact that we had gone a long way out into the middle of nowhere), we saw another small sign pointing us in the right direction. Once we started driving on sand, we figured we must be close. Eventually we arrived. Dean's Blue Hole is said to be the world's deepest known salt water blue hole with an entrance below sea level.  It's also thought to be the second deepest blue hole in the world, second to only the gigantic sinkhole in China. It's 663 ft deep and teaming with sea life. The kids spent a long time snorkeling in it while we watched from the beach.

So far, everything we had done had been on the south side of Long Island. Now it was time to go to the north side. Which meant a long drive ahead of us (the speed limit on the road was only 20 mph, most people - including us - did more like 40 mph). We figured on our way we would pick up something to drink and maybe some ice cream. Well, maybe not. We did eventually find some drinks in a convenient store, but the only ice cream we found was with a bar that wasn't open yet. Weird things in these remote places! The kids dozed in the backseat while we meandered our way north enjoying the scenery. 

We were looking for a restroom stop when we found one of our destinations. We had wanted to visit the secluded beach on Cape Santa Maria Beach. We turned onto a dirt road that had a lot of cars coming out of it (we figured with so many cars coming from somewhere, there had to be something there). We found a resort that let us use their restroom, and we also found the beach. Cape Santa Maria Beach was named after one of Christopher Columbus' ships. It's supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Unfortunately, the beach was for the resort only. So it was off back to the main road to continue on. We almost missed the lonely sign to our next and last destination: Columbus Monument.

We thought the road to Dean's Blue Hole was remote, it paled in comparison to the road to the monument. The only type of road I can think of to describe it as is those steep rocky fire roads in New Mexico and Colorado. It's a good thing our rental car was old and scratched up, because we definitely added some more scratches to it! However, while the road was truly awful, the views we were rewarded with were worth it. Columbus' Monument was erected as a tribute to the arrival of Christopher Columbus on October 17th, 1492. It's next to Columbus Harbour/Columbus Point which is a mile long, protected, shallow inner bay reportedly entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the New World. The views were spectacular. We hiked up to the top and looked out over the cliffs onto the harbor. As usual, the pictures do not do the place justice.

The last bit of the mile long rocky road.

Our kids looking over the cliff.
(The Admiral almost had a heart attack!)

The Columbus Monument itself.

Spectacular views of the harbor:

After our bumpy ride back to the main road, it was time to head home. We took the long drive back and decided to stop for dinner at a little place called Tiny's Hurricane Hole. It's a little restaurant sitting on a beach overlooking Thompson's Bay. They also have a few bungalows and laundry facilities. We coordinated our laundry for the next day while we were there. It was dark when we drove up to return our rental car. We took the short walk back to the dinghy and headed to the boat. We didn't realize we would be out so late, so had neglected to leave any lights on in the boat (or even our anchor light). Fortunately, our son had keen eyesight to find the boat floating in the dark. We all slept well after a fun day of sightseeing. Needless to say, a side trip to Long Island had definitely been worth it.

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Georgetown

They say time flies when you're having fun. I guess that's true since we spent 7 weeks in Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas - and it felt like a blink of an eye. As you recall, we had arrived in Georgetown in time for the New Year and had anchored in front of the Chat & Chill on Volleyball Beach. We didn't stay there very long as a front was moving in with winds predicted to be over 40 mph shifting from east to west and back. So we decided to move our boat to an anchorage called Red Shanks.

Red Shanks is a very secluded little anchorage that we had to maneuver into around Crab Cay. It's very shallow, and some parts of it you can't get through at low tide. So we headed out just before high tide and wormed our way into the northern most spot. We had left early, since these anchorages are small and can fill up quick. We got lucky and got a great spot and watched as others came in and filled our little anchorage up over the next 24 hours. All of us got to know each other fairly well, since we were all basically trapped together for awhile. We had a dinghy raft up to meet each other, exchange boat cards, and discuss strategies for when the storm came through. When the storm hit, there was only one boat that drug anchor. We all knew it too, since immediately the VHF went nuts with people pointing out that the boat "was dragging" or had "gone walkabout." It took the poor people on that unfortunate boat multiple tries, and eventually a different anchor, before the boat stayed put. Fortunately, they didn't hit anything or anyone else with their boat, so nothing but their pride was injured. We proceeded to spend a week in Red Shanks riding out the front. The good part about this anchorage, is there is cover on all sides, so no matter which way the wind blew, we were protected. There were several 'kid' boats in the anchorage (meaning boats with kids on board). Our kids took off several times to watch movies or play legos on other boats. The bad part about the anchorage was that you were effectively trapped except at high tide, and it was an incredibly long, wet dinghy ride to town. So when the week was up, it was a race at high tide for us all to get back out to other anchorages. We proceeded to go back to the anchorage in front of the Chat & Chill.

Chat & Chill Beach next to Volleyball Beach

The Chat & Chill anchorage is the busiest anchorage of the bunch in Georgetown. There is a net broadcast on channel 72 every morning at 8 am. The net is sort of like a radio talk show every morning. You get the weather, information from local businesses, community announcements, buy-sell-trade-giveaways from other boats, introductions of newly arrived vessels, goodbyes to departing vessels, and all kinds of other pertinent information. Once the net is closed, the entire area keeps their VHF radios on during the day tuned to channel 68. This becomes a sort of party phone line as people hail each other and then move on to other channels to talk. It didn't take long for boat kids to start hailing each other on channel 68 and discussing their plans for the afternoons. I guess you can say we fell into a kind of routine.

We did school work in the morning (just like all the other kid boats). By lunch, the other boater kids were hailing each other to make plans for the afternoon: kayaking, going to the beach, hanging at each other's boats, swimming, etc. By 3 pm everyday, us adults would head over to Volleyball beach to hang out at the Chat & Chill. The kids on the beach would swim, pet the local stingray (he loves it), swing on the rope swing, build tree houses, or just wander the beach. The adults would drink beer, play volleyball, drink beer, play dominos, drink beer, hang around and talk, drink more beer, and eventually head back to their boats at sundown to prepare for dinner. So, lots of drinking, multiple games of volleyball daily, the occasional domino game, and lots of sitting and chilling with other people. Our children began driving the dinghy by themselves so they could easily hook up with their friends. Our son became a sort of chauffeur for the younger kids. He was constantly getting hailed by other boats to ask for a ride. He loved it. The Admiral got very good at playing volleyball, until she woke up one morning with neck and back spasms. She managed to tweak one of the discs in her neck, so had to forego the volleyball games. The Captain enjoyed a few games of dominoes, but mostly watched the Admiral play volleyball while he chatted with those around him. We didn't even participate in most of the other things going on - poker, trivia, yoga, water aerobics, ARG (Alcohol Researchers Group), ukulele/guitar get togethers, etc. Our daughter did manage a few boat sleepovers complete with popcorn and movies. Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't all completely fun.

Volleyball court at Volleyball Beach

Daily other boaters could be heard on the VHF asking for help. That's one of the other benefits of Georgetown - hundreds of other boats. So, when you have a problem, you simply get on channel 68 on the VHF and see if anyone out there has what you need, or can help you out. A boat got stranded while out sailing for the day, and several boaters ran their dinghies out to the rescue to tow the guy in. A boat hit a reef and bent their rudder, again dinghies showed to help him move the boat and he had daily help in rebuilding his rudder. One poor boat tried to enter a cut at night and hit a reef. They sunk their boat and lost everything, so the whole boater community pitched in and gave them clothes and money. Divers even helped them retrieve their important paperwork from the wreckage. Even small requests like needing a ride across the bay, needing to borrow tools, etc. all went answered by the other boaters. Sometimes you didn't even have to hail the other boats. When our dinghy decided to go walkabout on its own (we had it tied off the back of the big boat - and the line snapped), a guy in a dinghy magically appeared asking if we needed help. Without hesitation (as we watched our dinghy drift off into the bay), it was a "Yes, please, our dinghy's getting away!" The Captain caught a ride over and brought the wayward dinghy home, no problem. Basically, help is just a VHF hail away. The whole boater community helps each other out and watches out for each other. It's like a friendly neighborhood where everyone knows your name (or your boat name in this case).

We had our starboard alternator go out on us prior to our trip to the Bahamas. So we had bought two new alternators back in the states - one to replace the bad alternator and one for a spare. By the time we had reached Georgetown, we had managed to go through both new alternators as well. So, we literally ate three alternators inside of a month. We figured we must have had something else wrong since we kept killing alternators. So after several attempts on our own to figure out the problem, we finally resorted to asking others for their opinions and advice. A very knowledgeable guy came on board and checked out both engines for us. It turned out we had a few different problems - an engine starting problem (turned out to be simple fuses), and a charging problem (the alternator). We knew it had to be the regulator in the alternators that kept failing, but we couldn't figure out why they kept failing. He couldn't figure it out either. Finally, the Admiral had an idea that perhaps the two new alternators had not come with regulators up to the task. So while the original alternator's regulator went bad (it had been fifteen years old), the two new ones weren't rated for the use we were putting them through. After some thought, our friend agreed that must be the problem. Fortunately we had kept our old original alternator with the intent to eventually rebuild it for a spare. Our mechanic friend knew some folks in Ft. Lauderdale who could rebuild our original alternator quite cheaply. Also, his girlfriend was headed back to the States. So we boxed the old alternator up, labeled it, and had her drop it in the post office when she arrived. A week later, our newly rebuilt alternator arrived into the Georgetown airport. We had a local service retrieve it for us, paid our fees, and installed the part. So far, it's been working flawlessly.

We were having issues with our watermaker not producing as much water as it was supposed to. A Spectra Watermaker dealer announced his arrival on the VHF, and just like that we had someone looking at the system for us. Apparently there wasn't enough power going to it, so out came more of our electrical skills to the rescue. Not long after getting the alternator squared away, we began having a problem with the same engine not spitting out water like its supposed to. After asking around, it was suggested we look at the impeller, since they have a tendency to crack or lose a paddle. Sure enough, the impeller was missing a paddle, fortunately we had a spare on board. After the Captain got the new impeller on, the intake hose started leaking (on this same engine). It didn't take long before another friend took a look at it for us and helped us figure out the problem (a flattened hose end). So between the repairs, chilling on the beach, and watching the kids run everywhere time has flown.

When we first arrived in Georgetown, there were around 150 other boats here. By the end of January there were over 200 boats here. Needless to say, the little community was getting bigger. The more people you cram into a place, the less friendly it tends to be. We literally watched that shift happen here. Suddenly, the dinghy dock was getting so crowded that you could anticipate a confrontation while there (the Admiral did get into a confrontation with a rude French lady and her Boston Whaler). Small boat traffic became endless with people flying through the bay creating wake everywhere they went. The tiny grocery store became a frustrating place with people crowded in looking for food. The beaches were crawling with people blaring their music and leaving their trash. The end of February is Georgetown's Annual Regatta. They regularly have around 500 boats in Georgetown for the Regatta. Everyone says you have to stay for Regatta week. The whole point of boater life for us is to not live in crowded noisy places. Georgetown had become a crowded, noisy place and it was only going to get worse. By the end of the first week in February, we realized it was time for us to move on.

On February 8th we moved our boat over to Kidd Cove, which is the anchorage right outside town, so we could provision. We got groceries for a week, tied everything down, and prepped for leaving. We left early on February 9th headed to Long Island. Georgetown had originally been the furthest point south we had intended on traveling this season. But, people say Long Island is not to be missed. It's only 5-6 hours away so, Long Island, here we come!

Us (circled) anchored in Kidd Cove

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