February 2019

Early February found us in Thompson Bay/Salt Pond Long Island.  We decided to go to the ocean beach in Salt Pond where the old Long Island Breeze resort & Harding's grocery were formerly located.  It's is a very pretty beach & we had not been in a few years.

Walking back there were teenagers painting the wall of Sunshine Real Estate.  We will go back when we return to see the finished product.

It also looks like preparations are underway for the 2019 National Family Island Regatta.

It seems like there is always something going on in this area.  Saturday is the Farmer's Market, Wednesday is Happy Hour & Dinner at Club Washington, Friday is Happy Hour at Sou'Side and Saturday at Tiny's Hurricane Hole. Not to interfere with any businesses the cruisers have started having a get together on Tuesdays.  I posted photos of the "Dink N Drink" recently and this time it was more of a cocktail party where you bring your own beverage and an appetizer to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The folks in the first photo are Jeff & Wendy of S/V Calypso.  They heard the call for school supplies a couple of years back & they and their local yacht club answered the call.  Due to unavoidable reasons they did not make it to the Bahamas until this year.  Jeff made a wonderful video that you can watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/HQ2vqpX4ys4  It really is wonderful.  Perhaps Town Point Yacht Club, Brotherhood of the Coast or another organization could take this up too!

Jeff, Wendy, Rob, Samantha (from the Ministry of Tourism) and I rented a car to deliver to the schools.  Samantha was unable to join us for the second day but we were certainly glad she was there that first day....more on that in a bit.
 

First was Lower Deadman's Cay Primary.  The handsome guy in the last picture on the left is our friends Vanessa & Tyrone's son.

 

Next was Kiddsville.  A preschool sanctioned by the Ministry of Education.  They are also trying to raise funds for the purchase of a bus for transporting the children.  Unlike the U.S., these are not provided by the government.  If you would like to find out more follow this link:  Click here to support The Kidsville School Bus organized by BahamaBlaze SG

 

We went on to N.G.M. High School, one of two high schools on Long Island.

 

 

Our last stop the first day was to visit Mangrove Bush Primary.   
 

I think the expressions on the children's faces says it all!

We spent the rest of the day having lunch at Forrest #2, visiting Dean's Blue Hole, Sea Side Village, Max's Conch Bar and generally showing Jeff & Wendy the southern part of the island as it is their first visit.

We were glad Samantha was with us for a very good reason!  When we cleared in at Green Turtle last November we did not scrutinize the paperwork before we left Customs.  We will not make that mistake again!  Rob was looking at when our SSB licenses would expire (renewed those too) and he glanced to see when we would need to renew our immigration paperwork.  For whatever reason I  was given the 90 days requested but Rob was only given 30 days!  What was more frustrating was the fact that you could see where he was originally given 90 on the tourist card but it had been charged to 30.  This can be a sticky situation, rightfully so, and we were afraid there would be a hefty fine but thankfully Samantha smoothed things out for us.  To err is human and the lady at Green Turtle was very busy that day and also very nice.

We returned to our boats about dusk & met up early the next morning to go to the schools located to the north on Long Island.  We had a chuckle that none of us had dinner after our large lunch the day before.

As we were heading north we kept passing the school busses!  It dawned on us that we were probably too early & would arrive at the first school before classes began for the day.  With that in mind as well as the fact that the car was due back about 12ish, off we went to the Columbus Monument. 

 

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                                                                   Do you see the face?



It seems that some of the VAT money is being spent to make a 2 lane paved road to the monument!  The locals are of two minds on this.  Yes, it is quite a famous heritage site and most tourists who rent a vehicle go there but the main road, the Queen's Highway, is chock a block full of potholes!  What about the schools?  The road signs?  I must say that I understand these concerns & others that have been expressed.   

We continued north to the end of the road.  Over the years we have seen it go from nothing to just a gazebo type of structure where a local was building a bar.  He told us a few years back that he only planned to be open in the evenings as it was a bit far off the beaten track for most tourists.  We were very surprised at all the changes!  Bars, deck, kitchen, bathrooms and a new name!  The Busted Bridge Bar & Grill!

And of course the Busted Bridge!

 

Now it was time to finish up our deliveries!  Our first stop was at Glintons Primary.  Mrs. Smith & the rest of the staff that Rob & I remembered were still there and it was a great visit.

 

Next up was North Long Island High School.  Can you tell that the science teacher was happy with the microscope?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final stop was Simms Primary.  The new principal Mrs. Taylor had gone to a basketball tournament with her students but we received a very warm welcome!

 

 

 

We passed the basketball games but could not stop as it was getting close to time to return the rental.  Jeff & Wendy really enjoyed seeing the schools, meeting the students & educators as well as seeing the island.  It was a great couple of days.

The Long Island Sailing School had a cookout to raise money to send the kids to Nassau for the championships.  The boaters came out in force!  Someone overheard a couple of the locals saying that if it wasn't for the boaters they would not have been successful!  We hope it was!  They had to send people out to pick up more burgers, hot dogs & beer....twice!

 Brad & Jeannie of S/V What Next have bought a home here & it finally closed.  Shortly after it was finalized (not like a US home purchase) their good friend Terry flew in.  We boaters tend to be a friendly bunch so it seemed like a good idea to have them out to the boat for a wing night.  We could not invite everyone, the boat is only 36 feet but we all had a great time.  Bob & Francie from S/V Barefootin joined in too.

 

Valentine's Day was another reason for a get together.  Penny & John, second homeowners, were gracious & held a Valentine's brunch for all of us.  They have a wonderful home that they have decided NOT to sell (yeah!!)  We all brought a dish to share and it was a wonderful day.

 

Some folks like to travel to a destination and remain there for long periods of time.  The folks that hang out for the season in George Town are a good example.  There are some that hang in Thompson Bay & we can understand that too.  We like to move about.  Mutton Fest will be in Salt Pond/Thompson Bay in mid March & we will be there, our friend has now changed his plans to come into George Town after Mutton Fest & we plan to pick him up there but we did not particularly want to be stationary for more than a month.  We decided to head to Conception Island so off we went.

We stopped in Cape Santa Maria at the northern end of Long Island for the night and got underway early the morning of February 16th.  We subscribe to Marine Weather Center, Chris Parker for weather  via the single sideband radio (SSB).  We had planned a few days at Conception then to head to Rum Cay as we have not been there in several years.

Our plans are etched in sand at low tide.

After speaking with Chris & hearing the upcoming weather we decided to head to Rum for a few days and Conception on the way back.  We arrived at Rum about 1415 that Saturday & decided to launch the dink & motor as you never know what will be open on a Sunday.  We were glad we did.

There have been many changes since our previous visit.  Ms. Delores who ran Kay's Bar has retired & passed away in the year following hurricane Joaquin. The only settlement left is Port Nelson, where most boats go.  All the others were abandoned after the storm.  They have a total of 62 people living on Rum Cay & 10 of those are school aged.  We met about 1/3 of the folks while we were there.  They may be down but do not count these folks out!  A new government dock is being built, there are more vacation homes than we remember and the people are just as nice and hospitable as we recalled.

We went for a walk through the settlement.  The grocery I remembered was closed, a victim of the hurricane.  There is another small shop but it was not open.  As we walked along the seafront a lady in a car stopped to see if we were ok & did we need anything.  We had a nice chat with her and learned about the number of residents & such from her.  Nurse Strong was very nice!  We stopped in the Ocean View Bar & Restaurant and met Mrs. Ruby Bains the owner. She explained that the folks on island place their grocery orders to be brought in on the mail boat.  The grocery stocks thing folks may run out of and to help visitors like us.  She explained that she is open breakfast, lunch & dinner but needs an hour advance notice.  She spoke of better times on the island.  When the marina was open (big court dispute) the boats would fill it & the anchorage too.  Perhaps things will improve for these good people.  After leaving Ocean View Bar we went on to Kay's.  Her granddaughter now runs the bar and we met several colorful locals there.  On our previous visit Delores showed us many, many guest books that had been filled by visitors including Jackie Onassis.  We signed again too.  Not famous, well maybe infamous!

Back at the boat we remembered the bad thing about the anchorage, it can be very rolly & it was.  After a terrible nights sleep we decided to head around the corner to Flamingo Bay.  It was a bit tricky getting in as there are many coral heads.  Some of these are exposed at low tide & the last thing you ever want to do is damage coral.  Our chart plotter gave excellent info and it was much better in Flamingo Bay than Port Nelson.

Unfortunately, the winds shifted during the night so off to Conception Island we went.

The island is a land & sea park out to 100 fathoms.  It appears that people are not paying attention as there were far fewer conch & turtles than we have seen in years past.  No shortage of sharks though!

 

We took the dink into what we call the turtle hole.  It is only accessible by dink  at a highish tide.

 

Most boats left and there was only us & a catamaran the last day.  We decided to do a dinghy drift.  Just us.  It was wonderful.

The piece of metal you see in the last picture?  That was whole when we first came here many years ago, part of an engine.

Running low on groceries and water so we have decided to return to Cat Island for a few days.  Underway at 0630 the 24th and put a dolphin (mahi) in the fridge!  Not low on groceries after all!  We pulled into Old Bight off of The Rolleez Resort due to wind direction but moved to New Bight the following morning.

We had heard on the SSB that the bathhouse in New Bight now had running water for showers.  Nope.  Out of water so the toilets were closed as well!  Cruising, well you just learn to adjust.

While Anneboo's Restaurant was closed Hidden Treasurers next door was open.  We had fresh fish for dinner but decided to split Cracked Lobster & Sweet Potato Fries.  Delicious!

 

When Rob cleaned the fish we tossed the carcass overboard.  The crabs loved it!   Not your US blue crab.  The water in the next two sets of pictures is 10 to 15 feet deep.

This shows an abundance of sand dollars & sea biscuits.

We were running low on wine & we had seen that there was a 700 Wine & Spirits Store we could probably dink to so off we went.  We found a nice little beach, secured the dinghy and went right into old ruins. 

 

VAT (Value Added Tax) in the Bahamas has raised million and also put a hardship on many Bahamians.  There are now "breadbasket" items that are exempt from the VAT charge.  I guess beer is a breadbasket item??

Once again there was a wind shift so back to Old Bight we went.  We had still not gone to the grocery and now decided to wait until the mail boat arrived.  We opted to rent a car for the second time on Cat since we had so much fun the first time.

We rented from 2pm to 2pm to make Da Pink Chicken the first day and go in search of beach treasures the second morning.

 

 

Dean & Patty are great folks& a lot of fun too!

The next day we went to the beaches near Ocean Dream and across from Bennett's Harbour.

 

Then of course we had to stop for a beer at Yardie's.

 

It was time to head back with the car and wouldn't you know it, the mail boat was late!  Not reach yet! 

Stopped by the grocery anyway but no bread, no milk & no fresh veg!  Oh well, we made due with lobster & conch to go with our fish.

That's it for our February.  Just about out of water so heading to GT and will hang out there for the next front. Oh yeah, we never got to the grocery until 3/4!  Still no milk.....

If you like this, let me know.  See room for improvement?  Let me know that too.  I often wonder if anyone other than me & Rob look at it.  That's ok, it will be wonderful memories for us when we can no longer do this.  Till the end of March.....