Long Island and back to George Town

On Saturday the 20th, we had a nice weather window for a lovely crossing from George Town to Long Island. Since we were expecting my nephew David and his wife Nathalie to arrive on Tuesday we headed out. We arrived in Thompson Bay and attempted to anchor for the night in front of a resort called Long Island Breeze, but as this is a notorious area for poor holding (we have only successfully anchored there once), after several tries, we gave up and moved to the North end of Thompson Bay to an anchorage with terrific holding.

 

Pretty Penny at anchor in Thompson Bay

We went by dinghy over to the Long Island Breeze and chatted with the owners Jackie and Mike. They had put in a new dinghy dock last summer and it was a vast improvement over the older one. At times when it was rough, I feared using that dock. It was good to catch up with them and were happy they were still in business. They provide a much needed gathering location for boaters and also provide a laundry and showers for boaters.

 

Sunset view taken from the deck of Long Island Breeze (I was hoping to get a photo of a "green flash" that can occur at sunset at this location, but alas it was not to be this time.)

We were expecting another front on Tuesday, plus our guests were arriving at the Stella Maris Airport, so we moved up to the Stella Maris Marina where we would be protected from the wind and much closer to the airport. It gave me a chance to do a laundry at the laundromat across the street from the marina and have unlimited electricity to run a vacuum and clean up the boat. Monday night and Tuesday morning, we had a heavy rain squall come through and Bob got up in the morning and soaped the boat down letting the rain do the final rinse of the boat. The boat looked much better. It certainly needed a good bath to get all the salt water off the hull.

Tuesday, our guests arrived on schedule and we decided to take them to see the Stella Maris beach on the other side of the island. This is a gorgeous beach with a tidal pool. Unfortunately, the beach bar was not open, so we had to walk up to the main bar of the resort to have our Rum Punch.

 

David and Nathalie by the Tidal Pool at Stella Maris Resort

 

David and Nathalie in the surf at Stella Maris Resort Beach

 

Wish the sign had been correct - the beach bar was closed.

 

David and Nathalie at sunset by entrance into the Stella Maris Marina

 

Pretty Penny in the Stella Maris Marina

 

Rainbow Maker (Interesting boat that was at the marina. It appeared that only the pilot station and the salon was on the main deck and the galley and all staterooms were on the lower deck. We happened to see that the boat is for sale for around $700k if you are interested.)

We rented a car a couple of days to see the island. This house is decorated with all sorts of flotsam and jetsam.

 

Well decorated house on Long Island

We stopped for lunch and some local color at Max's Conch Bar. Max makes a killer Conch Salad. You haven't lived till you've tried it.

 

 

Max working his "magic"

 

Another view of Max's Conch Bar (the closest thing there is to "drive through" in these islands!)

After stopping for lunch, our next stop was at "Dean's Blue Hole." This is an ice age formed deep water hole used extensively by dive teams for "free diving." We have usually seen a foreign team (last year we saw a team from Japan here practicing free dives here) practicing here. The hole is over 600 feet deep and many world records have been broken here. It is very shallow on the edges and drops to amazing depths within inches of the rim.

 

Dean's Blue Hole

Our next stop was to see the two churches in Clarence Town that were built by the same man, Father Jerome. He built one of the churches and later, after he converted to Catholicism, he built the Catholic church in the early to mid 1800's.

 

Anglican Church consecrated in 1848.

 

View inside the Anglican Church

 

David and Nathalie on steps of Catholic Church steps

 

Inside view of the Catholic church

This next photo needs explaining. The night before our tour of the south of the island, we had experienced very high winds. The Captain had been up all night bailing water out of our dinghy and doing an anchor watch, thus he was pooped, but still came along to drive us. David, Nathalie, and I had gone in to the Long Island Museum, leaving Bob to wait in the car. He took the opportunity to take a much needed nap.

 

We had moved to Thompson Bay, so the next day, we went in the morning to see the caves right off the property of the Dive Shop where there is a natural cave system.

 

David under an opening in the cave system off Thompson Bay

 

Nathalie in the cave

 

Photo of a group of Bats in the ceiling of the cave

The next day we headed back to a lovely beach we had spotted on our drive the day before so David and Nathalie could do a little snorkling and sunning on the beach.

 

Our crew on the beach

We realized that on Sunday morning when David and Nathalie needed to leave, that we were expecting 30 MPH winds in the anchorage where we were located, making it difficult, if not impossible, to get David and Nathalie off the boat and to shore safely. Our choice was to go back to Stella Maris Marina, which would turn a $50 cab ride to the airport into at least a $100 cab ride, or taking the opportunity of a calm cruising day, going back to George Town and having them fly out of George Town. They were able to change their flight to George Town, so we left Long Island on Saturday and headed to George Town. We arrived at noon giving David and Nathalie a little time to shop at the straw market and another shop in George Town, then going to the Volleyball Beach and doing a little sunning.

 

David and Nathalie enjoying Volleyball Beach

David and Nathalie left at 6 A.M. on Sunday morning. We certainly enjoyed their visit. Shortly after Bob returned from seeing David and Nathalie to the taxi, we was checking the engine room and noticed water in the bilge. We seem to have a broken exhaust elbow on the starboard engine. So we will be in George Town this week until a replacement can arrive. This week happens to be the Cruiser's Regatta week here in George Town, where there are things like a pet parade, volleyball tournament, texas hold'm tournament, dances, and a cruiser's regatta, so it is a good week to be in George Town.