Regatta time in George
Town is past history except for one last event. Each year a sailing rally is organized to go
to Long Island, the next island south of the
Exuma chain. With around thirty boats
signed up, we leave George Town harbor, heading
out the southeastern cut from protected Elizabeth Harbor. After several days of massive northerly ocean
swells, it is judged safe to depart. It
may be safe, but it still has an element of excitement. We weave our way through reefs where the
swells are crashing unnervingly close to our track. Below decks, the contents
of our boat are being rearranged as we bounce through the surf. “Be careful
opening the storage bins as the contents may have shifted during flight” seems
to apply here. Once we get into the deep
ocean waters, the swells become barely perceptible. With virtually no wind, our
supposed sailing race gets postponed, and the fleet motors down to Thompson Bay
on Long Island.
This huge influx of cruising boats to Long
Island is seen as an economic boost to this otherwise quiet and
often overlooked destination. The
tourist council has many activities planned for our stay. Our group fills two school buses, and we take
a tour of the southern portion of the island.
We did a similar tour last year, but decide to do it again as it
provides an inexpensive way to see the many small settlements. Stops include
the picturesque Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Clarence Town, built by
the locally famous Father Jerome,
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| Exterior and interior of the simple but exquisite church |
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| The sign says it all |
and Dean’s Blue Hole where the world free
diving championships are held.
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| Dean's Blue Hole with the pounding surf on the ocean side |
When we stop by the Long Island Historical
Museum, the local People
to People organization holds a tea featuring traditional bush teas. We sample the teas, learn about their
medicinal applications, and meet friendly Long Island
residents who chat about their island existence and culture. The tour concludes
with a rum drink at the famous Max’s Conch Bar.
That evening Long Island Breeze Resort, a small cruiser-friendly
restaurant and bar overlooking the anchorage, sponsors a sunset Happy
Hour. Music is provided by several
cruisers including our favorite keyboard artist who we originally met in Marathon.
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| Music on the deck of Long Island Breeze |
A number of non-cruisers, including winter
residents and Long Island natives, join the
crowd. The ambiance is magical, and everyone lingers way past sunset.
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| Sunset at the Breeze, overlooking the anchorage |
Since there was no wind for our scheduled race to Long Island, a make up race is planned for Saturday
morning. Rally racing is supposed to be
fun and not overly competitive, so instead of a standard start with all the
boats on the starting line at the same time, the committee just takes our
starting time when we get around to crossing the line. Twenty boats participate, sailing on a reach
for four miles out from the harbor and then returning to the starting (now
finish) line. The wind is blowing close to 20 knots and the seas are flat
making it a perfect sail – we are flying, averaging speeds close to 8 knots! Even better, we come in second in our
fleet. If we had only remembered to
feather our prop before the race was almost half over, we might have done even
better. But this is a fun race and
lapses by the crew are a foregone conclusion.
That evening, we have a group dinner at the Breeze, a trophy
presentation, and a dance DJ’ed by fellow cruisers “Rocking Ron and Kool
Karen”. Prior to the official event, local artisans set up a display their
creations – straw work and baskets, jewelry made from shells and beach glass,
paintings, sculptures in shells, and some very tasty jams – all of which are
reasonably priced and of a high quality. In the midst of all the activity, one
of the guides from yesterday’s bus tour shows up with his Junkanoo band for a
rush out. To the accompaniment of horns, whistles, cow bells, and a variety of
drums, the group descends on the Breeze.
The pounding rhythms and energetic dancing get everyone bouncing along. Junkanoo
has its root in African culture and has become a staple in Bahamian
communities. The primary rush outs occur
around New Years, but the locals are happy to have other opportunities to play
and dance, and we enjoy another sampling of traditional Bahamian culture.
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| Our tour guide, Omar, in the traditional crepe paper pants, leads his cru |
The next morning most of the cruisers leave Thompson Bay for other destinations. We decide to head to the north end of Long
Island where we anchor in picturesque Calabash Bay. The several mile long bay is anchored by the
upscale Cape Santa Maria Resort and a number of ex-patriots’ large vacation
homes. We take a lengthy walk along the powdery sand beach, gazing out on the turquoise
water and many sand bores.
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| Calabash Bay with the resort in the distance |
That evening we dinghy over to the resort for dinner
in their lovely two story screened in dining pavilion. Other anchored boats do
the same, and in the bar, before dinner, we are introduced to Dave Calvert who
lives about twenty miles further north on Cat Island.
The name may mean nothing to most people, but Dave is an internationally known
multihull racer and is the sailmaker who designed and built the sails we had on
our previous boat. It truly is a small
world.
From Long Island, we head east to remote Conception Island. The wind has picked up, and we find ourselves
on a 30 mile beat to windward. It is a
bumpy but exhilarating ride, and once again, the contents of our cupboards
below deck are being rearranged.
Conception is a small, uninhabited island that is in the national park
system. It rises from the ocean depths
very dramatically with the sapphire colored ocean waters suddenly changing into
a variety of turquoise hues.
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| The beach at Conception near the anchorage |
It is a place to visit only during settled weather
as the anchorage has very little protection from any winds other than the
trades. Our arrival at Conception
coincides with Burt’s birthday. Friends
circulate that information and plan a birthday celebration for the beach that
evening. It is a birthday Burt will never forget, spent on one of the most
beautiful beaches in the world in the company of new and old friends. Music,
including the birthday song, is provided by Valerie and Ray from a large yacht
in the anchorage. They are professional
recording artists that we originally met this winter in Marathon.
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| Burt celebrates his birthday at a very special location |
The weather window allows us to stay an additional day, and
we enjoy hiking to the windward side of the island with its equally spectacular
sand beach.
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| A calm day on the windward side of conception Island |
Overhead, the migratory tropic birds with their flowing, long white
tails are circling, indicating the spring is arriving in the southern Bahamas. When
we tire of hiking, we return to the boat to spend the rest of the day soaking
in the beauty of this special place. The
following day west winds are forecast, so we debate our next destination. Do we head north to Cat
Island with it exposed anchorages or
return to George Town and the safety of Elizabeth Harbor? Our weather forecasting service
indicates that the stormy weather being experienced on the US east coast
will trickle down our way with the possibility of two more weeks of unsettled
weather. We wake up that morning to dark
clouds and squalls on the horizon and quickly head out to sea as we don’t want
to be caught in the anchorage with a squall. Thus, we begin the trek back to George Town. With unusually strong cold fronts forecast to
pass through the northern and central Bahamas in the coming weeks, we
will opt to stay south where conditions will be relatively milder.
