Welcome to the Bahamas!
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| Sunset set as we head down the Tongue of the Ocean towards George Town - our first night in the Bahamas |
After an easy and pleasant crossing,
we are anchored off Chat and Chill (a popular beach bar and meeting place for
all cruisers) in George Town, Exuma.
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| Our anchorage off Chat and Chill, looking northward. |
With three days of the annual regatta
still left and 350 boats in the harbor, things are lively. Burt manages to snag a last minute slot on a
volleyball team, and they score a third place in the regatta tournament. We
attend the closing party and, in a drawing, win a coupon for an hour’s massage
at Nitza’s studio. Nitza is the daughter
of Lee who runs the laundromat – it’s a small world in George Town. After regatta, things begin to slow
down. We still play Sunday evening
trivia at the St. Frances Resort, attend water aerobics in the mornings if it
is warm enough,
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| Water aerobics off Monument Beach, another Stocking Island anchorage. |
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| And the view of Monument Beach from the highest point on Stocking Island |
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| Looking down from the Monument, an old navigation mark for Stocking Island. |
and take time for chores like laundry, haircuts, and grocery
shopping. Afternoons are spent at Chat and Chill for volleyball, basketmaking,
and socializing with other cruisers. We
also take time to enjoy the natural beauty of Stocking Island, the barrier
island that keeps Elizabeth Harbor so protected from all directions. Paths lead
from the anchorages over the low hills and dunes to the Oceanside beaches.
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| The view of a wind swept beach ocean side of Stocking Island. |
On this miles long beach it is rare to see
another person. Although Eleuthera is
known for its pink sand beaches, almost all the east facing beaches in the
Bahamas sport pink sand – Stocking Island is no exception.
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| We dinghy to Flip Flop beach on the harbor side and the location of a cruiser built gathering side and hiking trail over to the ocean. |
On windy days, which we have most of the
time, the surf pounds on the shore, but on milder days wading along the water’s
edge is totally delightful.
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| Wild waves - no swimming today! |
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| Other days, rocky outcroppings make for protected pools. |
We have volunteered to assist with a Long Island Rally which
traditionally follows the George Town Cruisers’ Regatta. Generally, the rally starts with a race
between George Town and Salt Pond, Long Island.
We are busy signing up participants and calculating racing handicaps. Meanwhile, we wait for appropriate weather as
we don’t want novice racers to have to “race the house” to windward in rough conditions. Finally a window opens, but after all the
organizational work, there is absolutely no wind. Our fleet of 31 boats ends up motoring to
Long Island in glassy seas.
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| R Kallista gliding over smooth seas on the way to Long Island. The water absolutely glows. |
Even after
our arrival, there is no wind forecast to enable us to hold a round-the-buoy
race in the harbor. Our racing rally
becomes a sightseeing and partying rally.
The Long Island Rally appeals to boats which are new to
cruising, so we forego some of the planned events which we have done many times
before, and head out on our own. First
priority is to deliver our hurricane relief supplies to the local contact. The southern half of Long Island has been
decimated by Hurricane Joaquin and residents have asked cruisers to bring school
supplies. The government is rebuilding the schools effected and replacing all
the text books, but paper, writing implements, art supplies, and other miscellaneous
items need replacing. I bought out all such things at the Dollar Store in Vero
and have them stored in a large plastic bin.
In addition, an organization in Key West donated environmental education
supplies which were also on the wish list.
We are happy to have this freight off the boat and in the hands of those
who need it.
We decide to rent a car for a day and venture to the north
part of the island. Hurricane damage
this direction is much less noticeable although there is dying vegetation due
to salt water intrusion in the low areas.
We head up to the north tip of the island and to Columbus Monument. The road there is unmarked, and the term road
is a bit misleading. It is more like a
track and our little Japanese import is having a difficult time of it. I’m grabbing at handholds while Burt steers
the car over rocks and through deeply rutted tracks. This is Jeep territory and a Jeep we are
not! Miraculously we make it to the “parking
lot” where we are the only vehicle in sight.
The monument is atop a high cliff and memorializes the native population
and the arrival of Columbus.
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| The plaque on the Columbus Monument |
The
residents of Long Island claim that this was Columbus’s first landfall in the
new world. Residents of San Salvador
feel otherwise, and historians are beginning to side with them although they
also assume Columbus did make a landfall in the small harbor nearby. Despite
historical quibbling, the view can be universally appreciated. Multiple shades
of blue extend out from the cliffs and into the estuary.
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| The view looking east and into the estuary where is it said Columbus landed. |
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| Sand bores and tidal creeks in the estuary. |
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| The white cliffs below the monument. |
The water is so clear that we can see a
solitary sea turtle swimming amongst the reefs. This has to be one of the most
spectacular vistas in the Bahamas.
A challenging drive deserves a nice respite to follow. After renegotiating the drive back from
Columbus Monument, we stop at Stella Maris resort for lunch at their oceanside open
air restaurant.
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| Part of the deck restaurant at Stella Maris - rum drinks five steps away! |
We sit on a deck overhanging the rocky shoreline and listen to
the sounds of the pounding waves while enjoying a five-star lunch. Afterwards
we walk on a suspended boardwalk along the cliffs to a pool that has been dug
into the rocks and is filled by the surge of the ocean waves.
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| The salt water pool - for an idea of the size, I am standing on the steps in the upper right corner. |
After all that
exertion, it is back to the restaurant for a rum drink in chaises overlooking a
pink sand pocket beach before heading back to our rental car and boat.
That evening we participate in a cave dinner, held at Stella
Maris, with the rest of the rally folks.
We pile into two school buses for the forty five minute ride back to
Stella Maris. The cave is on the resort
property and now, at dusk, the pathway and cave interior are lit by beer
bottles filled with kerosene and topped with fabric wicks ablaze. The effect is mesmerizing and reminiscent of
life in the Bahamas prior to electricity.
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| Dinner in a cave - bats not invited. |
We have a pleasant meal at tables and benches fabricated from the local
rock while Bahamian musicians provide background music.
The next day we schedule a beach clean-up for the rally
participants. During the hurricane, the
container ship, El Faro, bound for Puerto Rico, was lost with all hands aboard off
the eastern shore of Long Island. Besides the immediate tragedy, the island is
struggling to recover from the massive amounts of trash that was deposited on
the oceanside beaches. After a bumpy ride along a dirt track in the back of a
pick up truck, we work about a quarter mile of beach where you couldn’t step
anywhere without stepping on debris.
Besides the normal water bottles and caps, fishing nets, flip flops, deflated
helium balloons, and miniscule flecks of colored plastic, we found the remnants
of containers full of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls, Frontline Flea and Tick
treatment, syringes, plastic soldier figures, and, best of all, Victoria
Secrets bras – all items destined for Puerto Rico. Although backbreaking work, we manage to fill
fifty contractor bags and form piles of larger items before we give up for
shade and water. Our reward is an awards dinner that evening in
a bar/restaurant at Salt Pond settlement. As there was no racing, we transform
the sailing event into a fishing derby and award regatta flags and rum to the
most successful.
The next day, most rally participants head off in different
directions. We choose to sail up to
Calabash Bay at the northern end of the island, and home to the other five-star
resort on the island, Santa Maria Resort.
The bay is a three mile crescent of pure white sand and is considered one
of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world (or so says the Bahamian tourist
bureau). It is not far off that mark,
and we find it impossible not to dive into the crystal clear waters and wander
along the soft sand beach.
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| Beautiful Calabash Bay - the resort is comprised by the buildings in the far distance. |
The first evening there we join with two other boats
and go into the resort for happy hour on the outside patio to watch the sunset. After another day of relaxation, we again go
to the resort for dinner with our friends on R Kallista, a couple from Port
Stanley, Ontario who we met prior to leaving Lake Erie. It is Burt’s birthday, and we celebrate in
fine style.
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| Our big night out - growing old does have it advantages |
Our return to the boat is a bit more adventurous as the tide has
gone out, and we find ourselves dragging dinghies long distances back to
navigable water in our good clothes. The dinghy ride back to the boat is memorable
under a full moon with the sandy bottom aglow.
The next day we have a wonderful sail back to George Town
where we will wait out another week of strong frontal systems before we can
venture northwards in the Exumas.
