Long Island, Bahamas

After our five and a half day trip from the Caribbean to the Bahamas and a very expensive checkin at the marina on Long Island, we caught our breath and realized what a fantastic place we had landed. We loved Long island right from the get-go and decided to stay a few more nights, rent a car and see a few of the sites which include a cave, the deepest blue hole in the world and the mobile phone store for some internet. We pulled away from the marina dock just past noon and made our way across the harbor to a charted anchorage and before we were even settled, the kids were in the water heading for the nearest island which had a fantastic beach. We spent a lovely afternoon exploring at the beach, an early night and were up early the next morning to head into town. The rental car agency sent a nice lady to fetch us at the marina and bring us to their shop a few miles away. We settled for the cheapest rental, a pink Toyota and pulled out into traffic (not really) unfortunately we were headed south and wanted to go north, but we were soon strightened out and headed north, down the Queen’s Highway. Like in Maine, if you go north on Long Island you are going ‘down’. 

Martin Cartwright, from the marina had called Mr. Cartwright, the cave owner, to ask if we could have a tour that day and he agreed to meet us at 11:00. We had about 45 minutes so we headed for the BaTelCo office and managed to buy a SIM and some data and were back on the road, headed for Mr. Cartwright by 10:57. We were just a few minutes late and headed up a side road behind his old beat-up pickup to the cave entrance. The tour was great, despite poor Mr. Cartwright feeling a bit under the weather and we managed to see three of the five bat species in the cave, lots of cockroaches, a rat and some ancient Lucayan writings on the wall. Mr. Cartwright’s loyalist ancestors had also transcribed their names on a Stalactite in an old English script and we heard about the many generations that have used these caverns as a place of refuge during hurricanes. We were once again amazed by Finn’s daring as he roamed around the cave without fear.  He kept shining his light on the poor bats which got them screeching and flying about.  Anna didn’t like that too much but the more she begged her brother to stop the more he did it.  The cave system was quite larger than expected.  It had a water area that was tidal so it was connected hydraulically to the sea.  There was also an interesting freshwater spring that we are certain the Lucayans would have used for drinking water.  Certain areas had holes in the roof that let sunlight in producing dramatic effects.  There were also tree roots that reached down through the roof of the cave…the scene was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie!

Our next stop was at a local Bone Fising Lodge, built by Miriam Cartwright and her husband, a friend of a friend we met in North Carolina last spring. There was no one about so we continued on looking for someplace to stop for lunch that looked well-frequented. We finally hit the spot, a roadside takeout stand and settled in at the picnic tables for burgers, chicken nuggets and cracked chicken. I had no idea what cracked chicken was but I was willing to try something local! Turns out, it is just like cracked conch, pounded flat, breaded and deep fried. It was good with the barbecue sauce provided with Finn’s nuggets and the french fries were excellent. I added a grape soda to make the whole thing completely worth the calorie splurge. As we settled in for our lunch I checked to see if our internet device was working with a quick check to Facebook. There was a link to a scene from What about Bob, posted by Uncle Don and Aunt Carrie, and we could hear the fellow sitting behind us chuckling, I turned around and he told us what a great scene it was and he moved right over next to us. We had a very enjoyable half hour eating lunch with the local grave digger and his assistant. His dog was clued in and sat diligently next to Anna, waiting for a dropped tidbit. Anna was good and didn’t lose a crumb so the grave digger (we don’t know if he was a Cartwright) provided a lovely barbecue rib to him before connecting the leads to the battery, starting the truck, and heading off with a cheery wave. It was a most satisfying meal!

Back in the Pink Toyota, we headed two miles down the road to the Long Island Museum, only to have to wait about five minutes for the currators to show up, the party at the table in front of us at the picnic tables, while we noted the Pink Toyota fit in perfectly with the Bahamian architecture.

 

The Pink Toyota

The Pink Museum

 

The museum is a nice local museum and we were able to connect the dots on our earlier explorations in the day including a lot on local agriculture, the Cartwright family and the local loyalist settlers. We had an enjoyable chat with the young currator, bought Anna a nice piece of local ‘straw work’ in the museum store and headed off.

One of the things we realized at this point is that the Explorer Chart Guide Book was way off on several things including that the BaTelCo office being walking distance from the marina, that customs would come to the marina (they did but it cost $100) and that the very famous Dean’s Blue Hole was closed to tourists. We were told at the museum to just follow the signs to the Blue Hole and we would find it and despite what our guide book says, it is accessible to tourists. We did, along with the partying Senior Class from the local high school, and we sat in the parking lot waiting out a rain storm while getting ourselves nerved up for the snorkel over the 685 feet deep hole. We all suited up and headed into the water. Not only was I cold from getting wet in the rain, the sight of the bottom dropping away under me to an unfathomable depth and the thought of what was down there, including three cave divers that perished in 2008, had me shaking as I tried to film a movie of the experience. I had to go back later and do it again to be sure I had it.

 

Prepping for Dean's Blue Hole

The edge of the Abyss

 

We returned the car about six P.M. that evening, very satisfied with our day and settled back in our beautiful anchorage.

Out for an explore

We spent one more day on Long Island including exploring a bit more of the really cool harbor and set off the following morning for Warderick Wells in the Exumas and a reunion with Yacht Cariad

 

 

 

Arrival in Bahamas!

Currently safely tied up at the fuel dock at Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town on Long Island in the Bahamas.

We missed working hours but got in before dark.  We learned from a neighbor boat owner that customs will probably charge us a bunch of money to come to the boat tomorrow and that the office where we can get a sim card is too far to walk.  They suggested we rent a car and go to the customs office instead or just hitchhike!  Anyway, the people we have met at the dock really love this island and judging by the looks of the fancy offshore fishing boats docked next to us this is a good place to fish as well.

 

We are settling down to a big dinner of fish cakes.  Anna's Mahi just keeps on going.  Mom and Dad are tired enough that we are having trouble forming words.  We had planned to sleep all night but apparently there is going to be a lunar eclipse...the alarm is already set for 3:00 AM.

 

Goodnight from Midwatch.

3 A.M. Homeschooling is great, until your student falls asleep...

Caribbean to Bahamas - Day 5

Mayaguana did not meet our expectations so we turned around and left the island in our wake without ever dropping the hook.  The direction of the wind was unfavorable and we couldn't get Midwatch to within better-than-two-miles of town.  There was a three foot chop that would have made for an extremely wet and slow dingy ride.  We saw no other boats anchored so we got out while the getting was good.  I am sure it is fine in different conditions.

 

After much debate our new destination is a place called Clarence Town on Long Island.  We should be there late afternoon or early evening tomorrow.

We did have a nice visit by a pod of Dolphins with some very small babies just before we entered the barrier reef.

 

 I also remembered something about the Navidad Bank that I wanted recorded.  We could see bottom in 100 feet of water there!

 Last night the Turks and Caicos coast guard gave us a call on the VHF.  They had us on their radar I guess.  They wanted to know how many souls we had aboard?  Kim said four sounded like a lot.

 

 Anyway, all is well enough.  There are some kids that had planned on swimming today who are not all that happy but they will get over it.  Anna stated that she wished the fish she caught the other day was smaller so we could fish again.  I agree with her.

 

Well back to the passage!

 

Current Position:

8:00 p.m. EST

22 º 21.637 N

73 º 10.883 W

Course 317 º True

5.7 kts

Double reefed main plus genoa on a broad reach.

Goodnight from Midwatch.

Caribbean to Bahamas - Day 4

This morning we were greeted by a huge pod of playful dolphins.  They stayed with us for about two hours jumping and doing somersaults.  Another smaller pod came by this afternoon.  We got some footage on the GoPro of the smaller group.

 

We are running with just the genoa with winds over 20 kts all day.  We had one squall this morning to help wash some of the blood off the decks from that Mahi Mahi incident.  On that subject, Kim spent some time trying to make up Uncle Ted's rub.  It looks the same but we are short a couple of ingredients.  We will try it tonight and see how it compares. 

 

New meds work great!
I can now drink my Ginger Beer for pleasure!

Finn is ready to be in the Bahamas.  No matter where in the world he is he always talks about going to the Bahamas.  This has been a great passage but Mom and Dad are tired today.  Apparently all the adrenaline runs out by day three.

 

The seas have grown large and we are hoping the Turks  and Caicos Banks will break it up for us tonight.  We are on schedule to get to Mayaguana just after dark tomorrow.  That seems to be our lot.  We have been trying to figure out if we should slow down or just carry on.  Going through reefs at night is not usually the best idea.

 Current Position:

5:00  p.m. EST

20 º 47.874 N

71 º 14.925 W

Course 290  ºTrue

Speed 5.5-6.5 kts

Have a good night,

Bob, Kim, Anna and Finn

Caribbean to Bahamas - Day 3

WHALES!

We scored a great siting of humpback whales on Navidad Bank north of the Dominican Republic today.  The depth goes from over 25,000 feet to 75 feet deep over a very short distance.  It's like a wall.  Anyway we burned our eyeballs all day looking for spouts and finally found a pod just before we went off the west side of the banks.  We saw a full breech (whale jumped entirely out of the water) and some other good action.  There was a mother ship with a bunch of little skiffs with guys fishing and the whales were hanging around them.  We assume they were Dominicans...they did smile and wave.  Looked like a great job to have.

 

We are going to swing to the south side of the Silver Banks.  There should be even better whale action there but we are going to pass through in the night.  There are reefs and rocks awash and possibly sleeping whales so we decided to go around vs. straight through.  Some time in the early morning hours we should be able to turn north and head for Mayaguana while keeping the Turks and Caicos to our starboard side.

 

Winds increased into the 20's so we have reduced down to just the genoa poled out.  It is a bit slow and rolls a lot but its easier to deal with wind shifts.  Mahi for dinner tonight of course.  The sun is getting extremely powerful now.  We are all burning even though we have the best tans of our lives.  I am sure you are all feeling bad for us;)

 

Goodnight from the crew of Midwatch.

 

Bob, Kim, Anna and Finn

Caribbean to Bahamas - Day 2

Today was a real BLOODBATH.

If you are squeamish about blood stop reading now!

We had a nice easy sail last night wing on wing.  All Kim and I had to do was hit the auto steering button a couple of times to make small course corrections for slight wind shifts.  We did see the glow of lights over Puerto Rico and six cruise ships passed us throughout the night.  At dawn we shook the reef out of the main and set the fishing lines.

Nothing...nothing and then about noon...FISH ON!  Finn can hear the scream of the reels from anywhere in the boat and today like most days he is generally the first person to scream "Fish on".  I saw this one jump on its first run and I knew we were into a nice Mahi Mahi.  Anna came running.  She is so into reading these days we hardly know she is on the boat, but she likes catching fish.

Kim and I furled the genoa to slow ourselves down and I got the fish turned and Anna into reeling position.  Then it was the old "lift up...reel down...let her run"  for the next 15 minutes.  Kimberly our gaff master, or master gaffer if you will, did not falter and after a swing or two we had the fish over the side.  This is where it got interesting.

Not sure how many gallons of blood a Mahi Mahi can hold or what kind of artery Kim hit but the fish went absolutely berzerk (sp?) and spewed forth an endless spray of crimson glue.  The fish was big and strong and neither Kim nor I could do anything but hold on the best we could and let it play out.  When this fish finally came to rest the stern of the boat and Kim, Anna and I looked like something out of a scene from "A Texas Chainsaw Massacre".  There was even blood on the top of the dodger 10 feet away.  We spent the next two hours cleaning the fish, the boat and ourselves the best we could.  We are just going to have to let mother nature take care of it the best she can because we were only marginally effective.

The fish was big, just a bit shorter than Anna and our fridge is now loaded.  We were sure to eat a big pile of Mahi nuggets for lunch and she was delicious.  We need our friend Mark from Amicus II back to help us eat it all.  We have not reset the lines.

We did manage to take movie footage of the ordeal with our GoPro camera.  It will be very interesting to see how that plays out.  I wonder if anyone shut it off before the whole family stripped down to nothing to clean themselves and the bloody decks?

All that was left after cleanup, but you can tell how big it was!

Our progress is slow but comfortable.  The winds are only 10-12 knots at best.  We are running the generator to charge the batteries.  No one wants to run the main engine because it is already so hot inside.  We will probably be a half day late to Mayaguana but we don't care about rushing on this passage.

I just looked at the chart and noted that we are entering the Puerto Rico Trench.  The water depth here is over 26,000 feet deep, that's like 5 miles deep!  I have a lot of memories of this area.  I sailed here in 1992 on a 135' Brigantine schooner with the SEA Semester program.  I remember we hit a rogue wave near the Mona Passage just to our south...we won't be heading through there on this trip.  I have seen enough giant waves.

Tomorrow we should be approaching/crossing  Navidad Bank and there may still be some humpback whales that come there to calve in the winter. 

 Goodnight from the crew of Midwatch.

Current Position:

5:00 P.M. EST

19 º 27.346 N

67 º 03.289 W

Speed 4 kts

Course 262 Degrees

Sailing wing on wing, full main and genoa poled out.

Plan to jybe shortly to head a little more northwest.

Caribbean to Bahamas - Day 1 (April 9)

Midwatch is on the move today.  We expect a 4-5 day passage from St. John,  USVI to Mayaguana Island, Bahamas.  We plan to stay south of the Silver Banks unless the wind is light and then we might try to swing in and see the whales calving.

 

Current position:

10:00 A.M. EST

18 º2 8.199N

64 º 55.549W

Speed 5.5-6.5 kts

Course 304 Degrees

Sailplan:  Double reefed main, full genoa poled out.  Sailing wing on wing Wind is approx. 15-20 kts sunny and hot, fishing lines are set.

Prepping for Departure in the A.M.

We have spent the day today preparing for passage to the Bahamas, our last planned, extended passage of our trip. We will leave in the morning. Our stay here in St. John has been fun with several notable events. Finn tripped last night and nearly ripped his ear off getting into the cock pit. He is chipper today and keeps asking "Which ear was it?" Apparently he heals fast. We also spent a good bit of time here debating the National Park intent after being asked to leave a beach because we had kids. The beach was on a resort, a concession, contracted out from the National Park Service. It took us both by surprise after being forewarned by a Ranger that the resort occasionally chased people off but were shocked that the excuse was due to age.  I've been singing "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign..." all week, ironic there was no sign on the beach saying 'no kids under 13'.

Francis Bay, St. John

Today (4/6) we moved to Francis bay from Caneel bay. In Caneel bay, we swam with some turtles and I saw a baby turtle too, it was so cute.

 In Francis bay, we went to a beach and dad and I went for a walk down a big beach, to see what we would find. When we got to the end of the beach we found a trail that had two paths one was on a boardwalk and the other was dirt. We took the boardwalk path and it was cool to see the birds flying and the termites in their mounds … then I saw something moving in the bushes it was a Mongoose! It was so awesome to see the little pink nose and the hairy tale it was so awesome.

Anna 

Finn's St. John Blog

 

Me and Dad went on a hike today and we saw six white tail deer.  We were hiking on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands group.  We also went down a long wooden path with a troll bridge and saw a lake with funny birds in it.  The trees made the path feel like a tunnel and that’s where we saw the deer.  I ran on a huge beach all the way back, really fast!  It was a good running beach.  We also went snorkeling this morning and I got to touch a real turtle’s shell.  I tried to grab it but he zoomed right out of my hands.  We also saw a ray and a barracuda.  I didn’t see the barracuda but Anna did.

 

Yesterday we took a long dingy ride into town.  We found a playground with a little ship and a tunnel but it didn’t have a steering wheel.  We pretended it had a tiller.  We went to the Ranger Station and I got a bug coloring book and I learned about Elephant Stag Beatles.  I really like the bug book.  Anna got a book too.  We went for a walk in the town and Anna got chocolate ice cream that she shared with Mom.  I got vanilla ice cream and shared it with my Dad.  We had a fun time together.  We went snorkeling too and we saw two tarpon, two rays, and a barracuda.

 On our trip to this island from St. Martin we caught a black fin tuna.  We ate him because we were not afraid that he was poisonous.  We might have caught more fish but we had weeds on the other lure.  We caught the one fish on the starboard side and on the other side we only got weeds.