GEORGE TOWN TO CLARENCE TOWN

When we last reported we were getting ready to move to the docks at George Town and welcome Don and Pam Pyke for their second annual visit.  The Cruiser’s Regatta was in full swing, a ten day event that provides financing for the Bahamians’ Georgetown Family Regatta in April.  There are over 400 cruising boats in George Town during this time, with lots of social activities as well as racing.

Boat names are always a source of interest, and we wonder how people arrive at them.  Who are we to talk with Sunspot Baby?  Some of names are obvious.  There are many with “Dream” or “Wind” in the name.  Many catamarans have “cat” or “two” for multi hulls, in their monikers.  Then there is the catamaran Hairball, and the monohull Dark & Stormy, which turns out to be a drink.  There are Nini, and Ministry and Nice N Easy and Perseverance and Liberty and Chicago Bears…wonder where that boat hails from?    Contented Turtle has a turtle painted on the hull, and there is New Wave, and Saltine.  Windwalker, Endaxi, Delphinus and Grateful Attitudes are all boats from our own marina at home who were in George Town while we were there, as well as several others from Fairfield Harbour.

Don and Pam arrived on schedule, even though they had a tight connection in Florida.  We were excited to show them George Town and the surrounding area, participate in some of the Regatta activities, and take a little trip.  We were fully stocked, but being good boat guests, they set out on a foray for more food and rum…just in case!  Of course the weather kicked up, so we beat it back to Red Shanks, into our favorite snug anchorage, where we spent a couple of days relaxing, snorkeling, and making plans for our trip to Long Island.

We had not been to the Thompson’s Bay/Salt Pond area of Long Island before, and that was our first stop.  The trip there was banging into SE winds, but fortunately only about 15 knots, and the seas not as high as forecast.  Only the last 11 miles (about 2 hours) was uncomfortable.  We anchored at the North end, and set off to explore the town, have dinner at Burgers & Beer, and investigate the local grocery store.  

It would be nice to go back to Salt Pond to spend more time in this friendly community, but the next day, after some beach Tai Chi, we were off on a lovely sail to Stella Maris (Star of the Sea).  The approach to the small marina is marked by one big orange barrel, then almost invisible stakes, and it is very shallow, even for our 4 foot draft.  George did a good job navigating through this area at close to low tide, and we pulled into the small marina in time for a swim and shore showers before going to supper at the beautiful resort.

The next day we took the bus back to the resort.  George and I got caught up on e-mail, telephone, and wi-fi, while Don and Pam explored the beach and the caves, which are complete with bats.  We had hoped to take them to Conception Island, but the weather outlook was not great, so the next day we headed back to George Town, with barely enough wind to sail most of the way back.

Eileen Quinn was giving another beach concert, so we anchored off Honeymoon Beach and went ashore.  She sang her “Company’s Coming” song, in which the visitors bring an entire new set of batteries for the boat.  Having brought a laptop last year, and three cabin lights, an eyeglass repair kit, prescriptions, and various other items this visit, Don and Pam could relate to the lyrics! 

The Coconut Harvest is always a Regatta event.  Teams of 4 collect as many coconuts as possible in their dinghy, then participate in beach games using the coconuts…coconut bocce, coconut basketball, coconut pyramid building, etc.  I had wanted to do this, but was talked out of it.  What a good thing!  This is a rough-and-tumble event, where hundreds of coconuts are floated in one of the “holes” at Stocking Island, and dinghies, propelled by only swim fins, are scooted about to collect them, while throwing buckets of water at opposing dinghies.  The coconuts are bagged, drug down the beach, counted, and then the beach events begin.  We all agreed we would have been totally exhausted by the end of the dinghy event, with no energy left for further competition.  The best competitors were the lithe and fit twenty-year-olds, and we enjoyed watching the whole thing from shore.  We had dinner at the Chat & Chill, an open air beach café, with the sun setting in the front and rustling palm trees and casuarinas in the surrounding area.

George’s birthday arrived with us anchored near the Monument off Stocking Island.  We had decorations and gifts, and George posed for photos in the fancy Captain’s hat the Pykes had brought for him.  Later in the day, we motored over to George Town and tied up at Exuma Docks so we could go for a lovely birthday dinner at the Peace & Plenty, hosted by Don and Pam.

One day we went out fishing.  The water was flat calm and absolutely beautiful.  We fished for several hours, but nary a fish did we get.  On the way back, we stopped near South Channel Rocks and Man Of War Cay, anchored in smooth white sand, and snorkeled around the nearby rocks for a while.  A nice stop.  While we were there, a strange looking catamaran came through.  Very small, with a very long stern.  Turns out it is Wind in the Willows, an early Prout, which the owner, Michael, has owned for over 30 years.  Michael is British, 80-ish, pleasant, weathered, and is rumored to be a very efficient lobster hunter.  He sails his boat single handed every year to the Bahamas from the Chesapeake.

We rented a car and the four of us drove the Queen’s Highway north and south of George Town, covering most of Great Exuma and Little Exuma, from Barreterre to Williams Town.  We scoped out the posh Four Seasons Resort, enjoyed the lovely views of Bahama and Exuma Sounds, and had a wonderful lunch at Cocoplums, a charming beach café, down a sand and rock road marked only by a small sign.

Don and Pam left us for taller ceilings, unlimited water, daily showers, and a bigger bed, but we enjoyed their visit very much.  They are perfect boat guests.  And in line with Eileen’s music, they took back to Bret an external hard drive that had stopped working, and delivered it to him for repair!

We spent a couple more days in the George Town area, mostly at Red Shanks, and on March 25th, we escaped!  We headed Northeast, in Southwest winds for Calabash Bay, on the West side of the North end of Long Island.  We have anchored here before, and most of the time a rolling swell works itself around Cape Santa Maria, which is not far away.  Today was no exception except it was a boisterous southwest swell coming right into the west-facing bay.  But George had a plan – he always does – he anchored as close in as possible at the south end, just behind a very small hook which offered some minimal protection from the seas.  We settled in, had lunch, played Scrabble, and read.  Then shortly before sunset, with a little squall approaching, we moved to the North end of the anchorage.  A front was just starting to move through, right on schedule, and the winds clocked around to the north.  We spent the night rather comfortably, and by morning the swell was down considerably and we headed for Clarence Town.

I had been stewing about this part of the trip.  Clarence Town is on the Atlantic side, about half way to Acklins Island, our eventual destination.  Wind and sea state were forecast to be higher than I am comfortable in, but once we were out in it, apparent winds were lighter because we were running with them and the sea was on our quarter, a very nice day.  We had a fishing line out all day but again caught nothing.  That line is now re-rigged with a different lure. Maybe that will change our luck.

Clarence Town is charming.  There is a small, 16-slip marina, a concrete government dock with a couple of fishing boats tied to it, some small stores, a couple of cafes, a gas station, and two beautiful churches built by Father Jerome, who built the Hermitage on Cat Island.  We decided to tie up at the Flying Fish marina for one night.  The next day the wind and waves picked up, and find ourselves caught in a tight pressure gradient at the top of a ridge lying near Mayaguana.  Winds are forecast to be about 20 knots all week, with a high sea state in a northerly swell. 

So in reassessing the situation, we decided (mostly by George, who was the person who really wanted to go to Acklins’ this year), that Acklins will wait and this is probably as far south as we go.   We made a deal with the dockmaster here who gave us a discounted rate on dockage and electricity for a few days rather than anchor in the beautiful but quite rolling (right now) anchorage. 

Our experience with this settlement of Long Island is consistent with the others.  The people are friendly and the scenery is beautiful.  The water is the characteristic crystal clear and aqua blue.  There is a small café on site here, and we had a nice grouper dinner the other night.  This morning we walked into town to the Packing House, where we bought locally grown papayas, tomatoes, and bananas for 50 cents a pound – a deal for the Bahamas. 

In the next few days we will head north.  Probably for stops at Conception Island, Cat Island, Little San Salvador and Eleuthera, and then decide from there whether to head for home by way of the Abacos or some other direction.  Of course, all of our plans are always subject to change.

Good Things:

Bad Things:

Lynn Stateham

Next Report: Clarence Town to Rock Sound