Seeing the Other Side

June 9 – 12, 2012

After a smooth, but reluctant, exit from Little Harbour we headed south toward the tip of Long Island.  That area is quite impressive, with hills up to 90' high and then smaller ones tapering down to big cliffs and secluded beaches along the edge of the tip of the island, surrounded on 3 sides by the deep ocean.

I figured the fishing should be good in that area because of the confluence of the different ocean currents, and we had some excitement hooking a big tuna, but only having half of it by the time we got it to the boat.  Two other fish hit and bit off both of the lures.

Once we rounded the tip, we were heading north now, with the coast on our eastern side.  This part of the western side of Long Island isn't exposed to the prevailing easterly swells from the Atlantic Ocean, so the coastline is flat in many areas with low dune lines along the water and huge expanses of old salt ponds behind them. 

While by sea we traveled 20 miles, by land we ending up anchoring only about 6 miles from Little Harbour, opposite to where we dropped the hook between Roses Landing and Cabbage Point.   We dropped the hook in 15' of crystal clear water in what looked like a clean, sandy bottom and backed down hard.  However, when we dove in to see what the set looked like only the tip was caught on a ledge; both the flukes were sticking straight up!  Eddie and I dug around on the bottom, and could only feel about a 6” layer of sand over a hard bottom.  With the weather forecast predicting light winds out of the east we decided to leave things as poor as they were.

Sea fresh

Since we knew we were going to make water on the way over, and we had to run the generator to fully charge the batteries, we did a washer load of laundry last night, but didn't keep the generator running to run the dryer.  We figured we would air dry the clothes if the weather was nice or if it wasn't, and we couldn't charge the batteries via the solar power, we would run the generator and use the dryer for the clothes.  That's how an energy budget is supposed to operate. 

Eddie got out our plumb line and rigged it up for a clothesline.  When he was helping me hang up the clothes he was making nasty comments that he couldn't tell the leg openings from the waist in my underwear! 

The following day we had to travel 10 hrs to get to our next destination, Thompson Bay with the small settlement known as Salt Pond.  Actually all of the 35 settlements are small by the fact that there are only 3500 residents on the whole 230 sq. mile island.  A 3 hour portion of the distance was spent back-tracking through the shallow Comer Channel, going around a huge sand bank.  A squall line hit us, but with the shallow water, we just got misted with salt spray rather than have to get bounced around. 

We ate lunch underway.  Eddie had helm duty during that feeding time, so he ate his lunch sitting in the helm chair.  Ursa always sits under Eddie where ever he eats because that's where she has the best chance of getting falling food crumbs, almost guaranteed every meal.  Eddie had stuffed a balled up piece of paper towel in his ear because he said that it felt like it was “draining”, and he didn't want anything running out and getting on him.  While we were eating, Wayne and I saw Ursa lunge over under the helm chair and quickly scarf up something white, and we asked Eddie what he dropped.  He said he didn't drop anything and immediately realized he had lost his ear “plug”.  We never did see it pass out.

Thompson Bay is shallow (just over 2 meters) most everywhere, but we were hoping to find a spot to drop the anchor that gave us 2' of water under the keel.  When we dropped the hook it felt like it was dragging across a paved parking lot.  So, we moved in a bit farther, trying to find some soft sandy areas.  We ended up having less than 1' of water under us at low tide and just hoped that the wind wouldn't kick up the bay waters and cause us to start bouncing off the bottom.

Welcome to Salt Pond

In this photo you can see the newly modified government dock with a Bahamian fishing boat tied up next to it.  The boat has a lot of those fish traps stacked up on the roof.  On the left you can also see the Long Island Breeze resort/restaurant/bar, the most popular establishment for cruisers anchoring in the bay to visit.  The Breeze has free WiFi if you spend $5 or more on anything, and that is truly a bargain. If you want to plug in and use the electricity to run your computer, it costs $1.  The Breeze has comfortable island style decor with a beautiful view of the bay and whatever activities happen to be going on.  It also has a fantastic floating dinghy dock where all cruisers are welcome. 

When we went into the dock it was Monday, and we were going to go to the Post Office so I could mail a couple of letters, and we were still looking for medical help for Eddie's ear.  Wayne and Eddie decided to investigate the Breeze first so that we could find out about the WiFi and if we could get conch burgers.  The owner, Mike, just happened to be inside the restaurant and told the guys that the Breeze is closed on Mondays, but he had to make some food for someone local and that if we wanted to have him make lunch for us he would.  When Wayne looked at the menu, he didn't see conch burgers and asked Mike about it.  While they aren't a menu item, Mike said that he could make them for us anyway if we gave him some time to get supplies.  Since we had to walk to the P.O., a mile away, Mike said he could have everything ready when we got back.

Not that way

Since there is only 1 main road, you'd think it would be easy to find the Post Office.  When we had gone what seemed like at least a mile, I told Wayne I was going to go in a grocery store that was nearby and ask where the P.O. was.  Wayne made some kind of grunting remark that there was no way we could miss it if we just kept going, but I just told him he could keep walking without me and I was going to ask anyway.  I was told it was right next door.  At the same time, Eddie asked someone coming out of the store and was told the same thing.  I had already been “right next door” and only saw a place selling used tires and some kind of gift shop.  The used tire guy happened to come out front, and I asked him where the P.O. was, and he pointed to the gift shop.  I looked all over the front of the place and could not find any sign that said one thing about being a Post Office, but I went in anyway.

The friendly owner was behind the counter, and I told her that the tire guy said this was the P.O.  She said that it was, but the P.O. was technically only open on Wed. when the mail boat arrived, but asked me what I needed anyway.  When I told her I wanted to mail two letters and I needed stamps for them, she said if that was all I wanted she could sell me the stamps even though it was Mon., and she would hold the letters until Wed.  We FLUKESTERS all laughed about the whole process because we look at how spoiled we are with our multi-billion dollar in debt postal service not even wanting to cut back service to 5 days/week to try to cut spending and these hardy islanders who rely on the mail service much more than we do, get by with the once/week service.

When we returned to the Breeze, we only waited a short time before Mike had the delicious conch burgers ready.  It was our first restaurant meal, and the conch burgers are usually the only thing we ever order since we can make everything else ourselves.  Mike took the time to chat with us and answer our questions about how his business was doing and how the locals managed to survive in this depressed economy.  Mike told us the number of cruising boats was 40 – 50% less than last year and last year was another 40 – 50% than the previous year.  He said one thing that helped the locals keep their heads above water was that they lived in a cash only society, so no one could accumulate debt.  We shook our heads and said that D-E-B-T was one of most American's favorite four letter words, and our present government sure didn't do anything to discourage its accumulation.

The little fleet

Mike pointed out the local fishing fleet, close to where we had anchored.  He said that a few years back the fleet was much larger, and even had several boats in the 70' range (like those at Spanish Wells), instead of the small 40' boats that were there now.  From the cost of fuel, drop in the price of fish, and the depletion of the local supply, many of the fisherman had to sell their boats and try to make a living by other means.

Work in progress

While I was waiting for lunch out on the Breeze's deck, I could watch work being done on some pilings for the government dock modifications.  Notice that these construction workers aren't wearing any shoes on that hot, splintery, wood.  Ouch!

After lunch, I asked Mike how people could make phone calls at Salt Pond since I had noticed another abandoned phone booth.  He said I could call from his phone for .45/minute, and I gladly went for that deal under the circumstances of having no idea when another opportunity may arise.

When we got back to FLUKE Wayne decided to try to hook up to the WiFi using his booster antenna, which he placed on the roof.  To his pleasure, it worked, and he was able to post the last two blogs and download mail.  The wind kicked up, and I heard a big crash in time to look over to the starboard side of the upper deck and see the antenna and long range WiFi adapter (LRWA) connected to it go tumbling over the side.  I yelled to Wayne that the antenna was floating upside down (he had mounted it on a block of wood for stability), but that it was quickly floating toward the stern of the boat, headed out to the Banks.  He had to run down and jump off the swim platform and swim out to retrieve it.  I am sorry not to have been able to get a photo of Wayne's antenna recovery.  The antenna still seemed to work, but the LRWA  was no longer operable.

The next day was dedicated to boat chores.  The W & E Marine Maintenance Team changed out the anti-siphon vented loop, hoses, and fittings for the generator cooling water.  Then they took apart the pilothouse doors and lubricated the hinges.  I worked out in the water brushing bottom growth off the hull.  Even though it's not exciting, at least I can stay cool.   Eddie usually shares that job with me, but with his ear infection, he is out of commission for the time being.  However, there is plenty more bottom left to do.

Leisure time fun

The high winds were perfect for sailing the Hobie Cat.  I heard the wind screaming in the sails before I even saw these two guys go flying by late in the afternoon. 

We were hoping the winds would die down a bit before we made our way to Georgetown, Exuma the following day.