Long Island, Bahamas Part 1

When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know.  It is well, It is well, with my soul -  Horatio Spafford

​After two great weeks in Georgetown, we were ready to discover a new island.  We were headed to Thompson Bay to anchor just along Salt Pond, Long Island.  We shared this decision with Scott and Mary and they decided they would make the jump with us before heading back North through the Bahamas and back to their home in Florida.  We, of course, are planning the Turks jump soon right before Easter 2020.  It is mid march.  We have been hearing about all the concerns in the US - the lock downs, closed schools and churches.  We are astonished that all this is happening, but we are hopeful that it will soon be contained and the Caribbean islands will not be effected.  Of course, deep down we probably knew this would not be true.  

We headed out for the day trip over to long island on a beautiful day with some rolling waves.  We enjoyed the day, the fishing (another baracuda on the line) and cruising over a blue hole. We Settled into Long Island before the sun went down and headed over to the beach for a sundowner and meet some people in the anchorage.  We finally caught up with friends Beth and Tim who we had been chatting with on Facebook about our Endeavor boats.

The next day we headed in to Salt Pond, which is not very big and find the grocery store and hardware store and check out the spectacular view of the bay with all the boats, including Journey snug and ready for another wind event forecast in the coming days.  On the way back to the dinghy dock we met some fishermen back from the Ragged islands with their catch.  Scott enjoyed posing as if he caught the fish.  We bought some fresh fish right off the dock and caught this lemon shark waiting on the scraps. That afternoon although the weather was coming, Dee and I had been craving pizza so bad and we heard we could get some good pizza over at Tiny’s Hurricane Hole.  We jumped in Shelby and headed over across the bay and had some great pizza and rum punches.  We didn’t know at this time this would be the last Bahamian restaurant we would eat in.

The weather passed and the Covid came to Nassau.  Although, we were miles from there, the prime minister began closing restuarants, and liquor stores and limited the amount of people in grocery stores.  We want to take a moment here to speak about our situation in Long Island and how we made the decisions we did.

Check out the video to hear how we made the decision we did when Covid came to the Bahamas.

We realize even with Covid hitting the Bahama islands, We are still in a beautiful paradise  so off to explore since we were still able to go ashore.  we hiked across the island to see the windward side of the island and get a better look at the this unique island for one called and island instead of a cay.  She is has rolling hills and nice beaches to explore.  We are just beginning... After the hike, we hunted for a small cave we had read about which is accessed through someone backyard.  We were allowed to anchor the dinghy off their beach and were shown the trail.  Friendly people everywhere we go in the Bahamas.

Our water pump on the generator had been leaking so Dee decided it was time to put the new one on before it failed and then no generator.   The impeller was also missing a blade when he made the switch so now everything is new!  There is Always boat maintenance and cleaning to be done.  The water pump is now fixed, so time to explore some of the little islands in the bay and do some fishing and shelling.  We checked out a blue hole in the bay and then set out to the backside of the bay islands where we had been seeing some other cruisers snorkeling and spear fishing. After exploring the rock ledges, We did some snorkeling but didn’t find any dinner.   

Dee and I are renting a car and will be exploring Long Island.  This island is approximately 80 miles from end to end.  Come along for the ride in the next few post and videos.