George Town to Long Island
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Thu 27 Feb 2014 00:00
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23:21.76N, 075:08.33W Thompson Bay, Long Island
Having sat through two frontal systems in George Town we were
itching to go deep water again. Long Island, some thirty miles from George Town,
offers a complete contrast and a chance to visit one or two new locations.
Before leaving we enjoyed one of the several good treks across
Stocking Island to savour a glimpse of the ocean. We trudged along the
thickly bushed pathways where a screaming 'Admiral' almost stepped on a small
snake that was sunning itself (brown type, non life threatening) which if it had
a voice would have also screamed!....
  Ah!..breath that sea air...
I see no ships....
  Snake country !! thus the intense downward casting
of the eyes and this photographer's reluctance to follow too
closely
  No - not a snake - not even a giraffe's
neck, It's a Poison Wood tree which you need to be very careful of as the
(blank) warning sign mentions - maybe the tree got the sign
writer!
We were kindly invited by friends to join a dinghy expedition
to a bar ashore (alcoholic, not sand) where it was hoped we would catch the chef
in residence for a Happy Hour snack. To be absolutely sure we didn't go hungry
we all took nibbles and cocktails with us and it was a happy bunch of
'dinghyists' that set off from the anchorage sipping our drinks and scoffing
nibbles. What's Happy Hour if you are not happy. The nibbles were certainly
needed as the chef wasn't in when we landed ashore. So it was one expensive
beer and G&T and back to the dinghies for the long motor back to our
respective motherships. It was great fun exploring though - like being kids
again.
 
Off we all
go....
still
going........
  Tethering the dinks to the mangroves western
style...............................very useful Bahamian 'road'
sign
So on to Long Island. First stop was Hog
Cay, an idyllic anchorage off a privately owned island situated just off Long
Island itself. We trailed our various fishing lures on the way over as this is
Tuna country. A nice fat Blue Fin Tuna would be a nice change from
Mahi Mahi although either is always acceptable. Barracuda is certainly not -
which is exactly what we hooked in some two hundred feet approaching Long
Island. It was a good size which increases the possible risk of Ciguatera
poisoning should you choose to eat the thing. The larger the fish the longer
it's been hanging around the reefs eating other toxic species. So that went back
in as did all the others we've caught. We had heard several reports that
with Groupers being harder to come by around the islands a restaurant in
the Abaco had been using Barracuda for their 'fish' dishes instead of
Grouper. Sadly some people had contracted the life threatening illness
due to such practice. If this is the case then we will certainly be very cagey
about what we eat ashore in that area in future. Unless the Groupers are
very toxic up there as well!
We stayed two days at Hog Cay (one of many Hog Cays to be
found in the Bahamas) spending time in the dinghy exploring nearby Joe's
Sound. A few yachts attempt the perilously narrow entrance to
enjoy the full all-round protection offered by this anchorage in beautiful
surroundings. But you need nerves of steel to negotiate that entrance
and if in a catamaran, far far more bravery than we can muster on
'Ajaya'! We hooked up with our pals
on 'Bonnie Lass' again to enjoy sundowners on the 'Lass'.
Graham and 'Skip' joined forces the next evening to terrorize the local
fish population that were feeding in the anchorage cheered
on their 'Admirals' of course.
  Hog Cay anchorage
with.............
....... two crazy men chasing feeding fish around the anchorage at
dusk!
With more bad weather on the way we chose a more remote
anchorage on our next stop, way down in the Channel Cays south of Thompson Bay
where most cruising boats spend their time in Long Island. The best depths are
around the north of Lower Channel Cay, a small islet measuring just over half a
mile long, near a small sandy beach. This has protection from winds with
any south in them. This is the pre-cursor to any frontal system before the
winds clock into the west and then north-west. At this point it would be
time to head to Thompson Bay where, not only is there good shelter from west
through north to east but excellent provisioning and a very pretty ocean beach
walk. Anyway, we chose an awkward route into the anchorage at Lower Channel
Cay almost going aground at the eastern tip of the island which must have
sent the crabs scurrying for safety from being crushed by our twin keels.
(Horrible death).
We duly sat out the front but mistimed our departure from
Lower Channel Cay. The wind did not clock around when predicted but stayed
blowing strongly from the southwest giving us and the other cruising boats
around us a torrid night at Thompson Bay bouncing up and down in two-three
foot short waves. Not nice. But after the front had cleared we did have a few
nice days. We did take our walk over to the ocean side where the last few
remains of a crashed light aircraft from many years back can still be found
nestling in the undergrowth just off the beach. It's one of the nicest of the
ocean beaches we walk despite the ever present plastic debris from across the
ocean. It's heartening to see that over time even the plastic degrades and
breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. But, more large stuff is
always on the way as part of humanity on the other side of the
Atlantic continues to use the sea as a dumping ground.
   Our favourite ocean beach so far - but there's a
few more to explore yet
We attended another beach sundowner meet-up (it's all
go) with other cruisers that were anchored in Thompson Bay meeting many
folk that we had only heard on the radio. It's good to put faces to names. Those
that had sweated all afternoon to create hors d'oeuvres to share on the beach
were not best pleased when a very excitable dog arrived. It loved meeting
people whilst simultaneously dancing around in the sand. You can guess where
most of the sand went... into the food. One unpopular
dog!
  Naughty dog !!!!
Guess who took the piccy !
With a further frontal system due in the coming days - yes,
they roll relentlessly in throughout the winter months, we decided to head back
to George Town again to sit the next one out.
Our first 'Selfie' or should that be an
'Usie'
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