This season we made it a priority to travel to a few places we have never been. We talk about sailing past The Bahamas and into the Carribbean, but have yet to do so. Why? Because we just love The Bahamas so darn much. We are always finding new places and love them all!
Anyone that has been following us for any time at all, knows that when Covid hit, we were somewhat stranded in an anchorage on Long Island, The Bahamas. We were there a month and explored some but weren’t able to see everything we would have liked to. This year, I unexpectedly needed to fly home. We were at Conception Island when the decision was made. Long Island seemed like the most reasonable place to fly out of, and also had the only available tickets that were within a few days. Flights are far from plentiful when one is in the Family Islands of The Bahamas. So- we made the decision to anchor in Calabash Bay, in front of Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort. I then flew out of Deadmans Cay airport.
The reason I went home for a few days was to help out my daughter’s family. She was very ill with pneumonia, the kids were both recovering from being sick, and my son-in-law Jon was missing a lot of work trying to take care of everyone. And besides, even adult children need their mom sometimes. I didn’t do a whole lot. Laundry, cleaning, running to appointments with them, that sort of thing. I did feel better for having laid my eyes and hands on them, though. I think Meg was relieved, too. It was an unplanned expense, but I am so grateful we were able to make it happen.
Once back on Long Island, Voyager having now been moved to Clarence Town by Mike and Matthew, we departed for Crooked and Acklins. We didn’t know then that we weren’t going to make Acklins. Weather and schedules just weren’t in our favor.
Our first land fall was Long Cay after a very rough passage. No one wanted to risk a lousy anchorage at Crooked, so we made our way around Long Cay to the east side. It was a good spot to land.
From Bahamas Geo Tourism: “Long Cay was originally called “Fortune Island” by Christopher Columbus, because he found a conch pearl when he first arrived there. In the annals of Bahamas history, it has the dubious honor of being home to the first jail within the islands; much of it is still standing. In its heyday, the cay was a major trading post and served as the Administrative headquarters for the three-island atoll. It once had 4,000 residents, but today has a very small population that is sometimes less than 50 persons.”
We loved exploring Long Cay. We may have seen 5 people and 3 dogs in Albert Town. There were a few other houses we saw that were obviously occupied at least occasionally. And the church still has services, though not at all often.
From Long Cay we made our way back slightly north to Crooked Island. I have referenced the book Plunge: Midlife With Snorkel before. In October 2013 during Storm Atlas in South Dakota, I was without power and water during a blizzard that lasted several days. I read this book and planned my escape. Mike read the book shortly thereafter and was also inspired. In it, the couple buy land on Crooked Island. I had for 10 years been wanting to see where it took place. I wanted to go to the Gibson’s restaurant, the Pitts Town airport, Bird Rock Lighthouse. Finally, here we were.
It was quite lovely to walk the beaches and see where the authors were so taken by a place, they made the plunge to move here. We can’t argue, the people are special. They go out of their way to speak to visitors. In the Gibson’s Restaurant #2 the owner and her children even sang for us. It’s The Bahamas 50th birthday this year, so the first song was in honor of that. We walked down the runway of the air strip. We walked the beach in front of where they built their house. We walked past the library, went to the market, bought a few straw products that were made locally. We only had a few days, but I’m so happy we went. We will definitely be spending more time there in the future.
We have so enjoyed travelling to a few new places this year. It has made this season one to remember and possibly a favorite. Here’s just a few other pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Here’s the link if you are interested in the book I mentioned.
Next up, we start heading north. We made a couple stops in the Exumas, so we will share that.
Until next time…… Slainte’
SV Voyager/The Preys Project 