When we first arrived in the settlement of Salt Pond on Thompson Bay our friends made arrangements to leave Long Island via Southern Air with a connecting flight to Nassau where they would catch a direct flight home at the end of their holiday. Sandra had done her homework back in Canada and knew that they could get a flight from Stella Maris Airport. She also knew that boats staying at the Stella Maris Marina have full access to the activities and amenities at the Stella Maris Resort and wanted to treat us to a couple of days in the marina. What she did not know is that the marina and the resort are on opposite sides of the island! Good for us that the amenities include shuttle service between the marina and the resort.
Southern Air flies from Stella Maris Airport
As we made our way north to the marina the fishing lines were in the water. Two hours after pulling up anchor at Thompson Bay, Tri landed this feisty fellow. As we do not eat barracuda, back in the water he went.
Not taking any chances, the freezer had been replenished with grouper and hog fish from a local fishing boat in Thompson Bay before we left. The second annual “Cooking with Tri” episode would go on as scheduled. We arrived at the marina after a beautiful sail in 14 knot winds and using eyeball navigation to find our way. The narrow dredged channel could be identified by the very slightly darker colour of the deeper water and the barely visible, thin poles topped with the remains of Styrofoam fishing floats. Oh yes, and don’t forget to keep those poles to port as you are going in.
Chivago, the nice young dock master at the marina, returned from lunch with the banana leaf that Tri needed to wrap dinner in. I guess we should have mentioned that how much we needed.
Hog fish encased in banana leaves with shredded cabbage, carrots, onions and a few other secret ingredients, then a wrapped in foil and baked on the BBQ.
Harvesting coconut water for sky juice – a Bahamian thirst quencher. Polar Pacer’s version: Mix a generous shot of gin with a glass of coconut water. Add a tablespoon or two of sweetened condensed milk and lots of ice. Stir and enjoy.
Charades? Waiting for the morning shuttle to take us to the resort.
It is not often that we play tourist and spend the day at a resort. In fact this was the one and only time since we started this adventure. What a treat. We signed up for the half day trip to Cape Santa Maria to go snorkeling and didn’t even have to take our own towels to use at the beach. There were fresh water showers and a swimming pool at our disposal. No tracking salt and sand back to the boat! The poolside restaurant where we had lunch has an awesome view of the Atlantic.
Sandra checks out the tidal pool.
Next stop – Africa.
Evening entertainment at the resort consisted of a free rum punch party with appetizers and Rake ‘n Scrape. . That’s my Bahamian Uncle Bud on the far left.
Chicken and ribs on the outdoor grill. We were also treated to a very delicious buffet meal in the dining room before summoning the shuttle to take us back to our beds on the other side of the island.
The sadness of having our friends leave for home was soon filled with the anticipation of our next big milestone – heading for Cuba. We made use of the laundry facilities across the road from the marina where the proprietor turned out to be a fellow postage stamp collector. Cynthia very generously offered me the duplicates from her collection and I promised to reciprocate when I returned to Canada. The next morning we said goodbye to Chivago and headed back to Thompson Bay where we expected to connect with other Cuba bound boats and would stock up on a few provisions. We had heard that food would be easy to access in Cuba but were not sure how long it would take us to get there.
We found two locations in Salt Pond where we could access wi-fi. We could not pick up either signal from the anchorage so we had to dinghy in to shore with our computers to check email, do banking, check the weather websites and all the other things that need to be done when you are suffering from web withdrawal. Island Breeze has a dinghy dock and is conveniently located across the road from a well stocked grocery store. Tryphena’s Club Thompson Bay is at the opposite end of the bay where you must take your dinghy in to the beach, tie it securely to tree to ensure that the tide does not take it away, and walk half a mile up a dusty hill. In both locations the service was free of charge.
We always felt welcome at Club Thompson Bay. Tryphena was always glad to see us and hoped that while we spread our laptops out on one of her tables and plugged in we might buy a cold Kalik or some of her delicious cracked conch. Let’s just say that the atmosphere at Island Breeze was not always as congenial.
The Royal Bahamian Police Band arrived in town the day before our planned departure. There were two performances to send us off in style.
The Marching Band paraded back and forth in front of the crowd on a short dead end road near the waters’ edge. The drummer on the right is wearing a real leopard skin.
The lead crooner from the Pop’s Band ‘wow’d the ladies with his vocal and dancing talents. Michael Buble beware!
The Long Island Breeze dinghy dock. A short walk to the park.
For my birthday this year I took a cruise. A self guided cruise in the southwestern Bahamas from Salt Pond, Long Island to a remote anchorage on the western side of Flamingo Cay in the chain of small uninhabited islands that make up the Jumento Cays. We made the trip with two other catamarans. This would be our staging ground for the crossing to Cuba.
Birthday girls. Julie and I share a birthday. After a long day on the water we were rewarded with a wonderful lamb chop dinner (Many thanks to Chi Chi Maru) and not one, but two birthday cakes. And a special thank you to Phil who sent me a birthday hug via single side band radio and to John who did the relay for him.
We sat out a day of rain squalls in the lee of Flamingo Cay before making our way south to Raccoon Cay where our NV charts were scrutinized for hazards, the back-up navigation system of laptop and Garmin GPS combination was made ready and the required waypoints were double checked. In order to make landfall in Cuba during daylight hours we needed to leave Raccoon Cay in the wee hours of the morning.
The Jumentos Cays are frequented by Bahamian fishing boats looking to fill their holds before heading back to their home ports. We were able to stock up on hogfish and fresh lobster.
