GeorgeTown Part Deux and Long Island
09 April 2011 | Long Island
Jolie
From Emerald Bay we headed back south towards GeorgeTown. We tucked in south of the area in the Red Shanks/Crab Cay area waiting out a blow. On Saturday I made a chicken, sausage and tasso gumbo. A guy on one of the boats in the area came by when he saw "Lacombe" on our boat. He said he had kept his boat in Oak Harbor Marina for 15 years prior to Katrina. His name was L.A., had a thick souther accent, he was alone as his wife had flown back home for a week. I invited him back later for some gumbo.. he couldn't hide his excitement. We invited another couple, Rich and Danee of Dolpin, neither were quite sure what gumbo was. We passed a great evening with food drink, great company & bad jokes. On our last night in the area L.A invited us over to his boat for a "sundowner"... around here this usually means drinks, snacks and conch horn blowing as the sun goes down. On Wednesday or Thursday (yes I have officially lost track of days) we headed out to Long Island. It was a nice sail and we put our fishing lines out and all we caught was one stinkin baracuda. The island is 76 miles long with many small settlements. We knew we wanted to rent a car here and our friends on Dolphin decided the same so we shared a very small car. It was quite the adventure with Dave driving on the left side of the road. We first headed south to Deans Blue Hole (I'm going to mark this on our google map) Its the largest blue hole and it happened to be Day 1 of the Worlds Free Diving Championship. We were able to get in the water and snorkel so long as you didn't get in their way. That's some crazy stuff.. we watched one girl try to go for 103 meters. She made it to the bottom and passed out about 1/2 way back up. There are other free divers stationed along the way back up in case this happens.. It's just a part of the sport.. people passing out all the time. On the northernmost end of the island we had to travel 2 miles on a rock and dirt road up to the Columbus Monument for one of the most fabulous views we have seen yet. We visited some churches, plantation ruins and bars.
Today we will head a little further north to Calabash, Long Island for just a day or 2 and get ready for our trip to Conception Island or Rum Island (depending on the winds when we leave). Each day we write our plans in the sand....
We do miss home, our families and friends, especially this time of the year.. We'd be getting the yard in shape, planting veggies, crawfish boils, French Quarter Fest, Wednesdays at the Square, Moms Day, Easter, Dads Day and Jazz Fest... and that precious little baby Roman. But we'll be back home soon enough.. time flies as we've already passed our 1/2 way point. Gotta make the best of what's around. Each place is more beautiful and different than the last.