We had a very good time in Long Island - met some interesting people, traded some books at The Long Island Breeze, and had a well recommended Philly Beef and Cheese sandwich with fries! Very tasty! We met an American couple who told us about a Happy Hour and live music at a bar/restaurant further down the island, so the next day we upped anchor and sailed a couple of bays further along and that evening (Friday) we went to Happy Hour and also had supper. Nice to have an evening out.
When Bruce was at the talk given by the people who research and produce the Explorer chart books, he was pleased to hear from them about a place on Long Island called ‘Dollar Harbour’. He had been thinking about us going there and was keen to find out more about it, so he was very pleased to hear about it and the shortcut into it! So, after our night out we pulled the anchor and set sail for Dollar Harbour. We found it to be a very unique place. A deep channel surrounded by mangroves with smaller, shallower channels winding through it which we explored in the dinghy. We had heard a tale about a couple on a boat who were anchored there and went visiting another boat anchored in a different channel. Apparently it was after dark when they decided to head back to their boat and they didn’t have a flashlight with them. They got lost in the channels and couldn’t find their way in the dark back to their boat and ended up spending the night in the mangroves sheltering under their dinghy from the mosquitos until morning came and they could see their way back to their boat!! When we returned to Windrush after exploring in the dinghy and walking on the beach, we found that another catamaran - quite a bit larger than ours - had anchored in the channel behind us so we stopped for a chat. Actually Bruce had met the owners briefly at the Long Island Breeze. When we motored up in the dinghy we saw 2 of the 5 (!) children onboard playing on a kayak tied off the back of the boat. The current in the channel was quite strong, so they’d run up to the bow of the boat, jump off and ride the current down between the hulls of the cat. and climb back aboard the kayak - no fear at all (by children or Mum) of anything that might be in the water!! They were having a great time! Five children ranging in age from 4 to 16 on the boat with their Mum and Dad! The family were from Ontario and spent most of the year onboard.
We only spent one night at Dollar Harbour after deciding it wasn’t unique enough to stay longer, before we headed back to the Jumentos. We did learn that if we wanted to get to Crooked Island and the Acklins we would be more successful if we sailed to Long Island first rather than the Jumentos to catch the right winds. So that will be part of our plans for next season.
We had a great sail back to Water Cay in the Jumentos, and topped it off by being very successful with our trolling. As we neared the Northern most islands of the Jumentos we saw a ‘Great Frigate Bird’ wheeling around over the water and occasionally diving down to catch fish. As we got closer we saw there was a large shoal of flying fish attracting the Frigate bird. At one point there were 2 of these birds both chasing the fish. Then Bruce saw a Mahi Mahi leaping out of the water chasing the flying fish as well. Having had no luck with the trolling up to this point, except for catching and throwing back barracudas, we decided to head for the Mahi Mahi!! We circled around two or three times through the area and were successful in hooking our prey a couple of times but weren’t successful in landing them - they would escape just before we’d get them to the boat! Finally we said “just one last try and then we’ll give it up.” So round we went again and tolled through the area. This time though Bruce decided that ‘for luck’ he’d light up one of his little cigars. No sooner had he lit up than he got a strike on his line and we got all excited. Then just a few seconds later I got a strike on my line!! Two Mahi Mahi at the same time!! I put the auto pilot on as we were both busy pulling in the fish!! It was very exciting and we were successful in landing both of the fish! I have to say though that my fish was biggest, just under 4 feet long and Bruce’s was just over 3 feet long!! We ended up giving some away to another boat that was anchored next to us that evening at Water Cay and then of course to Sam the Skull who was still in the Islands. Nighthawk had left to spend a few days at Long Island.
We spent another 2 1/2 - 3 weeks in the Jumentos fishing, swimming, drinking and generally having fun! The highlight was Valentines Day. For the 4th. year in a row one of the ladies (Maxine) who runs the little grocery store in Duncan Town, Ragged Island organised a cook-out on the Hog Island beach - a Valentine’s party, which the cruisers looked forward to each year. Many of the townsfolk would come to the party including the teacher and the schoolchildren. This year was no exception and there were even a few visiting dignitaries there. One item on the agenda was the auction. The cruisers donate items from their boat that they don’t need and they are then auctioned off to raise money for the Ragged Island school. This year $2000 dollars was raised!! Bruce won me a bottle of wine (and some books) towards my birthday which was great as we had run out of wine! The cook-out was wonderful! Maxine and other ladies from the town brought turkeys, hams, mac ‘n cheese, coleslaw, peas ‘n rice, beet salad, green salad etc. etc. as well as dessert - way too much for even all the people there to eat! In the evening some of the more musical cruisers played guitars and we had a sing-a-long. Eventually we all headed home having had a lovely afternoon and evening. It was a great birthday party for me too!!
Two mornings later we said goodbye to our friends and we set off back to Georgetown to await the arrival of Kirsty and Shawn!!