Lobster Louie came out and saw his shadow, so six more weeks of cruising!!! Yesterday we went off in the car for the morning, and headed north. We set out at 7:30 am, an early start, so that we could get to Cape Santa Maria and see the Columbus monument.
Like the other attractions on Long Island, there were no signs, so we took a couple of wrong turns, finally ending up at the Cape Santa Maria Resort, a beautiful resort on Calabash bay, owned by a Victoria BC businessman. Calabash Bay is a beautiful bay, about 10 miles across, completely ringed by beautiful white sandy beaches. It is usually a rolly anchorage, but in today's calm, it might be a nice stop, perhaps going ashore for dinner! They gave us directions to the monument (and a cd advertising the resort) which we found perched on the high cliffs of Cape Santa Maria.
Even in the light (15 knots) winds it was a rugged looking spot, one to keep well clear of when rounding the cape, with waves breaking on its offshore reefs 2 miles out. I found the monument a bit ironic, as it was a tribute to both Columbus and the "gentle and peaceful Lucayan Indians". The Spanish, with Columbus aid, proceeded to enslave and eventually exterminate them.
After walking around, we headed back south, stopping a few times, once to pick some Papaya (which was ripe but bitter), and again twice to investigate so-called marinas. Only one (the only one on Long Island) was even remotely like a marina, and it was really just a boatyard for repairing local fishing boats with a protected basin. Not a luxury marina, but it would be a good stop in stormy weather. One final stop at a fish wholesaler, where Cav and Debbie wanted to buy conch, but no luck, but we bought some grouper, mahi-mahi, and, of all things, excellent looking veal chops! So we are well stocked. We returned the car at noon, our 24 hour rental complete. Then back to the boat for lunch.
In the afternoon, we decided to go ashore to go shopping. As the mail boat, which brings fresh fruit and vegetables, comes in on Wednesday, Thursday is a good shopping day. We landed the dinghy on the beach just near our anchorage and walked the short path to the road. It was a (hot) 2.5 miles to the store, so we were walking slowly when, not more than 2 minutes into our walk, a car stopped and offered us a lift. We gratefully accepted. They dropped us at the store (and we were a bit surprised at how far it was) and we did our shopping. Our lift had said they would be returning later in the afternoon and would keep an eye out for us, but we started walking, and this time it was within one minute when we were offered a lift. Talking to other boaters, we learned that this is not unusual, and many people explore the island just by hitch-hiking. A very friendly spot!
For dinner, we had a grilled lobster tail we had bought yesterday, with cole slaw and potato salad. And a nice piece of cake, sort of like a fruit cake, with whipped cream, for desert. And in the heat, a nice cold white wine was an essential part of the meal!
We got up as usual at 6:30 to listen to the weather forecast(s) and decided that the forecast for the next few days remains settled, so after a quick breakfast we were off to Conception Island. In the light winds, it was a motor-sail the whole way, but that was OK as it gave us a chance to make water. In Thompson Bay there is a very fine silt in the water that will quickly plug the filters in the watermaker, so we ran our tanks down pretty well.
To get to Conception Island, we had to sail north along the west coast of Long Island, on a bank the whole way. So that meant the water was no more that 10' deep even 5 miles offshore. And again, I had a lure out trolling, and caught another barracuda, but this time he was big, about 3' long, so too big to take a chance eating, so I (carefully!) let him go. The razor sharp teeth can be dangerous, but I wanted my $12 lure back. So the last we saw of him, he was swimming off looking a bit dazed.
For some reason, our autopilot's electronic compass has decided to go out of calibration, and now it reads 20 degrees lower than the actual course. It still follows the course if you compensate, but it takes some getting used to. I have the manual, but it is total gibberish (the autopilot manufacturer is Cetrek, made in England). There are some poorly written instructions that may be helpful, if I ignore the fact that at places they refer the reader to pages that are either blank or non-existent. But it is quite old, and I have, up to this point, been surprised that it hasn't caused trouble. Bur after a couple of hours of re-reading and fiddling, I managed to get into the calibration mode and get it re-calibrated.
This is the hottest day we have had yet. What breeze there is is coming from the south at about 5 knots, and with us traveling north (then north-east), the apparent breeze is just about zero, so we have spent most of the time perspiring, drinking water and sitting quietly in the shade. We saw a cruise ship slowly steaming (I guess diesel powered ships don't really steam) south, but it was about 5 miles away. We also passed a dive boat that we had seen in Georgetown and had been talking to, but that was about it.
Reaching Conception Island, we were the fourth boat into the anchorage, and the third Canadian. We had time to launch the dinghy run ashore and have a short walk before it was sunset and time for a SG&T. Tonight's dinner will be pork loin chops that had somehow gotten themselves out of the freezer and thawed, with sweet potatos and parsnips, followed by the last of the fruit cake (or whatever it is). Tomorrow we will do some snorkling and diving. Conception Island is a nature preserve, so no fishing, but there will be lots of sea life.