Long Island
07 March 2016
We’ve been island hopping up & down the Exuma chain, weather & winds dictating our journey. It is good not to have a set agenda, as Mother Nature wins.
We spent some time in Long Island with our “MiJoy Flotilla” gang, 2 Outrageous, Migration, Helios & Oopsea. We spent some time volunteering for Hurricane Joaquin victims. The island was hit hard from the hurricane last year & a long time cruiser, Alibi 2 has worked very hard for months coordinating work projects for cruisers as they pass through.
Cruisers pile into pickup trucks from the locals & take what tools cruisers have onboard, heading out to work sites. We helped a family on rebuilding their home. Like a lot of local Bahamians, many of the grocery stores are in their homes. This family had a house next door that was the store & the ladies worked on cleaning out the store. The owner had a precious daughter, Emma, who helped us & was very good with a broom. (see photo gallery)
Later the ladies went to another worksite where we picked up shingles & placed them in a pile for burning. This elderly couple had to be rescued from their roof during the storm & just recently had gotten a new roof.
We rented 2 vehicles one day & the MiJoy Flotilla explored the North & South ends of Long Island. Long Island was the 3rd stop for Columbus after San Salvador & Rum Cay. In photo gallery we have photos of the monument dedicated to Columbus. Also Columbus’ “Santa Maria” went aground on a reef off the northern tip of the island giving the name of the area, Cape Santa Maria.
We also made a stop at the famous, “Dean’s Blue Hole”, where most of the male flotilla jumped. This makes Mike 2nd year to jump. (Joyce zero)
Mike, Charlie & Bob have been spearing fish & lobster. Angie & I have been beach combing, gathering sea beans & a few nice shells.
We managed to catch our first Mahi Mahi while sailing out in the Atlantic. It was approx. 41” & once Mike managed to get it in the cockpit with the gaff; I gave him a shot of vodka to settle him down. Mahi was very tasty & provided us with a couple of nice meals.
We are currently in well protected Georgetown awaiting the passing of strong east winds with hopes of moving south.