Long Island

Sue and I had our fun in George Town and decided it was time to move on. We had a great wind forecast to move over to Salt Pond on Long Island. A strong blow out of the north was in the forecast for later in the week and Salt Pond provided excellent protection. Once the blow was over, we wanted to make it to Conception Island, which is also part of the Land and Sea Park. Excellent coral to snorkel, mangrove creeks to paddle board on, and zero light making night time star gazing amazing.

It was a comfortable sail over with lighter winds, no waves, and cruising around 5 knots. Along the way we made fresh water to fill out tank and also topped off the batteries between the generator and solar. It’s always nice to sit in absorption and float to fully top them off.

When we pulled into Salt Pond, I was shocked at how many boats were there. In 2019, there was only 2 other boats while we were in Salt Pond. I couldn’t even count the number of boats there now. It looked like a catamaran used boat lot. You expect the big crowds in George Town, but not a remote place like Salt Pond. While we were there, more boats came pilling in due to the blow in the forecast. More catamarans with generators, air conditioners, and barking dogs. All lit up like a Christmas tree at night.

The grocery store in Salt Pond is unique. It’s smallish but has a lot of high end American products. They actually had decent bagels, and Pretzilla pretzel buns that are Sue’s favorite. High end olive oils, sauces, etc.

During the blow, it was too rough for us to try and make it to shore and had to spend 2 days on the boat. When it finally let up and we could make it ashore, we took some nice long walks along the beautiful beach on the ocean side.

Once we had favorable winds, we left Salt Pond and sailed up the western shore of Long Island to it’s northern tip and anchored in Calabash Bay. This was just an overnight anchor as we were trying to make it to Conception Island. And it was a good thing we weren’t stuck there because it had lots of swell and we rolled all night long.

The next morning we set sail to Conception Island and we finally caught a good eating fish along the way — a manageable sized Mahi Mahi. I was able to dispatch the fish and get it cleaned while we were under sail. I didn’t want to clean the fish in the anchorage because it attracts sharks and that’s where we’ll be snorkeling. Best to do it at sea if possible.

More to come…