Thompson Bay, Long Islannd, Bahamas

 A chore we've been putting off was replacing the starboard side tramp.  We replaced the port side tramp due to a tear before we left Oriental.  But the starboard side was intact (although ancient) - and it gets much less use since most sail handling and anchoring is done from the port side.  Anyway.....this seemed like a good time to tackle it.

Un-tied the existing Dyneema line and removed the tramp.  Really gives you a weird feeling with that big hole to the sea!!

 

New identical trampoline (made by Sunrise Yacht Products as they have the Manta pattern and ordering is super-easy).  We temporarily tied it in place while we did the crazy repetitious threading of new one piece Dyneema line thru the many, many "bales" that attach the tramp to the boat.

 

Mostly done, Duane adjusted the line to have it tight and centered in the opening.

We were briefly chased off the deck by a passing shower....

 

All done.  Should last another 10+ years.

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 Not a lot to report....still waiting on a wind change but that will be several more days.  

Very comfy here, lots of sun plus clouds and brief rain.....

 

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 Another routine day....still strong east winds.

We went for another nice long beach walk.  This time anchoring at the regatta park.

The grounds are quite neat....we've never been here when anything was scheduled.

Walking in the blazing sun....glad I brought water along.

 

A different salt pond...still no flamingos...

Over to the ocean side heading south this time.  The sand is a pretty pink shade.

 

It was high tide and several areas had no sandy beach.  We had to climb like goats to continue making headway.

We timed it just right to be time for a lunch break!   A local little bar/restaurant.  This is our first meal in a restaurant since early December!

Neat little place, we've had a beer here before but never a meal.  Just a bar and a couple of tables.

 

The bar is owned by a local family - fun chatting with them and another cruiser who was having lunch at the same time.  We both got grouper sandwiches and they were wonderful!!

 

Back to the dinghy....a quiet night (except the wind howling) on the boat.

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 I know, getting pretty boring lately!

We were getting pretty low on fresh veggies from the last mail boat in the Raggeds.  Time to visit one of our favorite grocery stores in the Bahamas - Hillside Grocery.  They pack a lot of groceries in this little store.

 Back to the boat - only $71 for all this.  (The lettuce was $11.99 but worth it!)

 And I made an impulse buy...at the checkout counter they had Chick-O-Stick candy.....I had to be nostalgic and buy a couple - these were my childhood favorites dating back to the early 1970's at Davenport's store! (and they're accidentally vegan as well!)

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 We were in need of a bit of exercise....took the dinghy over to the very damaged dinghy dock.  Most of the planks were missing due to Hurricane Melissa.  I know that hurricane doesn't ring a bell to most folks because it didn't damage the US much.  But it was one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin, severely damaging Jamaica!

Luckily, the ladder was spared but walking on the remains of the dock was really disorienting for me and my height-phobic brain.  Hard to see in the photo but the dock is 5-6 off the water.

Not far from the dock is a road/path that leads over to the ocean side of the island.

Maybe a half mile, past a rather stinky salt pond...I scanned for flamingos but saw none....

 

Beautiful crescent beaches with slightly pink sand.

 

We walked about a mile north bound.

 

We could see a pathway back to the bay side of the island on Google maps.

 

 Turned out to be someones driveway but no one appeared to be home with windows boarded up.

 

Lovely stand of palm trees.

 And back to the other side overlooking Thompson Bay where Sojourn is anchored.

 

Lovely bougainvillea lining someone's driveway. 

 

Nice 3 mile walk in the blazing sun...back to the boat for a quiet evening.

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 Nothing much to report....spent most of the day catching up on some business paperwork.  

Sunset - looked pretty much like sunrise today...

Sunset

Sunrise - was supposed to be a lunar eclipse - the clouds got in the way...

 

Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 We took the low-wind-day opportunity to do some "trolling" for fish north of Long Island. 

Leaving Calabash in the morning light.

 

  There is a peninsula "underwater" along the norther shoreline....the fish supposedly swim along a shelf that drops off steeply there to thousands of feet of depth.  So we followed that line as best we could using the chartplotter.

 

 

There were two small boats that seemed to be doing the same thing we were doing!

The winds did pick up after several hours so we raised the sails.

 

And we did actually catch one fish - a small blackfin tuna.  We've never caught this species before - it's very nice light meat similar to an albacore tuna (I googled it, of course).  We've caught skipjack and yellow fin before.

The fish went straight into the fridge for later cleaning. 

 

 My dinner....marinated with soy sauce, powdered ginger and honey.  Just touched all sides of the fillets to a very hot pan.  Was delightful! 

 

 We're now at Salt Pond, Long Island where I think we'll be for quite a while since we have some fairly strong east trade winds setting in.  

Calabash Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 We woke to a very grey day....the view as we pulled anchor.

 

But the skies cleared and we had another wonderful sail.  Love to see the shadow of the sail in the pretty water.

Sailed for about 6 hours thru the Comer Channel with no issues.

 

 We saw this rainstorm in the distance.  The wind had died significantly so we had a motor running.  We decided just to drop the sails - good choice as the small squall had 30+ knots of winds briefly.

 

Pretty rainbow as we approached Calabash Bay.  Will go fishing in the deep water tomorrow!