Clarence Town & Calabash Bay, Long Island - The Bahamas

We were starting to get low on fresh produce and eggs, so we left Crooked Island on Sunday and headed toward Clarence Town, on Long Island.

Container ship 

Working on blogs and YouTube videos

The first day we went ashore we noticed huge nails sticking out of the dinghy dock. The following day, Andrew took his hammer and pulled the nails out. The last thing we need is a hole in our brand new dinghy! I wonder if anyone noticed.

Avoiding the nails

Mail ship docks here

Supplies for Erica's Bakery

We went for a lovely long walk. We found the small marina. It is very pretty, but I would not want to dock in there! A very tight turn into the docks.

Conch Fritter house

Erica's bakery was a little way up the hill - good exercise for the weak legs! Apparently her baked goods are excellent, however, we don't partake of those things anymore, sadly. But she did have eggs ($4 for a dozen) and frozen meat. She said she only gets her supply when the mail ship comes in and according to her that is inconsistent. The closest supermarket was about 20 minute drive away. She said we wouldn't get there on foot. We bought delicious burgers at around R80 per burger!

Erica's Bakery

The fruit and veg market was in a big warehouse but they only had bananas and papaya. They close over the weekend, so they farm out their goods to other shops on a Thursday. We were told the best day to be there was a Monday or Tuesday. It seemed like they only sold what they grew on the island.

Blue building = veg market

The weather got quite nasty, kicking the seas up to a rather big swell so we spent a few days boat bound.

We took a gap in the weather and went for a walk on the small private island on the opposite side of the bay.

Spot Andrew trying to decide whether to climb the tree or not

Andrew sets an anchor alarm on his phone which goes off if we drag. It also goes off when we get in the dinghy and go ashore with his phone. As you can see in the picture below, our perfect circle as we moved about with the wind on anchor, and then the red lines heading off to shore! 😂 We often arrive at a dinghy dock with the anchor alarm blaring which elicits either strange looks or comments from other people. At least we know it works!

Two things to note about the picture below. One is Andrew is forever taking pictures of me without my knowledge. And the other is the fact that I am wearing long pants. Yes, it was getting chilly at night. I was trying to photograph the moon and stay steady at the same time. Not easy on a rocking boat.

My moon pic

Calypso in the sunset. Thanks to Ben on Kintaro

Kintaro on the right

Andrew was watching the weather closely for a window of calm but slightly windy conditions for us to leave. Eventually after eight days in Clarence Town, we decided we would head out to Calabash Bay.

We had a good sail and I even put a fishing line out, and caught a Mahi Mahi along the way. 

I know it looks like Andrew caught it, but I am claiming the catch, with assistance from Andrew. It was difficult to reel it in with the dinghy on the back of the boat, so Andrew had to help me, pulling on the line while I cranked. 

And then he gutted it, so he gets credits for that

It got bumpy at the north of the island with the waves competing with the wind and current. It took us a while to get to the top but we eventually turned and started our way into Calabash Bay. 

Bumpy seas

It was very shallow, and the big waves were pushing us off our course which Andrew was following on Aqua Maps and Navionics on his iPad. One wave picked us up and as we came down we touched the shallow sandy bottom. I was down below and it was not a nice noise or feeling. Andrew managed to get us over the extremely shallow patch, and we dropped anchor in about three meters of water. The waves were huge and I struggled to get the anchor chain down as we were being hurled up and down. We let out more scope than necessary but were firmly anchored.

The waves were crashing over our bow as we were being bounced between the waves and they broke at our stern as if they were on the beach. Andrew put on the anchor alarm immediately. It felt like we were in the ocean the way the waves were breaking over the bow.

 

We were sitting in the cockpit licking our wounds when we noticed the boat next to us had turned and was heading out behind us. Nobody was at the helm. There was no anchor or chain on the bow of their boat. We whistled and yelled but they didn't hear us. Andrew got out the foghorn and blasted it. A head popped up and the skipper looked around, very confused! They quickly started their engine and drove back to where they had anchored. There was a mad scramble to find another anchor and attach it. Andrew had noticed that they had a short amount of chain and the rest was rode (rope) which was being used as their snubber. Their rode must have snapped in the swell. (As soon as we anchor we tie another rope onto the anchor chain which takes the pressure off the chain. This is called a snubber.)

 

They ended up anchored in front of us, which we weren’t terribly happy about, but there was nothing we could do.

 

I made supper while holding on to pots with one hand and stability for myself with the other. Andrew stayed up until midnight, keeping an eye on things while napping in the cockpit. It was the worst night we have ever had. We rocked and rolled all night, barely able to stay in our bunks.

We waited until the sun had risen enough so that we had light on the water, upped anchor and left in a hurry. We didn't even put the kettle on for tea! Two other boats had already left, but the one who had lost their anchor was still there. They were probably going to wait for the sea to calm down and then dive for their anchor.

We couldn’t follow our track back out because of the shallow patch, so Andrew chose a new path and did a brilliant job of getting us out. Once out at sea, I put on the kettle and we had our morning tea!

 

In retrospect we should have stayed in Clarence Town until evening and done and overnight sail to the Exumas. We knew that there was going to be a westerly blowing which meant that the bay would be very exposed to the sea and wind. However, it was predicted to turn north, which it did, but the waves didn’t follow suit, and we ended up being side on to the waves, which is why it was so rolly.

In the next blog we arrive in George Town, Exumas and spent a few days decompressing.