Long Island - Part 2

After we came back to Thompson Bay for a few more days we rented a car to tour the island with Bob & Brenda from Pandora.  The island itself is over 70 miles long so one needs wheels to see some the of the interesting sites.  We missed a few attractions that we wanted to see so I guess we will have to visit again.  There will be more trips to the island as we really enjoyed ourselves over the week.

Nati cruising at 9 kts.

After picking the car up we drove up to the farmers market just up the street.  We found some baskets, arts & crafts, some plants but very little vegetables and fruit…..guess it's the Bahamian way…..

The view of our anchorage from Long Island Breeze

On the way to the market

The farmers market with no food!

Next we pointed the car south and pulled into Dean's Blue Hole.  What a spectacular site this place is!  The blue hole is the deepest in the world, over 650 feet deep.  What is wild is that you literally step off the shore and you are in it!

Say no more!

Some have not survived the ordeal of free diving.

Dean's Blue Hold

William Turnbridge, far left in wetsuit

Timing is everything and when we were there the record holder of many free diving categories, "William Turnbridge" was training on the site.  We didn't bother him (he treats the deep diving very serious and it is!) but his training friend, Eos was kind enough to talk with us for a few minutes.  Go to his website, http://williamtrubridge.com to learn more.

and then there are some folks having fun!

Next stop was Clearance Town and we visited the Flying Fish Mariana, had lunch and drove around town.  Have you ever seen a side yard of a police station like this!!??  The aqueduct was built by slaves and used as a means to get seawater to the salt flats further inland.  The trade has mostly dried up now but you can see many of the old salt beds as you drive around the island.

No donuts for these police lambs

Aquaducts on Long Island

One of the highlights of visiting Long Island is to tour the churches.  Father Jerome, who built the Hermitage on Cat Island (we hope to visit later this spring) also built two churches in Clarence Town. When he was known as Jerome Hawes, and Anglican missionary, he built St Paul's Church.  Later he converted to Catholicism and became Father Jerome.  In order to outdo his earlier construction he built the stunning St. Peter's Church.

St Paul's Anglican Church

St Paul's Anglican Church

St. Peter's Church

inside St. Peter's Church

Yes, I dared to climb this….crazy!

But the view was good

Look out below!

Very majestic!

Heading back north we had to stop at Seaside Village at Jerry Wells in an attempt to see "Iron".  Iron you see is a wild osprey that lets only one person feed him at the pub, Kenneth Cartwright.  Unfortunately Iron was out flying around but the Kalik was cold and we got a chance to meet Kenneth.    We will just have to go back!

Seaside Village Grill

"The Gang"

Our last night at Long Island to us to one of the most well know restaurants in the lower Bahamas, Chez Pierre.  It is unlike most Bahamian restaurants that serves a standard fare, Chef Pierre will you give you an exquisite meal of your choice and did we ever have a good dinner!  Again, we hope to make it to this resort again.

Inside Chez Pierre

Our dining porch

another view

Chef Pierre & Anne

Our first entree

With another weather front coming east we pulled anchor and headed back to Georgetown.  We have a few chores to take care of and then we will see what is on the agenda next……maybe the Bahamian Family Regatta in a couple of weeks!