Bahamas - Clarence Town, Long Island

We had a lovely, easy 24-hour trip from Providenciales to Clarence Town, Long Island, our first stop in the  Bahamas,  using, we found out later, the last of our steady trade wind allotment.  

Long Island is just that, a long, very long island: 76 miles from end to end, quite narrow, with spit and arms and capes akimbo and pocked by blue holes.  Indeed the world's deepest blue hole -- Dean's Blue Hole,  the site of some major free diving competitions, is just north of Clarence Town.

Clarence Town, is a quaint village about a quarter of the way up from the south end,  situated on some gentle hills which are topped by two rather remarkable churches, one Anglican and one Catholic, both built by the same architect/priest, Father Jerome.  The village faces east a mile or so overlooking a long narrowing bay, protected from the Atlantic by a string of islands, islets and rocks on the seaward side.  

The Explorer chart kit identified Flying Fish Marina as a place we could clear customs, so Tom brought Quantum Leap into the dock again.  It turned out Clarence Town is not an actual Port of Entry after all.  The customs and immigration officers must drive down from Stella Maris, a resort area an hour away at the north end.  However, they would do that, and did.

Flying Fish Marina was recently purchased by a the owner of a big sport fishing boat who was looking for a place to store his boat.  He has clearly masterminded a lot of new construction.  The docks look brand new...indeed woodworkers were laying a new section as we tied up.  Bright fresh paint in pink and turquoise dress up a sea wall, and every buildings is tidy.  A very large new edifice of concrete block is rising on the point, earmarked to be a new office and restaurant.  The bathrooms and showers are among the nicest and best conceived we have seen!  

So we stayed on the dock overnight, after a mid-afternoon lunch at the marina's dockside cafe.  Then Tom invited a couple of sailors, septuagenarian Jack and his delivery crew Adam, (introduced as Jack's wife's yoga instructor!), over for a beer, to pick his brain about the Bahamas.  These  path-crossing encounters are truly one of the high points of cruising.  Jack, a veteran of many years in the Bahamas, was waiting for a weather window to lay the Windward Passage between Hispaniola and Cuba, bound for Montego Bay Yacht Club in Jamaica, a regular run he says he makes every few years.  Jack  was waiting for the strong winds that brought us north to die, so that he could motor south.

The next morning, he got his wish.  Perfect conditions for Jack's needs.  Not so nice for us, as it turned out.  Without the breeze, the Bahamas in June get pretty hot!

Before we left the dock, the four of us went for a walk, following the road that lead from the marina up the hill to St. Paul's, the Anglican Church.  

This was a very charming church with familiar Episcopal trappings and views from the hilltop though arched windows. 

This church had a brand new roof, the previous one lost to hurricane damage.  The church seemed particularly bright and fresh, probably because much inside had been recently replaced.

From the Anglican Church we wandered south to the Catholic Church of St. Peter and Paul, which presents almost castle-like twin towers above sweeping steps. something you's expect to see a fairy princess run down. 

Inside, however, the sanctuary was smaller, darker and more closed in and cave-like within its thicker walls and a lower ceiling.  Views  through plain rectangular windows were not soinspiring.  Guess that's better for holding attention to the sermon!

We wandered around the local streets a bit, meeting some of the local inhabitants,

(Yes, Bette, sheep in this case, not goats!.....yes, the tails are down like stood little girls!)....

..... In and out of a small store for bread and eggs, and back to the marina. 

 When we finally backed out our destination was but a mile away, an anchorage just across the bay behind the offshore islets and rocks.  Here we enjoyed our first Bahamian snorkle and swim.

This anchorage was a very gentle introduction to the shallow roadsteads of the Bahamas.  To people accustomed to deeper waters and coral reefs, these shallow, open sandy bottoms are discomfiting.  We expect every dark spot to be a coral bommie, and they just turn out to be patchesof grass!  The water is so clear, it is like swimming in a swimming pool, but you have to work hard to find sea life to get excited about...a small conch here, a peacock flounder there.  The four of us snorkeled to the beach, walked a bit and then snorkeled back. We cooked fish on the grill and enjoyed a lovely sunset.  

Now this is the life!