Waiting

We are at the north end of Long Island waiting for a weather window to cross to Conception Island and then on to San Salvador. We had a wonderful time in Thompson Bay but it was time to move on. With strong winds in a favorable direction we pulled up anchor and headed north. We were on a broad reach and with the winds 18 gusting 22 we were hitting seven knots, wow what a ride! About 10 miles up the coast the winds increased to 23 gusting 30, so we decided to drop the hook behind a lee shore, or cliff. We anchored at Baines Bluff, what a beautiful spot! The water was clear, the bottom was sand, so we took the dinghy in for a look and a swim while the winds howled over our heads! The next day the winds calmed down to 18 again so we pulled up anchor and headed to Calabash Bay near the north end of Long Island. The bay is very close to the ocean so there is a bit of swell that creeps around, finds its way inside and becomes just a bit of a nuisance. We anchored off of a beautiful beach and took the dinghy to Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort for happy hour. www.capesantamaria.com The resort is really beautiful and their prices were surprisingly competitive, and they have happy hour everyday from 3-6:00pm! Even their accommodation rates were reasonable! It was fun to put on some decent clothes and get off the boat. We met some other cruisers, one boat from Canada and another from Windham Maine, all very nice folks! The swell in the bay was just a bit much for us so we moved about a mile south to Hog Cay and anchored in front of another beautiful beach! What a place. We’ll hang out here until we get weather to sail to Conception.

Trying to make something new to eat, sushi. All we used for my first try was rice and avocado, it was delicious. I can’t wait to catch some fresh fish!!!

I made guacamole which was also delicious!

Leaving Thompson Bay for points north, 18 knots of wind:

Baines Bluff:

Really neat rock face:

Around the corner in Alligator Bay is a marina that was never completed, it is now used as a fish processing plant. You can buy it for $2.3 million.

Calabash Bay:

Cape Santa Maria Resort, www.capesantamaria.com We had happy hour the first night and went back for lunch the next day!

Hog Cay just south of Calabash Bay. The boat on the left is from Woolwich Maine:

 We are going to hang out for a few days and explore. This is supposed to be Chris Columbus’ first stop in the new world so we’re going to check out the monument they erected. We will jump off to Conception when the winds and seas permit.