I woke up this morning disoriented as we were not pointing in the direction I expected. The predicted westerly winds never materialized overnight. The sunrise reset my compass and I figured out that we were pointing into a breezy northeast wind coming right down the middle of the harbor. We agreed that we would move across Elizabeth Harbor in the afternoon to a more protected spot. Our anchor was dug in deep and Crossroads would be just fine while we went exploring as planned. A short dinghy ride took us to the Palm Bay Beach Club dock where we had received permission to tie up for the day. We crossed the street and picked up our rental car -- a right-hand drive Nissan Blueberry Sylphy. Barry was up to the challenge of a day driving in the left lane. For him the biggest adjustment was learning that the windshield wiper and turn signal stalks were also reversed. At least our windows stayed clean as we headed down the the southernmost tip of the lone road. If like home, no one uses turn signals anyway. There wasn't much traffic, but as luck would have it, we met a loaded cement mixer on the rickety one-lane bridge leading from Great Exuma to Little Exuma. Abiding by the rule of gross-tonnage, we backed off and waited for him to pass.
A long stretch of "not much" took us down to Williams Town and our three planned destinations. First up was Santanna's for lunch. Barry and I split the lobster and grouper entrees while sitting under the covered picnic tables with an incredible view. The wind was blowing much harder down here and we kept one hand on our plate to keep it from taking flight. The same wind also had the sea whipped up. Waves were rolling up the shore to within a foot or two of the base of our deck. Once done with lunch, we scooted next door to Mom's Bakery. Two oven-loads of breads and cakes were freshly done. We picked up a piece of pineapple upside down cake to go.
Mission complete, we headed back north from the furthest point south on our Loop journey. We stopped at a boardwalk that led up to a single large pillar. We did not know what to expect, but this turned out to be a great find. This 30-foot tall marker is said to have been built in the early 1800s to guide ships to pick up salt harvested in the local salt ponds. There was a great view from atop the hill of both the ocean and the salt flats. We then made our way to the Tropic of Cancer Beach. It was difficult to find the turn-off for this beautiful location and we found it a bit depressing that two sets of locals told us to turn at the overflowing trash dumpster. The juxtaposition of nature's beauty and man's disregard for it, is one of the hardest things to rationalize here in the Bahamas. The natives were correct and we took our little Nissan "off-road," up and down, trying to avoid deep ravines. A small covered porch marks the spot where the Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees latitude, crosses the dunes. A crab weathervane stands alongside the steps down to the beach to continue the theme.
The view lived up to its hype. How can water be that shade of blue? We stopped to chat with a couple from Alabama that we'd seen early at the Palm Bay Beach Club and then also at Santanna's. We must have been following the same guide book. Before leaving we took each other's photos so at least they weren't blatant selfies. Concerned about our dinghy and Crossroads, we decided to head back. We made it as far north as the airport before calling it a day and returning the rental car. We made sure the dinghy was still in place and then stopped in at Palm Bay's Splash restaurant for a beverage. I had hoped to sit at the swinging bar (no bar stools, just swings suspended from the ceiling), but it was full. We found a spot on the patio and formulated our plan for getting the dinghy onboard and moving across the harbor. That all went as planned and we passed a couple of kite surfer's during our move. The wind picked up after we anchored off Monument Beach and I read in the pilothouse while trying to not to pay too much attention to all the boats sailing on anchor. The sun set and the wind picked up a bit more ahead of a 15-minute rain shower that sent us scrambling to close all the hatches, ports, and windows -- in that order.
Our plan is to drop the dinghy once again in the morning and start exploring Stocking Island.
A long stretch of "not much" took us down to Williams Town and our three planned destinations. First up was Santanna's for lunch. Barry and I split the lobster and grouper entrees while sitting under the covered picnic tables with an incredible view. The wind was blowing much harder down here and we kept one hand on our plate to keep it from taking flight. The same wind also had the sea whipped up. Waves were rolling up the shore to within a foot or two of the base of our deck. Once done with lunch, we scooted next door to Mom's Bakery. Two oven-loads of breads and cakes were freshly done. We picked up a piece of pineapple upside down cake to go.
Mission complete, we headed back north from the furthest point south on our Loop journey. We stopped at a boardwalk that led up to a single large pillar. We did not know what to expect, but this turned out to be a great find. This 30-foot tall marker is said to have been built in the early 1800s to guide ships to pick up salt harvested in the local salt ponds. There was a great view from atop the hill of both the ocean and the salt flats. We then made our way to the Tropic of Cancer Beach. It was difficult to find the turn-off for this beautiful location and we found it a bit depressing that two sets of locals told us to turn at the overflowing trash dumpster. The juxtaposition of nature's beauty and man's disregard for it, is one of the hardest things to rationalize here in the Bahamas. The natives were correct and we took our little Nissan "off-road," up and down, trying to avoid deep ravines. A small covered porch marks the spot where the Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees latitude, crosses the dunes. A crab weathervane stands alongside the steps down to the beach to continue the theme.
The view lived up to its hype. How can water be that shade of blue? We stopped to chat with a couple from Alabama that we'd seen early at the Palm Bay Beach Club and then also at Santanna's. We must have been following the same guide book. Before leaving we took each other's photos so at least they weren't blatant selfies. Concerned about our dinghy and Crossroads, we decided to head back. We made it as far north as the airport before calling it a day and returning the rental car. We made sure the dinghy was still in place and then stopped in at Palm Bay's Splash restaurant for a beverage. I had hoped to sit at the swinging bar (no bar stools, just swings suspended from the ceiling), but it was full. We found a spot on the patio and formulated our plan for getting the dinghy onboard and moving across the harbor. That all went as planned and we passed a couple of kite surfer's during our move. The wind picked up after we anchored off Monument Beach and I read in the pilothouse while trying to not to pay too much attention to all the boats sailing on anchor. The sun set and the wind picked up a bit more ahead of a 15-minute rain shower that sent us scrambling to close all the hatches, ports, and windows -- in that order.
Our plan is to drop the dinghy once again in the morning and start exploring Stocking Island.
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