We are glad to have such a well protected bay, and beautiful
at that. So far we have ridden out two
blows here…well almost, we are now in the midst of the second one. Right before this second blow came upon us,
we managed to rent a car and sight see with Bruce and Gina on Dream
Catcher. We had not expected to see them
again, as they were off to Central America.
We are sorry about their water maker problems, but thrilled they went to
Clarence Town on the east side of Long Island.
We rented a car here in Salt Pond and drove over to pick them up. We all had a few errands to run, including a
BTC office visit to renew our SIM card.
We drove as far south on the island as possible, partly to
locate Mr. Pratt, the propane man, but also to see Gordon’s Beach. From that vantage point we could see our
former anchorage at South Point. Still
exposed and with a swell, glad to view it by land.
As we headed north, our next stop was Dean’s Blue Hole. It is 663 feet deep with the claim of the
deepest blue hole in the world.
A few days prior, we took the opportunity to attend a seminar
by Ashley and Ren at Long Island Breeze.
They are free dive instructors and Ashley is a world record holder. Many of the free divers come to Dean’s Blue
Hole for training and also for competition.
I can understand why, the water is fairly undisturbed, allowing for
practice or competition on almost any day.
Once we parked the car, we donned our swimsuits and masks.
As I hesitated in the shallow sand with sudden indecision, I
could feel the current trying to pull me off the shallows and toward the
deep.
Myron and Bruce were already out at the dive platform. Myron sent some encouraging words my way which
set me swimming over the deep. It is
difficult to describe the sensation of snorkeling from three feet of bright
white sand to over six hundred feet of unrevealing darkness. Ashley says the key to the competition is a mental
game in controlling heart rate and fear.
As I looked down into that inky abyss, I gained new respect for that
young woman free diving over 180 feet into that darkness. My mental game was to relax snorkeling on the
surface!
Myron and Dena playing near the competition platform.
After Dean’s and a BTC visit, we stopped for a conch burger lunch
at Forest’s:
We also stopped at about every grocery store we saw in
search of ice cream. We found one, but
as can happen in the Bahamas, the ice cream had been melted and refrozen many
times prior to our consumption.
We went as far north as Stella Maris and viewed both the
marina, which claims 18 slips but I could only find six, and the resort. It was a calm day on the ocean side of the
resort:
Myron, Dena, Bruce & Gina at Stella Maris resort:
We took Bruce and Gina back to Clarence Town and watched the
sunset. It was interesting to
drive back to Salt Pond on that road in the night. There was more oncoming traffic than I
expected. Each car slowed down
considerably to make sure there was enough room for both vehicles on that
narrow, unlined road. God be praised we
were soon back safe and sound on Hold Fast, ready for a shower and a sleep. Another great adventure in the Bahamas!
Love to all,
Dena
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