Keith’s Perspective on Long Island, Bahamas/Le point de vue de Keith sur Long Island, Bahamas

This week has been fun. We were at sea on Saturday and Sunday and nothing much happened. Dad was sick, and so was I. We arrived in the Bahamas on Monday, and we stopped at a place called Matthew Town for a few minutes to check into the country. After that we left Matthew Town on Great Inagua, and went to another island, Long Island, which took a day. The bay was named Little Harbor and we met a nice family there. We went to the beach with them. 

the anchorage in Little Harbor, Long Island

Cette semaine était amusante. On était en mer samedi et dimanche, donc il ne s’est pas passé beaucoup de choses. Nous sommes arrivés sans les Bahamas lundi, et nous nous sommes arrêtés dans un village qui s’appelle Matthew Town pour s’enregistrer dans le pays. Après ça on est parti de Matthew Town de Great Inagua, et nous sommes allés sur une autre île, Long Island. Le voyage a duré toute la journée. La bay s’appelle Little Harbor, et nous y avons rencontré une famille. On est allé à la plage avec eux.

The shoreline at Little Harbor, Long Island
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Calabash Anchorage, Long Island to Elizabeth Harbour, Exuma Islands, Bahamas

On Friday, March 14, starting at 0100 and lasting until 0500, there had been a full moon eclipse. Had we stayed up and the clouds cooperated, we probably could have seen it from here. But chose not to. When we awoke, the eclipse was fully over and the moon was shining like a spotlight.

Dawn:

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Passage from Little Harbor to Calabash, Long Island, Bahamas — And a Stabilizer Failure

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 — We were up again early to get the boat ready to go to sea. A storm was coming in the next few days. As much as we liked this place, we’d had to make a decision between staying here longer than planned or leaving sooner than planned. We opted for sooner. We picked an anchorage ten hours away so we could do a day run. 

We quickly got the dinghy up and all the loose things stowed. As soon as dawn broke (shortly before 0700), Eric turned on the engine. The stabilizers didn’t turn on. Eric troubleshooted and determined that the servo controller (main computer) was getting power.

Our new friends also decided to move on for the storm. Here they were leaving the anchorage as the sun rose.

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Passage Matthew Town, Great Inagua Island, Bahamas to Little Harbor, Long Island, Bahamas

Monday, March 10, continued – Daylight savings time began yesterday, so now in this part of the world the sun doesn’t rise until well after 0700. When we’d entered Matthew Town this morning at about 0845, the sun was still low in the sky and the water looked dark blue. When we exited the harbor at around 1030, the sun was higher and the water was stunning. In the shallows near the harbor it was a gorgeous turquoise, with a distinct line of dark blue where the water got deeper.

Sea conditions were the same as last reported: swells were about 2 – 3-feet at 6-seconds with 1 – 2 foot wind chop waves at rapid intervals. The wind was still hovering at 10-knots. On the passage from Jamaica to Matthew Town, we’d been heading northeast directly into the wind and waves. Now we were headed northwest, so the waves were coming from the rear corner of the boat instead of the front. And where the waves hit made all the difference in the world: it was actually a pretty comfortable ride now!

During the day, it was sunny with scattered clouds. Here was the sunset.

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