San Salvador

When we last left off we were in Long Island waiting for weather to cross to Conception. We made it to Conception and had a wonderful few days there. Conception Island is part of the Bahamas National Trust, equal to a national park back home, and it is beautiful. From Conception we motor sailed to the island of San Salvador where we are right now. We have been here for several days running errands and sightseeing. We had to get our visa extended for 30 days, find some fresh food, and then we rented a car to explore the island.

http://www.bahamas.com/islands/san-salvador

Still trying to get the sushi thing down:

We met a couple from Woolwich who toast coconut, it’s delicious and easy so we are trying it also. Coconuts are scarce because the Bahamians harvest them quickly but I managed to find some back in the northern Exumas. They’re a bear to clean but the machete helps:

Rip the husk off:

Crack it open, harder than it sounds. The meat is so delicious, I eat it right out of the shell:

Shred into a pan with a little nonstick spray, salt and sugar and lightly toast it, it is de-lish. I am going to try different spices in the future, maybe cinnamon or maybe a hot spice or Frank’s Red Hot, because you know, she “puts that @$#% on everything”.

Oh and I turned 49…thousand, the other day. Tanya made me celebrate, it was fun:

Birthday brownies:

Ok, enough of that. We made it from Long Island to Conception and anchored here:

Just off of another breathtaking beach:

With about half a dozen other boats:

We hiked to the other side of the island to another beach:

Someone dragged this line up so you can climb the rock at the end of the beach:

Very nice view to the east:

Down the cliff:

Rappelling back down:

Time to leave Conception for San Salvador. SunRISE:

We hooked up four Mahi Mahi along the way. This one was huge, maybe five feet long. The line broke right as I was trying to gaff him at the side of the boat:

Mahi number two, not so big but still delicious:

Number three also broke the line, this is number four:

“Why are you cutting toward yourself?”

Just the first batch ready for the freezer:

After a long day of motor sailing into rough seas we anchored here:

Just off of Cockburn Town, San Salvador:

The next day we took the dinghy around exploring. This is the government basin:

Huge diesel engine blocks tossed aside:

Club Med dive boats:

Government supply boat:

This boat is about 200ft long. We watched him drive that boat right into the basin, pivot 360 degrees and slide up against that wall like it was nothing, pretty amazing to watch:

Our trip is taking longer than expected due to the weather and our visas were getting ready to expire, so we walked a short distance to the airport to visit the immigration department:

The very helpful immigration officer gave us a 30 day extension so the next day we rented a car to explore the island. And it broke down. They were very quick to help us get back on the road:

We visited the Columbus Monument. I guess THIS was Columbus’ first stop in the the new world, Oct 1492. The island was named Guanahani by the Lucayan Indians, then Chis showed up, claimed the island and renamed it San Salvador:

Then on to Watling’s Castle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Watling

Watling was an 18^th century pirate who built a plantation here and renamed the island in honor of himself. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the island name reverted back to San Salvador. Remains of the plantation:

Church:

Then on to the lighthouse, very similar to the one in Hope Town in the Abacos:

Dea Latis anchored Cockburn Town, pronounced Coburn Town:

We didn’t take many pictures after the lighthouse because we happened upon a nice restaurant and had one of the best meals we have had in recent memory. Baked chicken, jerked chicken, peas and rice, Bahamian mac and cheese, cole slaw, and cold Kalik Light. The mac and cheese was not as good as Tanya’s sister-in-law’s but it was good! We stuffed ourselves, got some diesel and gas and went back to the boat. We didn’t even eat dinner last night we were so full, ugh!

We are sitting here waiting for weather to head south but we’re legal again so we have time. It looks like we will have a window in about five days, not ideal (light winds) but it will be safe. We hate to motor, it’s noisy and expensive but we have to take what we are given or we will never make it to Grenada.

We will update again soon!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!