The “Skinny” on LONG ISLAND

         We eyeballed our way through scattered coral heads and anchored off of a long, lovely stretch of soft buff-colored sand in CALABASH BAY, LONG ISLAND.  As many of our stops have been, this was another recommended area to suit our deep keeled-boat.  The Santa Maria Beach Resort is located there and, thank goodness, was classy enough to not host all sorts of daytrip venues.  Two or three cruising vessels came and went almost daily, but the bay is so expansive that it still offered much privacy and ultimate relaxation.
        
        Long Island is another narrow ribbon of land that is approximately eighty miles long.  Like all islands here, it lacks much elevation, but you can usually see both the east and west coasts from a ridge.  So after walking the local dirt roads to view what little there was in the vicinity, we rented a car for a day to undertake a self-guided tour.  As soon as our rental hit the dirt road, it began to rattle loudly, sounding like something was going to fall off its bottom.  We pressed on toward The Columbus Monument, our first stop, which took us along a rough path through thick brush that often scraped the side of the car.  We had to drive so slowly that we may have gotten there faster if we had walked.  Once there, though, the views from the rugged northern coast of Long Island made it well worth it.

The Columbus Monument

     

Sweet corn grown near house to conserve water.

                                                   Long Island has been experiencing a drought this season and as we drove southward (now on paved roads)the ill effects were readily apparent.  Much of the landscape was withered and any garden areas looked rather bleak.  We kept looking for fresh produce stands mentioned by cruisers, but found none.  In addition to the lack of sufficient rainfall, the island also was hit badly by Hurricane Joachim last November and much of the destruction remains in place.  We noticed many roof repairs underway as we proceeded.  At the gas station in SALT POND, a local told us that Joachim loomed over them for thirty-six hours and when they thought the hurricane was leaving, it swung back over the island again.  The force was so powerful that it lifted a large fiberglass resort pool out of the ground and deposited it about one-quarter of a mile down the coast.  It is no doubt that Joachim will long be remembered.

Sts. Peter & Paul's Church built by Fr. Jerome.

          Finding an ATM was not easy on Long Island as we learned the the nearest one to our anchorage had been closed during the past year.  So we drove on through countless small settlements with the car now occasionally squeaking loudly.  CLARENCETOWN was to be our southernmost stop because we wished to check out the anchorage for future use and for provisioning there.  The folks at the marina informed us that Joachim blew away the groceries and a number of other businesses, so after a tasty lunch, we began our return drive northward.

         
             DEAN’S BLUE HOLE, the world’s deepest blue hole at 406 feet below sea level, is on the island’s eastern coast just north of Clarencetown. We spent time there swimming, walking the seldom visited beach, and climbing the rocky remote coast. The annual Free Dive Competition is held in late May and the platforms seen in the photo (that I think detract from its beauty) are used for this event. 

Cape Santa Maria Beach

           Being that there were no groceries to be had in Clarencetown, it was necessary for us to stop and shop in several different towns on our way back to Calabash Bay in order to find almost everything on our list.  The last grocery we found was in Salt Pond.  Had it been our first stop, it would have been our only stop as it had EVERYTHING and MORE!