Sunday started early for us in New Bight today. Why, on a day when kids and adults can all sleep in, do the kids not sleep in?! Nights and mornings near larger islands are often cooler, which inspired us to get off the boat and hike up Mount Alvernia before the afternoon heat. We reached the highest point in the Bahamas at 206 feet above sea level, only half a mile from where we anchored. At the top is the Hermitage, a tiny one-man monastery built by Father Jerome in 1939. He was an architect in England before becoming a priest and continued to use his architecture skills by building churches all over the Bahamas. We also found a cave at the top, complete with natural skylights!
https://www.bahamas.com/vendor/hermitage-mt-alvernia
For the first time in a while we found ourselves anchored near a church on Sunday and went to the 11am worship service on foot after our hike. The church, also built by Father Jerome, was very welcoming and all the kids came to greet Henry and Emma. One advantage of walking from place to place is that it leads to encounters that would never happen in a car. On the way to and from we enjoyed learning more about the island from a police officer outside his office and from Duke the famous Duke’s Conch Shack in New Bight (who happened to have his 9 year old son with him – Henry hit it off with him right away). If not for the choppy anchorage in southeast winds, we would have stayed longer! After lunch we motored an hour down to Old Bight with a gorgeous endless white sandy beach. It is very quiet here (10 boats), with the possible exception of 2 energetic kids that paddled all 4 of us to shore for an afternoon of beach fun and swimming.
Fun Afloat 