We woke up to another great day in the Bahamas. We expected to move to the dock today in order to clean the boat really well since it was pretty salty after all the sailing and mooring out. But first we decided to go out of the harbour and make water from the Sea of Abaco. It is a bit safer to make water out in the sea so we don't ruin the membrane in the water maker with any stray oil or such. So we dropped the mooring ball and headed out expecting to just reach around close to Marsh Harbour and then head back into the dock. Well, the wind was really good and after we finished with the water, we decided to sail over to Hope Town on the pretense of picking up our Sip Sip SOTS membership cards. Let me explain that on the Saturday Cheryl visited with us in Hope Town, we joined a club that benefits animals on Elbow Cay called the Sip Sip SOTs. We could not get our membership cards until the following Tuesday and we did not think we would get back to Hope Town before I left on June 1. Brad would pick them up when he was in Hope Town during Abaco Race week at the end of June. But with the weather being so good for a sail, we just decided to go. It was going to be a quick sail over, pick up mooring, dinghy in to get the cards and go back. Well, nothing is ever that quick. Our friends, Sandy and Bob, Gusto, were in the harbour and invited us to join them for cocktail hour at Sip Sip. We knew we couldn't stay that long but we went the Sip Sip, retrieved our membership cards, had an afternoon glass of wine and some conch fritters and headed back to see Sandy and Bob before we left. And just to prove it - I enclose a photo of my card. Needless to say it was after 5:00pm by the time we got back to Marina and tied up the boat. What a great surprise to get in one last really great sail and a short visit to Hope Town. Since we were at the dock and it has become incredibly hot here all of a sudden, we decided to go to Snappas for Pizza night and then retire to the boat. We turned on the AC in the starboard cabin, enjoyed another few episodes of Black Sails and went to bed. Tomorrow is my last day in the Bahamas as I head back to California on June 1. The photo below is sunset in Marsh Harbour as we dinghy back to the boat. It has been a lovely cruise.
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I am sorry that I haven't posted for a few days. We have been busy trying to get the boat instruments repaired, re-provision, get the boat cleaned up and still enjoy the last few days of vacation. Saturday morning we woke up to a pleasant day in Marsh Harbour, spent the morning on the boat and then headed over at lunchtime to do laundry. While we did the laundry we lunch at Snappas and scoped out a good place to watch the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. And we bought some fresh stone crab claws for dinner. We entertained renting a car for a day or so, but the rental place was closed and the cost of cabs was going to be less than a day's rental. Plus cars drive on the opposite side of the road than in the states, but the cars are the same as the US cars. It can get kind of confusing. So all in all it probably was a good idea not to rent. Additionally, the boat electrician from Florida called Brad and together they had a plan to diagnose the instrument issues. We got up early to get to Mass. Marsh Harbour is one of the only islands in the Abacos that has a Catholic Church. We went to 9:00am Mass and then headed to Snappas to claim our seat for the Indy race. It was a really fun way to spend Sunday and the race was pretty exciting. We had a lovely dinner at Curly Tails. We even facetimed with JP, JB and Jillian. Monday, Memorial Day, is not a holiday for the Bahamas. So everything was open for business here. But as an aside both June 2 and June 5 are national Bahamian holidays. June 2 is Labour Day. Sir Randol Fawkes established Labour Day in 1961, and it is now named in his honor. On this holiday, members of the labor unions from different organizations, as well as political parties, march in a large parade through the streets of downtown Nassau, usually in colorful uniforms. June 5 is Whit Monday. This holiday marks the end of the Easter cycle and the beginning of public witness of the Christian church. It is the Monday after Whit Sunday, The Feast of Pentecost, which comes 50 days after Easter. Thus ends the history lesson for this post. So Brad got up early and went in search of fuses. After a successful search, he began to do the problem solving and fortunately Joe was kind enough to give up about an hour of his memorial day to help. I am happy to report that we have all of our instruments working except for the emergency signal to the VHF radio. So once again we are whole and Mischief Managed!!!!! We spent the rest of Memorial Day going to the grocery store. The grocery here in Marsh Harbour is a real treat. It is called Maxwell's and they stock pretty much everything you want - it is almost like a US grocery store - except for the prices. Oh well, we got what we needed to finish out my part of the trip and hold Brad over until his crew arrives for Abaco Race week on June 19th. We had a great lunch at Wally's in Marsh Harbour and then ate yummy hamburgers on the boat. Then we settled in for the night. One of our real treats whenever we have good internet is to stream "Black Sails" from NetFlix. It is a series on Starz - it is not PG rated at all but it does give a view of Piracy and the early settlement of Nassau and the Bahamas. We have binged watched when we were able and only after a long day enjoying the sun, and the sand and the weather. The photo is a view from our first mooring in Marsh Harbour. We did have to move on Memorial Day as the mooring ball we picked up thinking it belonged to HarbourView Marina, really belonged to a 62" Catamaran named Shearwater. He didn't ask us to leave but we felt like we should and found another mooring that night. Waking up to a completely different weather outlook than yesterday, we headed out early from Green Turtle for the last leg of my portion of the trip. Our first stop was No Name Cay to see if we could find the pigs that live on the Island. Advice to anyone wanting to do this, arrive early in the morning before everyone else does. The harbour can get very crowded with people wanting to see the pigs. We arrived first and anchored out a ways. We had decided to paddle board into the beach with a bag of pretzels for pig feed. Another catamaran soon joined us and they anchored closer into the beach. The pigs were not hard to find - once they saw boats approaching the beach, they actually swam to the dinghy to get food. So they were ready for Brad and I to approach. There are about 10 of them and they range in size from baby to Grandfather and they are not shy. Brad being the expert paddle boarder carried the pig food and the camera. I just went along for the ride. It was really funny to see Brad throwing food to keep them away from him and trying to take photos. By the time our food was gone, another boatload of people came and Brad was able to bring the pigs right to them. We hopped back on our boards and went back to the boat. It was before lunch and we needed to make water, so we decided to just hang out at NO Name and take care of things before we headed to Treasure Cay for the night. Well, by this time the harbour was getting crowded. We had made water while under way in the past and didn't think much about it. But as we were bring up the anchor and heading out to the waypoint for Treaure Cay, the instruments began to act funny and we lost our depth gauges and our GPS. We drifted around a bit as Brad tried to trouble shoot and called Felix Marine. It was not acting the way it was expected and we decided to head back to Green Turtle since without instruments, we could not safely get through Whale Cut and into Marsh Harbour. Providentially as we entered the Black Sound Channel we saw Gusto - Bob and Sandy - also re-entering. They had forgotten to return their shower key to Leeward Yacht Club and were dropping it off. They were heading back to Hope Town through Whale Cut and agreed to pilot us through as well. God really does answer prayers! We followed them through the Whale and were able to visually navigate into Marsh Harbour to a mooring ball with HarborView Marina. Marsh Harbour is the best place to be so we can sort out the instrument issues. Brad will need them to get home. Stay tuned for more, but suffice it to say we are safely at the mooring ball in Marsh Harbour for a while. We woke up to the weather front still moving through and plenty of clouds. It did clean the boat a bit and we spent the morning deciding what to do next.
We determined that tomorrow, we would leave Green Turtle and make our way to Marsh Harbour with some tops at No Name Cay to see the pigs and an overnight in Treasure Cay. We went to Harvey's Island Bar for lunch. It is a nice air conditioned cafe and we left just as another downpour happened. We ran into the Wrecking Tree to escape the storm. We headed back to the boat after the rain stopped, turned in our golf cart and readied ourselves for departure. It seems like this is the time most of the cruisers head for home ports and hauling their boats before the long hot summer. Our neighbors Tom and June were also planning on leaving for St. Augustine on Sunday. Brad settled up with Donny and we said our good byes to Green Turtle. We certainly plan to return next year. We awoke to a really beautiful day here in the marina but we know a storm is coming tomorrow. We were pretty lazy this morning, hoping that a rain storm will come and clean the boat for us :). We probably will get our wish tomorrow afternoon. We took a golf cart ride around New Plymouth and then went out to the Green Turtle Club. The golf cart ride is much nicer this year as the roads have been paved. We stayed at Green Turtle Club last year as we weathered a storm. It is on White Sound and the housing development and cottages are quite nice. We ate dinner aboard and settled in for the night. We took advantage of the internet and watched the first episode of Black Sails. It is about piracy in the Bahamas during the 1700's. Not for the feint of heart but quite interesting if you have been cruising in the area. Wednesday, May 24th, we met for breakfast with our friends from Hope Town - Gusto and Taryn Awiegh at MacIntosh's. They are staying at Green Turtle to weather the storm as well. Bob and Sandy will then head back to the US and Nick and Taryn will stay in the area for another month or so. We shopped a little before heading back to the boat with some fresh conch salad. It is kind of a ceviche salad but made with conch on the docks. It is very good. In the afternoon, we decided to see how the weather was affecting the Atlantic and also the protected Sea of Abaco. It was probably lowing about 18knots with gusts up to about 25. We went to the Tranquil Turtle which is right on the Sea of Abaco and the photos below show the wind. The Atlantic beaches were very calm. The squalls hit the boat about 1:00am in the morning. We will see what tomorrow brings. Yes, you can begin to sing the song now if you like.... We woke up very early today so we could try to sail the entire way to Green Turtle Cay - about 35 miles. And mission accomplished! We hoisted the anchor with the sails set and never turned the engines on until we entered the channel at Black Sound. Brad proved that he really doesn't need any crew on the boat - he can put all the sails up by himself. And I further proved it by promptly falling back to sleep as soon as we were under way. I guess I woke up finally as we were heading into Whale cut and approaching Green Turtle. Brad said thee boat speed under sail ranged from 3.5 knots to over 7 at times. He was pretty excited all in all. It was about 3:00pm when we tied up to the dock at Donny's Boat Rental and Marina. we were back to the civilized world with power and internet. But realized we really hadn't eaten anything all day. So we rented a golf cart for a few days and headed to the Wrecking Tree Restaurant for some cracked conch and wreckers - their specialty drink. Then we drove around the town of New Plymouth and to the grocery for some ice and headed back to the boat. We expected to spend a quiet night aboard watching a movie with our internet but just as we settled in we had a power outage. Decided we could use some rest and went to bed for the night. No need to worry - the power and internet returned about midnight! And if you'd like to read more about the "Wrecking" profession in the Bahamas, then click on this link. We woke up to another beautiful day in the Bahamas. After some light breakfast and housekeeping, we left the mooring ball and headed to Tahiti Beach for a day of fun in the water and sand. So many people have told us about the beautiful beach at the southern part of Elbow Cay and last year we only got to sail by on our way back to the US. It has been our our list of must do this year. We had a pleasant sail to the beach and decided to drop out anchor and spend the afternoon in the water. We ate lunch and I had some "biodegradables" left over - so I threw them in the water for the birds or animal like to enjoy. And then we got ready to paddle board over to the beach. It is an interesting beach and at low tide it actually is two beaches - one on the inside heading to the ocean and then one on the outside heading to the Sea of Abaco. At high tide the inner beach disappears completely. The next high tide was at 6:00pm that evening, so if we went right away we would get to enjoy both beaches. We got out the paddle boards and I went in first, sitting on the board waiting for Brad. My legs were dangling in the water as I watched Brad first put the paddle board in and then get out the observation bucket. All of a sudden he hailed me to get my legs out of the water. He had seen a black fish about 3 ft. long by the boat who then made a beeline to where I was. Now we are not sure if it really was a small shark but as Brad said later: " I wasn't taking any chances, it seemed very predatory!" Yikes, it did hang around the paddle board for a while but finally swam off into the coral. I have never had so much pressure to stay firmly on my paddle board and not fall into the water. Summoning up all my courage to first kneel and paddle and then stand up and paddle, I began to make my way to the beach. Brad is much more skilled at this sport than I am, so of course he was ahead of me. Feeling much more confident, I turned straight to the beach and say a large black blob in the water moving very fast. My confidence fell and with heart pounding realized it was a large turtle and his friend. They both surfaced and then dove away. The turtles are really fast. And since it was not another shark, i took it as a good luck omen and paddled all the way to the beach. We beached the boards and walked along the beach both on the Atlantic side and on the Sea of Abaco side. The water was like a bath but so brilliantly clear. And the only other sea life we saw was a school of fish - thanks be to God. We stayed for about an hour or so just taking in the beauty of the beach and enjoying the wonderful music coming from a group on a power boat who had come for the day. We paddled back to the boat to get cleaned up and decide what to do for dinner. We were hugely indecisive - should we just cook hamburgers on board or dinghy over to Cracker P's for hamburgers and libations. Finally we decide to dinghy over - it was a good decision. Then we settled in for a lovely night at a beautiful beach anchorage ready to leave early to sail to Green Turtle Cay tomorrow. I couldn't settle on one photo from this beautiful place so here are my favorites. Also, a photo that Brad took to prove to Stephanie Warne that mom can really stand up paddle board. Also some photos of Bazinga from the water. We woke up early in Man-of-War Cay and headed back over to Hope Town. We were moored in the harbor by 9:30am and got ready to meet Cheryl. We wanted to go to the Abaco Inn for lunch and tried to rent a golf cart but there weren't any to be found. But the Inn sent a van for us. The ferry arrived right on time and so did our van. I am glad we called for lunch reservations as it turns out there were four weddings on the island today and the major eating venues were closing early - including the Abaco in. Yikes - that is why there were not golf carts either! We had a great lunch over looking White Sound and after lunch, the van took us on a tour of the south end of Elbow Cay. Cheryl lived on Elbow Cay for 18 years overlooking Tahiti Beach and Tilloo cut. The south end of the island is quite different from Hope Town and it made us anxious to get to Tahiti Beach to spend time in the water. The van took us back to the Ferry Dock. We spent some time walking through town and then having a farewell glass of wine at Wine down - Sip Sip before the 4:00pm ferry departure. We so enjoyed our time with Cheryl and she introduced us to so many of her friends from Elbow Cay - including the famous Vernon of Vernon's bakery. He is also the pastor on the island and he was quite busy doing 3 of the four weddings that day. We say a lovely wedding sign at Abaco Inn - it said: "Choose a seat, not a side. We will tie the knot before low tide." What a great beach wedding!!! After saying adios to Cheryl we headed back to Bazinga for the night or so we thought. Brad's harbour mates from last year - Bob and Sandy on Gusto - a PDQ power cat - were out and we stopped to talk to them. They invited us to have some wine at where else - Wine Down Sip Sip! We readily agreed to join them and then confessed that we had just come from there with Cheryl. Oh well - that is what vacation is for, huh? We met Bob and Sandy who were cruising with another PDQ Power Cat - Taryn Aweigh - with Rich and Taryn at Wine Down - Sip Sip. Before we could enjoy some wine, we all joined the Sip Sip Sots club - a way to enjoy some discounts at local places and help the animals in the Abacoes. Our membership cards are waiting for us when we return to Hope Town. It turns out that Nick and Taryn are from Grass Valley, CA and Nick went to Ohio Wesleyan for College. They also have nephews in Cincinnati. It is such a small world! Dinner was a delight that night. I cheated a bit on the low carb thing and enjoyed a flatbread with Brad. It was amazing. If you have the chance don't miss this little restaurant in Hope Town. We went back to the boat and to bed. Tomorrow we will finally get to Tahiti Beach to spend the day and night! Photos today - wedding festivities at Hope Town Inn and Marina and my favorite view from the harbour. We woke up to another lovely day ready to go shopping in the town at Man of War Cay. Just a bit of history about Man of War Cay. "It has a population of about 300 Bahamian residents and about 135 foreign resident families. During the summer some local houses are rented by vacationing families that have a reputation as good house guests (the exclusive nature of the locals leads noisier or more youthful vacationers to other islands). The island is famous for its boat-building history. William H. Albury was famous in the country for his tremendous boat building skills. He built his first schooner at the age of 14. Albury died in 1972, but the boat building on the Cay still lives on. The last big boat built by the William H. Albury Ship Yard and "Uncle Will", as he had come to be known, was the Esperanto. The Esperanto was later renamed The William H. Albury in his honor. The newer generations have resorted to building fiberglass boats as opposed to wooden vessels. Albury Brothers Boats builds small boats in their facility next to the water. This island is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long, but relatively narrow, often less than 100 metres between the harbor and beach side of the Island. The community is very close-knit, and most of the residents are in some way or another related to the Albury family. There are two small grocery stores, a marina, a boat yard, a few gift shops, a hardware and lumber store, two restaurants and a bakery. Golf-carts are rented by several companies (the narrow roads, often unpaved outside of the town centre, only permit the use of golf-carts or other small vehicles). No liquor is sold on the island. The people are very conservative, and still hold deep affection and loyalty to the British Crown. The majority of the residents are avid church-goers. The island has four churches, one Non-denominational, one Pentecostal, one Methodist, and one Plymouth Brethren. The home builders of Man O War are known throughout the Bahamas for building homes that "Are built like Ships, but bolted to the land". Indeed, all the rafters and structure are bolted together similar to ship construction and resist the hurricanes very well. The residents stand as a reminder of the independent thinking and self-reliance of the founders of the Bahamas. Several of the local boat builders still make the occasional "Abaco Dinghy" in their native woods of Madeira mahogany and other Bahamian hardwoods. They are today considered works of art and sought after by those who appreciate fine old world wooden vessels." We visited Joe's studio and had a hard time trying not to break the bank with out shopping. We got some really nice things and met the owner - Joe - who is a model boat builder and woodworker. The rest of the afternoon, we relaxed on board, visited the grocery store and ate dinner. Our provisions this year are holding rather well and we have enjoyed a variety of meats that have stayed frozen in the freezer. We are planning to head back to Hope Town tomorrow to meet up with our friend Cheryl Reardon who lives on Marsh Harbour and in North Palm Beach. Cheryl was married to Mike Reardon's (Holy Spirit Friend) brother John. John and Brad met while building Bazinga in Riviera beach when John and Mike spent an afternoon going over in detail the boat design. Cheryl was a great help to us last year while in the Bahamas and we are looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. Another restful night without bugs in the cabin and a beautiful morning. We headed to Dive Guana and had the chance to meet Troy who owns and operates Dive Guana – he is married to Maria. Troy helped Brad with the fishing spear and we waited for Maria to arrive with the potion. It was really wonderful of them to help us out so much. With Maria’s concoction in hand, we prepared to leave the dock. McKensie, one of the dock hands at Orchid Bay helped us leave the slip and with little trouble we said good bye to Great Guana and headed to Man-Of-War Cay. We had a beautiful sail. Bazinga loved the weather. We cut the engines and put the main up with two reefs, unfurled the headsail and she was making about 4.5 -5 knots. Then Brad put the dagger board done and the speed was up to a consistent 7 knots. We were on a tack headed to Marsh Harbour but made one tack back toward Man-of-War and arrived about 2 hours out of Guana. The sail was very pleasant, very smooth – a really nice trip. We entered the harbor and tied up on an end dock at Man-of-War Cay. We settled in and made it to the Dock and Dine restaurant just before the rain came. We got a really good shower for about 15-20 minutes – and the boat got washed down for free. At the dock was HighCube – a 62’catamaran that Brad had met while he was in Riviera Beach, FL. We joined Paul and Laura for a late lunch and some great conversation as we all waited out the rain storm. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening aboard, getting ready to spend the day in the wonderful shoppes on the Island. And of course to be in line to get tickets to Jimmy Buffet October 19 in San Fransisco. Oh and here is a photo of the Marina Cat - for Stephanie!!!! |
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