Still in Hope Town on Elbow Cay

February 19, 2018 - February 25, 2018

The wind picked up overnight and we rethought our plan to leave for Man-O-War today.  The weather forecast predicted high winds until the weekend which meant we would not be able to get through the Whale Cay passage before Saturday to attend to the Art show in Green Turtle Cay.  Consequently, we decided to stay in Hope Town for six more days and paid for our mooring through Sunday.  Even with high winds the weather was mostly sunny with a few periods of heavy rain on Thursday and Sunday.

Hope Town Harbour is a great place to get “stuck” as the community is filled with cruisers and those who elect to stay in a cottage for the season.  One evening we were invited to a get together by a couple we had met three or four years before when we were neighbors at Hartge Yacht Harbor in Galesville, MD, Burt and Prue on s/v Exuberant.  They invited another couple, Dan and Marsha on s/v Cutting Class (yes they are former teachers), as well.  We enjoyed the wine and snacks we each contributed and great tales of places visited.  These conversations always give Bob and I new ideas of where to stop in our journey.  The friendliness of those around us is remarkable.  The captain of the boat next to us in the harbour (Guy on s/v Miss Ellie) stopped by to tell us our strobe mast light was on even during the day and stayed for awhile just to talk.  Another couple, Joe and Paula on s/v Sequel To, who were moored near us stopped by to chat one evening.   On garbage days there is usually someone offering to take our garbage into the dock for pick up.  When two manatees showed up around our boats several neighbors came out to marvel at the spectacle. It’s just a pleasant place to be.  We did find out from Guy that there are plenty of sharks around and we changed our minds about getting in the water outside the harbour to clean the bottom of our dinghy. Maybe that’s why so many of the beaches are deserted!

We found out about a restaurant on the southern end of the cay called “On da Beach” and decided to give it a try.  It was drizzling when we got there and we sat under the awning for the bar where we were well protected from the downpour that came along.  Before we were done with the excellent fish (mahi mahi) melt sandwiches the sun was shining brightly. Except for the puddles on the outdoor tables you would never know it had rained.  

This was our view from our lunch spot.

The beach was gorgeous.

 On our walk back to town we noticed several poles sporting
handmade signs apparently nailed there by visitors to the cay.

Most of the rest of the week we spent walking around the settlement and beach, doing chores (laundry and cleaning), eating at various restaurants, relaxing in the cockpit, and getting ready for our departure to Marsh Harbour on Sunday.  

The high winds kept us from swimming,
but not from enjoying the beauty of the ocean.

Walking on the beach is one of my favorite pastimes.

So many lovely little cottages line the beach
and roads of Hope Town.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco to Hope Town, Elbow Cay

February 14, 2018 - February 18, 2018

We didn’t do anything special on Valentine’s Day except have lunch at the Jib Room.  While we were eating I did the laundry.  I’ve found that doing laundry once every two weeks works well.  Even though we have enough clothes to stretch the time between laundry days, waiting much beyond two weeks makes for just too many clothes to do.  Most marina laundry facilities only have two washers and two dryers so I prefer to get it all done at once.  

Thursday was a big day.  We were at the Dive Abaco boat at 9:00 am ready for our snorkeling trip.  We left the marina at about 9:30 and picked up five scuba divers on their boat anchored off Man-O-War Cay.  We continued on to the Fowl Cay Land and Sea Preserve which is part of the reef system inside of the Abaco barrier reef that is the third largest in the world.  The divers donned their gear and received instruction from Captain Keith.  Bob and I were the only snorkelers and were in the water quickly as snorkeling requires very little equipment - fins, mask, and snorkel.  The reef was extensive, larger than any I had encountered so far in the Abacos.  I can’t really explain why snorkeling enchants me, let’s just say I really had my “mermaid” on.  The reef was beautiful with many types of coral and plants dancing in the current.  I saw a sting ray and several colorful fish, but just being in the beautifully clear water is spectacular.  Our next stop was a nearby reef that I swam completely around.  On one side I encountered a school of blue tangs and many sergeant majors. Unfortunately, I was spooked by a barracuda with its sharp toothed smile.  I hurried back to the boat a little shaken, but the dive assistant told me barracudas are just curious and if it approached me again to just swim straight at it.  He got in the water with me and we swam around to the side of the reef.  He got my attention when he spotted the barracuda and I watched him scare it away by swimming full speed toward it.  That helped me to overcome my reticence to stay in the water.  I continued to explore the reef seeing a huge grouper, a large rainbow parrot fish, blue tangs, sergeant majors, yellow tailed snappers, and many more.  It was a fabulous outing!!!

This diver is ready to explore the reef.

Two yellow tailed snappers posed for Bob to photograph them.

Friday was predicted to have light winds so we took off early (to catch the high tide) for Hope Town on Elbow Cay.  We were almost out of water and filled up at the fuel dock before we found a mooring buoy.  It was a lazy day as we had expended so much energy the day before on our snorkeling trip we just chilled on the boat reading and doing a few easy cleaning chores. 

At the fuel dock we encountered this manatee who enjoyed the lettuce

 I fed him and the fresh water that was coming out of our bilge. 

I can see why they are called sea cows - they are huge.

Visiting Hope Town always includes a visit to the beautiful beach which is almost always deserted.

The water always draws me to it.

This perfect day found only one couple enjoying the beach.

Several couples we have met in our travels were also moored in Hope Town Harbour and we stopped by to catch up on their adventures.  A beautiful old (1954) wooden sailboat from Maine took the mooring next to us and the owner shared some of the boats history with us.  It must require a large amount of upkeep to keep the boat in such great condition.  

 I started hand sewing the triangles I had cut last week for my quilt project.
This is going to take forever!

On Saturday, after having flatbread pizza at Sip Sip we took the dinghy out of the harbour for some snorkeling.  Unfortunately, we forgot the ladder and getting back in the dinghy after a nice swim was difficult (and I have the bruises to prove it).  On Sunday we spent the afternoon basking in the sun by the pool at the Hope Town Lodge. Our plan is to leave for Man-O-War in the morning so I can get another bag of Androsia scraps for my quilt. 

My next post will chronicle the rest of our stay in the central Abacos before we head up to Green Turtle Cay.

Thank you for reading my blog

Tilloo Cay - Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco

February 10, 2018 - February 13, 2018

We woke up to beautiful weather once more on Saturday morning.  Our intention was to explore Tilloo Cay and go to Lubber’s Cay (just north of Tilloo) and have lunch at Cracker P's Restaurant.  Unfortunately, the wind was strong once we were away from the protection of Tilloo Cay and the choppy waves came over the sides of the dinghy and drenched us. 

This schooner was anchored between Tilloo and Lubber’s Cay.

This unusual structure was at the far north end of Tilloo Cay.
Could there be a princess imprisoned there.

You can see how the movement of the water
 eats away at the limestone islands.

Back at the boat we decided to head over to Marsh Harbour.  The trip took about 2 hours since we had to go around Lubber’s Bank.  

Since Marsh Harbour is so familiar to us I probably won’t have many photos so I’m going to veer from my “travel log” style for some nautical information.  In the past few years that I have been sailing with Bob on s/v Rainy Days I have learned quite a few nautical terms.  Let’s start with rope.  In the store it is called rope, but once you bring it aboard a boat it is called line.  Once the line is put to it’s proper use it then has a new name.  A halyard is a line that is used to haul things up or let them down. There is a halyard to raise the main sail, one to raise the Jib, several to raise flags, one to haul the dinghy onto the bow, and one to haul the dinghy motor onto the boat.  A painter is a line connecting the dinghy to the boat.  A sheet is a line used in controlling the sails when the boat is under sail. Spring lines help to keep the boat from moving forward or aft when docked. Of course, there are dock lines, but that’s self explanatory.  I’m sure there are many more terms for lines, but those are the ones I know so far.

Halyard, thought to be a contraction of Haul Yard as Yard refers to sails.
This halyard is used to hoist our flag.

There's our painter, don’t ask me where that term comes from.  
It makes no sense at all to me.

Jib sheet means the line that controls the
forward sail called a Jib or Genoa.

The dock lines are the black ones.  They
are 12 strand nylon.  The nylon
allows them to stretch if necessary.

On Sunday I decided to get started on my Androsia batik quilt.  I cut the templates for the squares and triangles from the cardboard on the back of a tablet.  I don’t know how much I’ll work on it, but the colors are vibrant.

I’ll have to sew by hand while on the boat, 

but can complete the work by machine when 

we get back to Baltimore.  

The weather has been perfect since we arrived at Marsh Harbour.  On Monday we did some engine maintenance which means changing the oil and checking the transmission fluid and coolant.  My part in the process is clearing the items from the 1/4 berth that we have stored there, handing bob what he needs while he is doing engine stuff, and putting everything right after the maintenance is complete.  After lunch we did a few errands and then went to Mermaid Reef for some snorkeling.  Again there were an abundance of beautiful colorful fish of all sizes.  They liked the bread we brought this time better than the hot dogs.  The water was a comfortable temperature and I swam and snorkeled until I was exhausted.  Bob got some outstanding go pro shots of the fish.

This sergeant major was happy with the peas we fed the fish that day.

Another perfect day dawned on Tuesday.  We had breakfast at the Golden Grouper and then walked to Maxwell’s for some provisioning.  We purchased so much we called a taxi to take us to Union Jack pier and our dinghy.  There were a couple of guys there to help us unload and reload everything in the dinghy.  I was sorry that I only had a couple of dollars to give them as their help was much appreciated.  I have to remember to keep more ones on hand for these times.  After lunch we motored back to Mermaid Reef, this time with frozen peas.  The fish were even happier with the peas.  I snorkeled even longer today.  It was hard to stop.  Snorkeling turns me into my “mermaid self”.

My next blog post will finish our stay at Marsh Harbour and continue with our visit to Hope Town, Man-o-war, and Corn Bay.  

Thank you for reading my blog.

Little Harbour to Tilloo Cay

February 7, 2018 - February 9, 2018

On Wednesday morning we took the dinghy into the pier to walk on the beach on the ocean side of the isthmus. The wind was whipping the waves into shore where they crashed dramatically on the rocks.

We followed the wooden walkway to the beach.

We heard the waves crashing to shore all last night.

Even washed up line can be artistic.

This bronze sculpture stands above the beach on the dunes.

Little Harbour was founded by a bronze sculptor, Randolph Johnston, who came to the area in search of a healthy and peaceful environment for his family where he could pursue his artwork.  His son, Pete, now continues to create bronze sculptures.

We climbed these stairs to return to the harbour side of the isthmus.

We visited the gallery which not only displays sculptures, but also provides the history of the Little Harbour and the sculptor who founded it.

Amazing bronze sculptures are inside the gallery.

 Bronze sculptures displayed around the settlement
are predominately of wildlife from the area.

Just what we were looking for.

This is the famous Pete’s Pub “where the elite meet to eat in their bare feet”.

After lunch at the pub, we took a dinghy ride around the harbour and observed the cave that the Johnston family lived in while they were building the foundry and a house.

Thursday dawned warm and sunny with calm winds.  Perfect day to go out to play in the Abacos.  We observed a boat in the harbour that had tried to go out of the channel at falling tide and was hard aground.  Bob and two other groups of sailors took their dinghy out to the boat to try to help it get free to no avail .  The boat would have to wait for the tide to rise to get it off the sand dune it had run aground.  They will have a long wait until 2:40 pm when it will be high tide. 

The group of boaters (including Bob) tried various techniques
 to get the boat off the sand, but nothing worked.  

After lunch at Pete’s Pub we waited an hour to leave the harbour at high tide.  With no incidents in the harbour, we headed for Lynyard Cay to anchor out.  Once we arrived I put on my snorkel gear to check the anchor.  Since it was not quite buried Bob had to put the boat in reverse and tug on the anchor to set it.  That worked well.  I snorkeled around a bit not finding any fish, but enjoying the water.  After I resting, I just had to swim some more and jumped off the side of the boat for a swim.  I love the water and it has warmed up just enough.

 Lynyard Cay is long and thin with only a few residences
 on the Sea of Abaco side and some beautiful beaches.

The next morning we explored Lynyard Cay a bit in the dinghy and landed on the beautiful beach to do some shelling.  We decided to take the boat to Tilloo Cay for the rest of the day.  We had to pass by some ocean cuts with huge rolling waves (6-5 ft.).  Bob loves seas like this - me, not so much, but they were beautiful to watch.  I checked the anchor again at Tilloo Cay twice since we had to move the boat from our first anchorage because of the proximity to an underwater electric cable (oops!).

We were treated to a miraculous sunset that night.

My next blog will describe our next round of adventures.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco to Little Harbour, Great Abaco

February 1, 2018 - February 6, 2018

We left Hope Town early on the morning of February 1.  The day was perfect for our sail to Marsh Harbour.  As soon as we left the Hope Town Harbour channel we hoisted the jib and the main sail and turned off the engine.  We made over 5 knots on a reach from a 9 knot wind.  The only sound was the lap of the water against the bow, the quiet luffing of the sails and the slight whistle of the wind through the sails. The sun was hot, the wind was cool, and the sea was the impossibly beautiful turquoise shade that I’ve never seen anywhere else. It couldn’t have been more perfect.  We sailed until we made the turn into Marsh Harbor where we anchored.  Somehow Marsh Harbour has become like home here in the Abacos.

The following morning dawned with even more perfect weather-bright sun with a few wispy clouds and a slight breeze.  After breakfast at the Golden Grouper we walked to a community called The Mudd.  This community had suffered a devastating fire while we were in Hope Town destroying 55 homes and leaving 170 people homeless.  The community consists of Haitian immigrants who have built small two room wooden houses on public land (once called the Queen’s land).  The Mudd is definitely the other side of paradise although the people we encountered greeted us with friendly smiles. Even so, I felt as if our two white faces were intruding on their community.  Bob got some outstanding photographs of the community.

This is definitely not the typical tourist area of Marsh Harbour.
Notice the flat tires on the vehicles in the picture.

After stopping to do some grocery shopping we headed to Mermaid reef for snorkeling.  The water was cold (71 degrees) and I never actually got used to it, but the fish were abundant and colorful.  I tried to photograph the blue tangs, rainbow parrot fish, sergeant majors, and others with our go-pro camera without much success.  Snorkeling has to be my favorite activity in the Bahamas and this was my first opportunity to snorkel on a reef.  After taking nice hot showers at the Conch Inn we settled into a relaxing evening on s/v Rainy Days.

Can you find the parrot fish in this picture?
Bob can't!

Bob took this picture of blue tangs from the dinghy

 while feeding them pieces of hot dogs.

Captain jack takes his turn at guard duty in the evening.

Marsh Harbour has the best sunsets and we usually hear conch horns
announcing the disappearance of the sun.

After two perfect weather days we woke up on Saturday to overcast skies and the prediction of 90% chance of rain.  What do you do on a rainy day? Go out to lunch, of course.  Our favorite restaurant in Marsh Harbour is Wally’s where you eat on the large colorful porch. After lunch we browsed through Dive Abaco’s gift shop and I purchased a stunning “Mermaid at Heart” sarong.

A local artist creates these beautiful mermaid paintings
and this one she printed on luminous fabric.

We watched the Super Bowl at the Jib Room at Marsh Harbour Marina and were thrilled with the outcome - Eagles 41/Patriots 33.  It was the best football game I have ever watched.

On Monday we needed to prepare for our next trip.  We completed several cleaning projects, had lunch at the Blue Hole, took showers, and  bought our provisions for the next 7-10 days. 

A fully stocked galley is a beautiful thing.

Tuesday morning we left Marsh Harbour at 9:30 headed for Hope Town to fill our water tanks with clean RO (Reverse Osmosis) water. Marsh Harbour water tastes bad and the water table could be contaminated from sewage.  We have determined never to fill our water tanks in Marsh harbour again.

The light house is a significant landmark in the area.

I will never get over the beauty of the water here in the Abacos.

We continued our journey to Little Harbour and arrived at 2:30, two hours past high tide.  We went aground briefly in the channel and vowed to never enter or leave this harbour again unless it was closer to high tide.  The trip here was a bit rocky as we passed many ocean inlets that leave the Sea of Abaco open to the winds and currents of the ocean.  Once we were moored in the harbour I marveled at the beauty around us and the joy of living aboard s/v Rainy Days.  I wouldn’t trade this life style for anything.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Hope Town, Elbow Cay

January 26, 2018 - January 31, 2018

The winds have been between 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph for two days.  Trying to sleep in these conditions has been a challenge.  Even though the harbour is well protected on all sides the flatness of the land and the strength of the wind allows the wind to whip into the harbour rocking the boats and moving them about.  At night the sound of the mooring lines groaning stimulated my imagination.  I’m good at imagining catastrophe especially while laying awake at night.  First, I thought the boat would break apart and wondered how we could save the cats and ourselves.  Next, I thought about the mooring breaking loose and sending s/v Rainy Days careening off into another boat. Again I wondered how to save ourselves.  Finally, I imagined another boat breaking loose from its mooring and careening into us.  Sleep during these 40 mph gusts, as you can imagine, was impossible. Fortunately, none of those scenarios occurred and by Saturday morning the wind had died down a bit, but was still too strong to allow us to move about the Abacos. 

We spent time walking the streets and beach of Hope Town snapping photographs of the endless beauty of the island.

s/v Rainy Days is in the front of the mooring field here.  

You can see how the harbour is packed full of vessels.

The wrecked sailboat was finally broken up and sunk by the reef 

leaving the pristine beach empty of debris.  

It was a little too chilly and windy for swimming on this day,

 but when the weather is nice you can snorkel right off the beach.  

The lighthouse is a prominent feature of the Hope Town “skyline”. 

 I took this picture from the dunes above North Beach.

The streets in Hope Town are marked with hand painted signs on old wood.

There are feral cats in Hope Town,
but this one was sitting on the wall around its house.

Of course, I have visited all of the quaint gift shops in the town.

We discovered a great little restaurant and 
enjoyed their excellent flat bread pizza on two occasions. 

We, also, visited a couple from Annapolis that we met in Isle of Palms who live in a cottage on the north end of town.  I wonder what it would be like to live here for the whole season in a cottage.  I think my wandering days are not yet over.

One evening I attended an a cappella choral concert at the St. James Community Center.  The talented group was from Princeton University and gave three concerts this week. I throughly enjoyed the performance. Listening to the group's arrangements of contemporary music was a welcome change from our usual evening entertainment (watching the sunset and relaxing).

Between excursions into town we enjoyed relaxing in the sun (when it wasn't cloudy and overcast), reading, and writing. 

We plan to leave for Marsh Harbour on Thursday to provision and wait for a weather window to continue our journey.

Thank you for reading my blog.