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.
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| 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.
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| Can you find the parrot fish in this picture? Bob can't! |
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Bob took this picture of blue tangs from the dinghy
while feeding them pieces of hot dogs.
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| Captain jack takes his turn at guard duty in the evening. |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The light house is a significant landmark in the area. |
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| 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.
