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.

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco - Hope Town, Elbow Cay

January 20, 2018 - January 25, 2018

Our last two days in Marsh Harbour were spent doing chores, provisioning, and watching NFL playoffs.  On Sunday morning we also attended a cover dish brunch in the Jib Room.  Meeting new people who share our lifestyle is one of the best rewards of cruising. 

This is what $200 buys at Maxwell' in Marsh Harbour.
They will last us about a week.

I made havarti and ham rollups to share at the brunch.  This was a new recipe and with the lack of temperature control in
 the oven I’m always nervous about the outcome.
They were very tasty.

After going into the Marsh Harbour BTC office to solve an issue with our cell phone digital service we left Marsh Harbour Marina heading for Hope Town on Elbow Cay.  Being back on the beautiful water of the sea of Abaco was wonderful.  Hope Town was an easy motoring trip of about one and a half hours.  We snagged a mooring belonging to Lucky Strike and took the dinghy into town to get a coffee at Abacos only micro roaster.  Unfortunately, it was closed, but I looked through a few shops and we stopped at Captain jacks for iced tea and a snack.  It’s great to return to a spot we liked so much last year with it’s historic light house and colorful houses. 

The lighthouse rises above the entrance to the harbour,
 and is the only oil burning lighthouse left in the world.

Hope town is full of ice cream color houses.

The weather was perfect on Tuesday for spending some time in the sun.  We had lunch at the Reef Bar and Grill at the Hope Town Lodge and spent most of the afternoon lounging at the pool (the pool water was a little too cold for swimming) and using the WiFi.  Thank goodness I’m starting to get a little of my tan back. 

We finally got to the coffee house when it was open.

Besides great coffee the shop is filled
with outstanding local art work.

 Wednesday morning was hot and humid with rain clouds on the horizon.  We took the dinghy into town and walked across the cay to the north beach on the ocean side to view the sailboat that had run aground there a couple of weeks before.  Men were using a backhoe to tilt the boat toward the ocean in hopes that the tide would help them to move it off shore. No one was injured in this grounding, but the boat had a crack right down the middle that could not be repaired.  The boat will be broken up and sunk off the farthest reef to the delight of the fish there.

Seeing a wrecked boat always makes me sad
for the owners loss.

The rest of the week was partially cloudy (sometimes more cloudy than not) with high winds (20-30 mph) which made it impossible to move out of Hope Town Harbour, go snorkeling, or swimming.  We entertained ourselves with eating lunch out, visiting the coffee shop, and looking through the shops in town.

We will be here for the rest of the weekend at least.

My next blog will relate the next phase of our adventure wherever it may lead.

Thank you for reading blog.

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco

January 15, 2018 - January 19,2018

We rose early on Monday to meet the naturalist Reggie Patterson for an eco tour of the southern portion of Great Abaco.  The weather was cool but with very few clouds.  During the 30 minute drive to our first stop Reggie shared his family heritage.  He descends from loyalists who came to the island after the Revolutionary War and his wife descends from the original British settlers who came to Eleuthera by way of Bermuda in the early 1700’s.  His shared his vast knowledge of the history of the islands from the first inhabitants, the lucuyan indians, to present day throughout the trip.

Our first stop was to find the parrots that inhabit the area.  We listened for their cackle to locate them.  We made several stops and photographed several sightings.

The parrot's coloring helps it to blend into the foliage.

 Can you find all three parrots in this picture?

Our next stop was to tour some local resident’s gardens and learn about the various native and non-native trees and plants.

Moss is non-native, but clings to many trees in this garden.

This tree bears sopadilla fruit which we were told is very sweet.

Hawaiian sea grapes are an invasive species that can quickly overcome an
area if not vigorously cut back and removed.

I’m always drawn to photographing colorful flowers.

Next we visited a blue hole which is a geological formation most likely created during the last ice age.  This one, Saw Mill Sink hole, is 170 feet deep and 50 feet in diameter.  When professional divers explored its depths they found crocodile and land tortoise skeletons which were carbon dated at 1000 AD.  Fascinating, since neither of those animals live in present day Bahamas. There are also extensive caverns branching off of the blue hole which contain stalactites and stalagmites.

Our guide mentioned that people swim in the blue holes during the summer.

We stopped at a pond to feed some native ducks.  They are unusual in that the males and females have the same markings.

Our guide threw out a cup full of cracked corn setting off a feeding frenzy.

Our final stop was at Gilpin Point Beach.  It was stunning.

These beach decorations were at the end of the path that led to the beach.

A beautiful deserted beach!

Looking in the opposite direction the waves were crashing on the rocks.

Trees that are not salt proof die as the beach is
eroded and produce interesting formations.

Tuesday was spent doing chores -polishing solar panels, cleaning out the fridge, using the water maker, and sweeping the cabin.  After the water maker broke down we decided to take a slip for a few days at Marsh Harbour Marina as the weather was looking pretty grim and it would make it easier to do laundry, get showers, and find the part we needed to repair the water maker.  Miraculously, we found the part we needed at the local boat yard and Bob went about fixing the water maker.  As you know most boat repairs are an all day project and this one didn’t disappoint.  

The Jib Room is the restaurant associated with the marina
and serves lunch Wednesday-Saturday.

Inside is a colorful restaurant with a bar and plenty of tables. 

Mermaid reef, one of my favorite snorkeling spots,
is within walking distance of the marina, but the high winds and cold weather
 prevented me from snorkeling there.

My next blog post will be from Hope Town Harbour if the weather cooperates and lets us leave Marsh Harbour safely.

Thank you for reading my blog  

Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco

January 7, 2018- January 14, 2018

My plane from Florida landed in Marsh Harbour International Airport mid-afternoon on Sunday, January 7, 2018. Calling it an international airport just because it has flights to Florida is a bit of a stretch.  It has security, customs, two gates, a snack bar, and a waiting room. I took a taxi to Union Jack Dock where Bob was waiting for me with the dinghy.  Back on the boat I unpacked and reacclimatized myself to life on board s/v Rainy Days.  It was partly sunny, but Bob informed me that the weather report for the week was for rain the whole week.  Hopefully, the forecast would change.  But it didn’t…it actually got worse as the week progressed. All I can say is at least it wasn’t snow.  

In the beginning of the week we had a few hours of partly cloudy skies that allowed us to get out for lunch and errands, but from Tuesday afternoon on it was pretty much rain all day with a few incidents of lightning, thunder, and high winds.  We got some inside chores done like taking out the stove and cleaning out behind it, sweeping the rugs, and cleaning the bathroom.  We used the water maker one afternoon in the pouring rain and by the time we had the fore tank filled Bob and I both were soaking wet.  Fortunately, it has stayed warm even with the rain.  During these rainy days the dinghy filled up with water and I took advantage of the brief lulls in the rain to bail it out.  

The water was up to my ankles in the dinghy
each time I bailed it out.

Reading and playing word games on my cell phone filled the hours during this rainy week.  I did do some cooking out of desperation for something to do.  A couple of rainy days gives you a chance to relax and take it easy, but this long spell of rain is starting to wear on our nerves. The sun came out on Friday morning and we decided to go out to a local’s restaurant for breakfast and take our cameras for a walk. 

Marsh Harbour has one traffic light at the corner
of Don McKay Blvd. and Queen Elizabeth Dr.
Notice the cars drive on the left. 

The business district of Marsh Harbour consists of a
few strip malls, banks, bakeries, diners,
 and the BTC office (for cell phone service).

All through the Abacos visitors put stickers on various surfaces.
 I found this one on a piling near the public dinghy dock.
It appealed to me because I am one of four crazy sisters.

When we returned to the dinghy dock we
tipped these entrepreneurs who had
offered to watch our dinghy for us
 and helped us shove off.

We headed to Skagg's Fish Market to get some Mahi Mahi for a future dinner.

This fishing boat brings in the fish, lobster, and
stone crab that is available at the market.

Next to the fish market are these boats stored on
the hard (or on land as land dwellers say).

It is not unusual to see derelict boats
around the area,  

Saturday was beautifully sunny all day.  It was such a wonderful reprieve.  We lounged in the sun in the cockpit and took the dinghy into the Jib room for their steak out that occurs every Saturday.  We were able to watch the Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons at the bar (yah!) and enjoy a delicious steak dinner.  After dinner we listened to the Bahamian music that was accompanied by two muscians.  One was playing the moroccos and the other was playing a saw with a screw driver.  It’s called rake and scrape and is quite unique. 

I think you will only see this musical
instrument in the Bahamas!

Sunday dawned windy and overcast, no rain but it was chilly.  Searching for something to do we decided to go out to lunch at Snappas and watch the Steelers vs. Jaguars play off game.  I enjoyed a bushwhacker with lunch.

This drink is rum, amarillo, Bailey’s, chocolate, and ice.
 Yum!

Hopefully, my next blog post will report better weather.

Thank you for reading my blog.