January 23- February 21, 2018. Abacos, Bahamas

January 23- February 21, 2018. Abacos, Bahamas

Our friends from North Carolina, Liz and Ray, came to visit.  We took the ferry to Hopetown for a day and climbed the lighthouse again.  Very breezy! Played some Pickleball, did a snorkel trip,  and played marathon Mexican Train Dominoes one rainy day.  We enjoyed our company!



Carol entered the Limbo Contest at the yacht club's Steak Night and WON a bottle of champagne!



Then the professional limbo guy showed his stuff!



We did some more scuba diving.



Our yacht club had a Super Bowl party under the tent. What a game! Yay Eagles!



Then we headed out to a deserted island with fellow cruisers and had a bonfire and hotdog roast on the beach!



Bob and I got out for a trip around the island chain by ourselves.

    


And Lynne and Gene from Delaware, our longtime friends, came to visit.  The Songwriters in Paradise Music Festival was going on. The performers are the songwriters who write the hits for the country stars! It was wonderful! The weather was nice enough to sail to the different venues.

    

                    

Carol and Lynne have been friends since the 5th grade! Great to have them visit!

Dec 23, 2017 to Jan 22, 2018 Abaco Island, Bahamas

Dec 23, 2017 to Jan 22, 2018
Home for the Holidays and back to Abacos, Bahamas

We flew home for the holidays and visited with the kids and our mothers and some friends.  Great to see everyone, but Brrrrr!
Back to our marina in Marsh Harbor for celebrating the new year with fireworks on the beach!

We are liking our arrangement here at Abaco Inn and Beach Resort/ Boat Harbor Marina.  When its nice, we go out sailing and anchor overnight at different islands. We are in the water every chance we get!
Then when fronts come through with rain, and HIGH wind, we are comfortable at the dock.  There is yoga, pickle ball, bocce ball, and movie nights to keep us busy.

      

We have done some snorkeling and scuba diving!

 


Caught one more lobster, then we ran out of luck. :(
So, we decided to try conching!  Conch shells are all over the sandy bottom. First you have to drill the shell to loosen the suction.   Then this big, ugly snail comes out.  Then the black gooey exoskeleton must be removed.  Then pounded. Way too much work!  But we tried, and made cracked (fried) conch.  Once and done!  Easier to buy!

      

Took a sail down to Little Harbor.  There is an interesting story about a college professor who took his family of 5 there by sailboat in the 1940's to escape civilization and pursue art.  They lived a Robinson Crusoe type of life.  The youngest son remains and runs a beach pub, Pete's Pub, and an art studio.

   

Enjoying coffee in the hammock



This is my world!  Why is it low tide every time we pull our dinghy into a dock?



A walk on the beach in Hopetown.

Dec 7- Dec 22, 2017. Hopetown to Abaco Beach Resort, Marsh Harbour

Dec 7- Dec 22, 2017  Hopetown, Elbow Cay to Abaco Beach Resort, Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco

Had a lovely sail over to our final destination in Marsh Harbor!



We will keep a slip at The Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbour Marina for 3 months.  Through joining the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club, we got a substantial discount on dockage and can hang out with other boating folks here for the warm winter. When its nice we will explore the island chain, and when its not, we have a safe place at the dock.

  

Took a 3 hour sail over to Man O War Cay and anchored in the harbor.  Then rented a golf cart to explore the unpaved roads.
Below is "Low Place", where the Atlantic Ocean is just steps away from the Sea of Abaco.  So, we took a swim in both, and the ocean was warmer!

  

 

Lots of activities here!  And about 40 boats, some sail, some power. We have been to yoga and  learned to play Pickleball. We have snorkeled, been scuba diving, and even tried our hand at lobstering. Carol is the spotter and Bob uses his new pole spear. All done while snorkeling.

  

The Christmas season is upon us in the islands!
  


At the Yacht Club party with Dave and Cheri on Blue Sky.



Lunch with the Rock Hall gang!



We fly home tonight for a week to celebrate the holidays with our family!
Merry Christmas!

Nov 27- Dec 6, 2017. West End, Grand Bahama to Hopetown, Elbow Cay, Abacos

Nov 27- Dec 6, 2017 West End, Grand Bahama to Hopetown, Elbow Cay, Abacos

From West End, it was 120 miles over to Great Abaco.

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We spent 4 days on the Little Bahama Banks, located to the north of Grand Bahama Island.  It was very windy, and unfortunately on our nose.  Motored with help from the cutter sail. Even had to sit out a day in Great Sale Cay.  The banks were quite desolate, just miles and miles of 14 foot water.  The water was beautiful! Our route was Mangrove Cay to Great Sale Cay to Crab Cay/ Angelfish Point to Green Turtle Cay.



We pulled into The Green Turtle Club Marina in White Sound on Green Turtle Cay. There is a settlement here. Needed a rest! Turned out a guy from Delaware owns this resort. And a sport fisherman generously gave us a big bag of fresh mahi, which we grilled.  Watched the guys clean fish and the nurse sharks come in for a feast! We explored the island by bicycle, which wasn't easy on the unpaved roads!

  

Lunch at The Leeward Yacht Club.




Next we did a day hop over to Great Guana Cay.  Had to go through "Whale Cut", which is only doable on fair weather days.  It is a cut that takes you out into the Atlantic Ocean for about 5 miles, then back to the Sea of Abaco. All to avoid sandbars. Went to Grabbers Beach Bar and the famous Nippers for a BBQ.  Noticed more boats and cruisers out and about now that we were in the protected Sea of Abaco.

   


From there we sailed to Hopetown, on Elbow Cay.  What a picturesque harbor, complete with lighthouse, which we climbed. 101 steps. It is the only remaining kerosene lamp lighthouse, hand lit each night and hand cranked every 2 hours to keep the light rotating. We saw the cutest colorful clapboard cottages in the village.

  



Met more fellow cruisers and played BINGO at a local bar. Had a single-hander sailor from South Dakota to dinner and it turned out he and Bob grew up together on the same street in Wilmington!
Small world!

Nov 22- Nov 26, 2017 Stuart, FL to West End, Grand Bahama

WE CROSSED!

Nov 22- Nov 26, 2017  Stuart, FL to West End, Grand Bahama

From Stuart we travelled to North Palm Beach to await a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.
We anchored in Lake Worth and decided we should celebrate Thanksgiving while we waited. We found an upscale (of course, its Palm Beach!) Italian grocer, (Doris) who cooked complete holiday meals. With Dave and Cherie on Blue Sky and our Canadian friends, Andre and Manon on Blue Moon, we feasted and played Mexican Train Dominoes. Lovely surroundings amidst the modest homes!



After considering numerous weather sources, we decided to cross Nov 25! So we moved a bit further south to West Palm Beach and the Lake Worth Inlet anchorage to leave at first light. Blue Sky stayed behind with engine issues. It was very difficult to part with them after traveling so far together.  Blue Moon became our new buddy boat.
With a mild WNW breeze, we headed out the inlet at 7am.
A 55 mile journey.



I said a prayer to my father and grandfather who were both sailors to look out for us and come along in spirit.
There were long rolling waves initially, and then choppy big square waves in the Gulf Stream. Rockin' and Rollin'! Some 10 foot waves, but never crashing, just up and then down in the trough of the wave. We didn't get sick, but felt pretty nauseated during the 25 mile passage through the Gulf Stream.  The second half of the trip was much smoother thankfully! And we thought our little boat did great!!!
We arrived at Old Bahama Bay Marina and were in our slips at 4:30pm. Time to celebrate!  Champagne and conch ceviche!



Went through Customs and Immigration.  Here is the Bahamian flag we will fly for the next 3-4 months!



We explored the resort/marina. So happy to be here! Bought some fish from some local fisherman at the dock.  Said goodbye to Blue Moon as we are traveling different routes.