Author: Phil

Super Bowl Sunday, but we’re getting some touring in before the game starts with boating friends Jeff and Melissa who are moored next to us on their 52′ Beneteau Sailboat. We headed out in the rental car at noon for Little Harbour and Pete’s Pub at the bottom of the Sea of Abaco.

The four of us had a good half hour ride down a pothole-filled road to get to the Harbour for lunch and exploring the Gallery. Always a great visit. Makes you want to relocate there! Some pictures below.

Made it back in time to stop by the Jib Room for Super Bowl food and visit with the owner of the Jib Room – Marsh Harbour Marina. He bought the marina just 2 years before hurricane Dorian destroyed it and is still in the mist of rebuilding but has a solid facility now with over 60 boat slips. It’s amazing the enthusiasm you see among these middle-aged adults take on rebuilding from the devastation Dorian dumped on this area.

Five days at Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour, after our 2 Feb arrival. The winds are high and keeping us in port. Besides some time for maintenance and relaxing we rented a car on the 7th and began touring the area to check on the restorations following hurricane Dorian. Progress has been slow as all building materials are shipped in and contractors and labor are not plentiful. But, the rebuilds are well done and attractive. Surprisingly, there’s a substantial boom in home new-builds throughout the cays … and, they are not small residences or condo communities. Mainly offshore folks and many American citizens that are drawn to the community atmospheres in the Abacos versus primarily resort layouts of many Caribbean destinations. Tomorrow we’ll visit outlying locations by car like Little Harbour with Pete’s Pub and Cherokee in the more southern end of Abaco Cay. Also, the docks are becoming pretty full of boats and we’re enjoying the company of the other boaters and trash talking the weather. The forecast calls for calm seas, light winds and sunshine all next week, so we’ll be moving around and anchoring. The pictures below show the bay from Colors Restaurant and a snapshot of a nearby neighborhood in Marsh Harbour.

This is our second day at Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour, the place we often used as home base on past trips when weather prevented us from traveling on to Eleuthera and the Exumas. The last reported population was 6,283 people. In 2019 it was directly hit by category 5 Hurricane Dorian, severely damaging or destroying most of its structures. It’s still rebuilding. It’s the commercial center of the Abacos, hosting the larger of two international airports and has the only stop light to be found in the Bahamas out islands.

We arrived just before a major wind event with winds of 40 mph over an extended 10-hour period. We managed to get in a great meal at Wally’s across from the marina and check out one of our old haunts, Snappas Bar and Grill, that was rebuilt up the block after Dorian destroyed the older site. Then we were head’s down, with all the other boaters at the marina, preparing for the gale winds. And, as the standard routine before heavy winds, many of the anchored boats in the bay moved to slips. We were in good position with our bow pointing into the forecast winds so we handled the 3-foot seas that slammed in the marina as well as could be expected. It was a long bouncy ride through the night. The 10 lines and 6 fenders we put out kept us safely in the slip. Today the winds are still above 20 mph with a 1-foot chop, but it’s comfortable. Tomorrow we’re back to low winds and 75 degree days. I tried to get good pictures of the waves at the marina, but it was too dark most of the time the winds were up.

Waking to a sunny day and getting ready for the 9 NM trip to Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour. After checking out I worried about backing this 42′ boat out of its slip and twist to leave with only 25 to 30 feet from my stern to the 75′ Horizon moored on the sea wall directly astern, especially with a fresh wind and strong current pushing me into the large yacht. Others wondered also; the Horizon’s captain brought out a fender and crew to fend BenjOllie off, if necessary. My fellow boaters all came out to talk over options, but Robert the Dock Master had the right plan. He and 3 helpers walked down the pier and Robert directed the crew and volunteers as they grabbed all lines and we safely and quickly pushed the boat out of the slip and carefully twisted her parallel to the Horizon aimed out of the fairway, as the engines rested at idle. While Carey quickly hauled in all lines after the boat was positioned, she got a heartly shout out from the Horizon crew, as they said, “we’re from Virginia, too!” Fun experience, overall.

Safely underway we talked about the white-haired lady on a catamaran moored at our pier. Neither of us got her name but had learned that as a newly widowed at 80, she sold her home in Massachusetts, bought this 30ish foot boat to live on, and she does just that on a mooring ball in Hope Town. Using her dinghy for trips to town, she manages quite well, per the locals, and is now 96. Robert the Dock Master had her move into a slip at the Hope Town Inn and Marina for a few days as this weekend will see some mighty strong winds. Absolutely amazing.

We made the Marsh Harbour trip in just over an hour, backed into our slip and secured the boat for the expected front this weekend. While not the best picture, the aerial shot below gives a feel for the layout of this town in the Sea of Abaco. We’re staying at Harbour View Marina and the entrance to the Bay is at top left as you enter from the north. There are two other marinas in this bay. In addition, Abaco Resort and Boat Harbour Marina is on the south side of the island. The last picture is a sample of one of the homes in the town.

Five days in Hope Town catching up from our last visit in 2017 shows us there’s lots of building going on as we do a golf cart tour — both reconstruction after the hurricane and a major boom in new housing construction beyond the village center. While the town folks are pleased with the investments in the community, they are committed the settlement maintain its historic background and distinctive charm. Many of our old haunts are still here though. Vernon’s, an institutional market is still run by 7th generation islander Vernon Malone, now in his 90’s and a direct descendent of Wyannie Malone, the notable original settler. His current main concern is Trump’s policies that prevent his getting a Visa to visit his children and grandchildren that are living in the US. We found that others in the community have the same problem!

As elsewhere in the Abacos, there are fewer boaters than in the past, but we still find that most are as friendly as ever. A group of 4 guys (one from Radford, VA) we met at FireFly, a local restaurant, just brought a 28′ boat over from Florida that they and their families will use over the coming summer. Plus, Carey met a former Manassas resident now staying here. As a weather update, it’s still in the 70’s with plenty of sunshine.