Author: Phil

Finally, the winds have died down, and we woke to less than 10 knots, a perfect day to travel to Hope Town on the Sea of Abaco, even though we’ll likely see 3-foot seas as they lay down from past strong winds. Hope Town is a perfect island getaway located on Elbow Cay. It’s steeped in history and dotted with quaint New England style houses and cottages. It’s home to the last kerosene-lit lighthouse in the world. Getting there was accompanied by heavy rains most of the day. Luckily, it’s only an 8 mile trip and we were tied up by 12:30. We’re staying at the Hope Town Inn and Marina and enjoying this top-of-the-line facility. Probably be here for a week checking out the changes resulting from the 2019 hurricane. We ‘ve been updated by many fellow boaters on the changes … all commiserating that the cay is becoming more commercialized. The draw for transient boaters has jointly been the simple charm of the historic settlements, as well as the natural beauty throughout Abaco. Cruise ships don’t enter the Sea of Abaco and the settings are not developed or staged. Or, they weren’t until Disney purchased a cay at the bottom of the Abacos, outside of the Bahamanian Bank. Haven’t yet heard the status of that.

We didn’t leave on the 20th as planned because the winds were a very brisk 25 mph from the North and the Sea of Abaco had 3 1/2 footers to travel through to Hope Town. We are safely moored at Guana and decided to stay put until the weather improved. That appears to be Thursday. Hopefully we’ll be underway for Hope Town tomorrow. We are enjoying the time on board doing a few chores and some reading. Too much wind for much walking around.

Paid our bill on the 18th and were underway by 9 AM for our 16 NM passage to Orchid Bay Yacht Club on Great Guana Cay. But, before we left Green Turtle, I filled the water tank. Boaters have to pay for water by the gallon in the Bahamas at a cost of $0.35/gallon in most places and it is all R/O. Needless to say, we monitor our usage over the 2+ months we’re here. And, before we left, Carey insisted we get a photo of an anchored sailboat with an attached menagerie of inflated ducks trailing off their stern. Note in the following photo the larger leading duck is festooned with a real set of headphones. They’re Canadians (our favs!). Then, heading out we quickly found fresh 12-15 knot winds as we made our passage to and around Whale Cay in the Atlantic Ocean. Surprise … the trip was pleasant — two-foot ocean swells with a 6 second period made for an easy ride, even with the moderate south winds. The Whale passage can be hazardous under certain conditions, but we safely ducked back into the Sea of Abaco from the 5 NM Atlantic Ocean travel and proceeded to Orchid Bay. Arriving by noon, we rented a golf cart and quickly toured the island, had lunch at Nipper’s and drinks afterward at Grabbers Restaurant on the beach, both 2 of our favorites. (DON’T FORGET — LARGER PICTURES WHEN USING WEBSITE BY HOVERING OVER PIC AND TAPPING “CTRL” TWICE. USE TWO FINGER EXTENSION ON PHONE OR TABLET).

We woke to strong moderate winds the next day (15-20 knots from the north) and a forecast indicating we may have a week of these and possibly stronger winds. So, we decided to leave tomorrow for Hope Town where there’s lots to keep us happy and busy for a week in case the weather doesn’t improve. Meantime, today, a Nippers lunch and off on the golf cart checking out any changes on the island since our last trip here. Some pictures below.

Lazy relaxing days as we continue to be moored at Leeward Marina in Green Turtle Key. Sightseeing, reading, and relaxing plus a few chores on the boat make for a relaxing time as we await the passing of a cold front associated with 20+ knots of wind from the north that can make the passage through the Whale, to get us to the rest of the Abacos, a non-starter. We’re enjoying life and will move on to the rest of the Abacos early next week.

Waited for sunrise so we could easily spot shallow water, then left West End about 10 AM for the 46 nautical mile trip to Great Sale Cay, a popular anchorage on the route to the Abacos . Arrived about 3 PM and dropped anchor among 3 other sailing boats (couple of catamarans and a single hull) and a power boat. Quiet evening. Next morning we waited for the sun to position overhead so shallow spots and damaging reefs can be spotted when sun’s at its peak window (10 AM to 2PM). (Non-transitioning sunglasses are also recommended for sighting reefs.) Off on our 58 mile sail to Green Turtle Cay, a historic settlement and a favorite stop for boaters. Arrived at 5 PM and docked at Leeward Yacht Club on Black Sound. We’ve now logged 170 nautical travel miles from Florida’s east coast and are enjoying some very nice 75-degree sunny weather. With no predetermined schedule (except for Peggy’s arrival), we awaited the arrival of our golf cart rental and had a light dinner with the required goombay smashes at the club’s poolside bar. Tough life, eh! (as the Canadians would say). It’s been 9 years since we’ve been here as the Abacos have been rebuilding after a devastating hurricane in 2019. And, of course, we have to factor in our 2017 move to Florida, followed by the now established 4-year move back to Colonial Beach! Seriously, every 4 years since our marriage we have moved! Carey likes to call them “life chapters.” As of now, we’ve been back in CB for almost 5 years. Hope this moving turmoil is over!. We’ll just Snowbird down south on the boat. Again, I hope.

Now, this is the life we’ve been fortunate to enjoy over the years! Lazy days exploring on and off the golf cart checking out the progress made rebuilding, visiting old haunts, sampling the local food and libations and meeting new folks. At Pineapples, a waterfront bar, with pool and good music, a jolly group who had just boated in from Guana Cay plopped down and asked “where ya from? ” We said “Virginia” and they responded the same. Richmond and Va Tech alumni. Good group and Carey did her usual promotion of Colonial Beach. No doubt we’ll see them in the summer, trouping into Dockside, Ice House and all other establishments! Out and about the next day, after some boat chores, we found our way to Sundowners, a local and visitor favorite waterside spot with great drinks, food and prices (more on that later). The descending group there had flown in and chartered. They were a California group (Sacramento and Bay area bunch) looking for the Forty-Niners game. Fly-ins have apparently increased here lately. Previously, cruisers were the dominant visitors, particularly from the Chesapeake and Canada. Number of visitors is way down, especially Canadians, at least so far. We’re just getting into the Abacos and arriving a little late, so we may discover earlier arrivals as we move on … which might not be until Monday, the 12th. Wind and wave predictions for passage around “the Whale” are currently not good. The Whale, is a small uninhabited cay in the middle of a dangerous inlet due to notorious breaking waves from ocean swells. It has to be transitioned as the only other route is shallow throughout. Next destination is Marsh Harbor, a small town on the Abaco mainland that is key for provisioning boaters’ needs. Our immediate need is 2 additional batteries to increase our inverter’s amp load that is being taxed during overnight anchorage due to the new installation of Starlink and keeping our TV connection active. We’re news junkies and info is definitely required these days! Below photos are a sample of local scenes.