Blog of Events & Happenings

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.

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.