Update 4/21/08 - It's a tough life in the Bahamas

Time sure goes fast here in the Bahamas. For the most part the weather has been great, temperatures in the 70’s that have been good for walking, swimming etc and comfortable for sleeping at night.

From Tavern Cay we went back into Marsh Harbor for a couple of days to ride out some strong winds. During that time we did some shopping, relaxed, used the pool, snorkled on mermaid reef and spent an enjoyable Sunday visiting and playing cards on Salty Dawg.

We then went over to Guana Cay for a couple of days where we enjoyed a nice dinner with our friends, Bob and Gerry Sylvester at their house there, we spent the next day walking the beautiful beach at Guana, had lunch at Nipper’s and then met Bob & Gerry again for the “pot luck “ dinner at Grabber’s. The pot luck occurs there every Wednesday night and is attended by both island residents and cruisers. It was a lot of fun.

After that, we went back into Marsh Harbor to prepare for the arrival of my brother Ron and his wife, Brenda. While waiting we walked and shopped, took in the “box car” races on Saturday, went to steak night at the jib room with Lamb Chop and generally relaxed, used the pool and took it easy, We attended a “low country boil” at the marina on Sunday night accompanied by Tim and Jan from Lamb Chop and Paul and Claire from Our Turn. When Ron & Brenda arrived on Monday, we made sure they enjoyed the pool, had dinner on board and then took them to Curly Tails for some island entertainment.

Tuesday and Wednesday did not go as planned because a front went through and the winds were more than I wanted to travel in. So we changed plans (all of our travel plans are usually set in Jello), rented a car and drove down to Little Harbor where we walked the beach and had lunch at Pete’s Pub. The next morning we drove to Treasure Cay where we walked the beach and toured the marina. Driving on the left handed side of the road was an interesting challenge. That evening we went to Rib night at the Jib Room where they serve a mammoth rack of ribs and follow that with island music, dancing and a limbo contest (its more like a show as the “limbo king” always outdoes everyone.

The winds finally subsided somewhat so we headed off for Hopetown. At Hopetown we climbed to the top of the lighthouse, walked the beach and took a swim, and then went up to the Hopetown lodge where we used the pool. We had planned on an evening at Captain Jack’s but all seemed tired so we didn’t go there. The next morning we called the Abaco Inn and they came down and picked us up to go to the Inn for breakfast. It was a nice breakfast in a very scenic location and the ride there gave Ron & Brenda an opportunity to see a part of the island we couldn’t walk to. After that we toured the Winnie Malone Museum which told the history of Hopetown, took a long beach walk and took a swim in both the ocean and the pool.

The next day we motored over to Guana where we took a long beach walk, swam in the ocean (the waves were a lot of fun) and had lunch at Nipper’s. We then went back into Marsh Harbor and did steak night again at the Jib Room. Ron & Brenda really enjoyed that. The following day we did another snorkle trip to Mermaid Reef, accompanied by Tim and Jan from Lamb Chop and Bill from Calypso. It was then time for them to take the plane home and we proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pool. We then joined Bill and Valarie from Calypso to watch the sunset with Doug and Lynn on BFB. BFB is a 1975 Huckins with classic lines. We were given a tour by Doug - it’s a very pretty boat . The sunset was spectacular that evening also.

Today we left Marsh Harbor and motored down to Tilloo Bank but the wind became unfavorable to stay there so we motored up to Man-O-War and picked up a mooring right off the marina. We expect to be here in the Bahamas another week or so and will then head back toward the states.

Someone is posting comments to this blog that say "Please Click Here". Clicking on this link activates my anti virus software so do not click on a comment like this if you see it. I've brought it to the attention of the blogmasters and they deleted the most recent one.
We hope everyone is enjoying the spring. It's become beautiful here. I've added some pictures of the box car derby, Jean & Jan raking and scraping, Hopetown Harbor, Ron and Jean dancing at steak night. 
Steve and Jean
M/V Sun Cat

Update 04/05/2008 - The Bahamas

Little Harbor

Wow, I just realized that almost a month has gone by since I did the last update! That must mean we’ve really been enjoying the Bahamas for the past month!

We wound up spending 4 nights at West End, walking, biking and enjoying the pool. The last night we had a big dock party which was attended by most of the cruises present. The next day we were in a virtual parade from West End to Great Sale as everyone headed east through Indian Cay pass and out onto the bank. That evening, Ted and Nancy hosted a happy hour on their boat Aloha Friday for a number of the cruisers and we had a good night at anchor there at Great Sale.

The next stop was Allen-Pensacola Cay where we spent 2 days accompanied by Gypsy Time and Lamb Chop. The first day was beautiful, we found the path to the other side, walked the beach and found the tree(s) cruisers hang mementos of their visit on. We intended to return the next day but the wind changed around and we spent a rough day working on the boats after an early morning anchor drill.

The next day we went to Green Turtle Cay which is one of our favorite stops. We wound up spending a week there. We took the dinghies into the settlement at New Plymouth where we played tourist and shopped a little. We walked all over the northern end of the island which has long, beautiful beaches .We also spent considerable time at the Bluff House and Green Turtle Club pools. One day we rented golf carts and explored every road on the island (including some that turned out to be long driveways. We also took them over to the settlement and had a picnic on the beach. The picnic was fun, even in the 25 knot winds. On Wednesday, we danced and partied to the music of the Gully Roosters a (the) local band.

After Green Turtle, we successfully negotiated the Whale Cay pass and went into Marsh Harbor where we spent several days shopping, walking and playing tourist. We spent one evening at Rib night at the Jib Room. On rib night, they serve a large rack of ribs plus salads and desserts and your favorite beverage. The meal is followed by island music and dancing and a limbo contest. One night we also participated in Trivia night at the marina. Trivia night consists of happy hour, a pot luck dinner and then a trivia contest. The Teams consist of 6-8 people and our team actually won.

From Marsh Harbor we headed down to Little Harbor which is at the bottom of the Abaco’s . The wind was still in excess of 20 knots so the trip was a little rough when we had to cross a couple of the passages that lead out to the open Atlantic. The harbor is well protected and interesting to visit. We walked on the beach, explored a cave that the first settlers lived in when they first got to the harbor. We also found the foundry where they cast sculptures in bronze. It was not operating on that day, however. We had dinner that evening and the next morning Pat on Salty Dawg led a dinghy expedition consisting of the crews of Salty Dawg, Sun Cat, Gypsy Time, Lamb Chop and Silver Foxes. The expedition took us into some shallows behind some mangrove covered islands. On the way there we saw several large sea turtles and some large starfish. We also saw some big rays, a shark and a number of smaller fish. Behind the islands we also found a “blue hole”. A blue hole is a place the water suddenly gets deep. This one was about 30 yards in circumference and dropped from 5-6 feet to over 30 feet in less than a yard.

The wind was forecast to increase again so we felt it best to leave there and proceed back across the entrance to the passages rather than have a rough ride back. We stopped at and anchorage on the edge of Tillo Bank where we anchored off a nice beach in 5-6 feet of water over bright sand. It was my first opportunity to see how the bottom of the boat looked and I swam along the sides where I could see the entire bottom. The zincs looked like new and running gear looked good but there has been a considerable amount of growth so I’m going to get it cleaned before we head back to the States . It actually looked really good considering nothing has been done to it since early last January.

The following day we went back into Marsh harbor as the wind was building as predicted and the anchorage was not well protected. We spent a couple of days there and then headed out again to Hopetown on Elbow Cay. At Hopetown we again rented golf carts with Gypsy Time and Lamb Chop and toured the southern half of the island, spending part of two days at Tahiti Beach. We also spent an afternoon at the pool at the Hopetown Lodge and took in the entertainment at Captain Jack’s.

That brings us up to today. Gypsy Time headed to Man o War Cay to begin their trip back to the states and we headed to Tilloo Bank again with Lamb Chop. Unfortunately, the wind direction was not good to stay there so we anchored off of Tavern Cay. I took a swim to check the anchor and discovered that our anchor was well set but was only 10 feet ahead of a power cable. If we dragged anchor we would hook it for sure. So we picked up the anchor and set it again. This time when I swam torward the anchor, a big ray crossed my path. It was a bit disconcerting to find myself swimming with it!

On the Blog version of this I’ve added some pictures. They are Jean with Tim and Jan from Lamb Chop on the beach at Green Turtle, a pretty road scene at Green Turtle, a picture of Little Harbor looking over the top of Pete’s Pub, part of our crew at the entrance to the upscale dining at Pete’s Pub in Little Harbor, the Limbo King performing at the Jib Room ( we didn’t try this!), and Jean enjoying a dance at Snappas in Marsh Harbor.

We don’t have internet access here so this probably won’t get sent until tomorrow. In any event, you can see we are staying busy and still having a great time.

Steve & Jean
Aboard M/V Sun Cat