April 18th- Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abacos

Lat: 26 32N Long: 76 57.5W

Finally, it was time to get the boat off the docks at Marsh Harbour Marina. The steering is fixed and the davits have been installed, although we still have some tweeking to do with the davit installation to make them work right.

It actually looks like these davits were made to fit on our boat. The trip over to Hope Town is only a 10 mile run to the east of Marsh Harbour. That’s what’s so nice about this area. All the little Cays and towns are inside the Sea of Abaco and within about 10 miles of Marsh Harbour. It was a lovely day with little wind so we just turned on the iron spinnacre and chugged our way across. The entrance to this very pretty town is extremely small and leads south into a very well protected harbour.

We’re on a mooring ball in the right of the picture. We’re the middle boat in the group of three. Like I said, the village of Hope Town is very picturesque with its little narrow streets and colourful houses.

The pastel colours and the bright flowers just add to this quaint setting. It is very peaceful as everyone walks and the only vehicles you see are the occasional golf cart. Actually, there is a gate down by the ferry dock that is locked at night which stops all vehicles from entering Hope Town. We noticed that every single house is either for sale or for rent, with most prices between $700K and $1.3 million.

Just inside the entrance to Hope Town is a huge lighthouse that towers over everything here. They say that it is the most photographed site in the Abacos.

It’s open to the public, so who couldn’t resist the chance to climb the 101 steps to the top. Man it sure looks like a long way up. Let’s Go !!.......

Come on Jan, just a few more miles……. I meam STEPS…… but these are the steepest ones of all.

The light at the top is a pressurized kerosene light that is magnified by huge prisms that rotate around the light at night to provide its flashing characteristics.

Ok, we’re at the top. Time to climb out through the little door leading to the outside. WOW! What a view. We can see all over the entire island.

Behind Jan is the Atlantic Ocean and if you look far enough…. AFRICA!! What coulours. The barrier reef here is the third longest in the world at 110 miles and is known for fantastic diving and snorkeling. That’s on our “to-do” list for next trip. To the north of the entrance is this lovely home on their own island. The harbour entrance is just below it in this photo.

Ok, we’re back at the bottom. Will someone please take our picture? PLEASE??

Thank You. So now, it’s off to do a little more touring of this place. Like I said, the streets are very narrow and the houses very colourful. We found a plaque that said “IT IS BELIEVED THAT ON THIS BEACH THE FIRST LOYALISTS LANDED IN 1785”. Just on the other side of the town is a spectacular beach. Too bad the latest storm deposited a lot of sea grass on the sand.

Ok, too many pictures so I’ll have to continue this in another email after our rest stop at the local pub.

OK, so the pub rest is over and it’s off to explore a little more around Hope Town. Above the ferry dock is the Hope Town Lodge. It’s a quaint bunch of rental buildings centered around a 3 story lodge…… all painted white with blue trim.

All the views of this lovely place are of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse, which was built in 1826, in the background

There are still reminders of past tragedy here, as you can see.

This very old historic cemetery is being kept up as a reminder of those who have past through here long before any of us.

I've mentioned curly tails in the past. These are actually curly tailed lizards that are here in the thousands. They're very curious and run really funny. Most are only 4-5 inches long. Have a look.

April 19th - Hope Town to Guana Cay
Lat: 26 40N Long:77 07W

After a relaxing evening under the flashing light of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse in Hope Town, it was time to move on, so we dropped the mooring and headed out the narrow channel northward to Great Guana Cay. The water was a pretty green colour and as we discovered, the dark green patches weren't coral heads, but rather, grassy areas in a constant 8-10 feet of water. We didn't have to dodge them. Yay!

We arrived in Great Guana Cay after a couple hours and took a marina at the Orchid Bay Yacht Club and Marina. Not much of a yacht club and the marina was mostly empty but the facilities were very nicely kept.

Unfortunately, the rock breakwater has been damaged by hurricanes and offered little protection from the southwest wind that night. It was very bumpy and rollie at high tide, making it difficult to sleep.

The remainder of our afternoon was taken up with a short run over to "Nippers Beach Bar & Grill". It was a little on the quirky side with all the bright colours etc. and looked a bit like a circus.

However, it was situated overlooking another very nice beach.

After a few drinks and a nice supper it was time to head back to the boat.

On the way back we came upon this little house who decided to use his shutters in a useful way, "you supply the sunlight and we supply the power."

Just down the lane was the Pirate's Cove Tiki Bar. I understand the food is delicious .... and the deal is good ... as long as you supply the entree.

These three were destined for somebody's plate very soon.

Our taxi waited and it was time to go ... but the taxi was long dead!

We decided to continue through the back roads back to the marina.

Tomorrow is Friday April 20th, with bad weather forecast it's time to get back to Marsh Harbour and safe at a dock until Tuesday when we head north to Green Turtle Cay, then on to Great Sale Cay before heading back to Florida .... and the long trek home. Total distance travelled to date - 2,971 nautical miles by boat AND all hand steered! No Autopilot!

Happy Easter From Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

Yesterday, Easter Sunday has come and gone and Wind Warrior 1 is safely tucked in at the Marsh Harbour Marina in the Abacos. I say tucked away as we had quite a rough trip getting here from Harbour Island and Spanish Wells with very high seas and a huge swell. Along the way oone of our steering cables broke and we had to restle the boat for about 5-6 hours with a rudder that would not go to port...... so as the Bahamians here in Marsh Harbour told us on the radio... "Don't worry mon. If she won't go to port, then go to starboard. You'll just get there from the other direction". It sure made me laugh. Anyway, tomorrow, being Tuesday I'll round up some parts and we can replace the cable and continue on our journey. I saw a woman in a tee shirt today that said "Attitude is governed by Latitude". How very true. On this Easter Monday, all is well in Marsh Harbour so I thought I'd attach this video clip of what we're seeing for you to enjoy. Ron & Jan

April 4th - Harbour Island Touring

This morning Ron was up bright and early and off in the dingy to Ross's Golf Cart Rentals in Dunmore Town. When he got there "Cookie" had just left with his wife to go shopping sooooo ..... it was time to wait again. Eventually Cookie showed up with his office girl ... don't know if that was his wife or not!
Well, the golf cart was finally rented and it was time to discover this place called Harbour Island.
Yesterday, I said that this island was a playground for the rich and famous. That is partly true as in the north part of the island there are many very nice mansions. We tried to get a closer look today but had no access to the area. It appears that both coasts of Harbour Island are very pretty and there is a lot of wealth here.... however, the center streets on this island are inhabited by very many, very poor Haitians. You don't see this until walking the "back streets".
Also, two things jump right out at you as you drive the golf cart around. First, it is extremely dusty here as very few roads are paved. Secondly, very few of the black women will even acknowledge you when you speak or wave to them. I still haven't figured that one out yet but I can only guess that the rich Americans who live lavish lives here don't contribute to the local economy at all and the blacks do not appreciate it at all.
Like I said, the main street, Bay Street is very nicely done up with brightly coloured houses and two exclusive yachting marinas.

The narrow streets, so common in this area make the use of large cars or trucks impossible.

As a result, golf carts appear to be the norm and everyone owns at least one.

This afternoon we discovered a huge beach famous for its PINK sand. This beach rivals a few that we've seen in our travels over the years.
We spent time swimming and playing in the sea before going for a walk on the very powdery sand followed by lunch at the Coral Sands Hotel which overlooked the beach.

The view of the beach was fantastic from our vantage point.

As beautiful as this beach is, there were very few people on it. Overlooking the beach were many exclusive homes.

Back in Dunmore Town we passed the local straw market down by the government wharf....

... the local "Piggly Wiggly" food store ....

....and the local "All Ages School" .... the kids in the uniforms at right were shoveling dirt into the wheel barrow for some unknown reason to us.

The rooster was the local version of the school bell ... "cock a doodle doo"!!

This foundation for one of the houses was very unusual. The roots of the tree had grown along the wall and appeared to be supporting it now.

Back on the beach it was time for a walk and time to cool off. It's amazing how you don't realize just how pretty things can be and we take them for granted ... and I mean the beach!!

After a little cooling off, it was back to the dusty roads....

... and past the large estates ....

... to the waterfront .... Oops! Who took all the water?

And back down to our boat so that we could enjoy another one of these ....

Tomorrow, we depart the Eleuthera and the Exuma Cays for the last time and head north across the Northeast Providence Channel for a distance of some sixty nautical miles until we arrive in our new cruising grounds ... Great Abaco Island and "The Abacos" as the chain of islands is known.
We'll be spending April in such places as Marsh Harbour, Green Turle Cay, Man-o-War Cay, and Hope Town before rounding Grand Bahama Island to Freeport and Port Lucaya where we'll rest for a few days before heading back to the USA and beginning our long journey home to Nova Scotia.

We will never forget the good times we've had, the great beaches and scenery, the cruising friends we've made or the fantastic Bahamian people we've had the pleasure of meeting so far.

April 2nd - Spanish Wells - Touring

All day yesterday was spent touring the island of Spanish Wells ... by golf cart. This place is very "interesting" as I said previously.
Early in the day we were visited by Tom & Jean Goldson, who were originally cruisers out of Rhode Island but for the past 13 years have owned a house in Spanish Wells. They are wonderful people and Tom is a wealth of historical information about the Bahamas and especially Spanish Wells.
They invited us to their little home just up the street from where we docked our dingy, and we spent the evening telling lies .... I mean stories .... about each others adventures while "tipping the elbow" and eating snacks.
Did I mention that the island is dry ..... well, only if you can't get your liquor from somewhere else.

It was very nice of them to open their home to us for the evening. It was a lot of fun.

Our tour of the island took us down the main street where there are many little stores, and RBC (they're everywhere) and a large grocery store. You have to remember that the streets are very small and very narrow and in most cases you can't pass two golf cars going in different directions.

The homes here range from very little cottages to large cement homes with clay tiled roofs. All are equally nice and brightly painted.

The main industry here is fishing and the seawall lining the harbour is full of boats from small open boats to large fishing draggers.
Lobster season closed today and all the boats have returned to offload their catches of lobster tails. Some boats had as many as 22,000 lbs that were caught down in the Jumento Cays, in the southern Bahamas.
As with all the islands in the Bahamas, life revolves around the "Mail Boat". Here you see the M/V Bo Hengy II as she pulls into Spanish Wells from the western entrance to drop off passengers and cargo arriving from Nassau.

Did I say "touring"?? Well, you need a vehicle to do that so we got into our rented golf cart and away we went.

We passed many, many homes for sale during the day, however, as Tom put it, an American arrived here a number of years ago and offered a huge amount of money for someone's home and it was sold. Word quickly spread and now "everything" is for sale just to test the market.

April 3rd, Spanish Wells to Dunmore Town on Harour Island
Lat: 25 30N Long: 76 35.3W

For the past couple days all we were told by locals was that you had to have a pilot to guide you safely through the treacherous coral heads to get to Harbour Island. There is only one way in and one way out of Harbour Island and a pilot costs $80 each way.
A look at the chart showed that the channel is very convoluted and very narrow .... but heck .... the Bo Hengy II makes the trip once a day, and it's a lot bigger than us .... so let's do it!! The trip is only 12 miles long.

We departed Spanish Wells at 10am in absolutely perfect conditions .... calm seas ... mid tide ... teh sun high in the sky and behind us.... and no wind to create waves that would diminish the underwater visibility.

The first point of land (Gun Point) was sure a surprise as the channel took an immediate hard turn to starboard and the water depth dropped to near 7 feet ... still enough for us .... but what about those coral heads? All we saw was white sand banks all over the place .... Still need a pilot ??? Not yet!

I was trained all my life to navigate a vessel, and I was confident that I could do this.
With Ron steering and Jan up on the bow identifying the coral heads (actually, it was better to have her up there so she couldn't see just how shallow it was getting), we kept trucking along as, like I said, visibility was fantastic and you could see everything.

Did I mention the navigational aids down here?? .... well they go from a pole with a bird on it to just having a rusty old pole with no bird .... and paint?? ... forget it!!

Our route took us winding through very clear water, and the guide books say that these coral heads can rise from 30 feet up to within a few feet of the surface .... piece of cake .... we've done the inside route of the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia many times and you can't see the bottom.
This is easy. I took this picture in 17 feet of water.

Along we went .... more navigation aids ....

..... and more coral heads and shallow water. We were doing fantastic.

Finally, we made it to the entrance of Harbour Island and right in the middle of the very narrow channel was a beautiful power yacht. We're not going to hit this baby so we slowed to let it pass.

Everything was fine until Jan looked over the side and realized that there wasn't enough room for a sobster to cawl under us ... and we were making 6 knots over the bottom.
"NO PROBLEM" I calmly told her .... it's only sand ... and you can see where the keels and propellers of boats have carved trenches into the bottom.

WE MADE IT!!! .... through the treacherous Devil's Backbone ... and without the services of our highly recommended pilot. Even the pilot recommended that we help him make a living.
Once we were well up into the harbour, around a few more sandbars what a surprise we got. This place is for the rich and famous celebrities. Mega yachts everywhere and all between 150 and 200 feet long. I counted twenty five of them. now I know where all the propeller tracks in the bottom came from!
Harbour Island is known for rich celebrities visiting the island to take in the perfect harbour, the beautiful scenery and the infamous pink sand beaches. We've yet to see any of this as we just got here.
We continued into the anchorage off Dunmore Town proper and it was time to relax with a drink and a well deserved swim....

"GOOD GOD" some of you might say .... but Jan caught this one with my eyes closed. I was actually waving to her ... twice.

The houses on the hill ahead of us are in sharp contrast to anything we've seen in the Exumas. They are larger and more elegant. This is like America all over again.
Even the Yacht Club and Marina is brightly painted.

With all the boats tucked away for the night at the marinas and in the anchorage ....

We bid you a fond "Good Evening" from the crew of Wind Warrior I, at anchor in Dunmore Town, on the north tip of Eleuthera Island ... still making our way through paradise as we continue our journey through the Bahamas.

Ron is honouring Neptune and the Sun God for giving us another fantastic day ..... blowing of the conch shell as sunset is a mariner's tradition.