Tahiti Beach

Sailed around the east of Great Abaco island into pelican harbor and Lubbers channel. Great and beautiful sail with blue skies ahead, but looking behind us we saw a huge and nasty black cloud and rain over the land with the more northern cays all but obscured with fog or rain or both. For a while we were able to run the edge of this area and it was kindof fun seeing the bad weather so close and still sailing along in lovely weather. Hopetown sailing races were sailing and there were Marshall 18 catboats in the race , very pretty as always. Eventually though, all of us were caught in the rain. Soaking and vehement rain. We gave up on our destination and threw out a hook near Tahiti beach. It is a wonderful destination all by itself. Ducked into the cabin to wait for the rain to stop. That didn't happen until late afternoon so we decided to stay put. CrackerP's bar was about a mile across the bay. Dinghyed over . They have a legendary full moon party but it was canceled no reason. Still a fun time. Cracker P's is named for a man who came to Abaco from Georgia in the late 1800's. He reportedly shot the sheriff in his Georgia home and lived in Lubbers Quarters off Abaco in a bit of seclusion maybe as an escape. It seems he was a colorful character and a bit of a recluse. His reputation was as an accurate man with a gun. The bar has a couple of signature drinks - shotgun and a bloody sheriff. This is from memory after trying them so it is only more - or less- accurate.

Abaco by land

Yesterday the weather just would not cooperate. A little warmer with winds diminishing but still greater than 20Knots. Seas still choppy. Skies still dark. Getting better but just too slowly. so we rented a car with friends and went to see the parts of Abaco we had missed while we were busy on the cays. First went south to Little Harbor and did some recon for when we sail there. Beyond Little Harbor is Cherokee on the sound by the same name. We don't plan to sail there so it was great to see. They have a long, long dock but even at the end there is very little water at low tide. I think we were about 1/4 mile into the sound and still in water less than 3 feet as it was low tide. People could walk to their moored boats. This area has a remarkable boatbuilding and fishing history and is really lovely. They only got electricity in the 90's. It feels quiet and remote. Ocean on one side mangroves on the other. After some errands we headed to the northern part of the island. We always sailed the cays so we had never been here. The highlight was Cooperstown across the Sea of Abaco from GreenTurtle cay. This place is not on many tourist maps but it is great!!!!!!! Small houses, clearly no really wealthy folks and no real harbor just a few docksthat jutted out into the Sea of Abaco. At 13 feet they have pretty deep water for this area too. People fish and build but it looks pretty quiet. There are govt offices here and at least a half dozen churches for about 500 people. Supposedly there are 2 bars. we only found one - UNKA NOELS CONChH CRAWL. This is amazing. Built into the water, it is filled with memorabelia from Noel's life , including turtle shells and a Loggerhead turtle skull that was bigger than a human skull, an alligator head and a deer pelt Over the bar are several hand written signs. "No fighting tolerated" probably arguing is ok . "No credit Don't be sad Go work" "No Dope Smoking". There were also many pictures of pinup girls over the bar. I am not sure if it is usually men only but we were welcome. I had a drink with about 10 ounces of rum , 2 ice cubes and a tablespoon of juice. Others stuck with beer . Good that I wasn't the driver. Noel showed us his saxophone but wasn't feeling "sporty" so not interested in playing any songs at that time. Great talking with him though. Met a man who worked on a boat in Treasure cay and came north to Long Island every summer. He had been in fishing tournaments in Block island, Nantucket and MV. He enjoyed telling us how to cook bahamian lobster - split the body and tail , spice it and grill it - but he wouldn't tell us too much about the specific spices. The wind was too wild to sit on the porch and it rained but the view was gorgeous. It is my favorite so far I would love to be there for music and dancing. Maybe on the way back.

Northers

This shows whale key in the distance. Low tide all day so we couldn't do Don't rock again. We came through whale passage on Friday - great day- snorkeling and lunch before getting into the harbor back at Treasure Cay. The ocean was smooth with gentle rollers spaced wide apart, and a deep blue color we don't see much of on the Sea of Abaco. Started breezing up on Sat as we sailed to the Jib room dock and by Game time Sun we were in a howling norther. The wind makes so much noise in all the rigging and the Sea of Abaco develops a chop with whitecaps that are steep and really close together . Nothing but windblown whitecaps and spray. Long pants, sweat shirts etc. Ok I know that you in the frozen north can't feel too bad for us. But these fronts sure make themselves felt. I was glad to sit tight and do chores. Hopefully by tomorrow we will head to the Southern part of the Abacos and Little Harbor. Winds and seas have been settling most of today so things should be vastly improved . The dock had cable so we got to see the game Sunday on a friend's boat!!

Manjack Cay

Only 4 miles from Green Turtle Cay is Manjack Cay. It has an alias and is sometimes called Nunjack Cay. Small, with only 3 houses and 2 year round residents, it is a place where you can really imagine what these islands looked like when they were first discovered. We got here yesterday and took the dinghy around some small coral cays to get closer to the the ocean side of the Cay. As we walked around the point to the east an astonishing ocean beach divided by many coral formations that looked like jetties appeared. It stretched for miles until it gave way to a gorgeous big sandy beach. The reef is about 500 yards offshore there so there are big crashing waves there. It is hard to believe that things can continue to be so beautiful. After the dinghy ride and a beautiful walk we went ashore to a small but lovely beach on the Sea of Abaco side. This one is ringed by coconut palms. The folks who live here welcome cruisers and have set up a picnic table and a few chairs. There was a ladder near the palm trees so I got a few coconuts and used the tools there to open them up. We had coconut and coconut water. It turns out that by itself coconut water is mild and a little sweet with rum it is very good! Last night a norther started to come though and now the wind is howling but the sun didn't set until 6 or so and it isn't dark until 630. Temps are still about 70 and the boat is sitting well on 2 anchors. We can't get over how beautiful it is here.

Don't Rock

Sometimes I think that Tom is like a baseball player who can't lay off the high pitches There is a passage between the cays in Abaco called the Don't Rock passage. It is named for a huge rock that is in the course. If you can navigate it you can avoid going out into the ocean around Whale Cay. The advice is that boats that draw more than 3 feet should probably go in the ocean. But the passage shows 4 feet at MLW so a boat drawing 4 feet2 inches or so should surely be able to transit at high tide right? Tom can't resist. Besides don't rock is enough like don't go that it becomes a challenge.... A couple of days ago -with a noon high tide we set off for Don't Rock at 1030 and completed the passage at 1130. it really was just a few miles with a long sand spit on 1 side and a bit of coral bar on the other. Tom said that it was easy beans. The water was crystal clear and easy to read. As soon as he said that we heard an odd grinding noise. No bumps no apparent problems . Maybe it was just to keep us from getting cocky. Made Green Turtle Cay soon after noon moored in Black Sound . Ashore the settlement of New Plymouth is a neat town. It looks a little like New England. It feels like a community too. The ocean beaches are astonishing. We spent a little time at Miss Emily's having a " world famous "goombay smash! The abacos are so easy and beautiful that it is difficult to think of leaving. Internet access is sketchy but we will keep blogging as we can.

Treasure Cay

This is a quiet and pretty resort but the "villas" are not big nor too numerous. Treasure Cay is actually connected to Great Abaco Island it feels a bit more in touch and a bit more resort-ish than the other cays we have visited. The beach, as advertised, is beautiful . Aquamarine and turquoise waters are edged by a semi circle of powdery sand. The beach goes on for about 3 miles and ends in a coral and rock point which was the place of the first settlement of American loyalists who emigrated after the Revolutionary war. As it is placed on the Sea of Abaco not the Atlantic the water is calmer and even clearer than the ocean beaches we saw. Happily there is also a beach bar. Life is difficult but we are bearing up under the strain.

Hopetown Harbour

Navigating here is so different from in New England. The channels into harbors (or harbours as reflects the islands' British past )are barely marked. In Hopetown there are small green and red markers that look like mooring balls. the channel has 5 feet of water at low tide Once in the harbor depths are about 14 feet or so. You should see the size of the boats in the harbor! The dock master told us that he could " almost always find a spot for a little boat like yours!" I really wondered how some of those 50 or 70 ft boats got in. Today we entered Treasure Cay . This had one serious curve to enter with coral and sand bars not 5 feet away. This channel had stakes though and was fairly well marked. We had a gorgeous sail with the wind right behing us and the sails wing and wing the whole way. Got the anchor down about 5. Reports are that this is one of the best beaches in the Bahamas . We will keep you posted.

Just Cruising

We have been back and forth around what is called the Hub of Abaco. Thisis the center of and area includes Man of War cay, Marsh Harbor and Hopetown and Great Guana Cay too. The water is so beautiful it is difficult to describe. We had been swimming every day until a serious cold front blew through lastTuesday. Temps got cold ( I know 55 doesn't sound cold but it feels cold here. ) and wow did the wind blow! I am constantly impressed with how important the weather is when living on board. The cold could only last a couple of days and we are now managing low 70's and a nice sunny day with fresh breezes. As we sail between cays Tom manages to pick his way through shoals that leave me with my heart in my mouth. I am really avoiding looking at the depth sounder but Tom is good at this. We are both learning to read the water and see the deeper darker watersand stay out of the very light ones. One of the cruising guides said stay out of the pinot grigio! But often my sightings of shallow water are tinged with a paniced voice while Tom just clamly moves into the deeper spaces. We 've done a bit of snorkeling seeing huge sea stars and a few fish. We are finding some great places and exploring. We are looking forward to some sailing now that the winds are less than 40Knots. O yes and the rum it is cheaper than beer wine and maybe even water. This is a charmed life!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We're in Hopetown on Elbow Cay in the Abacos and have been having excellent sunny weather (until today...) The internet has been spotty though. Thanks for all of your Merry Christmas and Happy New Year wishes; we missed all of you guys.

Last night we went ashore for Junkanoo. Weird name, good party. Some locals dress up vividly with huge hats and march slowly around town banging drums, shaking noisemakers and generally making as much chaos as possible. There were also great fireworks in the harbor. We haven't been up that late for a while.

Ok, off for lunch in White Sound and for some exploring; we'll be on again soon with pictures and more stories. Keep sending your comments or emails, we love reading about your holiday adventures.