Man'O'War and Hope Town again

Marsh Harbour to Man'O'War Cay

We stayed at the Abaco Beach Resort and Marina for 3 nights.  We enjoyed watching the sun set over all the boats anchored in Marsh Harbour while eating dinner at Snappas.  We took a couple of walks into town including to Maxwell's for groceries. We enjoyed a coffee at the Bliss café, a real treat when there aren't Tim Hortons or Starbucks on every corner!  We also enjoyed a delicious lunch at Colours by the Sea, not much to look at but substantial portions of perfectly cooked grouper.  
I was so fed up with the docks, maintenance of the washrooms & showers and the spotty wifi by the time we left Abaco Beach Resort on Friday March 23 that I actually launched into print on Active Captain, boaters social media!  Bottom line, if you pay top dollar at a marina you should be able to expect top notch facilities.
From Marsh Harbour, with the assistance of our friends Pat and Lynn of Adamant 1 from Midland Bay Sailing Club, we secured a mooring ball in the East Harbour at Man'O'War Cay.  

Man'O'War sunset

There we visited with Pat and Lynn, their daughter Kelly, Kelly's husband Rob and their kids. 

Lynn and Pat

We had coffee at the museum, walked the beach, poked our noses into Albury Brothers Boats where they are still building a very high quality fibreglass 23’ centre console power boat, visited the Albury Sail Shop where they sew bags from sail cloth and canvas and bought a couple of Bahamian Print pillow cases from Sally's Seaside Boutique. We also rewarded ourselves for all our walking with an ice cream from Island Treats Takeaway!

Man'O'War Cay sign post

Sunday morning it seemed pretty calm, so Karen had an idea that boats might be moving from Hope Town, so why not dinghy the 3 miles over in our 11' rubber dinghy and see if we could snag a mooring ball!  I’m always up for an adventure, so life jackets on we set off across the south Man'O'War cut in the dinghy.  It was a little bumpy which I initially chalked up to other boat wakes, but on the return trip (having found an empty mooring!) I realised we were crossing the cut at mid tide when the current is strongest and it was opposing the wind causing a nasty little chop!  No matter, the dinghy rode the waves well, even if we did get pretty wet from the spray, and we had our mooring!  

Man'O'War to Hope Town

Hope Town Lighthouse 

As soon as we had everything stowed on Trekker we motored over to Hope Town picking up our reserved mooring.  Karen's brother Richard likened it to reserving your chaise lounge at a resort by putting your beach towel on it! 
Not long after we moored our neighbour came over and “welcomed us to the neighbourhood”!  This was an early reminder of what a pleasant community Hope Town is.
We’ve spent the week hangin’ in Hope Town. Coffee in the morning at the coffee shop, long walks on the beach and checking out the gift shops (most of which have man chairs to relax in). 

Elbow Cay beach

We’ve also had some nice meals at the Hope Town Inn, Wine Down Sip Sip and On Da Beach!
I also went out on the Abaco Rage again for the Hope Town Sailing Club's last race of the year but unfortunately we were short a few crew for ballast and the wind was blowing 17 knots with higher gusts so our skipper Richard wisely decided against racing.  We still had some excitement, being hit with a gust that buried the leeward rail well under the water, and made the boards that we were sitting on to balance the boat seem like they were pretty close to vertical causing us to hang on for dear life to avoid falling off!
Friday we'll leave our reserved sign on the mooring and go to Marsh Harbour to get the boat cleaned and provisioned for Trevor and Kate and bring them back to Hope Town on Sunday.  We can’t wait to give them a taste of the Abacos, one day at a time!

Making wakes!

Little San Salvador Island to Marsh Harbour

We have closed the loop on our voyage through the Southern Bahamas by coming back to where we started in the Abacos at Marsh Harbour. It has been a busy few days to get back here.

You can see our route we have taken so far

After we left Cat Island we had a very pleasant sail over to Little San Salvador Island. We had been warned by other sailors that this island is now a stop for cruise ships and sure enough, as we were heading there we could see a big cruise ship miles away. As we got closer we could see it was a Carnival ship and their ferry tenders were quickly loading passengers back onto the boat. Good timing on our part! The ship left shortly after we anchored and we watched it “sail off into the sunset”! Literally! They call this Half Moon Bay, and it is a beautiful beach where the Cruise lines have built a faux Bahamian village on one end for cruisers to enjoy. There is a “pirate ship” replica, shops and bars and lots of beach chairs lined up along the shore. We made sure we were well away from everything, even though they had gone. Apparently we could call ashore by VHF radio to the island caretaker and ask permission to walk the beach, but were quite happy to have a quiet evening on the boat.

Pic-cruise ship-

The next morning we were up and ready to go by 8am, and just as we were getting the anchor up another cruise ship was putting theirs down. They must have a ship come in there every day. After we left the bay I turned around and noticed another ship coming into the bay. I am sure that the beach was crowded that day!

Our next stop was Rock Sound Harbour on the southern tip of Eleuthera  Island, the place from where we left to go over to the Exumas on our way south. We had another wonderful sail over and anchored in front of Frigates, a beachfront restaurant. We really enjoyed Rock Sound when we were there in January, and so were looking forward to another visit. The next morning we dinghied over to shore and walked down to the local grocery store and were pleasantly surprised to find it well stocked with fresh produce. The mail boat had arrived the day before so again, it was good timing! After loading up and bringing our groceries back to the boat, we went back to shore to explore some caves. We found them easily and walked down a jungle path to a platform and stairway down into the caves. Apparently a cruise line built the steps for day excursions (thanks Cruise lines!). Much nicer that using the rickety old ladder we saw leaning against the side!

The Stairs down into the Caves

The caves were awesome! Huge caves with roots from trees above growing down through the ceiling, stalactites with spider webs clinging to them and all sorts of small holes which I’m sure you could crawl through, but no thanks, I decided to pass! Thankfully I did not see any bats! But it was really cool and worth the walk to it.

The  Caves

That evening we had dinner at Frigates, and enjoyed a lovely sunset and delicious meal.

Sunset on Rock Sound. Trekker is on the left.

The next morning it was time to move on again.  The wind gods had been blessing us with wonderful winds so we took advantage of them once again and headed up the sound to Hatchet Bay, an anchorage that is like a Hole-in-the –Wall, a small entrance that leads to a big protected bay. The reviews of this anchorage are mixed, with warnings of old mooring balls in poor condition and some debris on the bottom to beware of, as well as poor anchor holding. But we took our chances and set the anchor (and made sure it was well in!) When we visited Eleuthera in January we rented a car to explore the island. We stopped at Hatchet Bay to look at the anchorage and found a cute little restaurant called the Front Porch. So, since we were actually there, we went in for dinner (I know, two nights in a row!) We took the dinghy into the government dock, but the ferry from Nassau had just arrived (I’m not sure how it got through that narrow entrance into the bay!) and the dock was very busy so we went down to another dock we had seen and left the dinghy there and set off to find the restaurant. Alice Town is a small settlement which seemed a little run down but in typical Bahamian style, folks always said hello when we walked by. It was a longer walk than we had anticipated but we eventually found the restaurant and had another lovely dinner. Since it was dark when we left to go back to the dinghy, we asked the restaurant to call us a taxi for a ride back.

The Front Porch

The next day was decision day … where to go next? We could either go to Spanish Wells, where we spent 10 days in January, and possibly be stuck there for a few (?) days, as the weather after Tuesday was going to get nasty, or go to Royal Harbour, another hole-in-the-wall anchorage, and jump up to the Abacos the next day, before the weather changed. After much discussion we decided to make the jump up, knowing we would be in the Abacos in plenty of time for Trevor’s visit at the end of March, and not have to worry about getting there in questionable weather.

So at first light, 7am, we upped anchor, along with 4 other boats, and headed off for the Abacos. It’s a fairly long trip, crossing open water exposed to the Atlantic, and we needed to get there before sundown, which is later now that the time has changed. The winds were out of the southwest, so it was right behind us, and with a good breeze we flew across the North East Providence Channel, actually making it to the Little Harbour Cut into the Sea of Abaco by 3pm, so we decided to keep going all the way up to Marsh Harbour and get a dock for the night, as weather reports were talking about squalls coming in overnight. We arrived at the marina at 5:30pm, and after showers, and drink and dinner, we were ready for bed!

So now we have a week to play around the area before the kids arrive.

Our adventure is almost over, its hard to believe how far we have come, one day at a time!

Cat Island

George Town to Cat Island

12 March

It was with mixed emotions Monday morning that we raised the anchor as the sun peeked over Stocking Island.  On the one hand we were happy to be moving on, having spent an unbelievable 12 days on the anchor in George Town.  On the other hand we were leaving alone, saying good bye to Aquila who we traveled with for over four months.  They had decided to go to Long Island before heading north, and at the last minute had outboard engine troubles that needed to be fixed in George Town.  With daylight savings time, sunrise is now around 0700 and we wanted to get away early to have slack tide passing through Conch Cut on our way to Cat Island. 

Michael and Bill

 I was prepared for a motor across to Cat Island because the forecast was for fairly light winds on our stern, but once out of the cut we were able to raise sails and with a bit of judicious tacking downwind (where you head a little closer to the wind to get a better angle, increasing speed, but going a little farther), we were able to sail all the way!

Our first stop in Cat Island was Hawks Nest Resort, located on the extreme southwest tip of the island.  Active Captain reviews warned of a strong current in the Hawks Nest Creek leading to the marina that the dockmaster assured me a couple of times was no problem.  Notwithstanding, we timed our arrival for what we thought would be a rising or slack tide, meaning the current would be in the same direction as the waves pushing  us up the creek.  We arrived to waves crashing on the shore all around the entrance, but with the dockmaster’s “it’s no problem man” echoing in my mind we headed in.   The good news was that the marina had five red buoys and 3 white marking the channel however the channel was very narrow, and once in between the buoys a wave rolled in behind us kicking our stern hard to port pointing us directly at the rocky reef to starboard.  Hard to port on the wheels, Trekker didn’t initially seem to be responding … then around she came, surfing straight down the middle of the channel!  Definitely the hairiest entrance we’ve had to date!

Once in our berth at the marina, we got talking to our neighbours Gil and Sharlene on First Love.  This is their third year cruising the Bahamas, so of course between chatting on the dock, happy hour and dinner at the resort we learned as much as we could from them about Cat Island. 

Tuesday, First Love left the marina to head over to New Bight but we decided to treat ourselves to a marina day, not having to worry about the weather, anchor, power or water!  We biked around the resort including down the middle of the airport runway (probably illegal),

Bicycling down Hawks Nest runway

walked the beach, sat at the resort connected to the internet (checking all the weather models to plan our next steps) and spoke to both Alyssa and Trevor.  We even treated ourselves to another meal at the resort!  Interestingly, we spoke to the 80 year old Texan owner of the resort, Gerry, a couple of times, and apparently the runway was originally built to service the drug smuggling trade! He was a real character and full of stories about the resort, which he has owned for 23 years, and his colorful life.

Hawks Nest Resort

Wednesday morning we left Hawks Nest and had a nice relaxing sail over to New Bight on Cat Island.  Once anchored by First Love, we hiked up Mount Alvernia, the highest point in the Bahamas at 63 metres/207 feet. On top is The Hermitage, built by architect /Roman Catholic Priest Father Jerome in 1939. Using local stone, he built the small medieval monastery where he could get away from the world. He was also a skilled sculptor and as you climb the stone staircase you can see his hand carved stone reliefs of the Stations of the Cross. It was very awe-inspiring.

Mount Alvernia Monastery 

After the walk back down we explored the shoreline in the dinghy, looking for a grocery store. We went ashore and asked at a local restaurant/bar where the grocery store was and were told that it was a fair walk away. We were offered a drive over, but we decided it wasn’t that urgent, so we had a beer instead! She also had fresh garden picked tomatoes and red peppers for sale, so we bought a few of those.

Hidden Treasures restaurant New Bight

Tomorrow, we will sail over to Little San Salvador Island. This tiny island has been bought by Holland America Line and is used for excursions for their passengers. Our guides advise to stay away until after the ships leave, following which you can enjoy this lovely bay in peace. So our plan is to arrive there about 5ish so we don’t have to worry about the cruise ships.

We are slowly making our way north to the Abacos, where we will pick up Trevor and Kate for a week’s visit, then head on to Florida, where we will leave Trekker for the summer.

Our adventure is slowly coming to a close, but we still have a few weeks left to enjoy these wonderful islands … one day at a time

Emerald Bay and George Town

February 27 – 28 The Marina at Emerald Bay

Tuesday February 27 we sailed until the wind gave out and then motored the balance of the way to the Marina at Emerald Bay.  I’m not quite sure what the history of the marina is, but I think it is/was part of a 500 acre Emerald Bay master plan that includes Sandals, a Greg Norman designed golf course and Roker Point Estates. Roker Point estates appears to have got as far as serviced lots with canals behind most lots at which one could dock ones boat.  Unfortunately only a couple of houses appear to have been built.  It may be because the entrance to the marina and canals is exposed to the northeast (next stop Africa) and even when it is relatively calm, a nasty surge that jerks the boat fore and aft and sideways against its mooring lines, continues to push its way into the marina.  We stayed two nights, provisioning during the day in between, and couldn’t leave quickly enough.    We did have a nice Bahamian buffet at the nearby Grand Isle Resort the first night, a real treat after quite a few nights on the anchor.

March 1 – 9

George Town, Exumas

Thursday March 1 we took the roller coaster ride over the swells out into Exuma Sound from the marina turned south and headed for Conch Cut, the entrance to Elizabeth Harbour aka George Town.  The charts have about five waypoints leading through the reefs which we followed while confirming by the colour of the water that we were not being led astray.  It continues to be a bit disconcerting transiting cuts to have breaking surf on either side while the water ahead and behind is relatively calm.  Safely into Elizabeth Harbour Aquila put on their AIS so we could find where they were anchored, and when we got over the number of boats anchored in the harbor (approx. 250 boats), we went to join them.  We’re not the greatest judging exactly where to put the anchor down to be far enough away from the boats ahead and behind, so it took us two tries to anchor, and even then we weren’t that happy with our positioning … oh well, everyone is close in George Town!  We stayed on the boat to make sure that we didn’t too close to anyone and called it a night. 

Next morning Karen noticed a power boat leaving, opening up what looked like a nice big spot so we quickly upped anchor to go and take their spot.  Five (really) tries later we were unable to get the anchor to hold (a first for our ROCNA) or we weren’t happy with our positioning, so we decided to move from Monument Beach down the harbour towards Chat n’ Chill aka Volleyball beach.  First try and we were set … a nice distance from everyone around us!  We spent the day cleaning the boat so it would look spiffy for Alyssa (and let’s face it, a good cleaning is necessary every once in a while), walked the beach, had a beer at Chat n’ Chill and then went to town to pick up Alyssa.  Very uncharacteristically for the Bahamas, her flight was early … so after hugs and kisses and a drink at Peace and Plenty (who couldn’t take us for dinner because three staff had failed to show) we strolled over to Blu at the yacht club and had a surprisingly good dinner.  And to top it off, they played an amazing mix of jazz during our meal!

The rest of the week is really a blur … in no particular order … climbing to the Monument originally used for navigation at 100 feet above sea level, and walking the beach on Stocking Island.

Stocking Island Monument

Drinks, Rummy Cube (a fun version of rummy with tiles) and cribbage with Aquila and Shooting Star at Chat n’ Chill.

Volleyball beach (Chat n' Chill) signpost

Dinghy ride to check out snorkeling spots in the harbour which due to wind and waves were pretty churned up; trips into George Town for shopping, water and fuel.

The Small Boat races organized by the George Town Cruising regatta, where Alyssa and I managed mid fleet finishes in the rubber dinghy Blind Rowing and rubber dinghy Downwind Sailing, where contestants had to create their rig using “whatever”. We fashioned a mast and sail much like the Optimist dinghy and definitely had the prettiest sail, having used a flowered bed sheet! Apparently no points were awarded for style though.

Tangled up with Shooting Star in Blind race

Late start to the downwind rubber dinghy race

Lunch at St. Francis Resort located on Stocking Island overlooking the anchorage.

Alyssa at St. Francis

A very relaxing (read long) lunch at the Lumina Point Resort Lookout restaurant.

Renting a car to drive around the island, punctuated by incredibly delicious “surf and turf” (a hamburger topped with cracked conch) burgers at Tropic Breeze restaurant on Little Exuma.

Alyssa and Hugh at Tropic Breeze

Tropic of Cancer beach

And sadly, leaving the boat at 0730 Friday morning to dinghy into town and drive Alyssa to the airport for her return trip home.  While we are sorry that we didn’t get to take Alyssa “up islands” to one of the smaller cays, we think we gave her a pretty good taste of what “winter camp for adults”  is like in George Town.  We loved having her aboard.

Next, we plan to head over to Cat Island on our way back up to the Abacos to meet Trevor and Kate. Not long after that our odyssey will end with the boat on the hard in Fort Pierce … even one day at a time, it’s all coming too quickly for me!