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| The Famous Hope Town Lighthouse |
We were able to snag a mooring ball in Hope Town, going over
from Man’O’War early one morning and grabbing the only one available in the
harbour. One of our complaints regarding the mooring field is that there will
appear to be many open balls, only to get close to one and see a “reserved”
sign on it. And it may sit empty for a
week, as the renters are off somewhere and since they have paid for it for the
time away, they can hold it. There must be some way to let people know they can
have it for a few days while they are gone. We discussed an app for this ... lol
… or a business of coordinating empty balls. We watched lots of boats,
especially charter boats, coming in at the end of a day expecting to see an
open ball, picking one up, then being chased off by a neighboring boat telling
them its reserved. We had another blow while we were sitting there, and watched
the chaos as boats tried to get secure before it arrived. We felt very lucky to
have picked one up when we did!
Hope Town, much like the rest of
the Bahamas, didn’t hold the same magical appeal for us this year. Maybe
because it wasn’t all new this year. We also found that, even though we have met
up with a lot of different boats and travelled together for a few days, we missed
having a constant buddy boat. We were joined by Janice and Harley (Folly) in
Hope Town for a couple of days, which was great fun. We even convinced them to
go to Monday night JACKS (bingo) at Captain Jacks Restaurant, which was as
crazy as ever. We enjoyed a drink and a game of euchre while waiting for it to
start. Like last year, we had to get there by 4:30 to get a table for the 6pm
game! After bingo we walked over to our favorite restaurant, Wine Down Sip Sip
for a great dinner.
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| Hugh, Janice, Harley, Karen |
We also had a great afternoon on
the (empty) beach hunting for sea glass. The secret (we discovered) is to go at
a calm low tide, and to search out pebbly sand, not hard sand, that hides these
wonderful treasures. We got quite the handful in all shapes, sizes and colour.
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| One day of sea glass bounty! |
Folly left Tuesday morning to
start their trip back to Florida, and their ball was quickly taken by Lynn and
Pat (Adamant I from Midland Bay Sailing Club)) who joined us for a night. They are also on their way north now, but are
taking their boat back to Midland, so they still have quite a journey ahead of
them! We spent most of our mornings going into town and having a coffee at
Hopetown Coffee House, which has great coffee and a lovely porch to enjoy it
on.
We also climbed the 100 steps up the famous Hope Town lighthouse to enjoy the wonderful 360 degree view up there. Can you pick out Trekker in the mooring field?
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| Trekker is lower right boat! |
There weren’t any golf carts
available for rent the whole time we were there, so we did not go as far afield
as last year. Lots of walking and exploring in the town, and along the beach
kept us busy. We rode out another blow (sigh) which ended sea glass hunting
expeditions, with the big waves crashing ashore. We also had the pleasure of meeting up with another
couple, Phil and Michelle on Mariposa, whom we met last year. They live in B.C.,
and had decided to take a year off working, sold their Café, and bought a boat
in New Brunswick and sailed it down to the Bahamas. We met them practically the
first day we arrived in the Bahamas last year, and kept bumping into each other
throughout the Abacos, spending a few fun days together. They loved the Bahamas
so much that they came back for another season, and we have been trying to
catch up to them. Finally, there they were in Hope Town, so we had dinner
together one night on Trekker, and a game of euchre one afternoon. We said another
good-bye as they headed north back to New Brunswick to sell the boat and work
for a few years to build up their cruising kitty for a bigger boat. We stayed
in Hope Town for nine days, and really felt like it was time to move on and see
some other spots in the area. We motored up to Great Guana Cay and our thought
was to spend a couple of nights on the anchor while it was calm, and then move
over to Treasure Cay for yet another “blow”. Since it had calmed down so much
we decided to try to snorkel off the beach on the east side (Atlantic) of the
island, as we had heard there was a great reef to swim out to. We were
disappointed with what we saw, and wonder if we didn’t go out far enough, but it’s
pretty creepy snorkeling in the Atlantic when you really don’t know where you
are going! We had a nice lunch at the famous beach bar Nippers and then headed
back to the boat. The wind had already started to pick up and it was blowing
from the southwest, a direction from which our anchorage provided no protection.
So we quickly decided to up anchor and go over to Treasure Cay and get a
mooring ball (hopefully!) for the night. We entered to harbour with bated breath,
after our experience in Hope Town, but were pleased to see quite a few open balls.
The mooring field is right beside the
marina, where we have reserved for a night (or more) to get fresh water, and
get ready for Alyssa to come!
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| Treasure Cay Beach |
The next challenge is where we
are going to stay while Hugh is away. We called Mangoes Marina in Marsh Harbour
about a month ago to book a slip, but because it is small, and people don’t leave
when they say they will, they will only tell us we are on the “reservation list”
and to call the day before we want to come in, to see if they have a slip for
us! We have also called all the other marinas in Marsh Harbour with either the
same answer, or told they are full! So, tomorrow we will find out if we have a
slip. If not, we will stay in Treasure Cay. There are worse places to stay for
a few days!!
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| Treasure Cay Resort and Marina |
Once Alyssa heads back home we
will head to Florida to tuck Trekker away for the summer and head north for our
next adventure, building a house in Midland! Crazy!
The adventure continues … one day
at a time.
