Re-entry

It's been a little over a month since we put Trekker away for the summer, so I thought I would give a brief update.  

Our drive home in the mini-van was pretty awful due to the non-stop rain.  Unfortunately the lovely scenery through the Appalachians was obscured in fog and rain. Thank goodness the van was nearly new and the tires were in good shape! Crossing the border was fun ...our conversation with the unseen Border Officer went something like this: "citizenship?" ... "Canadian" ... "why are you driving a vehicle with Maryland plates?" ... "It's a rental" ... "You know you're not supposed to drive a US rental in Canada ... I could charge you duty on it ... where and when are you returning it?" ... "Buffalo - tomorrow or the next day" ... "where are you coming from?" ... "Florida" ... "Why do you have so much stuff in the vehicle" ... "We sailed our boat from Georgian Bay to the Bahamas and back to Florida where it is stored for the summer" ... "Really!?  That's awesome ... well make sure you bring the van back tomorrow and have a nice day" ... The story of the trip always wins them over!

Within a week of arriving home and settling in, it was like we had never left, and that the last 10 months had been a dream. Did we really travel that far on a boat?

So what have we done since we've been home?

• Taken a few trips into Toronto to see Karen's Mom and the rest of the family.

Karen, Trevor, Alyssa & Hugh

• Registered for House Sitters Canada - our byline is "Boatless and Bored". We've had one inquiry but we're still seeking that perfect match!
• Went to see the Rocky Horror Show at the Stratford Festival with our friends Bruce and Laurie.
• We went to the Mennonite Quilt Auction.

Mennonite Quilts

• Karen went to Collingwood for a weekend with her girlfriends Cindy, Laurie and Wendy, and her sister Janette.

Karen, Wendy, Janette, Laurie and Cindy

• Alyssa, Trevor and I went to Canada's Wonderland and rode the mega coasters Behemoth and Leviathan.   For those that have not been to Wonderland for a few years ... those coasters make the old ones look like kiddy rides ... thrilling!
• We joined Conestoga Sailing Club, where we used to sail our Albacore. Karen helped me take my Laser up there and helped set it up. We helped out at the club's open house taking a couple of folks for a sail and we believe encouraging them to take adult lessons.  We also took a club Wayfarer dinghy out for Wednesday night racing and recorded a 4th, 2nd and 1st out of 5 Wayfarers.  We were very pleased with it being our first race! The looks we got from the regular members were priceless ... who are these old folks??
• Karen went to Whitby for the weekend to visit with her friends Colleen and JoAnn.
• I sailed a club Wafarer in the Warm Water Regatta with a new sailor and had my first dip in Conestoga Lake ... it was a very gusty and shifty day!
• We bought an Audi S5 Sportback to replace my Subaru WRX.
• We had a retractable awning installed over our deck.

Our new awning!

• We ordered new carpet for the basement.
• We're going to Midland where I'm going to sail in the 5.5 meter North American Regatta (think mini America's Cup 12 meter), and Karen is going to help on the race committee.
• We've got tickets for a couple more shows, include Come From Away.
• I've completed a couple of 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles and am working on the third ... it's  addictive!
• We're trying to keep active, walking each day.

It's a bit depressing being home and not having a boat to sail on wonderful Georgian Bay. It's also interesting trying to slide back into life at home while all our friends and acquaintances have continued on with their lives while we were away, without us. They want to see us, and we are quite willing to  tell everybody about our great trip, but we don't want to go on too long for fear we are boring them!! Its a strange dilemma.

Anyways, we are slowly learning to live as retired people on land, not on a boat. Its a totally different lifestyle.

Th...Th...That's all for now folks!  We're counting down the days till we are back on Trekker ... one day at a time!

Our Journey Ends

West End to Fort Pierce

The saying "time flies when you are having fun" couldn't be more true as we end this amazing journey that we embarked on almost 10 months ago!
Our final leg was from West End, Old Bahama Bay Marina, across the gulf stream, to Fort Pierce. It's always a challenge to get the right weather window to cross the stream. All indications, including our free Weather Routing information, our own assessment, and other boaters in the marina pointed to crossing Friday. With the distance being 85 nm, about a 14 hour sail, we decided to leave at 4 am to ensure that we arrived during daylight, which is very important when making landfall at a new inlet and marina.
We had a couple of great relaxing days in West End, however, we never did donate our extra canned food to the church. It turned out to be too complicated to arrange customs approval.

Old Bahama Bay Marina and Resort

Friday morning arrived early, with the alarm going off at 3:15 am. Dressed, tea made, and lines removed, we were off the dock at 3:59 am! It was pretty dark, but the marina had good navigation lights to guide us out of the basin, and once out it was basically point the boat towards Fort Pierce and go! Which is what we did. The sail started off great, however the wind (but not the waves) slowly died, so it ended up being a  pretty sloppy ride over. We arrived at Harbortown Marina at about 5 pm, and were quite happy to be tied up to the dock. We had  a beer and dinner at the marina restaurant to celebrate successful completion of our last leg!

Back in Florida!

Saturday was organization day. After Hugh picked up the rental van (yup ... a minivan!) we started loading it up with some of the food and clothes we had packed up, then checked into the condo that we rented for the week while we put the boat away. Next we found a storage unit for all the contents of the boat. We also visited Customs and Border Patrol for a "face-to-face" interview, as directed when we reported our arrival.
Sunday we started clearing out the boat and "summerizing" her for staying in hot, humid Florida for eight months. I will not bore you with all the details, but I will tell you that we have worked our butts off  for the last week, transferring the boat's contents to the van and then to the storage room, cleaning, purging, and doing maintenance on the engine, generator, outboard motor and dinghy. Removing all the sails and canvas was also a big job which needed to be done with little wind so we could fold everything up.

Naked Trekker without her sails and canvas

The boat was scheduled to haul out on Thursday at noon, and with minutes to spare, we were ready!
She came out without a hitch, with the able marina crew deftly manovering her into the slings and then slowly moving her over to the spot where she will sit until our return.

Trekker moving to her summer spot

It feels very surreal to be off the boat and have her packed away. The last ten months have been an amazing time, and we are both very proud of how much we have accomplished. According to Hugh's brother Adrian, who was our "go-to adviser and all around wealth of boating knowledge", we are now officially "seasoned cruisers"!

Here are a few of my observations from the trip:

I am braver than I thought I would be. This trip challenged me, and at times I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue.  Ultimately I was determined to finish what I had started. I'm so glad I did!

Boaters are amazing people. Friendly, helpful and always willing to share stories and information. We have learned a lot from other boaters. In particular we were very fortunate to meet Bob and Sheila on Her Diamond and Bill and Michael on Aquila and develop lasting friendships!

Trekker is an amazing boat. She sailed like a dream and never let us down. I guess that is one of the advantages of having a newer boat. She also has an amazing Captain!

We are so glad that we took our time and did not go with a "schedule". We saw so many interesting places along the U.S. coastline, and in the Bahamas. It is a big world with so much to discover!

Life is really nice when you slow down and enjoy it. The Bahamas had such a laid back feeling that is was hard not to "go with the flow".  

For almost ten months we barely saw, read or heard about current events. You'd be surprised how that reduces your stress level!!   

We live in a truly amazing world. With internet, data and cell phones I rarely felt far from home. Thank you to our family and friends for keeping in touch throughout our trip.

We would like to thank all our blog followers for coming along with us on our journey. Your words of encouragement and advice were always gratefully accepted. We hope you enjoyed the ride!!

We're looking forward to enjoying all that Ontario has to offer in the summer and fall, without a boat. We will be back to enjoy next winter on Trekker ... one day at a time.

It's been a blast!

Marsh Harbour to West End

After seeing Trevor and Kate off Friday morning we went back to bed for a couple of hours. The plan was to do laundry and then head over to Orchid Bay Marina around mid day, near high tide.  It appears many cruisers are much earlier risers than us because when we got to the laundry machines we were fourth in line! Changing plans, we decided to leave for Orchid Bay Marina.  Our timing leaving the marina wasn't the best, backing out in front of the small ferry that runs over to Hope Town. Ooops. Anyway the ferry courteously backed down and let me by, however I went the shallow side of him and saw 1.7m on the depth sounder.  We draw 1.72m so I guess we cleaned the bottom of the keel!  Once clear of the many boats anchored in Marsh Harbour we raised sails and had a speedy sail back to Orchid Bay on Great Guana Cay.  On the way we contemplated carrying on through the renowned Whale Cay passage. We put out an "all stations" call on the VHF radio requesting a report on the conditions in in the Whale and received a report from a smaller trawler that the waves were very confused and that he wished that he had not transited.  We decided to stick with our plan to stay at Orchid Bay for the night and run the Whale Saturday when wind and waves were forecast to be less. At Great Guana we walked to Captain Kidd's beach restaurant for lunch only to find it closed.  Oh well, back to Orchid Bay where we both had chef salads at Sunseekers restaurant.  Fresh greens are something we don’t get as much of in the Bahamas, so the salads with house made mango poppyseed dressing were outstanding! Karen made banana chocolate chip muffins and I checked the impeller that pumps cooling water through the engine (looked like new after 500 running hours) in the afternoon. Dinner on board and a game of rummy cube closed out the day.
Saturday morning we filled the diesel tank and headed for the Whale around 0900.  We heard a couple of favorable reports on the way, which turned out to be very accurate.  We had about 1 m swells spaced well apart with small wavelets on top.  The wind was kind enough to fill in part way through so we were able to turn off the engine and took off up the Sea of Abaco averaging 7 to 8 knots!  The joy of sailing with translucent turquoise water rushing by the boat is probably the hardest thing to describe to those that have not experienced it. Those that have know what I’m talking about!  After an absolutely perfect day we arrived at Spanish Cay an hour earlier than expected! Up at the bar the Masters golf tournament was on, so in the interest of beginning our assimilation back into our “normal” world we had a couple of beers and watched!
Sunday the forecast was for westerly winds, which is the direction we are going now, so we decided to sit it out, me watching the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix and Karen chilling in the morning. In the afternoon we took a walk to the beach, watched the final round of the Masters and had an outstanding meal of blackened grouper at the restaurant. For most of the day we were the only ones in the marina!
Monday had forecast southerlies and Tuesday Southwesterlies (the direction we have to go for the last leg of our trip to West End Grand Bahama Island) so we decided to get as far as we could Monday, which turned out to be Mangrove Cay, a 60 nautical mile day.  We were very lucky with the winds, only motoring for 20 minutes when the wind disappeared under a black cloud.  We also came across a patch of very light coloured water which normally means shallow water on the cruising guide's suggested route, so decided to change course and tack around it.  Better safe than high and dry on the Little Bahama Bank! Arriving at Mangrove Cay at 1700 hours we joined 6 other boats also staged for their next legs. We were really hoping for a nice sunset but as the sun dropped we realized that there were clouds on the horizon … oh well, a dramatic sunset anyway.

Sun setting at Mangrove Cay

While the forecast had been for the winds to drop and shift to the west, they continued in the high teens out of the southwest through dinner and the 1st episode of the second season of House of Cards  (poor Zoe!).  We have been using an anchor alarm called SailGrib AA which lets you estimate where the anchor was dropped AFTER the anchor is set (because we never remember to set the alarm as we are dropping the anchor).  It shows the track of the boat swinging in orange.  You can see from the pic below that sometime overnight the wind did shift, as evidenced by the two blobs of orange.  

Trekker's track overnight at Mangrove Cay

We rolled out of bed to find only two other boats left in the anchorage. Based on the radio chatter we heard Monday, we think most of them left around midnight to travel straight to Fort Pierce, Florida. Looking like the wind was actually more northerly than westerly we raised anchor and left, hoping for a leisurely sail while we had breakfast. But is was not to be. Once out from behind Mangrove Cay the very light breeze was on the nose.  Motoring with the main up to give us a little push, we headed for the Indian Cut which, those of you that have been following the blog may remember, is where we saw 1.7m depth (our draft) on the way east.  Coming east I thought we were about 0.2 m above low water, so this time we planned on 0.3m above low water, meaning an arrival time of 13:19!

Trekker's shadow on the bottom of the Little Bahama Bank

Having motor sailed most of way and sailed for a short time we arrived at the cut at 13:19 (really!).  We passed through uneventfully seeing a minimum depth of 1.9 m this time.  

Trekker while under sail briefly to West End

We were tied up at Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina by 14:45. 
Once connected to Wi-Fi all the emails came tumbling in including a free weather routing that I picked up at the US sailboat show in Annapolis.  Weather Routing Inc. thinks that Friday is the day to cross, which confirmed what we were thinking. So we're nearly done with the Bahamas.  We'll clean tomorrow and donate our excess canned goods to the St. Mary’s Church soup kitchen (once customs has given us approval).  Then it's across the gulf stream again to Fort Pierce and getting the boat ready to leave her for 8 months in the hot Florida weather. 
That'll be work … one day at a time!

We've had visitors!

Hope Town to Great Guana Cay
We left Hope Town with our "reserved" sign on the mooring ball (and our fingers crossed that it would be open when we got back) and headed back to Marsh Harbour to get ready for Trevor and Kate. We arrived back at Mangoes Marina, where we stayed in January, and started to get organized. First on the list was laundry, and luckily both washers were available so I quickly loaded them up and got two loads done. Mangoes has just reopened their restaurant next to the marina, so we decided to have lunch there. Forgetting it was Good Friday (what? it's Easter??) we were told they were serving lunch but no alcohol until after 3pm. Probably good for our livers!! After a short walk, we had a quiet night on the boat, despite the loud music coming from one of the harbourside bars. The next morning we walked over to the amazing grocery store, Maxwells, and did a big shop to provision for our guests. Since the store had been closed Good Friday and would be closed Easter Sunday, it was super busy.  I was, however, able to get everything  I needed (and more I'm sure!). After the grocery store we went to "Da Bes Yet Bakery" (that is really what it is called) and picked up a loaf of their delicious bread (and a couple of cinnamon buns, but don't tell anyone!). Hots cross buns were sold out ... darn!
We walked back to the boat and put everything away. Now we just had to wait for them to arrive. Their plane landed at 4:30 and they arrived shortly after 5pm.  It was so great to see Trevor and Kate. The last time we had seen them was in October, so its been many months. They had a good trip over, having had a lay over in Nassau for a few hours. They had been able to find a restaurant near the airport for lunch and sun ... a bit too much sun ... as they both arrived with a slight burn from enjoying those first rays of sunshine, without sunscreen (it was in their luggage I was told).
They quickly unpacked and we had a drink to celebrate their arrival, then walked down to a local restaurant called "Colors by the Sea" for some Bahamian food.
The next morning we left the marina and had a lovely sail back to Hope Town. 

Kate & Trevor on the wheel

As we entered the harbor, with bated breath, we found our mooring ball empty and quickly picked it up and got ourselves settled. We really love this little loyalist town and were hoping to show Kate and Trevor as much as possible. Unfortunately if was Sunday, and Easter Sunday at that, and almost everything was closed, but we were able to have lunch at the Hope Town Lodge, where they have a lovely deck overlooking the beach, and after lunch we walked down the beach, and back into town.  Dinner on board and a lively game of cards finished off the day.

Trekker in Hope Town

Monday morning we called around to see if we could rent a golf cart for the day, but none were available. No matter, we dinghied over to the the lighthouse and climbed the 101 stairs for the great view of the harbour and surrounding waters and islands. Then back to town to the coffee shop, which was closed. We discovered that a few stores were closed for Easter Monday as well.  No matter, off we went to Cap'n Jacks for Monday night bingo. This is a hugely popular event, and if you are not there by 4:30 to get a table then there's a good chance you won't. I think we got the last table, and waited until 6pm, when the bingo began. Each card costs $2 and each game pays out a percentage of the take, plus 10% goes to local charities. The first prize was $360, which we did not win, nor the second game, nor the third ... you get the picture! But it was fun. After bingo we went to our favorite restaurant "Wine Down Sip Sip" for a lovely dinner.

Bingo at Cap'n Jacks

Since we didn't have to leave too early Tuesday morning, we went into town to the coffee shop for breakfast, and visited a few stores that were not open Monday.  Our next stop was Great Guana Cay, a couple of hours north of Hope Town. We had a lovely sail there and stayed at Orchid Bay Marina for a couple of nights.  Great Guana has a lovely beach, 5 miles long, and the famous "Nippers Beach Bar".  Once settled in the marina we walked over to Nippers and down to the beach. This is the first time we have seen the ocean calm, as when we stayed here before the winds and waves were very high. What a difference!
We decided we would come back the next day for swimming, snorkeling and lunch at Nippers.

Great Guana beach

The next morning we packed beach bags and set off for the beach. The weather has been lovely, and this was another great day. We found a spot on the beach and all went into the ocean. Unfortunately the snorkeling wasn't great, but the water was warm and calm. After we all dried off (sort-of) we went to Nippers for lunch. We could see some dark clouds coming and decided to sit under cover. Good plan! The heavens opened up and it poured for a little while. It really didn't matter because we were already damp from swimming and the roof leaked anyway!  By the time we finished lunch the rain had stopped and we walked back to the boat for showers and dinner (and cards of course!)

Lunch at Nipper's

The week really flew by and Thursday we had to head back to Marsh Harbour for Trevor and Kate to catch their Friday early morning flight back to Nassau. They had decided to spend a night in Nassau and see the sights, since their flights connected there.  Another great sail back and a once we had tied up in Mangoes Marina we went for a walk around town so they could see a bit of Marsh Harbour. Then out for a nice dinner to celebrate Trevor's upcoming birthday.
We sadly said goodbye to them early this morning (6am!) and agreed it was a great, fast week! We hope we gave them a good taste of the Abacos!

Trevor and Kate

Now we are on our journey back to Florida, and if the weather cooperates we will be there by mid to late next week. We have rented a condo and a car for a week while we empty out the boat and get her ready for summer storage. It will be a busy time.
And then we will drive home. 
Its almost over ... one day at a time.

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