Hopetown to Green Turtle Cay

      With our six foot draft we had to wait for an almost high tide to leave Hopetown and faced the same issue for entering the very tight Man O War Cay channel on Friday. Luckily it was only an hour sail between the two, so we accomplished both!  We got to Man O War Cay Friday afternoon and picked up a mooring in a very crowded harbor.  We then dinghied around looking for another one for Arete and luckily found one.  We pooled resources for a joint dinner ashore (we sent Robby to Marsh Harbour on the ferry Saturday morning for an ATM run).  
      Saturday  was Sojer Day, the first (hopefully annual) heritage festival on Man O War Cay.  Man O War is a very religious (therefore dry) community that was established by loyalists right after the Revolution.  It is almost entirely white and has a history of fine boat building which still continues today.  We enjoyed following the Heritage Trail set up by the residents and were invited into private homes, churches, museums and of course shops!  We were surprised that at least half of the people attending the festival were residents and we continually heard exclamations about this or that old relative's picture. After a sumptuous lunch of  deviled eggs, conch salad, lobster fritters, broccoli salad, homemade ice cream and chocolate cake, Carol and I did more adventuring ashore while Rob and Dan headed out to Brunelle to "chill."   We had bought some conch chowder at the festival which we took back for dinner.
     Sunday morning found us leaving relatively early to get out before it became too shallow and we took a leisurely motorsail in very light winds, arriving off Green Turtle Cay around 1:00 pm.  We anchored out and put the dingy down to check out the three different harbors on Green Turtle.  We decided to stay in Black Sound (at the southern end of the cay) instead of White Sound at the north.  There is also a small, shallow harbor where the settlement of New Plymouth is located, but it isn't suitable for cruising boats.  We are tied up at a brand new marina called Leeward Yacht Club - - so new that the showers and bathrooms are not ready yet!  Also no wifi, so we will be sending this from "Pineapples" - a beach bar on the other side of the harbor whenever we go over there.  We are pretty sure we are going to be here for 3 or 4 days because there is a major cold front coming through tomorrow and the winds will be strong and northwesterly - not conducive to heading across to Florida. We hope to be able to head off by next weekend, but that will be dictated by the weather!
~~~(\_~~~D&M
Googel Eart track file for 4/3
Googel Eart track file for 4/5

We enjoyed learning all about Man O War Cay at Sojer Heritage Day. Rob and Carol bought a gorgeous half model and Carol and Martha got several great photos from a local artist.

The "William Albury" schooner was built on Man O War Cay.

Martha (with new haircut---thanks Carol!) enjoys her Kindle as we sail from Man O War Cay to Green Turtle Cay.

Nassau to Hopetown, Elbow Cay, Abacos

     Sunday found us back at Starbucks for a delicious breakfast sandwich and a last check of email before we headed off for points north.  We left Nassau harbor around 10 and headed NE for Royal Island which is just west of the tip of Eleuthera Island.  It is a very handy and snug harbor with not much scenery and no facilites, but it is a great place to stop off on one's way to the Abacos.  After a quiet night we got an early start for the 60+ mile trip to Little Harbor Inlet on the SE corner of Great Abaco Island.  We entered the inlet at around 5 o'clock, but didn't stop at Little Harbor because the entrance carries only  3 feet and our only chance would be at high tide, so we continued on to a good anchorage at Lynyard Cay.  We were part of a fleet of at least 10 boats that crossed from Royal to Lynyard. 
     We decided to spend another night anchored at Lynyard because we had heard that the beach there was worth exploring and also we wanted to dinghy back to Little Harbor to visit Pete's Pub and Gallery, famous for good food and a studio and gallery showcasing Pete's bronze sculptures and several other artists' works.  We did both,  the beach (on the windward side had loads of flotsam, but also some pretty beach glass) and the pub and gallery.  We lucked out and got a tour of the studio and foundry which was fascinating.  After lunch at the pub we hit the gallery and bought a bronze (tiny, but we like it!) and a watercolor print.
     Today we sailed from Lynyard to Hopetown by a very circuitous route.  There are no navigational marks, just waypoints that must be heeded to avoid all sorts of shallows.  We picked up a mooring around noon, had a bloody mary to celebrate a safe, grounding free, trip across the shallows particularly at the entrance to the harbor. (Another "high tide only" place for a boat with 6' of draft.)  After lunch we headed ashore to climb the lighthouse and then dinghied across to the other side of the harbor to explore the town.  We had our first ice cream in 3 months!  We had dinner ashore at Harbour's Edge. You can dinghy right up  to the restaurant and tie up while you eat.   We passed up their delicious looking desserts because we had found a freshly made key lime pie at Vernon's grocery store!  ~~~(\_~~~D&M
Google Earth track file for 3/29
Google Earth track file for 3/30
Google Earth track file for 4/01

Our first beach bar! We have been so deprived! Pete's Pub and Gallery in Little Harbor, Great Abaco is not to be missed.

We passed this island sloop sailing from Lynyard Cay to Hopetown harbor and it reminded me of my sister Alice's last painting, so I played with it a bit.

Brunelle snuggled in under the watchful eye of the Elbow Cay Lighthouse (1864) in Hopetown Harbor, Abacos

Brunelle viewed from the top of the lighthouse.

Hopetown viewed from the lighthouse, the Atlantic Ocean is on the windward side of Elbow Cay.

Highborne Cay to Nassau Harbour Club

     We had a good sail from Emerald Rock to Highborne on Tuesday and anchored just NW of the entrance to the marina.  We dinghied in to go the the store and got a few things (including a dozen eggs for $6.85 and a lb. of hamburger for $11.70!)   Wednesday we sat at anchor as the wind blew like crazy over the hill.  Dan changed the raw water pump impeller and Martha got out the sewing machine to make a riding sail (and a lined tote.)  The riding sail actually seemed to work, we didn't seem to be swinging as much as usual.   We left early Thursday morning with all the other boats that had been waiting out the strong winds and headed for Nassau. 
     We pulled into Nassau Harbour Club right next to Runaway, the C-400 we had met up with in Big Majors.   We also connected with Rob, Carol, Will and Willy.   They had visited Potter's Cay (the local fish market) and had 6 little snappers which we cooked up aboard Brunelle.  Willy was the life of the party even tho he had been on the go (napless) since 6 am!   We spent Friday morning shopping and taking care of things aboard (laundry, water, garbage, etc.) and took a taxi to the Ardastra Garden and Zoo.  We wanted to get there in time for the two big attractions.  Feeding parrots at 3:30 and the march of the flamingoes at 4:10.  The flamingo show, which has been going on for 50 years was a sketch.  The whole garden/zoo was really a lot of fun and well worthwhile.  We walked from there to "The Fish Fry" - Nassau's version of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf!
      For some reason we have been unable to get wifi to work on the dock, so we are having a leisurely breakfast at Starbuck's across the street from the marina.  Our hour is almost up, so we'll sign off for now.  We hope to head to the Abacos (after the weekend)  on our way back to FL.   ~~~(\_~~~D&M
Google Earth track file for 3/24
Google Earth track file for 3/26

Brunelle at Highborne with her new riding sail.

We all took turns feeding the parrots, even Dan.

Martha gets a kiss from a cockatoo while Dan and a parrot watch.

Will and Willy take part in the "March of the Flamingos" show.

Willy hams it up with Robby. My silicone bowls are very popular with the "boys"

And a little bit late, but well worth the wait: here are a few shots Ray took of the pigs at Big Majors Spot:
These guys have their eyes on the prize...

And Liz is holding it!

Moving On

Today we plan to sail North to Highborne Cay and then head on to Nassau on Thursday.  Today is supposed to be a little quieter than tomorrow so we moved up our departure by a day.

Yesterday Dan spent working for the Park again.  I finished up my "railing" around the houseboat with some of the old halyard I keep squirreled away in the boat.  Later (10ish) the park brought 5 guys from a neighboring cay to help build a dock.  They had just finished building a dock on their rocky shore.  Had a great time working with these 5 and about 8 from the park and volunteers.  I spent the first hour and a half in waist deep water holding and nailing the cross members into place.  Others worked from the boat between the pilings which was being bounced around and banged up pretty badly.  Eventually there was enough of a deck for work to go on from there.  Quite a day and it would have been finished if we hadn't run out of deck lumber.  The 5 guys were from (of all places) Fargo, ND.  They all knew our cousin's "grinder" place, the Red Pepper in Fargo.  They really busted butt all day and I was exhausted by the time we wrapped things up.~~~(\_~~~D&M

Dan started his work day putting an old halyard of ours to good use as a railing on the houseboat.

The dock that Dan built - - - with a little help from his friends (5 of whom were from Fargo, ND!)

Still relaxing at Emerald Rock Anchorage, Warderick Wells

      I say relaxing, but Dan spent Friday volunteering for the Park and worked on installing railings on a houseboat the Park uses as overflow housing for Park volunteers.  It garnered us a free night, so not a bad afternoons work!   When Dan returned we took adavantage of slack current and snorkeled on the reefs in the main harbor again.  We were surprised to see how many Bahamian lobsters were crawling all over one large coral head. 
      We continue to socialize with the Appleton, WS crowd.  The people we met at first are travelling with another Appleton couple.  We dinghied around the south end of Warderick Wells with them and explored the southern anchorage and Hog Cay.  We didn't find any good snorkeling spots, but did hike on Hog Cay and visited the Pirate's Lair again on Warderick Wells.  We hurried back because there was another Happy Hour Party on the beach. This one was much bigger than the St. Patty's Day one because the anchorages are full.  Made new friends and swapped more stories!  The wind is pretty strong for the next couple of days, so we may just hang out for a while longer.  We want to be in Nassau on Thursday when Rob and Carol's son Will arrives with 2 yr. old Willy (Erika is staying home and is 7 months pregnant!) ~~~(\_~~~D&M

This was the first gray angelfish I had seen.

The word has gotten out to all Bahamian lobsters that the Park is a no take zone. We saw 8 of them on one coral head in the harbor at Warderick Wells! They didn't even feel the need to hide themselves way under rocks.

Wonderful landscapes above and below water!

A hike to the windward side of Hog Cay had some neat blow holes, this was the best we could do at timing the picture with the spray! Warderick Wells is seen to the north.

Relaxing at Emerald Rock

         We actually had a few showers during the night (have not had many), but the day dawned brilliantly and has been beautiful all day!  Dan did finish the underwater work yesterday with the help of the hookah, our compressor and regulator system that lets us dive indefinitely to a depth of 25', but we are usually in 8 feet or less everywhere here!  We decided to do a little more snorkeling today.   We hadn't done any here because it was colder when we were here earlier.  I did spy a Nassau Grouper (about 30" long) but he didn't cooperate when I tried to get his picture, and I also saw a Bahamian lobster, but he  did not come out of his hole for a picture!
      We had cocktails aboard Brunelle last evening with a couple we met at the St. Patrick's Day party.  They are from Appleton, Wisconsin.  We immediately asked them if they knew anything about the paper industry, and found out that they both worked in the industry and had made calls to the PH Glatfelter Paper Mill in Spring Grove during their careers!  Small world. Tonight is movie night because we rented Master and Commander at the Park office this afternoon.  I have to get it started "NOW" says Dan, so he'll stay awake for it.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M

Martha raided the "ditch pile" at Little Farmer's Cay and has a conch for each grandchild, but they still need a bit of work to remove the SMELL!

These guys who were hanging out on the reef near Emerald Rock seem to think there is safety in numbers.

There are lots of Blue Chromis everywhere, they are only about 3-5" but they are really brilliant.

Dan did replace the zincs on our prop and shaft and even greased the prop with the help of our hookah compressor.

Little Farmer's and back to Emerald Rock

Liz and Ray arrived with Hershey Bars, all is right with the world! After a short visit ashore at Farmers, which included picking up six conch and six lobsters for future meals, we headed for White Point, about half the way up Great Guana Cay. We sailed north while, aboard Arete, Elizabeth and Carol chopped conch and created a delicous conch chowder - our picnic supper. The next morning we left before Arete to get to Black Point (a few miles north of White Point) early so we could do our laundry. Black Point is one of the few settlements in the Exumas and we enjoyed walking around the area. About a mile out a quiet road we visited a driftwood sculpture garden and found a produce stand behind the neighboring house!
Saturday morning we left Black Point and made two stops along the way to Big Majors Spot. We made a morning stop at Bitter Guana Cay to see the iguanas and also the striking white cliffs. The iguanas literally came running down the beach when they saw us coming! They are very used to being fed. Elizabeth had some celery that they didn't seem to take to all that well. We were very wary of them because on Rob and Carol's last visit, one bit Robby's toe when he didn't move! We also stopped for lunch at Harvey Cay where there was a little cove, room for one, and very good snorkeling - plus a wreck ashore. It was only 3 miles from Harvey across to Big Majors so we had time to take Liz and Ray to the Thunderball grotto. Ray used my underwater camera and caught a neat picture of the "back door" of the grotto.
We left early Sunday morning to head back toward the Park and took moorings at Cambridge Cay at the southern edge of the park. We spent two nights because there is so much to see and do. We hiked to the top of the hill on the windward side and took a dinghy ride to the Seaquarium on O'Brien's Cay. Lots and lots of fish and coral in a protected spot. We also put the kayaks in and adventured under pedal and sail around the anchorage.
Tuesday morning we went our separate ways. We hated to leave Elizabeth and Carol's cooking and the joys of family fun, but Dan had work to do (oil and zincs) and they were heading back toward Staniel Cay for Liz and Ray's Thursday flight back to Nassau. We picked up a mooring at Emerald Rock, our favorite spot, and found that there was a St. Patty's Day happy hour ashore at the main beach. We enjoyed meeting several new people and didn't get back to the boat until almost 8pm - - spoiled my plan to try to create a corned beef and cabbage dinner! It's now Wednesday noon and the oil is done, and so is this! ~~~(\_~~~D&M
Google Earth track file for 3/12
Google Earth track file for 3/13
Google Earth track file for 3/14
Google Earth track file for 3/15
Google Earth track file for 3/17

"De plane, de plane!" Elizabeth and Ray arrive at Little Farmers in a LITTLE plane - the pilot had to climb in through his window. We had lunch ashore at Ocean Cabin restaurant and walked around the island before heading north to White Point on Great Guana Cay.

Picnic ashore at White Point Thursday night, where cruisers have created a fire pit and benches. Elizabeth DID bring hershey bars, so we enjoyed s'mores over the embers.

The highlight of our stop at Blackpoint was the BEAUTIFUL laundromat which had its own dock!

The "Garden of Eden" sculpture garden at Black Point.

Bitter Guana Cay is home to some big iguanas and more dramatic cliffs.

Martha's underwater camera (Ray caught the image of me diving) captured several good pictures while anchored in a little cove on Harvey's Cay on our way to the Staniel Cay area. The fish is a trigger fish. He was very accomodating. Elizabeth and Ray explored the wreck on shore - - - they were sure it was the SS Minnow.

The "back door" of Thunderball Grotto.

We headed for a shallow spot just off the anchorage in Cambridge Cay to swap kayaks. Dan has new "turbo" pedals that I tried for a little while. They are harder to pedal so I was glad to switch back!

Windward shore of Cambridge Cay. We hiked to the top of the hill behind us.