Category: 2017-18 Voyage to The Bahamas

Ah yes, that famous expression, weather permitting. We had hoped to anchor for a few days at a nearby cay but the winds did not permit. We thought of first of going to anchor at Marsh Harbour but it’s not exactly a quiet picturesque anchorage which is what we wanted.  We decided to stay at the marina and explore Man-O-War Cay some more – good decision.

We woke up to dark threatening skies but it looked like we could make it to the coffee shop before it started to rain although we could hear thunder on the way there, it’s a very short walk. What a great little shop, lots a baked goods, good coffee. We ended up sitting with Agnes, who has been wintering on the island for 16 years.  She’s in her late 70s and although her husband died a few years ago, she still comes to the island and rents the same place, near the narrows, that she and her husband used to rent from an American university professor.

We toured the little museum that is attached to the coffee shop.  Meanwhile the thunder we heard earlier had turned into thunder, lighting and pouring rain. It was at this point Bob said, “I don’t think I closed the companionway door” – oops. By the time we finished touring the museum the rain had almost stopped so went back to the boat. Yup, the companionway door was open as was the hatch in the head. The PC that sits on the chart table was open but luckily the rain coming in just missed it. Lots of water on the floor partway in and also in the head but we got it all mopped up pretty fast.

The forecast said there was more rain coming in the afternoon so we stayed close by. Bob filled the water tanks, we’re trying to minimize putting in Marsh Harbour’s desalinated water. And true to the forecast, it rained again in the afternoon so the deck is well and truly rinsed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked up a few groceries as weather permitting, we’re going to leave tomorrow morning. We were going to visit the little museum, which is attached to a coffee shop. Unfortunately for us we got there at 1pm which is when they close – oh well.

Our walk today, which wasn’t intended to be a long one but turned out to be, was to the southern part of the Cay. On our way towards the Atlantic side we passed the cemetery close to the beach. There were lots of flowers on the graves but they all appeared to be plastic.

 

We ended up going to the Atlantic side and when we saw a mast in the distance, at what seemed like an unlikely spot, we decided to walk down the beach to investigate. It was a catamaran which seemed to be pretty close to shore, we assume they really trust their anchor.

Although there was a good breeze at the beach it was very warm. There were houses close to the beach all along our walk so we figured there had to be a road of some kind back there, we were hoping for some shade. We walked along a path beside a house by the beach and it took us to a road cut through a wooded area, which meant it was shady! It was wide enough for a golf cart but not much else.  It did lead into town to become the Queen’s Highway. The main road in each settlement we’ve been to is called the Queen’s Highway. We wonder whether it becomes the King’s highway if there is a king on the throne.

I love the hedges here, and in most other settlements we’ve visited. They are a combination of flowering oleander, hibiscus and bougainvillea. The oleander can get huge, more like trees, if they are not trimmed.

 

 

Sunday is everything is closed day here, except churches of course. We went for bit of a walk, crossing over to the Atlantic side. There are storm clounds swirling but we’ve only felt a couple of raindrops.

The settlement reminds us of a smaller version of Spanish Wells. It’s very  neat, houses have gardens and there is a thriving, although smaller, boat building industry. The houses like in Spanish Wells don’t have the fancy trim of houses in Hope Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 9

We walked the street closest to the harbour which is where the little shops are located. No luck in finding a painting so we’ll get the two prints we saw in Marsh Harbour for sure. Bob also had a fellow from one of the boat works companies come on board to check out the engine compartment fan switch which seems to have stopped working. Bob wasn’t sure if it was the switch or the fan that was not working. Turned out to be the switch so the fellow hardwired it so that the fan is on whenever the engine is on. Bob didn’t have it on all the time. He’ll get a replacement switch when the boat is back in Kingston. We decided to stay here one more night as our plans to anchor for a few night at a small Cay near here have been thwarted by south winds. We’re going to anchor in Marsh Harbour which won’t be as nice but it’s a harbour protected from pretty much all wind directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were a little concerned about backing out the slip being so close to the cat but all went well. Dave and Joy were on hand to help and the one of the dock hands came over. He kept hold of the bow line to keep us close to the dock, ergo away from the cat, and we were easily out. Bob had to stay in reverse to get past two large cats that were on a side dock parallel to our track out. Dave came to wave to us from a dock further down, he was impressed with Bob’s reversing.

Once we got out of the harbour we could actually sail for the first time in a while. We seem to always have the wind on our nose. We had the jib up for about 45 minutes which was most of the way to Man-O-War Cay.  It’s a friendly little marina with a great restaurant right on the premises. We had both lunch and dinner there, our excuse is that we had no breakfast. I have not been taking food pictures, lucky for all blog readers, but did take one of my dinner last night as I loved the presentation. It’s a Thai shrimp dish served in a cast iron pan – it was delicious!

 

Our last morning at Joes Cay, there were five other boats here last night. Before we left, Bob put on his scuba gear and scrubbed the bottom of the boat. His mask leaked a bit and being on his back while scrubbing meant he got lots of salt water up his nose – yuk !

Dark clouds gathering again this morning, mostly to the south west. It started to rain but we could see that it was not raining in the direction we had to go. We waited till the heavier rain was over, put on our fouley rain pants and hiking rain coats. The anchor came up easily, we were on our way and were soon out of the rain. It’s only an hour and a bit to Marsh Harbour. Our slip at Harbour View Marina is on the opposite side from our last stay. We are beside a large cat, there isn’t a lot of distance between our two hulls. We put out fenders to ward off another boat for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas. It probably wasn’t necessary but better safe than sorry.

We had a visit from Dave and Joy who have the same boat as us, we met them at St Simon’s Marina in Georgia. They are booked to stay at the marina for a month. They are doing short trips in the area but are also flying home for a couple of weeks for some family stuff.

April 6

Our walk today was to the hardware store to check on getting our propane tank filled and to Maxwells for some groceries. Oh yes, and the liquor store for wine and some scotch for Bob. The art gallery we saw the last time we’re in Marsh Harbour, which was closed, was open today. The original art pieces were way out of our price range but we saw a couple of prints that we liked. The artist running the gallery was a lovely guy, we chatted with him for quite a while. We didn’t buy the prints today as we want to check out Man-O-War where we’ll be for several days but if we don’t find anything we’ll go back and get the two prints.

We had dinner at Wally’s with Joy and David, it was fun comparing notes. David,  who is originally from North Carolina, told us snow was forecast for NC tomorrow so the non-spring is spread far and wide.

 

 

 

 

A quiet day on the boat today, rain is in the forecast. Several boats have been sharing the anchorage with us. Most tend to stay for just one night so we feel like old hands here watching them come and go.

The clounds started to gather by mid morning and we could see it was raining to the west. This would be the first time since Warderick Wells that we’d have rain during the day.  The colour of the gathering clouds against the green/turquoise water made for a dramatic sight. Once the rain started it continued for a several hours, the boat got a very good washing. Bob was relieved it stopped well before he bbq’d dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Chris & Cindy we’re in the Abacos they recommended the Abaco Inn as a good place for lunch so that was our adventure today. It is at the south end of Elbow Cay. Our plan was to dinghy over to what looks like a marina near us and walk to the Inn via a grocery store that is on the way,  it’s not a long walk and is a much shorter dinghy ride than going to the White Sound channel which takes you to the dinghy/ small boat dock by the Inn.

There were two men working at the marina-to-be and they told us we couldn’t tie up, it was a private marina. One of them pointed to a dock nearby with steep stairs up to the point of land, he said it was the public dock. So off we went, tied up and then walked along a path which had been hacked into a fairly dense wooded area. We weren’t convinced this was going to lead us where we wanted to go but figured the walk wasn’t going to hurt us. The path ended at a gazebo at the tip of a point of land – what the ???

Back we went. There was a boat ramp opposite dock where we tied up and maybe that’s what the guy at the marina meant but there was nowhere to tie up and it certainly wasn’t  a dock.  That meant going via White Channel, meanwhile dark clouds were gathering behind us. It was starting to rain very lightly as we got close to the dock and by the time we were tied up the heavens opened up. Luckily there was a roof at the dock so we waited till the squall was over, it didn’t last long.

The setting for the restaurant at the Inn is gorgeous. The patio faces the Atlantic, we got a table at the covered patio closest to the beach and watched the rollers come in. The food and service were excellent, so a winner all around – thanks Chris and Cindy. The pictures are views from our table.

A lazy afternoon back at the boat, we started to watch a series called The Windsors on Netflix. It’s an over the top takeoff of the royal family. It amazes  me that they can do this without  being sued.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving the dock from Lighthouse Marina this morning in very light wind conditions was supposed to be very easy. Unfortunately John, from the sailboat next to us and Bob got their messages mixed. John was helping us off the dock and was pulling on the bowline to pull the boat to turn it facing forward, Bob didn’t realize that and was reversing so John had to let go of the line. We pulled back towards the dock, I threw John the bow line again and by this point Scott from another sailboat had hopped into his dinghy and came over to pull us out of the little harbour area using the bow line which by now was in the water. Added to this excitement was going around an large island tanker that had pulled up the main dock, we’re assuming it was delivering fuel.

 

It was just under two miles to the anchorage at Joes Cay. Conditions are very benign the many waves coming from passing boat, tender and dinghy traffic. It’s kinda fun watching all the boats going by, a form of people watching. There is a much busier anchorage about half a mile south of us.

We took the dinghy over to Firefly Resort which is very close by and had dinner there. There are two other boats spending the night here.

 

Today was our long walk south on the Atlantic side with the hope of having lunch at On Da Beach, a beach bar. It’s usually open on Sundays but we thought Easter Sunday might have been an exception. Regardless, we figured it would be a good walk. The first part of the walk was on Back Street which is all residential and leads out of Hope Town. The walk along the beach, which was about a mile was wonderful. There were a few families splashing in the waves and very nice looking houses along the beach at a higher dune level. All of them had steps to the beach.

We were very happy to find On Da Beach open. We got before noon so there were just a few people there but it filled up fast. The core is a covered building that includes the grill area. There are high stool seats all around the core, that’s where we sat and tables on the patio

three quarters of the way around the core, all facing the Atlantic. We loved it. One of the waiters told us it was for sale, I think it’s a older couple that currently owns it. He also pointed out that they can’t open in bad weather as they don’t those protective plastic walls. On the way our we ended up chatting with a young woman who had been sitting near us. She had lived in Hope Town for a while but went back to England and decided to go to Medical School, she will graduate in September. She took a very good picture of us standing at the top of the steps to the beach.

‘We walked back along the Queen’s Highway, houses large and small all along the road. A number of them had Elbow Cay for sale/rental signs. We’ve really enjoyed our time on Elbow Cay and Hope Town. We are thinking about maybe renting a house here for a few weeks next winter.

On Friday we had late morning coffee at Hope Town Coffee House, a great cafe with indoor and patio seating. They works by local artists for sale. There was w\one painting we both really liked but with a $350 USD price tag, decided against it. I wonder if we’ll regret it when we get home, I did take a picture of it.

We walked up the hill by the cholera cemetery again just to enjoy the amazing views of the Atlantic. Lunch, we are just so pathetically food centric, was at a terrific place called Wine Down Sip-Sip. Food was great, decor a wonderful mix of dark coloured wood trim, pastel coloured walls and lots of colourful cushions on the long benches along the walls. They also had the best selection of wines by the glass that we’ve seen anywhere in the Bahamas.

We went back to the Coffee House on Saturday and had brunch of coffee and quiche. More walking around town, this time almost to the north end of the island, we finally gave up as it was just too hot for walking. That part of Hope Town was much quieter as it’s all residential. There were some very large homes on the Atlantic side. We also saw signs on a lot of houses indicating they were holiday rentals.

We were sitting back on the boat when a group of young people arrived in a tender. There was a bit of excitement on the dock, it turns out being created by a manatee at the dock beside our boat. Someone had turned on the water hose and was aiming the hose at the manatee. Shortly after that one of the men from the tender went into the water and put the hose into the very happy manatees mouth – it appears they love fresh water. I overheard him talking to a couple of the women in the group in what sounded like a Nordic language so I asked, they were Norwegians. A couple of the women also got in the water, it was all very entertaining.

We had made reservations for dinner at Hope Town Marina & Resort, we had gone there for a drink on Thursday. It was quite disappointing. Our waiter was good as was our shared appetizer but the main courses were ho-hum and not cheap. This is the same marina we tried to get into a couple of times, it’s much higher end than where we are but in retrospect,  we’re glad we didn’t get in.