Moving on to another island today (#3 so far) ... cruising about 8 miles across the Sea of Abaco from Great Abaco Island to Great Guana Cay. This is one of the smaller settlements in the Bahamas but it's got three key attractions we are looking forward to -- a 5.5 mile beach of pristine sand, two reefs close to shore with great snorkling, and Nippers Bar - with a reputation far and wide for an amazing frozen rum drink -- gonna have me a couple of them! Nippers also has two pools that anyone can use ... my kinda place. Make that four.
We are anchored in Fisher's Bay off Grabber's Bar and Grill http://grabbersatsunset.com/index.cfm one of our new favorite places and home of the Grabber, our current favorite rum punch. Sorry Nipper's.
We are anchored in Fisher's Bay off Grabber's Bar and Grill http://grabbersatsunset.com/index.cfm one of our new favorite places and home of the Grabber, our current favorite rum punch. Sorry Nipper's.
We're in the tail end of the cold front, so temps didn't get into the 70s today, not complaining b/c we're in paradise and all, but I think we all would agree that paradise should at least be 75 degrees every day! At least it's cool enough in the cabin to justify baking lazagna for dinner ... except that it's currently bubbling over in the bottom of the oven, so I'm going to have one yucky mess to clean up tomorrow (just so you know my days are not completely filled with beaches and snorkling and rum drinks!).
We are in the Fishers Bay anchorage, and when we came in at 3pm, there were 5 other boats. By 4pm, there were 15 boats at anchor! Wow ... we just watched a steady stream of boats come in, snug in our place close to shore. I think we'll be staying here for a few days. From a distance, I could see one particularly beautiful boat ... another Bayfield 40 is sharing our anchorage! Can't wait to get together with them tomorrow and share notes ...
Sunday - March 13
Hooray ... we learned this morning on the Cruisers Net that the Bahamas does INDEED follow Daylight Savings Time. This is my favorite season of the year, and we couldn't be in a better place to enjoy longer days.
The number of boats in the anchorage has increased to 25! It has been quite a learning experience to watch the number of places that boaters find to drop the hook.
Our anchorage is on the Sea of Abaco so we enjoy protected water at anchor. Today, we'll hike over to the Atlantic Ocean as that's where the reefs are. We've also heard there are two beach bars with signature rum drinks, so we're on a mission to sample those!
Wednesday
Today marks our first full RAIN day in the Bahamas. Until now, the rain has cooperated and only fallen after midnight ... after all dinghies have safely arrived back at their boats.
But, who cares, as we got wonderful news from Craig and Michelle which kept us distracted from any rain falling outside!
Thursday
There's a saying in the Bahama that you don't "have plans" you only have "intentions" ... and we like that a lot. It certainly helps us live with our changing intentions!
We had 'intended' to leave Great Guana Cay today, but our friends Hank and Carol (s/v Kismet) showed up in the anchorage this morning, so we hated to leave without spending some time with them. Plus, there was not a breath of wind which doesn't bode well to a heavy sailing vessel!
So today ended up being a great day for boat projects. It was in the high 70s so after hoisting our Irish Flag, Dan got in the water and spent a couple of hours cleaning a light coating of algae that had started to form on the hull and prop (a sure sign we've been in one place for too long!). The water was like glass so I got in the dinghy and put a coat of varnish on our teak rub rail. When I did this last May in hot and humid Georgia, all I could think about was that there had to be a better place to do this job than GA ... and I think I've found it!
Hooray ... we learned this morning on the Cruisers Net that the Bahamas does INDEED follow Daylight Savings Time. This is my favorite season of the year, and we couldn't be in a better place to enjoy longer days.
The number of boats in the anchorage has increased to 25! It has been quite a learning experience to watch the number of places that boaters find to drop the hook.
Our anchorage is on the Sea of Abaco so we enjoy protected water at anchor. Today, we'll hike over to the Atlantic Ocean as that's where the reefs are. We've also heard there are two beach bars with signature rum drinks, so we're on a mission to sample those!
Dan back from the sea!
Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, there now is enough time left in the day for us to get back to the boat and have dinner in the cockpit, watching the sun set over the ocean. Priceless.
Monday ... Tuesday ... what day is it anyway???
Seriously, it if wasn't for the CruisersNet in the morning, we wouldn't know what day it is since we've misplaced our one calendar! And since we've been hanging at anchor at Great Guana Cay, midst a stretch of settled weather, we've been sleeping through the 8:15 net broadcast.
Suffice it to say, another day of boat projects in the morning (Dan has replaced the lines to our main and mizzen sails with brand new shiny ones) followed by an afternoon on the beach. Today, we hiked over to the Atlantic to go snorkling on the reef. Nice coral ... lots of pretty fish ... the water was a tad cool for my liking, but laying on the hot sand, under a warm sun is a nice way to take the chill off.
We will stay here one more day. Wednesday is pot-luck nite at the beach restaurant, and there is going to be a speaker describing her trip to Cuba.... we're hoping it was by sailboat. She gave this talk last week and over 200 boats were in our anchorage. So, we're taking advantage of our choice spot and staying put.
It's a Bahamian tradition to blow the conch shell at sunset, so Dan got himself a shell and has been working diligently patching the hole where the conch meat was removed and fashioning a blow hole. Now, if he can just make some noise from it! But it is something to hear -- every nite as the sun is dipping below the horizon, the sounds of conch shells echo across the anchorage.
Today marks our first full RAIN day in the Bahamas. Until now, the rain has cooperated and only fallen after midnight ... after all dinghies have safely arrived back at their boats.
But, who cares, as we got wonderful news from Craig and Michelle which kept us distracted from any rain falling outside!
It will be a Savannah wedding, their favorite city. They were torn between March and October, and since they didn't have a strong preference, we quickly voiced ours ... and October it is! March would have messed with our cruising plans (priorities, right), and October is a perfect month to take Maja up to the Isle of Hope marina and get a slip for the month.
There's a saying in the Bahama that you don't "have plans" you only have "intentions" ... and we like that a lot. It certainly helps us live with our changing intentions!
We had 'intended' to leave Great Guana Cay today, but our friends Hank and Carol (s/v Kismet) showed up in the anchorage this morning, so we hated to leave without spending some time with them. Plus, there was not a breath of wind which doesn't bode well to a heavy sailing vessel!
The water is so clear you can see the shadow of our boat on the bottom, 12 ft below!
So today ended up being a great day for boat projects. It was in the high 70s so after hoisting our Irish Flag, Dan got in the water and spent a couple of hours cleaning a light coating of algae that had started to form on the hull and prop (a sure sign we've been in one place for too long!). The water was like glass so I got in the dinghy and put a coat of varnish on our teak rub rail. When I did this last May in hot and humid Georgia, all I could think about was that there had to be a better place to do this job than GA ... and I think I've found it!
This worked great until a motor boat went by and the boat wakes sent me flying!
And to top off another perfect day in paradise, Dan got out our hammocks for the first time. Ahhhh, rum never tasted so good. We waited for sundown, watching boats come in to anchor for the night. Alas, we do have to leave this spot at some point! The winds are predicted to change on Sunday, so time to find a more secure anchorage for those conditions.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY ... WHEN EVERYONE IS IRISH!
1 comment:
Sounds like an awesome time. Can't wait for spring break so i can forget what day of the week it is.
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