Now that we're in the home-stretch of our Bahama cruising, we seem to be not in much of a hurry to do anything. We've already spent 6 weeks in the Abacos, so all that's left to do now is revisit our favorite spots.
Marshharbor is not one of our favorite spots, but it is THE spot for groceries and rum, both of which we stocked up on ... and we renewed our tourist permit and passports for another 60-day stay (not that we'll be here that long; we only asked for a 30-day extension, but the Immigration Officer wanted to make sure we allowed for possible lengthly weather delays ..)
Favorite stop #1 was Great Guana Cay where we can anchor in Fishing Bay and dinghy into Grabbers, Nippers, Pirates Cove, Orchid Bay ... any number of tiki bars and beaches. Not that we did any of that mind you ... like I said in the title, we are all about lazy days now! Having "been there/done that" we find it easy to procrastinate going ashore .... looked like rain one day ... another day, I started a book I got from Sheila Yule, "My Sister's Keeper" which was soooooo good that I had to read it non-stop until the wee-hours of the morning ... another day, I worked on the teak and Dan worked on gelcoat repairs. We did go ashore one night, drank too many rum punches and paid the price the next day ... and we find a snorkling spot where Dan practiced using his spear gun (no fish, but he snagged several beer cans off the bottom!).
Lots of lovely sunsets during our stay at Great Guana Cay
May 28
Ye gads, it almost the end of May. Time to move on. Most of the anchorages in the Abacos seem to be 10-20 miles apart which makes for a nice, leisurely 3-4 hour sail, no matter what direction you head. So pick a spot depending on which way the wind is blowing ... we chose Hopetown Harbor ... favorite spot #2.
Leaving Great Guana Cay for Hopetown Harbor.
The weather next week is supposed to be stormy (all these predictions, but so little rain, and the island really needs water so we've started to hope it would, in fact, downpour for a few days). We like Hopetown Harbor because of it's great protection on all sides, even though we have to pay for a mooring ($20/nite ... two free nights if we stay a week ... which we just may). Hopetown is a lovely, quaint tropical town. Nice grocery store and beaches, and of course, the lighthouse.
That white, cone shaped thing is a mooring.
From our mooring, we can watch as the kerosene light goes on each night. You can see the smaller windows of the structure glow as the lighthouse attendant climbs the stairs with his lantern, and then the main light slowly increases it's shine, and then starts it's slowly, stately survey of the harbor until dawn.
After several days at Harbortown, we've only had one day of rain, despite all the storms in the forecast. The skies have been an amazing mix of huge thunderheads and dark massive clouds that kept us on the boat, figuring that all hell would break loose at any minute. But, most of the time, the clouds either moved along in the wind or dissipated before our very eyes. In fact, when the rain came, we were totally unprepared because there was nothing threatening overhead to give us a clue about what was about to fall.
But, Harbortown is an easy place to settle into, which is what we did while waiting for this unsettled weather to move on.
Maja at mooring by our favorite house in the harbor.
Out little, well-stocked grocery store.
Lovely little streets to explore.
And our favorite form of exercise, walking the beautiful beaches!
Most beaches have sandy shores, but some have "Iron Shore" .. craggy, sharp rock formations that line the shoreline ... sometimes that makes us worry about the anchor dragging!
June 1 ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CRAIG NELSON AND SHEILA YULE
In a couple of days, we'll be moving on to favorite spot #3 in the Abacos - Treasure Cay -- and one of the top 10 beautiful beaches in the world. And then we'll head to Green Turtle Cay, our final destination in the Abacos. That's where we'll get serious about watching for a weather window to "cross the pond" back to Florida ...
No comments:
Post a Comment