Sail Pandora

It’s Tuesday morning here in beautiful Hope Town, Abaco and I am now less than a week away, weather permitting, from my departure for home.  With my crew Chris and Ian arriving on Friday evening, we should be ready to shove off, weather permitting, over the weekend or Monday.  There are provisions and fuel to get on board and then we have to make our way north through Whale Cay Passage (I wrote about this passage recently), across the banks and out into the Gulf Stream for the run north.

I have been worrying that I would have made all these arrangements, have crew arrive and we would be stuck in port due to strong unfavorable winds.  Of course, with everyone in place the last thing we would want to do is to sit and cool our heels for a week w-a-i-t-i-n-g.    When I returned from the Bahamas last May we were delayed in Nassau for several days and then again in Beaufort NC for half a week. Between weather and gear problems, a trip that should have taken a week lasted for two weeks.  I have been fretting that this would be the case with Pandora.

Of course, we won’t know how the weather will look until we get with a few days of departure but, as of now, things are looking good for a fairly easy run north.     The other thing to consider will be gear problems and I am hopeful that we won’t have problems there either.  Fingers crossed.   Interestingly, had I tried to leave this week we would have encountered everything from no wind to gale force conditions as we headed up the coast.  In all likelihood we would have had to wait till next week anyway.  Let’s hope that my luck holds…

My week with my friend Craig, who is visiting me here in the Abacos this week, is going well.  Yesterday and today we are in Hope Town, my third visit here in the last month, and on Wednesday we will head south to Little Harbor, a lovely spot and the home to Pete’s Pub and Gallery.  Brenda and I enjoyed a few days there earlier in April.   It will be fun to be back there again.   By Friday afternoon we will need to be back in Marsh Harbor for crew arrival.

There’s lots to look at here in Hope Town harbor and I was particularly struck by this beautiful catamaran that was moored nearby. Cheetah is apparently a new boat recently constructed in Trinidad.   Interestingly, it is powered by twin electric hybrid propulsion and is epoxy, plywood construction.  This link provides some very interesting background.  I have to admit that I am drawn to some of these big cats as they have loads of living space and, under the right conditions, are really fast.    This one is the best looking that I have seen.

Well, I guess that it’s time to finish up my coffee and head out for a bit of exploring as it’s nearly noon.  Where does the time go?  I guess I am in cruising mode…  I’m in the Bahamas mon…   Don’t worry, be happy!

So far, so good, except for worry about passages north.  Oh well…

I can’t believe that it’s Mother’s Day and here I am in the Bahamas and there isn’t a related mother in sight.  Brenda left on Thursday to head back to the States and The Boys.   I am sure that hey will keep her in good shape for this important weekend.  For Brenda, it’s not about Mother’s Day, it’s about Mother’s Day weekend.  I agree and happily, the boys do too and will surely be doting on her.  That’s good.   I talked to my mother today which was nice.  Brenda didn’t answer her phone.  That’s good too as she was certainly out doing Mother’s Day sorts of things.   Perhaps they are planting up the window boxes.

However, here I am in the crummy (not) Bahamas, feeling a bit guilty for not being there.  Oh well, it is sunny and warm, like a perfect Mother’s Day.  I did see a few mother’s tooling around in boats today, just not mine.

Yesterday my friend Craig and I did a bit of beach exploring on the ocean side.  The beach on Great Guana is quite beautiful and is said to be home of the third largest barrier reef in the world following the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and one off of Belize in South America.    The view of the beach is truly spectacular.And all this great beach to explore and almost nobody else to compete with for finding shells.  Brenda probably thinks that I only look for shells when she is there but I couldn’t help myself yesterday and was again on the lookout for the “perfect shell”.  I am always hoping to find something that qualifies as the “find of the day” and yesterday didn’t disappoint. You wouldn’t expect to find something like this on such a popular beach.  It seems that every day is indeed a new opportunity for a great find.   I have found plenty of these types but they tend to be about 1″ long or less.  This is a beauty.I will have to save it for Brenda.  Perhaps a small Mother’s Day token…

When Brenda and I were here a few weeks ago we visited Nipper’s, a very popular bar overlooking the beach.   On that that visit, a very windy day, we were not very impressed.  However, what a difference there was when the winds were more moderate and there was a less sophomoric crowd at the bar.  Yesterday I thought that the place was actually very pleasant.   There were plenty of colorful umbrellas to brighten up things. 

That’s Craig along with our friends Dane and Ursula.  Ursula has a SAGA 43 like Pandora.  She has considerable sailing experience and spent a good amount of time in South America in past years.   That’s some really blue water in the background.  Pretty amazing. That evening I hosted cocktails on Pandora for them along with a couple from another boat.  We had a very enjoyable visit.  The sunset?  About typical… Beautiful, as always. Today Craig and I headed over the Man-0-War Cay.  I expect that we will do some exploring later this afternoon.  Who knows, perhaps we will spy some mothers enjoying their day.  It could happen…

Today’s weather.  Yes, another sunny day.  Who knew?  Perhaps I will close with one of those “typical” cloud pictures, taken last evening.   You can never have too many beautiful pictures of clouds, can you?  Just a few days till my crew comes into town on Friday.   Time to get serious about watching the weather for my trip north.  I am excited about moving toward home and my mother, of course…

Mom?  Are you listening?  Can you hear me now?

Yesterday at 06:00 I took Brenda to the dock and waiting taxi to begin her journey to our “land home” in CT.  Except for a brief trip home for Christmas, Brenda and I have been aboard Pandora together  for eight months, beginning on September  11^th when we moved aboard, until May 9^th.

Our trip took us a long way.   We experienced most of the Intra-Coastal-Waterway, all the way from Eastern Connecticut to Ft Lauderdale across to the Bahamas and as far south as Rum Cay and Long Island which sit on the Tropic of Cancer.   We made many wonderful friends along the way and visited most of the major areas of the Bahamas and covered nearly 3,000 miles, about 1,000 miles of that in the Bahamas.

While the trip has been remarkable in so many ways, there is no doubt that I share Brenda’s excitement about heading home.  Our plan was to make this trip a long one and then, in future years, split our time between land and see.  Next winter we plan to spend about three months in the Bahamas with a month or two in Maine this summer and next.   In between we will spend some time in eastern long Island sound home waters and the Chesapeake.    I wouldn’t want to miss the Annapolis Boat Show, would I?

As we have been doing for years, I will make the really long runs with crew and Brenda will join me for the duration once the boat is in place.  This approach has worked well for much of the nearly forty years that we have been cruising together.

My plan now is to have my friend Craig join me this Saturday to spend a week sailing in the Abacos.  After that friends will arrive to help me take Pandora north with our hope of leaving the Bahamas on our about May 19^th.

I have been looking at the weather on the eastern seaboard for several weeks now and I am hopeful that we will have favorable conditions within the two week window that my crew has to get back to CT.  The spring winds along the eastern seaboard are generally from the southwest this time of year so, unless there is a cold front passing off of the coast at that time, we should be able to make the run within that time frame and hopefully under sail.  As is always the case with weather, “let’s hope it works!”.   Time will tell.  Making long passages are a lot tougher when you have limited time and visiting crew as it’s not uncommon to find that conditions are not favorable for making a desired trip for perhaps up to a week at a time.   With a couple living aboard, it’s easy to wait for perfect weather but with visiting crew, not so easy.  As has often been said, “the most dangerous piece of equipment on a boat is a clock” and the need to keep to a particular timetable.  It’s always better to wait than to head out when conditions are not favorable.

If we run into trouble keeping to our schedule we will just bail out and head for Annapolis where I can leave Pandora for a week or so and then head back to finish the run.

I still have to find a yard where Pandora can be hauled for a month or two for some repairs and maintenance but that will have to wait until I re-enter US waters where I can easily make cell calls.  While we did get a Bahamas cell phone, using it to call the US is expensive so we have limited use as much as we can.

Having Brenda leave today, even though we have been planning it for weeks, was a bit of a jolt to me and to return to Pandora after taking her to the taxi was depressing.  Returning aboard to see that all of her stuff gone including the shells and other decorations that were out for display was a real bummer.  Pandora has been our home for many months and to see that it no longer looked “homey” was sad.

So, I was aboard, alone and depressed.  What to do?  Brenda predicted that I would clean.  Yup, she called that one right.   So, at the tender hour of 06:30, out came the cleaning materials and for the next three hours I scrubbed away.  I have to say that Pandora was already pretty clean but she is really clean now.  Rugs have been shaken out, floors washed, heads sanitized and dust cleared from shelves and every nook and cranny that I could reach.

There is still plenty to do to keep Pandora in top shape, there always is, but at least as I prepare for Craig’s arrival and ultimately, the trip north in about a week, Pandora will be ready to begin her nearly 1,000 mile voyage home.

Is has indeed been “Bob and Brenda’s most excellent voyage” and while there have been plenty of challenges, it’s been a wonderful experience.

Perhaps a great way to close is with a shot taken on the docks at Fayerweather Yacht Club way back on September 11^th, our first night out.  Fayerweather Yacht Club was a fitting spot to spend that first night as it was our first yacht club and the spot where we kept our very first boat, a 20′ long Cape Cod Catboat, way back in the late 70s.  Who would have guessed that we would one day have a boat capable of crossing oceans and that we would be in a position to take the time, and have the opportunity, to spend many months away and aboard.

To celebrate the close of is amazing voyage and Brenda’s departure, we enjoyed dinner at a local eatery here in Marsh Harbor the night before she left.  What a great way to mark the end of our time together and the conclusion of our first big voyage.It’s been a wonderful time together, mostly with smooth sailing, and we are looking forward to some shore time, a chance to sleep in our bed at home, the one that Brenda calls her “cloud bed” and then come back to the Bahamas next winter.

This sunset from our last night aboard here in Marsh Harbor was particularly beautiful.  Or, is it a sunrise on our new, and more carefree life together?  You decide.

Not a lot to report except that we are hanging out in Hope Town, a lovely spot here in the Abacos.

Yesterday we went for a walk up to the north end of the island, where there are a good number of really nice homes, estates actually.  It’s interesting as we walk on these islands and see homes that are so close to the water and yet seem to persist in spite of a number of strong hurricanes coming through the area year after year.  And, that’s all in the face of little or no hurricane coverage for homeowners.  As far as I am aware, there is no flood insurance program here in the Bahamas that’s comparable to what’s available in the US.

I expect that the main reason that homes survive here, storm after storm, is because most of the ocean front homes are built on land largely underpinned by a somewhat porous but very solid foundation of limestone rock.  That is very much different than the US eastern coastline that is mostly sand.  As you can imagine,  the homes built on rock in the Bahamas fare much better than those built on soft sand in the US.

With hurricane Sandy still so fresh in the minds of those who live on the eastern seaboard, the difference of how those in the Bahamas fared verses the east coast of the US is in stark contrast.  To have homes wrecked every few years and to be rebuilt over and over again, using the taxpayer subsidized flood insurance program, is foolhardy.  Thankfully, it seems that some are seeing that changes to this practice have to be made and Governor Cuomo in New York, for one, is recommending that some areas badly damaged by Sandy be condemned and converted to undeveloped coastline once and for all.   Don’t get me wrong, I love the coast and water but to build homes and wreck them and build again, and from an insurance fund that looses money, at taxpayers expense, just doesn’t make sense.

Well, enough ranting about that.  The coastline of Elbow Cay, where Hope Town is located, has some really nice homes and we enjoyed walking by them yesterday.   The north area of the island does not allow motor transportation beyond golf carts and that’s only for those who are residents of the island.  That keeps the dirt roads, sand actually, clear of unnecessary traffic and makes for a great place to spend a few hours walking and enjoying the sights.   As I have mentioned before, the Abacos are more lush and green than the southern parts of the Bahamas and now that we are into the spring “wet” season, things are really looking great.   Pruned hedges, or trees, are a very popular visual break along some of the homes here.   This shot shows how lush things are here.  There’s even grass.  And this is on stark contrast to this shot taken a month ago in the dryer southern Bahamas where short palms are the dominant vegetation.  Growing things in the Abacos is a lot easier, that’s for sure. 
The shoreline here is a lot more inviting.   Nice spot to have a picnic lunch.Great flowering bushes everywhere.   Brenda wants to get one of these hibiscus plants for our patio this summer.
I don’t know what this one is but talk about yellow.  These flowers, about the width of your hand, are on a bush about 15′ tall.  Pretty amazing.   It would have been fun to gather a bouquet although I expect I would have run afoul of the locals.   “Hey you, with the flowers, stop!!!”.The clouds were particularly dramatic yesterday.  How about this roof mounted deck or “widow’s walk” to view the ocean?Along the way we spied this lovely wood sloop.   The contrast in water colors was really dramatic.  What great lighting.
More great gardens along the way.  Everything is just so well kept.
Everyone loves a view of the water and this great spot on the harbor has a perfect spot complete with some comfy Adirondack chairs to enjoy the view.  I guess they have lots of friends or like to change chairs often for a different view.  And, of course, from their vantage point, a great shot of Pandora that those sitting in those great chairs would see of Pandora looking pretty tropical. What post about Hope Town is complete without yet another shot of the lighthouse.  This one is made even better by Pandora gracing the same frame. We spent some time at the marina resort yesterday and enjoyed a beer by the pool.  The resort has two pools and we loved this one which we had all to ourselves.   Love the planters.   The view of the clouds above was spectacular.   It will come as no surprise that with these came a few showers but not enough to dampen things too much.  Glad that we closed the hatches on Pandora when we headed ashore. We are certainly enjoying being in the Bahamas.  What a great shot of their flag flying proudly at one of the north end homes.  Here’s an idea?  We’ll come back next winter!!!We finished up the day with dinner at a local restaurant called Fire Fly.  They are located out of town and picked us up at the dock in a golf cart and a “stretch” cart that seats six at that.  We had a great table on the deck with a view of the sunset.So, today, what to do?  Here’s an idea!  Let’s visit the pool with a good book.  Yes, that’s the ticket.  How about the weather?  Sunny.  Go figure.

It’s Saturday morning and the sun is out.  For the last few days the weather has been uncharacteristically rainy and overcast.  It’s been nice to have Pandora’s decks rinsed clean of salt but having it rainy, overcast and windy hasn’t been too much fun.

A few days ago we decided to head back to Marsh Harbor, not my first choice of harbor as it’s more urban than I prefer, but the provisioning is very good here and we were running out of fresh food.   Throughout our four months in the Bahamas we have found that once you are outside of Nassau, Marsh Harbor and George Town, you can’t expect to find much fresh food.   The exception is that there are generally tomatoes, green peppers, onions, iceberg lettuce, potatoes and carrots.  However in some of the more remote areas we visited, the choice was limited to onions, potatoes and carrots if the mail boat had come in recently.  If not, nothing.  Yes, you can do a lot with those veggies but Brenda loves to add an avocado to that list to round out things from time to time and that just isn’t done outside of the three larger cities.  Interestingly, those particular vegetable types tend to be fairly reasonably priced, unlike most things here.  By comparison, while a head of widely available iceberg lettuce is less a bit more than two dollars, a package of three romaine heads run in the $10 range.  That’s lot of lettuce for lettuce, in my book.

Anyway, enough about salad, how about our trip through the Whale?  As I mentioned in a past post, this stretch of water can be pretty nasty when the seas kick up so coming back from Green Turtle Cay, and through The Whale, a few days ago was a bit anxiety producing for us.  We waited until the winds were forecast to be light and made the trip under engine power.   The seas in the ocean that day were running under five feet, I would guess.  But it was impressive to see them pile up in the passage as the water depth decreased from hundreds of feet to about twenty in a very short distance.  When waves enter shallow water they pile up and break which makes things a lot worse than the same waves would be in deeper water.

As we approached the passage we came close to these waves that were breaking over the shallow reefs on either side of the 800′ wide passage.  These waves, and they look more impressive in “real life”, were only a bit more than a hundred yards away.  As they say, “you had to be there” to appreciate them.  While an 800′ wide cut seems like plenty of space to aim for, there aren’t any markers or buoys to mark the rocky areas.  As is the case nearly everywhere in the Bahamas, rocks and shoals are not marked so you are expected to just see them through the clear water or see waves breaking over them.  Oh, that’s just so comforting.  Not!!!   While this still makes my mouth dry, it’s not nearly as anxiety producing as it was a few months ago, when we first entered the Bahamas.

As we went through the narrow cut and out into the ocean, we passed Whale Cut Cay.  This is where the waves, and they were pretty benign that day, really showed their stuff.  Again, these photos don’t do justice to the power of these waves.  I can only imagine what this series would look like in rough conditions.  We have not seen breaking waves like this in any other part of the Bahamas in a similar sea state.

The wave began to break. Then the full wave hit.  

And receded.  Yikes!!!  I’d hate to be stuck in that…  As you can imagine, putting in the way-point coordinates and staying on course is a GOOD IDEA!!!

These clouds certainly speak to the unsettled weather.  Really impressive.   Notice how flat the water is, until the waves enter the shallows and break on the reefs.This guy, who ran aground on the reef, wasn’t so lucky.  I understand that this landing craft has been on the reef for some time.  I expect a fiberglass eggshell like Pandora would’t hold up for very long in the waves.  

Happily, no such fate for Pandora and her crew.  Ending up like that boat would certainly do harm to my cruising plans and, as our son Rob would say, “that would be a career limiting move Dad.  Stay away from the CLMs with Mom”.  Agreed, good idea.  Cream puffs don’t like to be shipwrecked.

Here in Marsh Harbor the squally weather continued and last evening we had a really dramatic thunder storm.  Happily, we had made it back to Pandora from cocktails aboard this lovely catamaran from South Africa before it hit.  We had been invited by them and a couple off of another cat to talk about our trip down the ICW and the cruising areas of the Chesapeake and New England.  That’s a lot of territory to cover.  Interestingly, this cat was built in South Africa and the owner has sailed extensively.   After sailing the east coast this year they will head to the Panama Canal and on to the South Pacific.   We hope that they will keep a blog as it would be great fun to keep up with their whereabouts in the coming years.  This is a big boat.  She’s nearly 50′ long and 25′ wide, twice as wide as Pandora.   Their cockpit is more like a patio with several seating areas to choose from.  Stepping onto this boat is more like stepping on to a floating dock.  Really nice. The other couple, new to sailing and from Montana, of all places, were on the cat to the left in the photo below.  It has been fun to become more acquainted with cat sailing as they are  so different than mono-hulls.    Sailing on one of these is sort of like sailing around in a condo with a great back deck.  And amazingly, as they don’t heel, you can leave everything out on the counters, including your knife rack.

Not a bad view to wake up to today.  

Actually, these boats make Pandora, who isn’t small, look like a canoe.   As they say, “there’s always someone who is richer, and thinner, than you are”.    Or at least, has a bigger boat.

In less than a week Brenda heads back to the states and I will do a week of sailing with my friend Craig.  After he leaves on the 18th, it will be time for me to bring Pandora back to Essex.  Let’s hope that the weather gods will be supportive, and The Whale will be benign.

I too am looking forward to being home again.  Enough of paradise for one year, I guess.

It’s Wednesday morning and we are in for a fairly windless but beautiful day.  Today, uncharacteristically, I am happy to have no wind as we plan to move back down to Hope Town as our trip involves passing through a particularly tricky piece of water called Whale Cay Passage.  This short run of only about two miles will take us from inside the Sea of Abaco, the very shallow waters that run up the eastern part of the Abacos, out into the ocean side of Whale Cut Cay and back into the Sea of Abaco a short distance later.  We have to go through this “outside” cut as the waters inside are too shallow for Pandora, even at high tide.

This is an intimidating move because the cut that joins the ocean to the Sea of Abaco is only 20′ deep and is open to the swells of the North Atlantic.   When there is a good sea running, say more than 5′, which isn’t much, the cut can have breaking waves.  As you can imagine, that’s not particularly fun at all.

When we came through this stretch of water last week, it was pretty bumpy but not dangerous.  I understand that there are many times in the winter months that this pass isn’t navigable at all and to make the run would be very risky to small boats.

Even in the most calm weather with little wind and small seas, it’s still distressing to see waves breaking on reefs on either side of the cut, a short distance from the boat.  As the cut is only a few hundred yards wide, it looks like you are heading directly into a surf area as you run through the cut.  The reality is that many boats pass through there and a real problem is rare, especially in the spring when the ocean swells are smaller.  However, passing through any piece of water where there are breaking waves nearby isn’t to be taken lightly.  

There is enough anxiety about this cut that there is a local VHF radio net each morning where the conditions at “The Whale” are discussed.  Unfortunately, where we are now, we are too far away from those who manage the net to hear them on the radio. 

Today, with very light winds and seas of under 5′, this should be quite an easy run.  With the weather forecast calling for strong thunderstorms later today we’d like to get back to Hope Town as soon as we can.  Unfortunately, we will have to wait till around noon to leave Green Turtle Cay as the tide is not high enough till mid day for us to make it out of the harbor.

These clouds are pretty well developed so early in the morning so they do seem to suggest some drama later in the afternoon.   At least the salt will be washed off of Pandora’s decks. This is the view out in front of Pandora.  More developing thunderheads in this direction too.  
I expect that we way be racing a squall with the hope of getting back to Hope Town in time to get settled prior to more “interesting” weather.

With just over a week till Brenda heads out, we plan to take it easy in Hope Town and will probably eat out a few more times and spend time hanging out at the marina there that has a great pool that’s open to all, even if you aren’t staying in their facility.  Unlike this place, most marinas don’t let “non-tenants” use their facility.  I think that this is a mistake as sitting around a pool tends to lead to us ordering food and drink.  I’ll bet that’s what others would do too.

With so little time left of our first visit to the Bahamas I find myself reflecting on how the trip has been.  It was interesting last evening when we had two women, Diane and Jan of Nora over for dinner.  We had just met them earlier in the day when they stopped by Pandora to introduce themselves.   They seemed so nice we invited them for dinner.

They told us that they had just purchased their boat Nora, a Passport 40, a few years ago and were just getting their feet wet with their first cruise to the Bahamas.  It seems that Diane had grown up on boats but sailing was a new thing for Jan so this was their “shakedown” year of cruising.  Because of this they decided to pick the Abacos, a relatively easy cruising area.

Jan asked us which areas we had enjoyed the most in the Bahamas and, once again, I found myself thinking about what I liked and what I was less enchanted with.

I still have to say that I liked the Exumas and other more southerly islands the best as they still seemed more “real” to me.  Here in the Abacos, the distances are short, there are fewer islands, and it’s just a smaller and more built up place.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s very nice here, but it seems more like the US and less like the Bahamas.  Heck, they even take credit cards, easy, but not “real”.  Cash is “real”.  Forget the fact that there are precious few banks to get cash.   However, that’s another story.

To me, a big part of the Bahamas experience is sailing and as the areas here are so short, between islands, there isn’t much sailing, beyond a few hours here and there.  It’s hard for me to sit still so being here for a month in such a compact area has made me a bit restless.  I am also a bit concerned that, when my crew arrives later this month, that the weather will not be good to head north.

While I can motor up the coast for three or four days with the fuel I have on board, I’d certainly prefer to sail.  Having said that, my crew will not have all the time in the world to hang around waiting for the perfect weather window, so we may very well have to leave because of time constraints.    Having said that, the ocean can get pretty nasty so we will still have to be very mindful of what’s out there and plan our trip accordingly.  They say that the most dangerous piece of equipment on a boat is a clock.  Better to wait till good weather and to leave because of time constraints.

In thinking about the weather for heading north, I have been listening to Chris Parker, the weather router, each morning and am now looking at grib files each day to see what the winds between the Bahamas and Cape Hatteras are like.  Of course, what’s out there now is likely to have little bearing on what we will experience in a few weeks but at least I can become familiar with broad weather patterns on the eastern seaboard of the US this time of year.

We have enjoyed our time here in Green Turtle Cay.   Just for fun, here’s shots of two barracuda that we spied at one of the marinas when we went ashore a few days ago.  This one was about 5′ long.  He was just sitting there waiting for something tasty to cruise by, I guess.This guy was only about 3′ long but I was able to get a better picture as the angle was better.  These fish look pretty fierce with big canine teeth sticking out of their lower jaws.  If we are lucky with the weather on our trip north we could have some of the best sailing of the season as we make our way north toward Essex.  I am hopeful that the nearly 1,000 mile run will be one to remember, in a good way.

Just for fun, here’s a link to a webcam from one of the marinas near where we are anchored in Green Turtle Cay.  If we are still here when you click on this link, Pandora is to the far right, the one with the double head stays.

Well, I’ll sign off for now.

We are enjoying our time here in Green Turtle Cay.  Since coming here a few days ago we have spent a good deal of time exploring the island, including visits to several beaches and most recently a visit to the largest settlement, actually the only settlement on the island, New Plymouth.   This “town” like so many in the Bahamas was settled shortly after the American Revolution by families loyal to the British Crown.

New Plymouth is very compact and well kept village, surrounding a tiny harbor.   As is the case in the Bahamas, there are many churches serving the locals and they are very active.  On the day we toured the area there were both a funeral and wedding going on.   What’s a local to do, so many choices?  No wait, for those who wished, they could go to both after a quick stop at home for a change of clothes.  It was clear that these two events were timed so that they would not conflict with one another, or at least not bump into each other on the narrow streets.  And, to make things easier, they were taking place at two different churches.

The funeral was a pretty big deal with a large procession of mourners processing on foot from the church to the cemetery.  The wedding reception, scheduled for later, was being set up under a large tent that had been erected over the local basketball court just adjacent to the cemetary .  The streets are very narrow, just about wide enough for a golf cart, the preferred mode of transport around town.  I understand that the bride was to be delivered to the wedding via golf cart.   We did see one tooling around with purple and white balloons all over it.  We also noticed that there were plenty of drivers of carts going down the streets with a beer in hand.  Hmm…  Hope that doesn’t lead to more funerals. 

The streets are very well kept with tidy buildings.  The plantings are great.  This was a particularly robust bougainvillea.  Pretty impressive. Hey you, drinking a beer and driving the golf cart, how about a visit to the old jail?   The creature comforts at the jail are pretty stark.   However, it is pink…The homes are very well kept.  There are several museums of life on the island.  Unfortunately, due to the funeral and wedding, they were both closed.   Great garden in back of one though.  Notice the detached kitchen.  That was to keep the heat out of the main house and to reduce the chance of burning your whole home to the ground in the event of a mishap.   Makes sense. The government offices were quite simple but nice.  There is even a immigration office, something that is available on quite a few islands in the Bahamas.  However, some if not all have restricted office hours limited to just a few days a week and never during lunch hours.   I expect that the new jail is nearby.   Wonder if it’s pink too?  Probably or a nice light blue.  What self respecting male criminal would want to spend a night in a pink jail?Brenda posed in front of the Methodist church.  She plans to write an article for the newsletter from our last church in New Jersey about some of the Methodist churches in the Bahamas.  Alas, we haven’t been good enough Christians to have actually attended one of the weekly services.  We did hear that the locals are very welcoming and encourage cruisers to attend.
The gardens were great around town.  This cactus was really nice and about to go into bloom. Another of the local orchids.  This one also growing on a tree and was in someone’s yard.I don’t know what this flowering tree is.  Pretty amazing display.
A sort of datura.  However, unlike the other ones we have seen, this one flowers in an upright manner.  Notice that the 6″ flower is a double, with a second trumpet growing out of the first.   Quite dramatic.
Sort of looks like a gardenia.  The flowers look almost like velvet and are quite large.
There is a ferry service that runs on a very regular schedule, more than once an hour, from the mainland (if you can call Great Abaco Island the mainland).  The gang waiting on the dock were some of the may funeral attendees.  There was quite a crowd.  I guess that these folks weren’t on the invite list for the wedding.
Now that I have successfully segued from gardens to water, how about a shot of a wonderful red legged heron near if not in the water?  Not the actual name but he did have red legs.  We saw him when we were out on a harbor cocktail tour in our dink last evening.  We also stopped at a little beach out near the harbor entrance and enjoyed checking the area for shells.  As it was low tide we saw lots of fun critters.  Brenda was very brave and walked among the skittering crabs, one of which actually had the audacity to bump into her foot.  The nerve…

We were thrilled to spy this beautiful sea slug in about a foot of water.  They swim gracefully through the water by undulating the “wings” that run down their sides.   This little guy was about 6″ long.  What a unique creature.  It seems that each time we visit a beach we see something quite amazing.  We also found a few great shells including these.   Hard to believe that we could just stroll along and find shells this nice just sitting there waiting to be picked up.  I wonder how they sat there after being washed up on shore. What a treat.  The long one was the first of that type we have found and was certainly the find of the day.Today we will take another walk, have lunch ashore and hang out at the marina pool for a while.  I expect that it will be an all together trying day in the Bahamas.

It’s Saturday morning and the sun is out here in Green Turtle Cay.  The sun is out…how unique.  Not really as it’s nearly always sunny here.  Now that it’s spring at home this warm weather doesn’t seem quite that unique any more.  Having said that, it’s been really wonderful to be in a place where the temperature doesn’t vary by much more than ten degrees, day after day, month after month.  Some say that they’d hate to loose the change of the seasons.  I believe that those folks are just rationalizing that they live in an area where the climate is nice for about half of the year.  For the other half they are either freezing or roasting while they are chanting “I love the changing seasons, I love the changing seasons”.. Go ahead, keep trying to convince yourself.     How did the slogan go?  “It’s better in the Bahamas.”   Yes, I am convinced.

Perhaps my love of the “no season, seasons” is clouded by the fact that this is my first opportunity EVER, in my whole life, to avoid the cold.  Yes, it’s still novel but I expect that the “novelness” won’t wear off any time soon.

Ok, enough about the weather.  Let’s talk about how great this place is.

We are anchored in Green Turtle, White Sound, a lovely little harbor that is protected from all directions.  After months of running for cover every time the wind direction changes, it’s great to be somewhere secure for a while.

Yesterday we went for a walk on one of the sheltered sound side beaches.  The one that was recommended was Co-Co Bay, a mile plus long beach on the sheltered side.  We have found that the shelling is better on sheltered beaches than on the ocean side where shells tend to be ground into powder before they even reach the surf line.

The best time to look for shells, or walk on the beach, is at low tide.  It’s easier to find shells when the water is low even though the range here is about three feet. Having said that, with the full moon, the tide range yesterday was more like four feet which exposed more of the beach than normal.  That made for particularly interesting shelling.  Areas that are normally covered, even at dead low, were shallow enough to walk through.

The beach was very peaceful and serene.  Brenda and I were alone with the exception of one other person we ran into along the way.  It turns out that she was from New Jersey and visiting friends.  It’s indeed a small world.

These flats are very pretty.We don’t know what makes these little humps but some sort of critter spits out sand in great volume, creating these mounds.  Normally, they are under water but with this very low tide the view was very interesting with small bumps all over the place.  Brenda was pretty creeped out imagining what was lurking just under the surface that might grab her toes.    Alas, her desire for shells won the day and she braved the wild mounds.This beautiful star fish was over a foot across.  Believe it or not, this photo was taken through a foot of water.  That’s gin clear water.  This urchin looked like a lot of the guys that we have met who cruise, present company excluded, sort of.  A bit sparse on the top.   I expect that being “bald” will make this one an easy target for a ray or nurse shark.    Hmm… Urchin roe anyone?This little guy was very hard to spot but what an amazing creature.  He didn’t seem too terribly distressed.    I guess that he could tell that my hand was a lot softer than his shell.After a few moments he opened up to check us out.  Notice that I changed my grip when the pincers came out.The homes in this area are pretty large.  This flying boat was parked in front of a particularly nice spot.   Interestingly, just a few houses down was another identical plane.  I found myself wondering if this was a classic case of “keeping up with the Joneses”.   The first home we passed was clearly the winner as parked in front, along with the plane, was a 60′ motor yacht.  “OK, just try keeping up with that neighbor!!!”    What fun it would be to taxi down the beach, into the water and off for lunch in Miami.  I would do that.
Speaking of eating out.  (Nice segue Bob) We had a wonderful dinner last night with our friends Larry and Susan who live aboard their Valiant 42, Moira.   We have enjoyed their company a number of times over the last few months and it’s nice to be in a harbor with them again.    The dining room is just off this wonderful patio at the Green Turtle Club.  As it’s spring here (Yes, the seasons do change, a little.  It rains a bit more, but not that much.) and this native orchid was in full bloom.  I think it is an encyclia species.  Brenda and I had a greenhouse with hundreds of orchids for over 30 years.   The orchids had to go as we spent more and more time aboard.  Oh well, time marches on.   Seeing this plant brought back memories. There were hundreds, many hundreds, of little 1″ flowers.  Quite charming. Perhaps a bit random, but this guy, who went back and forth near us a number of times yesterday, reminded me of one of those duck shooting games at an arcade.   His boat seemed impossibly small and the little motor buzzing away was quite comical.
I guess that I should get the lead out and move in with my day.    Almost forgot.  When we were anchored outside of this harbor we did see a few green turtles.  It’s always funny to watch them pop up their heads to take a look.   I swear that they were looking at me, looking at them.

Enough musings for now.

On Tuesday we dropped the mooring in Man-O-War and headed a short 5 miles to  Great Guana Cay.  Yes, the cays (pronounced keys) as islands are known here, are very close to each other here in the Abacos.  As an aside, in Florida the keys are pronounced keys.   More logical, to my way of thinking.

The weather was uncharacteristically calm and the seas so flat that you could count the starfish as the bottom passed 20′ under Pandora.  We also saw a few “items” that must have fallen overboard from passing vessels.  How about a lawn mower, or two?  So much for pristine waterways here in paradise.  I can only imagine what the sea would cough up if we could see the bottom in most harbors up north.

There was a front approaching and within a few hours the calm conditions were no more and the wind had piped up to 20kts.  These thunderheads marked the approaching front.  The view ahead of Pandora was amazing.  I stood on the bow watching the bottom flow under us for an hour.  You could easily spot sea biscuits and sand dollars too along with star fish.  The star fish were easy to spot as some were about 18″ across. If two photos of clouds is good than a third is better.  We were happy to be on the hook when the front came though later that day.

Great Guana Cay is known for Nippers, a beach bar that is supposed to be one of the best in the Bahamas.  For us, we weren’t that impressed as it seemed a bit ratty.  Having said that, perhaps it was the fact that it was blowing a gale, sort of, and there were a few guys at the bar that were acting more like high school football players on a bender than the adults that they probably played in “real life”.   There’s something pathetic about a 50 something guy with a doo rag on his head and a beer in his hand.  Oh well…  I am happy to say that I don’t have a doo rag.   For that matter, I am not even sure how to spell it.  In spite of all that, the view was spectacular as the bar overlooks the ocean and the third barrier reef in the world.  Alas, we toughed it out and enjoyed the view. 

Yesterday afternoon the wind had cut down enough for a walk on the beach.  It’s an impressive one and in spite of the reefs that break the surf, the waves were still rolling in and crashing like they meant it.   This spot was pretty amazing as the waves crashed over and into the air with ferocity.  In spite of all the wave action the water was very clear.  The sand, because of the constant pounding is very soft and fine. After our walk on the beach we decided to try the “other” bar, Grabbers.  It was perched on the leeward side of the island, with a lot less wind.   That’s good.  We liked it very much.  They even have a pool.  Pretty nice spot.  Great view.  They call this sunset beach.  That’s because you can see the sunset from the bar, but you probably already figured that one out.  The view over the pool was very nice.  We recommend this spot.

How about a commercial for the place?  Yes, that’s me trying to look cool.  Alas, no hope.  I am just not cool material.  No comments about the hat…  I am at peace with my “un-cooleness”, mostly and totally after a few beers.   At least I don’t have a doo rag.We headed back to Pandora to enjoy the sunset.And moon rise.  What a beautiful sight.  Today?  Who knows.  Perhaps another short hop and another sandy beach.   Only two weeks till Brenda heads north so we had better cram in as much sightseeing as we can.  Time’s short.

Yesterday, Sunday, we arrived here in Man-O-War Cay after a short five mile motor from Hope Town.   The flavor of this island is so different than Hope Town with it’s thriving boat building waterfront.  Hope Town is much more of an island resort and this island seems to be all business.  In some ways, nix the palms and you’d almost think that you were in Maine.  The harbor is very small and well protected and with loads of moorings, some of which are alarmingly close to one another.

Last night we went on a “cocktail cruise” in our dink and enjoyed the sights of the waterfront and harbor.   This little wooden boat caught our eye.  It seemed right at home near the rustic cabin.  Not the sort of sight that we have seen much of here in the Bahamas.  It looks like someone named Billy-Bob should live in that house.    Nearby there were several egrets that eyed us suspiciously   Fly away, not fly away, fly away…

What a beautiful sight. These lovely Abaco sloops were moored out in front of Albury’s boat shop.  They used to make a lot of these in the past but much of their work these days is in fiberglass fishing boats.   We have seen their fishing boats all over the Bahamas.  This morning we headed ashore with the hope of having breakfast but no luck.  The only spot to eat is open for lunch and dinner.  However, that did not deter as we just toughed it out until lunch.

As we were walking around we spied this lovely sloop fresh from the paint shop. 

All of the boats here on the island aren’t traditional.  I am not sure exactly what this is but expect that Jacques Cousteau would have a pretty good idea, I’ll bet.Brenda was particularly excited about coming here because the island is home to a store selling batik fabric from a company called Androsia and we were told that this store is the largest distributor for Androsia.  These fabrics are died and patterned by hand in a shop on the island of Andros,  an island that is not on our itinerary for this year.  (Andosia from Andros?  Get it?)

Brenda was in heaven and had a tough time deciding which fabric to buy.  The colors are great.  While Brenda was shopping, I was enjoying the view of the harbor from out in front of the shop.  Nice boat, that Pandora.  Wonder who’s she is?  Our next stop was the canvas shop.  This used to be THE place to have sails made for the wooden ships and sloops coming out of this harbor’s yards.  Now, descendants of the same sail makers turn out wonderful canvas bags, and lots and lots of them. Now Brenda heart was really racing.And, they were even making MORE bags.  What’s a girl with a bag fetish to do?  You guessed it.  Buy a bag!!!  In case you are wondering, Brenda showed admirable strength and resolve and only got one.  But, it was a BIG one and the PERFECT bag.   I am sure that the flight attendants will be green with envy as two or three of them help her hoist it into the overhead compartment.   “Would you like us to check that for you Miss?”.   “No, thank you, I am sure that with just a few more helpers we will able to lift it.  No really, I am sure that it will fit just fine, if we push just a bit… harder.”

The main transportation on the island is golf cart and there are well maintained concrete paths going everywhere.  The homes and yards are very well manicured.  We particularly liked this lovely garden path.There are flowers in profusion.  With more rain here than in the southern Bahamas, things are a lot more lush.   Brenda and I enjoyed the flowers.  I guess that April is a good time for flowering trees.  Do you recognize this one?  If you guessed poinsettia, you’d be right.  I expect this is what they look like if you put them out after New Years and they don’t end up under a snow drift like up north.

No idea what this vine is but they are very pretty.  The flowers are about 3″ across.The fruit of a palm but clearly not a date palm. Some sort of lily although the plant is not so lily like. These trees put out a riot of yellow flowers.    Quite a sight.These red flowers are on a bush that is trimmed into a sort of feathery hedge.  This spiny plant had an alarmingly sharp spine on the end of each leaf.Of course, the ever popular hibiscus.These 5″ flowers looked like they were made of velvet.   An amazing color.
After lunch we headed back to Pandora just ahead of a deluge of rain.  After months of sunny and dry weather it seems that we are in the rainy season.  I was told that it rains a lot in April.  It’s nice to keep the salt off of the decks.   Yes, it does look a lot like Maine.  Speaking of Maine, we’ll be there in a few months.  I had better swim while we are here because I’ll not be in the water much in Maine.

Man-O-War.  Now this is a lovely spot, rain or shine.