It’s Thursday morning and we have moved into a nice little harbor, named appropriately, “Little Harbor” home of the famous “Pete’s Pub” a real beach bar, complete with palm trees, sand and all of the other features you could imagine in a romantic island retreat.

The harbor is ever so small with an approach depth of only 3′ at low tide.  As you might imagine, with Pandora’s 6′ draft, we timed our arrival today to coincide with high tide.  Coming into the channel was a bit of a nail biter as we saw less than two feet under our keel a few times.   The channel is so narrow that I’d hate to get stuck and force other boats to delay their departure or arrival.  That would not be a popular move here, I am sure.

To say that this is a small harbor doesn’t really make the point.   It’s really tight and I don’t think that there are more than about 20 moorings.  Happily, there were a few open when we arrived so that’s good.   We are so close to one of the docks that it would be easy to toss something to someone from Pandora.  I did check to see if we’d hit if the wind shifted by moving the boat in circle on the mooring and we cleared the dock by less than a boat length.

For the last two nights, since our arrival, we anchored near one of the nearby beaches, a very pretty spot.   Yesterday I headed ashore to check out the local beach as a possible shelling spot.  Given the popularity of the beaches in this area, I wasn’t expecting to find anything.  However, after a few minutes, I realized that it was a GREAT SPOT to shell and headed back to Pandora to get Brenda.  We returned to the beach and after less than an hour we had a great haul of shells including nearly a dozen sea biscuits, a sort of sand dollar.  There were many scattered around the shallows at low tide.  The live ones are black and are covered with little spines, sort of like a sea urchin.   When they die, the spines fall off and what’s left is a white skeleton.  They are very pretty.    The ones that we picked up are still a bit dirty looking but a bit of bleach and some time in the sun will make them look much better.

Our “haul” from the beach was great.  With a little bleach and some sun, they will really clean up nicely.  This is one of the sea biscuits.    They have a very intricate structure to them.   Very pretty.  When we were entering through the cut into The Sea of Abaco, perhaps better described as The “Lake” of Abaco as it’s just not that big, especially after a 50+ mile run through water that was a deep as 17,000 feet at points, our friends on Nati, hailed us on the radio.  We had not seen Anne and Dick for some time after spending a few weeks with them in Rum Cay and Conception Island more than a month ago.   They have spent some time in the Abacos in past years and agreed to go over our chart books with us to help us get some ideas on what places to visit in over the next few weeks.   We had a very enjoyable cocktail hour with them and were impressed with a tour of Nati.  Nati is a 38′ catamaran and is their full time home.   We hope to see them this summer as they may go to Maine.  It would be great if they visited us in Essex too.   

The view to shore here from Pandora is really nice.  This spot gives the impression that you are in some remote island retreat.  Of course, that impression is somewhat belied by the number of homes lining the shore.  Very pretty, never the less.  I love the whole palm, sandy beach and thatched umbrella thing.   This is the famous “Pete’s Pub” as viewed from Pandora’s bow.  I’ll bet that they sell drinks that have little umbrellas stuck in them.  Perhaps 11:00 is too early to confirm that.  Perhaps later.  Yes, later… that would be good.    And, I expect that we will be able to find our way there and back without getting lost.  Pretty close.  Well, lots to explore and I hear that the ocean is very close, just over the dunes.  I can hear the surf pounding.

I can smell suntan lotion from down below so I guess that Brenda is about ready to check out the local sights.  With that in mind, I’d better finish this post up and get the lead out, PDQ…

With that in mind, I’ll sign off for now.

It’s Tuesday afternoon and we are making our passage from Royal Island at the top of Eleuthra to Great Abaco where we will begin the final month of our visit to the Bahamas.  We had not planned to make two long runs in two consecutive days but the weather was particularly cooperative today so we decided to head out for the 50nm run.  While yesterday’s 40nm run was a pretty long day, it was across the banks and in protected waters.  That sort of run has it’s own challenges as it took us across some very shallow banks, mostly under 20′ deep and through a great number of coral heads, some only a few feet below the surface.  For a while avoiding these reefs was sort of like running a slalom course as I changed course moment to moment to stay out of harm’s way.

The good news is that with the clear waters of the Bahamas as our guide, seeing the coral heads was quite easy, assuming that the sun was shining, which it was.   These “heads” grow up out of the bottom and show like a sort of “ink spot” against the surrounding blue sandy bottom.    The contrast, under the right conditions, was marked.  This shot clearly shows how these dangerous spots show up.    What doesn’t show is just how many of them there were.  Happily, with some exceptions, they were separated by several hundred feet of clear water so avoiding them was easy even if it required constant vigilance.

While staying away from these heads was a bit of a worry, the wind was favorable for a good passage.  At the end of the day we had only run our engine for about 45 minutes and covered over 40nm, a good day’s run.  Last evening we were happy to discover that our friends and fellow SAGA 43 owners, Ginnie and Ted aboard Firecracker were in the same harbor so we invited them to join us for cocktails.  We had a great time sharing our experiences from the last month or so since we had seen them in George Town.

As I mentioned in my last post, we spent some time, three nights actually, at a really nice resort marina, Highbourne Cay Marina.   It was a real treat and the only time on this trip that we have spent any time in a marina, beyond Rum Cay which was free and didn’t count.   Highbourne Cay Marina is a first class spot and it was a real treat to have high quality meals and stay in such a lovely spot.  Pandora, while a decent size boat, was a peanut compared to the other boats in the harbor and for our first night, was the only sailboat.  I understand that one of the largest sports fisherman boats there, perhaps 100′ or so, was owned by the Bacardi family of Bacardi Rum fame.  There were some boats that were even larger so Pandora was clearly the dink of the marina.

On one of the evenings the chef and crew of one of the yachts put on a lovely outdoor feast for the owner’s guests under a beautiful gazebo , complete with tiki lamps and lovely flower arrangements.  At the end of the evening we saw some of the children making smores on the grill.   So, that’ s how the other half, no, make that the 1/10% lives.  I would do that.  My mother used to say that the wealthy were miserable but based on what I have observed on this trip, it isn’t always true and she was just trying to make me feel good.

Interestingly, the only reasonable way to get supplies to the island is by boat and the one that services this island is a 1920s vintage Chesapeake Bay Oyster boat. The owner told me that he brought it to the Bahamas over 30 years ago when he was in his 20s. The contrast of this vessel to the massive yachts was very marked.  Getting anything to these islands is a major effort and the prices reflect it.

However for a price, and I won’t go into what that price was except that it was a lot more expensive than dropping our anchor in some secluded anchorage, we were able to enjoy a few days on this wonderful island.   Perhaps this shot of Brenda reading on the beach, says it all.

Actually, she was reading from high up on a bluff overlooking a two mile beach, half of which was meticulously raked every other day to keep it looking fresh and clean.  And, let me tell you, plenty of stuff washes up on these beaches each day, some natural and some man made, or should I say, “man discarded”.  They even went so far as to line the paths to the beach with limestone walls.  What a great attention to detail.   We will be back.

Well, perhaps I should head back up on deck to keep an eye on things.  Brenda’s not feeling great as the swells are pretty large so she’s taking a nap and only the autopilot is keeping things moving.   Only another 23nm to go of our 50nm day and we will be in our first Abaco anchorage.   We are very much looking forward to our time in what is called “the Near Bahamas”.

It’s Friday morning and we are tied up in the Highbourne Cay Marina (http://www.highbournecaybahamas.com/highbourne-cay.php) on Highbourne Cay at the nortern tip of the Exumas  waiting for a cold front to come through with some nasty thunderboomers.   The sky is grey and the wind is picking up.  Happily, after this front comes through we are promised a week of wonderful “spring Bahamas weather”.  Given the lovely summer sort of weather that we have enjoyed much of this winter, I am looking forward to even better weather now.

The year round variation of temperatures in the Bahamas is less than ten degrees.  However, in the winter the winds are stronger and are influenced by the gales off of the US east coast.   As winter turns to spring, the weather here moderates as it does up north.  This is good for us as the Abacos, the most northern islands in the Bahamas, have much windier weather from December through April than do the rest of the Bahamas.   As a result, many cruisers opt to visit there in the spring and spend the earlier winter months in the southern portions of the Bahamas.    With the spring weather we too will head north to the Abacos.   The islands in the Abacos are much more developed than the areas that we have been cruising so far so our last month in the Bahamas will offer more civilized opportunites and we are ready for that.

Our visit to the Highbourne Cay marina is our first time in a marina since Rum Cay and our first time in the Bahamas to pay for a slip.  However, as it’s been weeks since we have been anywhere with even a rudimentary grocery store and laundry so we decided to treat ourselves with a few days tied up in a protected marina.  Another good reason, beyond the desire to be pampered, for tying up in a marina is that this cold front is expected to be accompanied by some nasty squalls, and being tied up in comfort beats being buffeted at anchor by 50+kt winds.  Somewhat north of here the winds are expected to be as high as 70kts which is a scary thought.

We chose Highbourne Cay as it is also home to one of the best restraunts in the Bahamas and our dinner last night bore this out.  The restraunt, Xuma, is an open air spot overlooking the neighboring islands and the views of the setting sun last evening was spectacular.    The evening was so nice that there was a camera crew shooting some footage for a travel program highlighting luxery getaways.  A two bedroom cottage here goes for $1,000 a night in high season, a bit above the Pandora crew’s pay grade.

The grounds are lovely with very nice buildings and well kept docks.

They even have nice spots to grill out if you are so inclined.

The nearby two mile long beach is spectacular and perfectly groomed regularly so it’s free of debris.  They even provide thatched umbrellas for you to lounge under.  Not bad.  Believe it or not, even the paths to the beach are raked and are lined with stone walls.  Very civilized indeed.

Of course, this spot, being so tony attracts some well heeled visitors.     You can get to the resort, and the entire island is a private resort, with your own boat.  Or, you can come by seaplane, one of which landed just ouside of the marina when we were coming in.

Speaking of coming by boat, Pandora is like a canoe compared to some of the other “boats” in residence.     We had a nice talk with a crew member of this huge yacht Dreamer, last night at the bar and heard that the launch forDreamer, Olivia, was brand new and cost $400,000 with her tripple 300hp outboards.   Dreamer is nearly new being built in Turkey in 2011 for a guy out of NY.  Of course, he’s in finance.  It seems that the recession didn’t hurt everyone.

There was also a massive go fast yacht, a sort of 150’ speed boat, that came in briefly last afternoon to discharge it’s bikini clad passengers who were dancing on the bow to disco music.  They were dropped, some dozen of them, at the dock for a visit to the bar.  Following afternoon cocktails, they were whisked out, by launch, to the yacht which had anchored outside of the marina where they all showered and dressed for dinner.    An hour or so later they returned, by launch, dressed to kill and ready to party, compliments of the owner who looked like he couldn’t be a day over 40.  Happily, my back was to the action as the view would have been even more difficult to ignore than it was for Brenda who was facing them.  Of course, Brenda kept me entertained with a running commentary of the antics of the revilers.   I expect that they are running a bit slow this morning.  One can only hope.

Well,  all isn’t totally perfect here today as it’s cloudy and a little cool (a relative term) given the approaching front.   However, all the better for a nice walk. We wouldn’t want to sweat too much, would we?

And, now for something completely random.  How about a shot of one of the iguanas , some up to 20 lbs, at nearby Allen Cay, where we anchored the other day.   These guys are very used to people and are always ready for a handout.  Yes, I was as close to him as the photo suggests.

Oh yea, speaking of wildlife, I almost forgot.  Yesterday we bought fresh grouper filets from a local fisherman.  We’ll have them aboard Pandora for dinner tonigh.  A guy’s gotta eat…

For the better part of the last week we have been exploring inside the borders of the Bahamas Land and Sea Park, one of the many protected areas here in the Bahamas.  These are no-take zones which means that you can’t fish or take anything out of these areas.  As a result, there is an abundance of fish life on great reefs that you can explore.   I went snorkeling a few times and had a great time.    Because of fishing you rarely see grouper and lobsters in non-protected waters.  Here, there are plenty because they are protected.  Interestingly, when a grouper gets distressed, they make a loud grunting sound.  It’s pretty funny, and loud.

On one dive I saw a nurse shark as well as a more intimidating reef shark that looked like it could easily have made a portion of me into a snack.  He wasn’t nearly big enough to big enough to have gulped me down but he certainly could have taken a good chunk had he been so inclined.   I have to say that I hitched my breath when I saw him swimming by and looked up to see where my dink was.    Not so close…  Happily, he continued on and swam slowly away.  They say that shark attacks are very rare but somehow that’s not much of a comfort when a shark is 20′ away.  I don’t know if he saw me and I certainly wasn’t going to do anything to announce myself.

I took a lot of great photos but am only sending a few as we haven’t had any internet or cell coverage  in some time and the only way that I can post is to do so over the SSB radio which is very slow and can’t handle large files.  I was stressing the system, I am sure, by sending three photos.  Oh well.

This queen trigger, about  a foot long, was just the most elegant creature.  She/he didn’t seem to be particularly concerned with my following for a photo.   I wonder if there are any King Triggers, and if so, do they mate?  Hmm…

I also saw quite a number of lobsters and it was amusing that they “charged” me albeit slowly when I approached them.    I guess that they know that they are not going to be broiled any time soon.   A park is a good place to live if you want to avoid being seafood.  Here fishy, fishy…

On Monday, after a terrific Easter Sunday celebration pot luck at the park warden’s home with perhaps 50 or so other cruisers, we headed over to Shroud Cay, another island in the park but one that is primarily a mangrove swamp.  There are channels meandering through the mangroves with water, at least at high tide, that is impossibly clear.  The roots of the mangroves make the most amazing sculptural sight.  The ariel roots help the plants roots get enough air and help excrete excess salt.   These are very tough plants and are critical to keeping islands from washing away in storms.   In fact, mangrove swamps are a great spot to tie up a boat to avoid a hurricane as they are very solidly rooted and you can tie up to them and be safe from a storm.  They also break waves and keep wind down.   Me, I am not planning to test this out any time soon.

At high tide we took our dink into the mangroves and crossed over to the ocean side of the island and enjoyed one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen so far.  For two hours we walked from one end to the other.  The soft white sand contrasted beautifully with the blue sky and water.  It’s hard to believe that we could have such a beautiful beach to ourselves for our entire walk.  What a sight.

We have been invited over to a friend’s boat for cocktails tonight, which will be fun.  We will have to bring our Conch Horn, a large conch shell with a hole cut in the top.  You blow into it, like a trumpet, and it lets out a great sound.  Blowing the conch at sunset is a great tradition in these parts.  Brenda’s very good at it am learning too.   We are looking forward to showing our stuff at the Essex Yacht Club this summer.

On Wednesday we will continue to head north and will probably stop at Highborn Cay, home of one of the best restaurants in the Bahamas.  A really good dinner out will be a treat as there aren’t many good spots to eat in the Bahamas and very few in the Exumas.   Actually, there are only a few places to eat at all in these parts.

Friday we will have to be sure that we are in a good spot that is very well protected as there is a nasty front coming through that is expected to bring with it very strong thunderstorms.  Last night we watched lightening flash to the north for hours just after dark as a particularly strong line of squalls headed by.   I understand that some of these squalls packed winds in the 50kt range.  I guess that we are due for this as we have only had rain twice since arriving in the Bahamas three months ago.
Wish us luck.  I am glad that I have a good anchor and lots of chain.  Fingers crossed.

It’s Saturday morning and we are on a mooring in Wardrick Wells, a national park and wildlife refuge here in the Bahamas.  As we headed south a few months ago we passed through here on our way to George Town to meet up with our boys, Rob, Chris and friend Kandice.   While we had stopped here already, we only stayed for one night as we were still in “delivery mode” and in a hurry to get to George Town.    We didn’t have the luxury of stopping for long as we had a deadline and we were going to make it.  Stopping was more about ticking off a list of destinations while waiting for weather.  We were in a rush and while it was fun to visit, we really didn’t have time to relax.  Deadline of not, we were not in the “cruising mode”.

Now, after three months we are moving a lot less and looking around a lot more.  Yes, the weather continues to be a major consideration as to where and when we move but there have been plenty of days when we have stayed put because we wanted to even if the weather said “sure, you can go”.  And when the weather isn’t cooperating we feel virtually no pressure to move.  That’s nice.   In the interest of total transparency, I may never be completely comfortable with staying put, but I have made great progress, that’s for sure.

However, I’d say that we have reached a state, or certainly Brenda has, where staying put is not a terrible thing.  I can’t recall when I have spent more time reading than I have in the last three months.  Excluding the hours spent on planes that were delayed buy snow or on some sort of mechanical gate hold back in my travel days.   Now it’s different and while I haven’t kept track, I’ll bet that I have read a dozen books, perhaps twenty since leaving home.

When we were preparing for this trip a question that we were often asked was “what do you do all day on the boat?”.    Folks that have not sent long periods aboard just can’t imagine what one could possibly do to keep occupied for days, weeks and months on a small boat.  It’s funny, but we are never bored.

Today it was dark when I got up and actually a bit chilly by Bahamas standards, in the high sixties.    Since the wee hours of today I finished a terrific novel,  Black Cross by Greg Iles.  While it is fictional, it is a gripping account of life in a Nazi concentration camp.  I won’t say more but I recommend it highly.   The whole breakfast and lunch thing, some housekeeping and some maintenance on the water maker and other piddly items plus a walk on the beach kept me busy.

You’d be amazed how much time can be taken up with shopping for groceries.  Going shopping?  Forget making a list, when you go into one of the pint sized little stores in the Bahamas, some little bigger than a small bedroom, you have to buy what they have and if the mail boat hasn’t been there in a few days there’s not likely to be much selection at all.  Produce is usually limited to onions, potatoes, carrots and perhaps green peppers.   About a month ago we spied something exotic,  a avocado, the only one we have seen in perhaps two months.  Without hesitation, we bought it.  Not quite like shopping in the states.  Actually, it’s been more than a week since we have been anywhere with any sort of settlement, much less a store.    The good news is that we will likely be somewhere by mid week where there is at least a little grocery.   Not a lot of “running out for a few things” here.

Here in the park, a 25 mile stretch of islands that are protected,  there is no fishing or taking of wildlife.  The water is clear and blue and the snorkeling is first rate.  Unfortunately,  while I had my underwater camera with me yesterday it malfunctioned and none of my photos came out.  I’ll be going again before we leave here so I am sure that I expect that I will have plenty of photos to share.   While I have not seen a single lobster in the months in the Bahamas,  there are plenty here and I am sure that I will take some great photos, again.   Yesterday when I was snorkeling I spied a large lobster, perhaps 3’ in length sitting on the sand near a coral head.   I looked at him and approached.  He did the same until we were nose to nose.  When he touched me with his antenna we both jumped and he backed down.  I was amazed by how aggressive or more likely, curious he was.  I guess that even lobsters know when they are safe.  The fish were also pretty relaxed and seemed to be more curious than afraid.

Well, how do we fill our days?  I too am amazed at how quickly the days go by but they do.  Yes, one does blur into the next and the weeks go by, but it’s a pleasant blur and I feel blessed to be able to experience this.    Generally the mornings are consumed with chores and the afternoons with exploring.

The other day, in Compass Cay, a bit south of here, I did a little fishing and caught a little fish.  Don’t worry, I threw him back.  Alas, nothing “table worthy” for Bob the mighty fisherman.  Nice looking fish.

As I sit here the view in the harbor, which is protected from nearly all directions, is one of shades of blue.  At low tide there are huge sand bars that cut across the harbor separated by deep blue channels where the park has placed moorings.  The boats are lined up with the current and if you watch you can see huge rays glide by every so often.

The strong tidal current keeps the water very clear and limits the time you can snorkel to about a half hour at low and high tides.   Swimming against the tide is tougher than you ‘d imagine so it has to be slack water.

Last night we had our friends Miles and Loreen from Ariel over for dinner.  We have been sailing with them for the last few weeks and now they are headed back to Florida and we will heading further up the Exuma chain and then on to the Abacos.  We will see them again this summer in Essex, perhaps in Maine and certainly here in the Bahamas next winter.   We have enjoyed our time together but now we will each go our separate ways.

I heard our friend Harry and Melinda on Sea Schell, another couple we spent time with, on the SSB radio this morning.  They are in the Dominican Republic, headed to Panama.  I doubt that our paths will cross again for quite some time, but we will stay in touch.   We’ll have a terrific reunion when we do see them again though.   The community of cruisers is sort of “virtual”.  While we normally define a community as a place.  With cruisers, the community is movable.  It’s great when our paths cross with old friends and a bit sad when they leave.   However, in a way, that’s one of the best parts of cruising.    Greeting, hanging out and eventually saying goodbye until the next time our paths cross.

As we have so often enjoyed on this trip, tonight, Saturday evening, will be marked by a pot luck on the beach here at the park.  I know that we  will see fellow cruisers we know and make new friends.   Tomorrow is Easter and we are a little sad that we won’t be with family.   While it’s not the same, we will be with another sort of family, cruisers here in Wardrick Wells.  The park ranger is cooking a turkey and ham and everyone will bring something to share for an informal Easter Dinner on the beach.   Yes, it would be great to be able to “blink” ourselves back to CT and family but this will be great fun as we head ashore to share food, drink and stories with others who are here and enjoying the beauty of the Bahamas.    I understand that on Easter morning at 06:00 there will be a sunrise service with some of the other cruisers on the hill overlooking the ocean.   I’d love to go.  We’ll see if we can get out of bed, to shore in the dink, up the beach and hike up to the hill, and all in time.  Not sure about that.

Yesterday was a landmark for Brenda who took off in the dink by herself to return a friend to her boat who had been visiting for a bread making lesson.  Brenda started the motor, delivered her charge and returned to Pandora.  I was so thrilled, I had to take a picture.  What next?   Blasting around the harbor at speed with a bougenvelia branch, thorns and all, clamped between her teeth?   Who knows?

So, as we say goodbye to friends, others arrive and we  continue to poke along on our way from island to island enjoying the warm blue waters of the Bahamas.     We are enjoying this chapter of our lives and it’s nice to take the time to collect such great experiences, s.l.o.w.l.y…