Back to Great Guana

Tuesday, April 29 - Yesterday we left our mooring in Hope Town harbor and anchored just south of White Sound, which leads to Sea Spray Marina and Resort. Ginny, Chris, Mary, and Rich took the shuttle down from Hope Town and we enjoyed dinner together.

If you have been to the Abacos, you probably know about the Cruisers' Net. It's a VHF radio program (a better word escapes me) that's on every morning at 8:15 which includes a weather report, boating conditions throughout the Abacos, conditions in the gulf stream, local businesses promoting special events, dinner specials, tours, etc., and cruisers sharing information with other cruisers. We listen to it every morning and it's particularly helpful when we don't have internet access to get weather information ourselves (like today). This morning's forecast for the week was dreary at best: there's a high percent chance of showers and thunderstorms every day this week and today it's 90%.

With that in mind, Wayne and I discussed our options. We've hit most of the main places of interest and all we really want to do at this point anyway is snorkel. The ocean has been too rough and the winds too strong for safe or enjoyable snorkeling conditions thus far, but it looks as though we may have a window of opportunity tomorrow and Thursday. Winds are expected to be less than 5 mph and we can see that the Atlantic is calming down. Yes, there's a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms and it will be overcast, but it appears that ideal conditions are not in the cards, so we'll try to make the most of what we have. Friday winds are supposed to be back up to 20-25 mph.

The question is, where to go? After exploring our options, we decided to go back up to Great Guana Cay and pick up a mooring ball in Orchid Bay, for several reasons. First, we'll be close to lots of great snorkeling around Fowl and Scotland Cays and on the east side of Guana. Second, if the weather doesn't cooperate, we will (maybe) at least have internet access. If we had continued our southerly course from Elbow Cay, it's unlikely that we would have had wi-fi at all, since we would no longer be in the main part of the Abacos where Bahamas WiMax has hotspots.

So, we left our anchorage near Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay and motored north a couple of hours to Great Guana. I settled in with domestic chores in anticipation of a soggy day: did two loads of laundry, made yogurt, made cinnamon rolls to put in the freezer (all ready to pop in the oven), measured and mixed the dry ingredients for two loaves of our favorite herb bread, and other miscellaneous household chores.

But did it rain? Only a few drops - long enough to zip up our cockpit enclosure (where we sat trying to get online with our usual degree of frustration) and close open hatches. And to think that we could have spent the afternoon snorkeling after all! But then we wouldn't have freshly baked cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning.

Yesterday and today I have been obsessed with trying to call my mom, with no luck. We have Skype, but gave up hope of acquiring an internet signal strong enough for a conversation, and Wayne's cell phone, which at $2.00 a minute, is reserved for emergency calls only. Well, when we finally got online here in Orchid Bay, I found an email from Mom telling me that her Aunt Dolly (Betty) had died. It was expected, but we didn't know if she had days or months. Aunt Betty was such a dear lady and the last of eight siblings. We will miss her terribly. Our deepest sympathy to Denise, Debra, Dan, and their families. May God grant you all his comfort and peace.