We frequently don't have internet access when we are at anchor, especially now that our Bullet 2 wi-fi booster isn't working. If you don't hear from us for a few days, that's usually why.
We just arrived at Hope Town harbor and picked up a mooring ball with the assistance of Chris and Ginny in their dinghy.
Charlie just entered the harbor and Wayne is headed out to help him with his mooring ball, since he is alone.
Some other IP friends are here this weekend: Liz and Devin onboard Moosetracks. They are new retirees and have been living aboard and sailing about since leaving their home in St. Petersburg on 12/12/12. We read on their blog that they were in the Abacos and contacted them a couple of days ago. They are in Hope Town for a wedding. We look forward to seeing them and getting caught up.
Thursday, April 25 - Wayne and I are now even. I left my camera at Nipper's on Monday, and last night Wayne left his VISA card at the Jib Room. He also realized this morning that our depth gauge wasn't registering. Not a good thing when there's a full moon and you're in a very shallow harbor (the full moon makes low tides lower and high tides higher than normal). We wanted to be well clear of Marsh Harbor before low tide, but first Wayne had to get his credit card and fix the depth gauge. We left the dock and anchored in the harbor, got the dinghy down from the davits, and off Wayne went after calling the Jib Room and confirming that they did indeed have his VISA card. Mission accomplished, he was preparing to get in the water and dive under the boat to check out the depth gauge, but thankfully, it had inexplicably started working. Yay, God!
On to our destination, Man-O-War Cay. The entrance to the harbor is very narrow with only room for one boat to pass through at a time. As we prepared to enter, Chatty Cat was coming out, so we turned around and waited for them to emerge. They were leaving to join everyone else at Hope Town on Elbow Cay and we debated heading over there instead and returning to Man-O-War later. There's a constant dilemma of staying with our friends—we enjoy being with them—or doing our own thing, which we also enjoy. It's all a matter of balance. We knew they were going to dinner tonight at a restaurant that was hosting a special "full moon party," and since we had been out to dinner with Charlie last night, we didn't want to eat out two nights in a row. That's another dilemma: we hate to be party poopers, but two restaurant meals a week is enough for us. Of course, if we joined the others in Hope Town today, we would also join them for dinner. And we would have a great time with them.
We decided to stick with Plan A. Upon venturing into the harbor between Dickie's Cay and Man-O-War Cay, we realized that it was very tight and the mooring balls were very close together and other boats had anchored among the moored boats. Plus, we nearly ran aground. Wayne couldn't get out of there fast enough. We found a nice, roomy anchorage on the outside of Dickie's Cay and ate lunch.
I wanted to explore the sandy areas exposed by the low tide, so Wayne dropped me off and waited in the dinghy.
I found and possibly saved the lives of many little creatures that were left high and dry by the receding water. I came across this print of a starfish in the sand and a few inches away, the starfish had somehow flipped over (Is that even possible? I would have loved to have witnessed that maneuver!) so that he was sandy side up, probably to protect himself from the hot sun. I gently picked him up, placed him back in the water, and watched him come to life, stretching and wiggling all of his little limbs. He actually appeared to dance!
Then I asked myself as I walked away, was God happy that I did that? Or had I just disrupted the natural order of things? What are your thoughts?
We continued on in the dinghy and tied up to a dock outside of Albury's Sail Shop, where they make handcrafted canvas bags of all types, colors, and sizes, as well as hats, placemats, and other canvas goods. Some are constructed with batik fabric made on the island of Andros in the Bahamas. Their work is beautifully done and well-constructed.
Wednesday, April 24 - A friend of Wayne's from church, Charlie Singmaster on Unseasing, was in Marsh Harbor, so we decided to head over to Mangoes Marina for the night. It is a very shallow harbor and we came in at low tide, so Ray, the dock master, put us at the end of the T dock until it was deep enough for us to move to a slip. Charlie had heard us radio the marina and was there to help us dock. We visited with him for awhile, then Wayne and I walked in to town. There wasn't much to see. They do have a beautiful, well-stocked grocery store, Maxwell's, so we stopped in and left with a quart of strawberries and three bananas.
 |
| Hurry with the picture, already! I need to find me some GRASS! |
Charlie was alone and we had planned to have him over for dinner when we eventually caught up with him. However, that occurrence coincided with rib night at the Jib Room, so we invited him to join us there instead. It was a short dinghy ride across the harbor at Marsh Harbor Marina. We had a hearty and delicious dinner of barbecued ribs, potato salad, and cole slaw. It was fun visiting with Charlie. His wife can't cruise with him anymore because she has such a problem with seasickness, even when the water is calm. Charlie told us about his experience on the way over. He crossed the gulf stream on an overnighter from Marathon all the way to West End. He had to motor, ended up in rough seas, and got a bit banged up in the process. Said he'll never try that again.
Tuesday, April 23 - There was still so much to check out on Great Guana Cay and we weren't ready to leave yet, so we decided to head north a ways to an anchorage in Baker's Bay. A tiny nearby island, Spoil Bank Cay, looked like an interesting place to explore, both on land and in the water; it also had a pretty beach. We decided to anchor there for a while while we checked the place out. I put on my snorkeling gear and began to swim toward shore, but there was a considerable current and I returned to the boat. So we loaded our gear into the dinghy and headed closer to shore. Wayne quickly realized that it wasn't his kind of snorkeling and I agreed that there wasn't much there, but it doesn't take much to fascinate me, so I was content. I observed a few barracuda, some angelfish and others, a sea cucumber, many large, red, sea stars and other live shells.
Wayne was anxious to get back to the boat, so I didn't have time to see what was on shore. When we returned, we heard Ginny G. hail Change on the radio and congratulate Mary and Rich on their first Whale crossing. They stayed behind at Green Turtle when the rest of us crossed on Sunday. When we heard later that the winds were supposed to switch to the north and increase from five to twenty knots and stay strong for the rest of the week, we were concerned that they would be stuck at Green Turtle for awhile, so were relieved to hear on the VHF that they had made it across. I knew they were close by because they were on channel 17, which has a range of about a mile, so I hailed them when they finished talking. Ginny G. and Change were headed to Orchid Bay Marina on Great Guana, in the same harbor that Chatty Cat and Broadwater II had moored the previous two nights, around the bend from where we had anchored. They left this morning for Man-O-War Cay.
We pulled up our anchor and started toward our anchorage in Baker's Bay. A few minutes after ending my conversation with Mary and Ginny, the wind picked up to 25 knots. What a blessing that they were safely across, although the wind did make docking a challenge for them. If you remember, they had a very unpleasant time crossing the gulf stream and didn't care to experience anything like that again.
Monday, April 22 - I was up early and by 7:30 was busy taking everything out of the freezer so I could defrost it. Did the refrigerator, too (yes, it too had frost). I've learned to expedite the process by using the hairdryer, and by 10:00, the job was done and everything was re-stowed and reorganized.
The skies appeared threatening and barometerbob.org was predicting showers and thunderstorms, but that did not stop Wayne and me from loading up our stuff and heading over to the Atlantic side of Great Guana Cay with the intention of snorkeling. The reef is accessible from shore and is said to be the third largest barrier reef in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef and the one in the Florida Keys. My heart sank as we walked through Nipper's Beach Bar up on the bluff (if there's another way to get to the beach, we don't know it) and saw the breakers pounding the beach below. No snorkeling for us today, so we left our gear on a rock and opted for a stroll on the beach instead.
It began to rain just as we picked up our gear and headed back up to Nipper's. Do we walk the half mile or so back to the dinghy and motor back to the boat in the rain? Or do we wait it out at Nipper's? The worst that could happen is that we would be stuck there for awhile and enjoy a nice lunch, I reasoned with Wayne. We chose a vantage point up in the gazebo with a lovely view of the ocean and watched the rain pour down for about half an hour. Aside from a few early imbibers huddled around the bar, we were the only customers there. Finally, we made a run for it to the enclosed restaurant down below and took seats at the bar where we could watch TV and get caught up on the news. It was the first we had watched TV since leaving home.
The rain stopped just as we finished lunch and resumed with increased intensity immediately after we were back on the boat. It was a perfect afternoon for a nap, and I slept for two hours!
At 6:00 I realized that my camera was nowhere to be found. This is a new underwater Olympus Tough camera that Wayne got me for Christmas—I haven't taken a single underwater picture with it yet—and with a sick feeling in my stomach, I knew that I must have left it at Nipper's. I called them and was relieved that they had found it up in the gazebo. Thank you, Tanya! Wayne wasn't quite so thrilled that he had to go back and get it, but fortunately, the rain had stopped for the day.
At 8:00 I called to check in with Chatty Cat. We were anchored in Fisher's Bay with the dinghy put away, and they and Broadwater II were at mooring balls in Settlement Harbour, a mile or two away. They invited us over to play Farkle, so we got the dinghy down from the davits and headed over. The water was calm, unlike last night, when we got part way there and turned back because it was too choppy. We had a good time playing Farkle and Sequence with Cathy and Glen, their travel companions, Jan and Mike, and Anne and Jeff from Broadwater II.
Sunday, April 21 - We anchored off Great Guana Cay and immediately headed in to shore for the world famous Sunday pig roast at Nipper's Beach Bar and Grill. We left the dinghy tied up on the beach at Grabbers Bar and Grill and walked up the hill to Nipper's. What a place! It sits on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and a gorgeous, seven mile-long beach. The tacky but cheerful colors of the place charmed me instantly, and tropical music and great people watching gave it a festive atmosphere. We joined our friends on the upper deck. Wayne enjoyed the pig roast buffet and I enjoyed my lobster salad sandwich. We BOTH enjoyed the rum punch.
I Love all the photos! - and I think God is pleased that you took the time to put the sea creatures back into the water. We all need to help each other(including creatures) whenever possible.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jodi! My heart agrees with you.
ReplyDeleteCatching up over here, and loving your photos as always. The colors and the life are so much fun. I think God loves it when we enjoy and interact with his creation, and realize we are really interacting with him in the process. I feel that way at the zoo. It would be that way whether you helped a starfish or not, but I agree with you and Jodi.
ReplyDelete