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Published: April 8th 2008
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“Adventures at the Top of the Bahamas”
The Abacos are the northern most group of islands in the Bahamas. The central anchorage is Marsh Harbor, which is a big city by out island standards. For example, it has a traffic light. Only one, but it is the first one we have seen since Nassau back in December. Circling Marsh Harbor are several other smaller towns on other cays. They also have a small bakery that specializes in homemade bread and pastries. We had hot-cross buns for Easter and have really enjoyed their coconut bread.
Nancy’s sister Gayle decided to fly down to Marsh Harbor over her spring break and spend 8 days with us. She arrived just after we had resupplied and visited the big Laundromat to wash all of the dirty clothes we accumulated on our trip north.
Our first stop after Marsh Harbor was Hope Town. It is famous for its red and white striped lighthouse. We did the required climb to the top for the view of the entire Sea of Abacos. The streets are only eight feet wide and most people get around on bikes or golf carts. A lot of the homes seem
Squall
In Hope Town Harbor
Not every day in paradise ids perfect. to be owned by wealthy Americans that come down for the winter and then rent out their cottages to tourists in the summertime. The harbor is filled with moorings so it is impossible to just anchor. I was glad that we were tied to a mooring when a very strong squall blew through on our second day there with 40 - 50 knot winds and driving rain. We were able to collect about 15 gallons of rain water to add to our fresh water tank.
Our next stop was Great Guana Cay which was a 2 hour sail from Hope Town. We again picked up a mooring since the harbor here has a lot of grass on the bottom and is known for poor holding. This island has four very good restaurants. We chose “Grabbers” which is a beachside resort that puts on a “potluck” dinner every Wednesday for the cruisers in the harbor. Each boat is required to bring a dish that will serve at least twice the number of people in the crew. Nancy fixed a sausage and rice dish, which we shared with the group of about 20 cruising families as well as some of the
Lighthouse View
Notice Double-Wide down below families that have winter homes on this cay.
Our next stop was Treasure Cay which is a planned development that includes a marina, pool, poolside bar, a beach that goes for miles, a beachside bar and their own airport. There are many retirement and vacation homes here, mostly owned by Americans and Canadians. We enjoyed an afternoon on the beach which had sand so fine that it was almost like powder. The next day we kayaked around the harbor which has many manmade canals going off in different directions.
We returned to Marsh Harbor for the weekend because another winter storm with predicted high winds was due and we needed to be where we could get Gayle to her airplane on time. While waiting, we did manage to find 2 days to go snorkeling here in place known as Mermaid Reef. It was a very nice small reef close by with an amazing variety of fish to view. We also were surprised to see a large turtle swimming by our boat as we were anchored in the harbor. It just seemed odd to see him slowly surfacing and then diving amongst the many boats. We also were able
to watch some of the NCAA basketball tournament in a waterfront bar & grill with an island band playing in the background.
The day after Gayle’s departure, we headed for Man-O-War Cay. In this harbor we had to cut the dinghy engine to keep from running over 2 dolphins. They were actually close enough to touch. This out-island of Man-O-War is still inhabited by descendants of the original Loyalist families that came here after the revolutionary war. The island does not allow the sale of tobacco or alcohol. It is known throughout the area as one of the best boat building and repairing places in the Bahamas. We had a chance to watch the boatyard repair an old wooden schooner which was hauled out on a marine railway. Cameron found a local place to get a haircut, his first one since George Town eight weeks earlier. The lady cutting hair talked to us about her family and the local school system. The island has a small primary school with 19 students for grades 1-6. The older children ride a ferryboat to Marsh Harbor every day. The government pays for the ferry boat ride since they decided to
Treasure Cay Beach
The finest white sand we have ever seen. only provide high schools in a few places.
Our next big event was finally being able to have Double-Wide hauled out of the water for more repairs to the starboard saildrive, which has been leaking sea water into the gear case since mid December. This yard was very professional and the lead mechanic was an American that worked in Rockhall, MD before moving to the Bahamas ten years ago. We had been navigating around the Bahamas with only one of our two engines for the past 3 months. This has tested Cameron’s boat handling skills on more than one occasion. The main problem caused by the fact that the one working engine is 11’ off of the center line, which tend to make the boat go in circles at low speeds. With a boat there is always something to fix but we will feel better heading back across the Gulf Stream knowing we have two working engines.
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