Day 33 April. 24. Last Lay day in Hope Town

Day 33

Another glorious morning in the Bahamas. Bill left to drop off our garbage and return to the hardware store to return the butane torch. He decided to rent a bike rather then walk and depend on being picked up by a local. Plus he got some exercise!

Along the way he was intrigued by all the signs left by fellow boaters and travelers on the island. SO he stopped to take a few pictures.

I liked the last sign above which was added by a local!!

My job today was cleaning tasks on the boat and preparing to leave Hope Town tomorrow. We have 10 more miles of the Abacos to explore before we make the crossing to Eleuthera.

Bill returned with a successful hardware visit and set to work on two projects he wanted to get done while in a quiet harbor. He successfully added a bolt to make sure the anchor did not foul on itself and cleaned up and recaulked a fitting on the side deck.

We celebrated by having lunch of conch fritters and then went into town. Decided to walk up the lighthouse one more time.

This time I paid more attention to the workings of how the lens rotates. The lighthouse keeper must climb the stairs every two hours in the evening and hand crank the cable attached to the lens, sort of like an old grandfather clock, except much bigger cable.

Got some nice shots again from the top!!

We then took the dinghy to Normans Grocery and Bakery for fresh bread. Delicious, got pineapple and
coconut bread and the Bahamian white bread. We then walked through town and found the old Methodist Mission Church founded around 1890. It is still serving the community of Hope Town today.

We then walked to the beach to enjoy the view and stopped at Munchies a local takeout eatery for some ice cream.

Returned to the boat for Bill to tackle a job of recaulking the waterline exhaust and cleaning the water line of the boat. Sounds like fun!?

Always something to do on the boat. Hopefully this is the last big project!

Hope to enjoy a relaxing evening for our last day in Hope Town.

Side trip to the Bahamas- Preparations

As we prepare for our Bahamian Adventure, we are making lists upon lists of things to do and provisions to buy for our upcoming trip to the Bahamas. Bill has spent much time readying the boat for the cruise, checking engines, batteries and all the systems on the boat - electrical, plumbing, navigation, refrigeration and air conditioning. Sure kept Bill busy!!! We took the boat out to check all the systems and to get fuel. We had to re-remember all the navigation and auto pilot workings and surprisingly we did remember!! We have spent the last two days loading the boat with provisions- water, food, tools, clothes, toiletries and cleaning supplies, and our pantry and cabinets are full. We are sitting a bit heavier in the water now that we are fully loaded. Also Bill has finally gotten his TO DO list down to the few remaining items so he sees the light at the end of the tunnel!! We have researched the charts and guide books and have a tentative pla...

On to Allan's-Pensacola Cay. Day 12. April 3. Mile 35.2. Total mile

Day 12 We left our anchorage at sunrise to head out of Great Sale Cay Harbor. Turning west and then north, we will cruise around Great Sale Cay toward Abaco's barrier islands, eventually reaching the eastern edge of the Little Bahama Bank today. As we turn Northeast, we get some spray. Crustacean is quite salty now! Winds are out of the east 10-15 knots with waves at one foot. We cruise past Little Sale Cay we see a steady stream of sailboats going both east and west. I counted 15 total. Nice wind for sailing. Halfway through our trip, you begin to see the outer barrier islands on the horizon to the north. Five miles later you can see Little Abaco Island to our south. Here is a chart of the area we traveled from Great Sale to Allan's-Pensacola Cay today. The further we travel east, the Little Bahama Bank narrows, The winds pick up and seas run 1-2 feet. Crustacean got even saltier! As we approached Allan's-Pensacola the wind and sea...

Day 24-25 April 15-16 On to Hopetown and Lay day in Hopetown. Miles 12.6. Total 460.6

Day 24 We had a change of plans. Our friends who we met cruising the Loop, Trisha and Mike, are traveling north through the Bahamas and are close, so we will join then in Hope Town. We will then back track a bit to visit Man-o-War Cay and Marsh Harbor after visiting with them. It is a bright sunny day with light winds as we weigh anchor to leave Great Guana. There is lots of freight and commercial traffic today- tugs and barges, large freighters and flat bed delivery boats. It takes all these to handle the shipping needs and construction on the islands. We trip today took along the north east side of Great Guana and then past Scotland Cay, which is all privately owned. Next we passed Fowl Cay which is a nature preserve known for its diving. Following Fowl Cay is Man-o-War Channel with its deep water access to the Atlantic and Man-o-War Cay, known for its ship building and maintenance. Sorry, pictures of the passes and islands did not turn out too well...

Crustacean Travels

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