Our friend kept circling by thinking “Boy, I could really cover some ground in that rig!

Lori found this “black rock” while sea glass hunting & almost threw it back, but she knows her stuff! A bright light indicated it was possibly very old glass back from when pot ash was used to make glass. The glass started off as green and turns black over the centuries.

We enjoyed a little beach bonfire with some other cruisers at Buckaroon Bay on a calm, peaceful night.

We dinghied to the Firefly Resort from nearby Tahiti Beach.

Paradise! interrupted by spending the morning dealing with extending our visa at immigration in Marsh Harbour.

While many buildings in Marsh Harbour have been re-built since Hurricane Dorian, some are still abandoned.

A marina still in ruin – one next door all re-built.

Special Delivery! Last month, we got talking with Ginger (who works at a liquor store in Spanish Wells). When we told her we were stopping at Man-O-War, Abaco, she asked us to “pass a note” to her friend Cassie (who runs this snack shack on Man-O-War). They had temporarily lived together in Spanish Wells after Hurricane Dorian damaged Cassie’s home.

Continuing north thru Abaco, everyone has to pass thru an area called “The Whale”. Whale-sized swells are so prevalent here that a Disney cruise ship port built nearby in the ’80’s was shortly abandoned as often too hazardous for their cruise ships to enter. While most boats need to transit outside of Whale Cay, we with our 3′ draft are able to do the inside “Don’t Rock Passage” which is usually calmer & easier…

While these photos don’t look so bad … let’s just say we weren’t able to take any photos during the worst! Our boat fortunately took the occasional 5′ breaking wave (white curl & all) all in stride. Due to the intricate route thru the shallow sandbars (see the red line), it was difficult to stay on course and keep the waves to the bow or stern (to avoid broaching). Broached is what a 36′ sailboat did the day before (going outside of Whale Cay) & sunk within 30 seconds. Somehow, they were able to swim to their dinghy (they were towing it?) & were fortunately rescued by a 60′ trawler which diverted to save them.

Finally safe at a protected slip at the Bluff House Marina in Green Turtle Cay, tied up for yet another cold front with winds predicted gusting to 40 knots. While we avoid spending money on marinas in the Bahamas, the constant cold fronts & limited all-around wind protected anchorages sometimes force the issue. Here in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay, the anchor holding is the absolute worst of the anywhere in Abaco, with anchored boats dragging during every single cold front.