So who are these guys you ask?  Benj our 24-yr-old son, Pete’s Pub and Bar Jack the fish who came to dinner!  New Year’s Day was our long-awaited day, for our son would fly in from the cold VT northlands. How wonderful to see him walking down the dock (he got to the marina fast!) and collect that huge hug that time apart makes so necessary. I’d spent days baking and menu planning and praying the weather would cooperate.  Russ assembled his new fishing gear.

We dined on a lobster dish since Benj doesn’t get much seafood in VT, exchanged tiny Christmas gifts and basically basked in the joy of being together.

Have you heard of Bees Wrap? It’s a reusable, washable food wrap. Billed as sustainable food storage, the large size is 13″x14″ and comes folded in a thin cardboard envelope. Made in Vermont of course.  Smells wonderful too!

Tops on the “while I am here” list was Pete’s Pub and fishing, with paddle boarding and exploring close behind. Monday was a bit brisk but we decided to head down to Little Harbour to get started off on the right foot- well, the right beach bar anyway.

We like to save a project for Benj to help with; another tradition thing. This time, instead of sending our son up a 60 ft mast we sent him into the water to change the zincs. Sometimes “zincs” are made of aluminum but we still call them “zincs”.  We put new ones on when hauled out in September and you can see from the one on the right what it looks like now.

They sure do their job, which is to protect the propeller and shaft from electrolysis.

Tuesday Benj & I walked over to the beach- had my sea glass baggies but no photo device. I collected a decent handful but Benj landed a fresh off-the-tree coconut. We like when he provides add’l food!  The tall palm had several coconuts laying on the ground but also several ripe ones still attached. In Skee-ball like fashion, he knocks one down on the second try and voila! We have fresh coconut.

Along the road back to the harbor we hear squawking sounds and yep, sure enough, a large flock of Abaco Green Parrots is hanging out in a small pine grove, taking cover in the palm trees and bushes as we inch closer. What a treat to see them up close and personal.

Earlier we’d seen a remora swimming around the boat. He/She appeared again when we tossed the coconut husk pieces in the water. I tried to get a decent shot while kneeling under the stern seat.

The fishing gear got readied and inspected, while I tried to think positive thoughts about venturing out the cut to fish offshore. The guys went out in the dinghy- just out of the harbor- to test out the gear and prime the need-to-fish pump!

Wednesday morning was good enough to venture out, so we did. Going out one cut, means you have to come in. That worked out well as Mr Bahamas Runner took a nibble and we reeled him in just before we were about to head back in at North Bar.

Same as with the coconut, Benj prepares the fish for eating.

 

 

Now- cue the Jaws theme and yes! It’s a shark fin moving through the shallows about 5 yds next to us. We all agreed, shark- color, movement looked right, and the book listed at least two possibles for our area.
Let’s see, another blessed low wind day; what shall we do?  Have bait, will fish. The best part, once again did not get photographed; we saw several nurse sharks resting in sandy patches between what was mostly all grassy bottom, on our way out. Maybe the remora needs to leave Little Harbour to find a host.

A bite but no catch. Dolphins though, but not the usual variety.

We came back in at Tilloo Cut which is right at Tahiti Beach with a couple of teeny cays alongside as you enter and turn left. Very scenic.

 

 

A quick lunch aboard then we moved up a mile to anchor off Firefly Resort. Yes, we made it to Firefly for dinner that night!  The next morning, Friday, rather than move the big boat back down to Tahiti Beach Russ ferried us in the dinghy. Me first, then Benj with the paddle board.

 

 

And what do you know, another lovely low wind day. By this time I was with the fishing program and actually looking forward to a leisurely (one engine speed 4kts) trip up and around Elbow Cay, entering back in to the Sea of Abaco at North Man o’ War cut. Unfortunately the fish weren’t biting at all.

Seeing Elbow Cay from the outside was a new one for us and after coming in the cut by Man o’ War Cay we had now used three new cuts for a total of four; the only ones we would ever use because Whale Cay cut as you may recall, is one we will never use.

Every morning at 8:15 is the Abaco Cruisers’ Net: weather, Sea of Abaco conditions, cut conditions, community, invitations (local businesses/restaurants), open mic.  The cut conditions are often rated 1- 5, with 5 being the best. I give each one we used between Wednesday and Friday, a Fantastic 5.  Trauma or turbulent 2 or even a Tempting 3 – no way do we do the cuts then.

A cold front would arrive late Saturday so we ended up in Hope Town, on the same mooring as 10 years ago when we chartered a Maine Cat 41 through Cap’n Ron (Abaco Multihull Charters).

Saturday we packed in as much as possible; farm market, walk through town, a visit to Om Grown Greens, beach walk and a late afternoon lighthouse tour.

These organically grown sprouts, shoots and micro greens began as a personal endeavor and grew into a small business. Om Grown provides their freshies to a handful of grocery stores in the Northwest Bahamas. Every other Saturday they are the main attraction at the tiny farmers market in Hope Town. More great timing for us as now we could stock up (they make a delicious sunflower sprout pasta salad with thick spaghetti, EVOO & garlic) and Benj could farm chat. The owners invited us to see their operation, so we stopped on our way to lunch at On Da Beach.

Perfect timing also, to see the action at the lighthouse. In addition to the window re-glazing, an expert had been called in to assist and instruct on how to overhaul, clean and maintain the kerosene system, which hadn’t been done in decades.  While the kerosene lantern was out of commission during this time, a large light-bulb filled in.

Sunday found us snug aboard all day, the wind howling and the temps dropping to mid-60s. Monday Benj took the ferry over to Marsh Harbour, ending up safely and uneventfully back in Vermont later that night.

We would linger another 5 days in Hope Town before heading the few miles over to Marsh to stock up. Tuesday, January 17 we’d head back down to Little Harbour to stage for departing the Abacos Wednesday morning.  Exumas bound- see you there!!

In a nutshell: settled weather, cold front, mostly settled, calm, cold front: repeat. Projects in paradise, cell phone works or maybe not. Wifi- oh yes, then oh no. Island Life and if you remember to set your clock to island time, it’s all good.

Our first time in the Bahamas (2011-2012) I don’t recall what we did for phone service but it wasn’t much. We had Sirius/XM weather on the chartplotter and at times would hear weather reports along the way. Wi-fi was readily available at many places: marinas, cafes, and laundromats. In George Town we’d lug our laptop in to town and pay for wi-fi where you could sit and plug in for a while.

Then the Bahamas began making cell service and data more readily available, so if you replaced your SIM card with a Bahamian one you could buy phone and data time. Kinda pricey but easier and not as much need to dinghy in with that oversized laptop. Then we took a year off and RV cruised so the Bahamas could make more progress. Last winter (2015-16) we landed in Bimini and purchased a SIM card for my cell phone which I inherited from Cap’n Russ who got an iPhone 6 that fall. That gave us a Bahamas phone number. Local calls run 15cents/minute for outgoing and incoming local calls are free.  You can text locally too for dirt cheap.

How it works is that you put money on your account, which is a two-part deal; one is calling and the other is data (web, email, local texting). That worked well for us. If you are brave you can try to keep that same phone number alive by putting $5 every month or so on your account. When you return next time and exchange the US phone chip for the Bahamas one, you hope it all works…. and it did! We then put more money on so we could have 5gig of data to use. This data used to expire in 30 days but now it’s longer; a nice improvement on the part of BTC.  You can check your balance easily and Russ keeps track of both balances; calling and data. Good thing too.

In the middle of a call to Marsh Harbour Marina, the call drops and my attempts to call back elicit a voice message insisting we have a lack of funds. This being only my second call since arrival, with an account balance of $13.93, no way did we spend more than $2 so far. Sigh. Russ emails BTC and two days later, no reply but our account now has $13.  Who knows what happened, but I’m not asking.

With two weeks until our marina reservation and three until the best thing a New Year could bring (wanna guess??) we had plenty of time to work our way east from Green Turtle Cay before ending up in Marsh Harbour.

We walked around the settlement (beaches too), checking out the lobster dinner specials, purchasing the always beautiful Bahamas calendar and spending over $7 for a pineapple. Oh and then add 7.5% VAT ( which is really a sales/use tax on just about everything). Not sure how the average Bahamian affords food, household goods, etc.

 

After the winds abated we waved good-bye to Green Turtle Cay.  No turtles spotted; however we did see a Swallowtail Kite. (no, not a kite; the bird)

We managed “Don’t Rock” passage without hitting the rock or the sandy bottom :-), walked the beautiful beach at Treasure Cay and ended up anchored in Fishers’ Bay at Great Guana Cay; all in one day, making water along the way. After a tasty lunch at Grabbers and perhaps just a tad too many sips of their signature drink- what else? The Grabber, we walked through the settlement. Alas, no Milo in his little yellow shack (rumors of his demise may or may not be true) and Dive Guana has moved to a huge space at Settlement Harbor from many years at Fisher’s Bay. Troy says in addition to more rental boats he will be selling fish and lobster.

 

 

Russ managed to squeeze in some paddle board time in between, let’s call it,”trying to diagnose and fix our watermaker stench”. The ferry route goes in between Sandy Cay and Garden Cay, off Man o’ War and what great timing to be there as the ferry zooms by. Russ went from standing to sitting in an eye blink.

After a one night stop off Man 0′ War we headed into Hope Town for four nights. Pick a mooring, any mooring! Woo Hoo! Not exactly empty but plenty of moorings available from all of the various places. We like to support Truman (Lucky Strike) who has a sparkling reputation for well-maintained moorings; look for the double green floats and plop the loops one to each bow cleat and you are golden.

Thursday was night #2 of a three night run of the St James Players’ “Christmas in Bethlehem Gulch”. Tickets an affordable $10 and a chance to check out the newly completed Community Center; was good to get into the spirit. Lots of singing and no shortage of “the true meaning of Christmas” in the story which takes place “out west”.

The girl below couldn’t bring herself to wave her hand through the flame even though I showed her how. Smart kid to be wary.

Maine Cat has a new MC38. Read that it won best sailboat at the Newport Boat Show this year. We got a look when Captain Ron (Engle, not Rico) brought one in that will be in charter

The lighthouse was getting a glass facelift; soon she’s going to need repainting. The Saturday we were there (Dec 17) was not only a tiny farm market but the Lighthouse gift shop celebrated one year anniversary with 20% off. We did laundry over at the Lighthouse Marina, zooming over to the market and lighthouse to kill time in between. A very successful morning.

 

A few years ago we rented a golf cart with Keith and Masha (his crew) to tour the beaches, bars (no ballads thank you) and scenery around Hope Town, further than one can easily walk. While the guys enjoyed a coldie at the Abaco Inn, Masha and I hunted for sea glass. I wanted a do-over of sorts, but the golf cart turned into two bicycles (it’s all flat he said) and we even forgot to bring water. But we did bike a few miles down to the beach near the Abaco Inn and collected a few handfuls of sea glass.

 

Windy conditions persisted all weekend but Come Monday the wind backed way down; perfect to head down two miles to Tahiti Beach, and so we did, anchoring just above Bakers Rock and making water. We spent two nights, starting off each morning with a low tide beach walk that if you know me, was more of a slow stroll with a lot of stopping to pick up treasures. I was thrilled to find well tumbled sea glass pieces scattered about as if an Easter egg hunt for two-year-olds was taking place. Pretty shells and coral helped fill up the snack baggie I’d brought.

Did you know that beach walking is an acceptable way to work on your tan without appearing to do so? 🙂

Thursday Dec 22 found us anchored in Marsh Harbour and Russ with a loudly complaining lower back. The walk up to Maxwell’s ruined him terribly, but we managed a short trip in again to A&K Liquor Store.

Friday morning we fueled up at Marsh Harbour Marina (& Jib Room) and our C-6 slip was perfect for us. I even got to practice lassoing the pilings. Ok, so we won’t give up on anchoring. 🙂 The electric worked wonderfully and was metered. Solar helped keep the dial from turning too fast. Water is take it or not at $5/day. Pricey, uh? We stayed 10 days. Used lots of water but since it’s well water with bleach we couldn’t put any in our tank. It’s easy to bypass though, just attach our water hose to the dohickey at the stern, turn off the internal water pump and voila! you are using water that’s not from your tank…. and you don’t have to listen to the pump noise!!

I’d tell more about our pleasant stay but then I’d have to relate another biking story where I agreed to go to one place but since it was closed, why not ride just 1.5 miles more to Maxwells, the big grocery, and sure we know the way and who cares if  the roads are narrow, the drivers crazy and my bike has a floppy pedal? So yea, you don’t need to hear all that. :-), so how about this:

Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Blessed New Year. And remember, “Don’t be mean in 2017”.