Cruising the Abacos

Jan 7, 2015

We anchored in White Sound (Green Turtle Cay) and dinghy'd around to New Plymouth to clear customs. The office was closed so we went to the Wrecking Tree for some cracked conch and Kalik. After lunch the office was open so we checked in and took care of all the paperwork. Early to bed, and after that 24 hour run and full bellies, we all slept like a log.

The next morning we went back to New Plymouth for groceries and a Bahamian sim card so we could make "local" calls while here.  On Friday, the 9th, the wind had shifted so we decided to head toward Hope Town, which requires crossing "the Whale". We passed a catamaran heading in the opposite direction and he called us on the VHF. Turns out, he was a boat delivery captain from Charleston and had seen EXILE there. We asked him to say hello to the whole gang at St. Barts Yachts there! Small world and soon to get smaller...

We took a mooring in Hope Town next to a sailboat from Rockland, ME. Turned out they alerted us that another couple that Jeff and Kevin know were on a boat in the harbour as well.  We dinghy'd over to visit Ben and Belinda from Swans Island, ME.

On Saturday morning Kevin and Jeff climbed to the top of the lighthouse before we left Hope Town to get to Little Harbour in advance of the expected wind. We visited Pete's Pub, said hello to old and new friends and returned to the boat.  The wind blew hard all night and finally subsided two days later when we were able to return to Hope Town.

If you look closely you'll see Kevin and Jeff up there!

Entering Little Harbour

Exploring Little Harbour behind Pete's Pub

Jeff and Kevin "leaving our mark" at Pete's.

Wellington opening a coconut for the kids

Let's try some coconut milk!

After two days in Little Harbour the wind settled down and we took off back to Hope Town to hear Brown Tip, a local rake & scrape musician play at the Hope Town Inn and Marina. What a treat! He can certainly get folks off their feet. Kevin ran into some other acquaintances from Maine and it was like old home week. As I keep saying, the world is getting smaller and smaller.

On our way back to Hope Town

Brown Tip joins the dancers

And sits and chats with Kevin for a bit

The next morning we did a couple of loads of laundry, said hello to Vernon at his grocery store (Vernon married us in 2013) and picked up a few necessities. Later that afternoon when the rain stopped, we departed for Man-O-War so Jeff could take Kevin to Edwin's boatyard and Albury Brothers boat building operation. Our favorite bread lady on Man-O-War is no longer baking according to her niece due to health issues, which means there is no longer a bread baker there!

Sunset at Man-O-War Cay

Sunrise at Man-O-War Cay

A Maine lobster boat in the Bahamas!

Which way should we go next?

We spent the night on a mooring there and on Jan. 14th decided it was time to take Kevin to Great Guana Cay, home of Nippers and Grabbers beach bar/restaurants. It was a perfect day in paradise!

Kevin at the helm. Look how clear the water is!

They have the supplies we need!

The boys - checking out the Nipper-mobile

Entrance to Nippers

How can you not stare out over that beautiful water?

EXILE at anchor in Fishers Bay, Great Guana Cay

Time to head out for another island - this time a quick run to Bakers Bay where we walked along a small island opposite it and collected shells. Lunch aboard after that, then we decided to sail to Tahiti Beach, a favorite of ours at the southern end of Elbow Cay. It was a fantastic sail! We anchored there for the night and the expected front moved in earlier than forecast so we made the decision to head straight to Marsh Harbor at 8am. We arrived there 2 hours later and dropped anchor.

Captain Jeff at the helm 

Even in questionable weather, the water is still gorgeous

January 16th - the last day left of Kevin's visit. In Marsh Harbour we walked to Maxwells, a large grocery store (about the only one in the Abacos!) to reprovision. We picked up a tag-along on the way. She walked with us all the way to the store, about a mile or so... must have enjoyed our company and leisurely stroll.

We ate lunch at Curly Tails overlooking the harbour then stopped in to see George the conch man. He's been in Marsh Harbour for years and makes the greatest conch salad! We bought some from him, chatted a while and told him that Kevin was returning to Maine in the morning. He offered to take us to the airport and said he'd meet us at 8:30. 

Back to the boat we went to chill for a while. Since the weather was holding up, we chose to visit the Jib Room for a "last night in the Bahamas" cocktail. Wouldn't you know it.... Kevin ran into another Maniac who keeps his boat here in the winter.  After getting reaquainted, we returned to the boat for dinner aboard. 

Take a leaky?

The morning of Saturday the 17th, we dinghy'd to the dock where George would meet us. He arrived on time and off we went to the airport. After saying our good-bye's to Kevin, George drove us back (with all our dirty laundry in tow) to the local laundromat where we spent the next couple of hours waiting for the machines to do their magic, bought some local bread and motored back to Hope Town. We were back on our mooring at 4pm.

Good Morning rainbow

It was a beautiful day so we sailed to Tahiti Beach, dinghy'd to shore and wandered around for a while. It began to cool off a bit so we pulled up the anchor and returned to our mooring in Hope Town where we enjoyed dinner aboard and a great Patriots game!

Tahiti Beach

Sunday race outside of Hope Town Harbour

Good night Hope Town

We're not sure where the wind will take us next but expect to stay here in Hope Town for a few weeks and take the occasional day trip for fun and adventure. Should anything exciting happen I'll be sure to let you know.  Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy New Year!

EXILE in on the move again. We enjoyed our time spent in St. Augustine visiting with family and friends between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve and during our stay there had a bimini and side mesh curtains installed by the same company who installed our dodger to keep the sun off and the no-see-ums out in the Bahamas.

Thanksgiving visit from Glenn and Anne. We all were treated to dinner at Jeans!

Holiday Spirit. Thanks for the Christmas tree Barb & Ed!

Our "back door" wreath

Patty & Jack dinghy'd over to Kingfish with us for dinner! The ultimate limo :)

Barb and Ed joined us onboard and then to Meehans Irish Pub for lunch Great seeing you guys and thanks for the roses! 

Onboard with Kevin, Jim and Linda on NYE for a champagne toast, then dinner at Kingfish. Great time (and early evening) was had by all. So glad you stopped by to see us!

The St. Augustine Inlet can be challenging at night and in the fog. Thank goodness this boat suffered little or no damage.

During out stay in St. Augustine, a new grandson entered the world. Raymond Jack Welch was born on Dec. 10 and we visited him and the new parents shortly thereafter.

Welcome to the world Raymond Jack

We visited our good friends Craig and Judith in Gainesville and were treated to a tour of UF.
Thanks for your hospitality guys, great seeing you again!

Our good friend Kevin Oliver from Maine flew down on New Years Eve and we began our "sail" south on New Years Day by motoring down the ditch (ICW) to Palm Coast. It was cloudy and 59 degrees and we were ready to find some warmer weather.

The next morning we left in foggy weather and took a facedock at the Inlet Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach which reminded us a little of Nippers in the Bahamas! They had great food and music, both of which we took full advantage. Kevin was getting a little "preview" of the islands!

St. Augustine Bridge of Lions

Arrrrgh!

Ahh, it's warm in Daytona Beach!

And a great show at night

We left Daytona Beach in the fog (nothing new for Maniacs)

One more day down the ditch to Eau Gallie where we anchored for the evening. This had been the first time we'd started the generator in at least a month and it turned out to be a good thing... it shut down after 45 seconds and we'd need to have it looked at. 

When we choose a marina to spend time at, I always refer to Active Captain (Yelp/Trip Advisor for marinas) to see what other boaters have to say about them. There were two we were interested in but unfortunately both had no slip availability. I called Hinckley Yacht Services (which had excellent ratings on Active Captain) and was also located in Manatee Pocket in Stuart. They had a face dock for us and as it turned out it was a blessing in disguise. The entire staff at Hinckley was incredible. We came in around 5pm on Sunday and Tom was there to greet us and help with lines. Jeff mentioned to him that we had an issue with our generator and first thing Monday morning a technician was knocking on our hull.

Good night from Eau Gallie

We had made previous arrangements to have dinner with Stu Adams (my high school classmate) and his wife Pen. They picked us up around 6pm and off we went to a nearby restaurant called Shrimpers to swap fish tales and friendship. Thanks guys, for bringing by our mail and for a fun evening! Stu – you won’t believe the two fish that got away. The first one looked like a sailfish (Kevin was the only privileged one to see it) and simply spit out the lure. The second one, however…. is another story.

This fish dove and swam FAST, stripping all the line from the reel before we could pull back on the throttle and slow the boat down. No, we weren’t drinking too much beer/wine. So – the new blue and white Islander lure is now a dental fixture in a very large fish with 100 yards of 50# test dental floss trailing behind him. Should you encounter this guy, please return the lure.

Long story short, (back to the generator situation) a temperature sensor had to be ordered and would be sent overnight to Hinckley. By noon on Tuesday, Hinckley Services had installed it and we were good to go! We took advantage of our “wait” day Monday and took a cab (this guy sounded EXACTLY like you Tim) to pick up supplies and groceries, then went across to Pirates Cove Marina, fueled up and got all our laundry done.

You never know who you’ll run into along the way, but to our surprise, a familiar face motored by in his dinghy. “The Greek”, the infamous diver who hangs out at the Stonington, ME fish pier every day at 4am all summer, cuts rope out of lobster boat props. He is an acquaintance of ours and well known around the island. Jeff called his name and he did a double take! Small, small world it is.

See you in the Bahamas, "Greek"

We left Manatee Pocket at 12:30 and took advantage of the only weather window for crossing until a week later. We went out the St. Lucie inlet, traveled south to Jupiter, then east toward the Abacos. The weather was perfect. The moon shone brightly over a glassy sea after we passed through the Gulf Stream and made for a delightful run. Twenty-four hours later, we were anchored in Green Turtle Cay, took the dinghy to town (New Plymouth) to clear customs and enjoy some conch fritters and conch sandwiches. What better to pair those with than a Goombay Smash and a couple of Kaliks.  Back to the boat after a quick stroll around town to get cleaned up. We had steaks onboard since none of us had a whole lot of energy left and by 8pm we were all tucked in for the night.  The wind picked up after midnight (as predicted) and this morning we were all very glad to be here instead of back in FL waiting for a window. The weather there has taken a plunge. Temperatures are quite cold and here we sit in a balmy 70 degrees, which we are all quite grateful for.

Thanks again for the roses, B&E. They arrived in the Bahamas safe and sound and are still going!

Sunset on the Gulf Stream

Moon's up at 8:00pm

Sun's almost breaking

Here she comes!

Flying the quarantine and courtesy Bahamian flag

Cheers to good friends in the Bahamas

Daybreak in Green Turtle Cay

We spent the day at anchor here due to windy conditions which we anticipated and are heading to the Green Turtle Club in a short while to say hello to Debby. Brendle motored by earlier yesterday afternoon when returning from a dive trip and gave a shout hello and thumbs up to EXILE.  More to come after we cruise a while. Probably heading to Hope Town tomorrow, then Little Harbour.

More to come!