Our arrival at Hope town was a milestone for us. We had planned for so long to get here and we
finally made it. We were not
disappointed and as a bonus our arrival was greeted by a “Super Moon”. The evening
sky was glowing with the biggest and brightest moon we have ever seen. After a few days in Hope Town we sailed at
the morning high tide with a fresh breeze at our backs onto Marsh Harbor. We had a great time at March Harbor even
though it was extremely low tides and our depth finder’s alarm went off many
times. Our boat was even sitting comfortably
on the sandy bottom at one time. Our new
favorite party spot is the Jib Room restaurant and bar at Marsh Harbor Marina. The food is fantastic and the staff and
entertainment was the best. Cherie learned
from the locals how to play music with a saw.
We moved on after a couple of fun filled days and nights at March Harbor to Man-O-War Cay. A side trip to Fowl Cay for some reef snorkeling
was a treat. Treasure Cay came next where we stayed for a few days. This cay has the most beautiful beach in the
Abaco. We think we should just stop writing and show the pictures.
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| Man-O-War Marina area |
King calls this Jack Sparrow house!
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| Man-O-War Cay |
By the way Man-O-Way Cay is a religious community and sale of alcohol and tobacco are not permitted!
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| Treasure Cay |
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| Fresh conch salad on the beach. |
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| Angie's Place |
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| Limbo Night at the Jib Room. He even carried me under earlier! |
After stopping back at Green Turtle Cay we
sailed on to Manjack Cay for two days while waiting for the Stranded Naked
party on Fiddle Cay.
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| Fiddle Cay |
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| Stranded Naked Party on Fiddle Cay |
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Free drinks & cheese burger with fries!
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This is the start
of Abaco Race Week celebrating independence day for the Bahamas. So many cruisers told us that we had to stay
for the kick off party (aka the Stranded Naked party) and boy were they
right. Since partying so much on the 3rd
we thought we’d have a quite night on the 4th on Great Sale Cay but
we had a great surprise when a large power boat anchored a few hundred yards
away and decided to put on a great fireworks show off his boat for the few of
us lonely sailors anchored there. The next morning we sailed into West End to
prepare for the “crossing” to Florida.
The following day we sailed our way to St. Lucie inlet. It was our 3rd choice entry point into
Florida but the state of the large seas forced us 30 miles north of our 1st
choice at Palm Beach. It was not our best sail across the Gulf Stream. Large
seas and numerous squalls is not what you wish for on a crossing. But after 3
previous good crossing we knew that our luck would run out at some point. As
Hemmingway once wrote “ When you sets out sailing on the high seas in a small
boat you do not go out looking for foul weather, the foul weather will
eventually find you”. I say there is no
great challenge sailing in smooth seas with a fresh breeze at your back but
there is great satisfaction in arriving safely at your destination after a day
of rough seas and nasty squalls.
