We Reached, June 2, 2013

The Bahamians have a term for arriving at a destination. They simply say, "we reached." When we arrived in St. Augustine on May 31st, we felt like we reached.




The above picture shows what has happened to our Bahama courtesy flag after flying for five months in the windy Bahamas. We will need to replace it before we return next winter.




We spent 18 days working our way through the Abacos. We visited the towns of Little Harbor, Hope Town, Marsh Harbor, Green Turtle Cay, Great Guana and Coopers Town. All were unique and interesting, but what we really liked was getting out to the less inhabited islands and walking the beaches. Laurie has enjoyed collecting shells on these beaches.




This is a "signing tree" at Allen's Cay. This is a spot where people leave signs and momentos to commemorate having been here.


This is us in front the "signing tree." The hard hat we found on the beach and decorated is above Laurie's head.




This is Dave and Teresa, a couple from Nova Scotia that we met in early May at Davis Harbor on Eleuthera. We have been bumping into them regularly as we have travelled and have enjoyed their company. They are doing a long offshore leg to North Carolina as they head home.

After leaving Allen's Cay, we moved to Great Sale Cay to prepare to cross the Little Bahama Bank and the the Gulf Stream and on to Florida. The forecast came together and we left Great Sale at 9:00 am on May 27 (Memorial Day). It took most of the day to get across the bank and just before dark the water depth plunged from 20 feet to over 2000 feet deep. We had planned to fish when we hit the Gulf Stream, but it was much too rough to consider fishing. There was no way we could land and clean a fish in 7-8 foot seas.

It was a remarkable crossing in that we sailed nearly the entire way under a full moon. With the aid if the current in the Gulf Stream, we were at times making over 10 miles per hour. We also did not see another boat the whole way. We arrived at Cape Canaveral at 8:00 am, covering the approximately 180 miles in 23 hours. We were tired, but happy to have the crossing behind us.



We relaxed for two days at Canaveral before moving north. We were faced with the choice of going outside and sailing along the coast in the Atlantic or going up the Intracoastal Waterway. The forecast was for continued strong winds and big waves on the Atlantic, so we choose the ICW.

After two full days on the waterway. We arrived in St. Augustine and tied up to a mooring ball. This is a place Leo and Dan had stopped on the way south in early December, but Laurie had not seen.




We will do some sight seeing and make a plan for storing the boat, then it will be on to Michigan for the summer.

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Location:St. Augustine, Florida

Hello Abacos, May 13, 2013

After three nights in Hatchet Bay, on the island of Eleuthera, we sailed west and north to Spanish Wells. It was sad to leave Hatchet Bay, as it has become one of our favorite spots. On the way to Spanish Wells, we passed through Current Cut. This spot is significant because the current RIPS through here with the changing tides. We timed it with a falling tide and had the current with us and at times we moved along at 10 mph.




Spanish Wells was a good place to stop to get fuel and rest up before our 55 mile crossing to the Abacos. The wind never really picked up enough to just sail, so we motor-sailed and fished the whole way.




Just before we got to Little Harbor our new fishing reel started singing, indicating we had a big strike. Dan managed to land this nice Wahoo. Wahoo are big fighters and very tasty.

Little Harbor was our first stop in the Abacos. This is a picturesque spot and home to the Randolph Johnston art studio. Randolph Johnston was a dynamic sculptor who moved here from the States in the late 1940's seeking a quiet spot to live and work. He became quite famous and was featured in Life Magazine. The foundry, studio and gallery are now operated by Randolph's son Pete.








We toured the complex and then relaxed at Pete's Pub, which has become the center of activity in Little Harbor.




From Little Harbor it was on to Hope Town. Hope Town is a very quaint Bahamian village with narrow streets and pastel colored cottages.


It is most famous for the lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1864 in spite of the resistance of the locals. They knew that the light would hamper their lucrative business of salvaging the ships that ended up on the reefs.

Today, the candy-stripped landmark still stands as sentinel to Abaco. The lighthouse is one of three oil-burning, hand-wound lighthouses in the world. The lighthouse keeper must climb the 101 steps to the top every two hours to hand crank the weights that operate the beacon.




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Location:Hope Town, Abacos, Bahamas