It's a Tough Life

Marsh Harbour, Abaco was just as we remembered it.  A place where you can find just about anything you would ever need but beautiful it is not.  We stopped there on one day and left the next with a boat full of food and blisters on our feet.  From there it was on to Treasure Cay.  Now there's a contrast if there ever was one.

The harbour at Treasure Cay is surrounded by beautiful homes and a first class marina.  There certainly isn't any poverty here. (..except for maybe us bums that show up looking for long hot showers and decent laundry facilities.)   As an extra bonus, we had a pool to lounge around with a poolside bar, and a beach that has been rated one of the top 10 in the world!  This cruising life can be tough some times!

The day we left Marsh Harbour to go to Treasure Cay was one of those days that make you say " man, this is the life!"  On route our friends, on Island Pearl, caught a magnificent Mutton Snapper.  As soon as we got there we headed to the beach where we were blown away by it's splendor.  Once we had our fill of that, we hung out at the pool.   To finish off the day we had a fabulous feast of Mutton Snapper on Folly watching the sun set.  It was truly a perfect day.  In fact we enjoyed it so much we stayed the following  day as well.

Yesterday we left and sailed around the infamous "Whale" to Green Turtle Cay.  The Whale Cut has been known to be quite treacherous in the wrong conditions so picking the right day is imperative; I'm happy to report that we hit it right.  The wind was stronger than forcasted but the sea was tame and it was a piece of cake. 

Believe it or not, our very good friend Kevin, who lives on Green Turtle, met us out there on the water.  He just pulled his Boston Whaler up beside Folly, we tied him off, and he hopped on board.  How's that for a welcome? 

Our plan is to stay here on Green Turtle Cay for about three weeks.  Carole-Anne, Harley's sister, is coming to visit in ten days and will be staying with us for ten.  Should be a good time but.....

More about that next time.

The Mutton Snapper

Treasure Beach

Treasure Cay Marina

Kevin meeting us out there.

Little Harbour and Hope Town

I guess it's a sign that we have been out a long time when the blog posts start slowing down.  Either that or we're having too much fun to take time to do it.   Or.....perhaps it's just me being lazy.   Whatever the case, I now have a camera full of pictures and ton of catching up to do.

So let's see...it was at first light when we left Spanish Wells.  It was a dead calm day and we ended up motoring across the Northeast Providence Channel....a 50-mile open stretch.  Notice, I didn't say flat calm. (Actually, it's not dead either.)  Even on calm days the ocean is constantly moving like a living and breathing animal.  Folly glided along the surface ..... rising and falling with every breath it took.  We even passed a whale reminding us that we were not alone.  We arrived at Little Harbour, Abaco at 3:00 pm.

Little Harbour has a tricky entrance but, once in, it offers great protection from almost any weather and worth the effort.  It has quite an interesting history but what most people come for is the protection and Pete's Pub.  Pete's Pub is  a funky beach bar and kinda runs the show here.  It faces the mooring field and backs onto the ocean...indeed...very picturesque and people come from all over to experience it.  I particularly liked it there because the ocean beach, if you looked hard enough, had a fair amount of beach glass.  (If you havent noticed, I'm a bit obsessed)

But, like most everything, you can have too much of a good thing.  The light weather we had getting there turned out to be the calm before the blow and we were socked in for four days.  Pete's Pub started getting old.   The sea state was still quite turned up when we left on Sunday and I will admit we were a bit hesitant to go out that tricky entrance again with huge waves crashing against the shore.  Looks can be deceiving though and this time it looked worse than it was.  It turned out to be a fun sail up to Elbow Key.  We pulled into the harbour and the picture perfect town of Hope Town were we have been for two days.

Hope Town is, I think, one of the cutest towns on the face of the planet.  Planted in view of, just about, everywhere in town is an adorable candy stripped lighthouse.  In town, the homes are beautifully kept and painted every colour of the rainbow.  Everything is squeaky clean and on top of that the beach is stunning!  We have had a fabulous couple of days!

Lucky for us, yesterday was Sheri's (one of our travelling friends) birthday.  We had a great time helping her celebrate by going to the Hope Town Harbour Lodge  for lunch and hanging around their resort for a good part of the day. 

Today we are heading into Marsh Harbour to reprovision before we go out and explore more of the Abaco Cays but.....

More about that next time. 

These few pictures (above) were taken in Little Harbour

The ocean side at Little Harbour

Some beach creations.

Hope Town light house

Views of Hope Town (above)

Sheri the birthday girl.

Hope Town Harbour Lodge and our playground for the day.

Becoming a Realist

For us, this has become one of those seasons many cruisers talk about where more time is spent on the hook than sailing.  Since arriving in the Bahamas,  we not only spent less time sailing but we spent more time on a mooring ball than swinging on an anchor.  It wasn't what we planned but between things breaking, going home, and challenging weather we were happy to be hanging on a ball with no worries.

Admittedly, this year's sailing season hasn't turned out exactly as we invisioned but that's not to say it was bad.  In fact, it was GREAT!  If nothing else, it's given us a good idea of what needs to be done when we do this again next year.  It's also given us a chance to get involved in the community and do things we wouldn't normally do and I, for one,  needed that.

Of course, in saying this, I am not including the long trek from Ontario to the Bahamas.  We had plenty of travel days doing that and by the time we got here we were more than ready for a rest!  Perhaps this was the universe trying to tell us it was time to slow down.  Adjusting our plans as we go seems to be this year's theme and this simple attitude appears to work for us.

In the words of William A. Ward:

"A pessimist complains about the wind;
An optimist expects it to change;
A realist adjusts the sails."

I guess we've become realists.

And this brings me to our latest issue.....our main halyard doesn't want to go up or down.   After much discussion and diagnosing it appears we have something broken inside the mast preventing the halyard from running freely.  What does this mean?   It means we are down to sailing with our head sail only.  (All part of the adventure).  *eyeroll*  No problem, Folly sails well under jib alone....just not very fast.

So, the "to do" list, for when we get to Florida, is getting longer and the bank account is getting smaller but we are still out here having fun and that's the main thing.

Our sailing season isn't over by the way; we still have plenty of things we want to see and do when we get to the Abacos.  Today we are staging near Egg Island to cross Northeast Providence Channel tomorrow....about a 50-mile hike across open ocean but...

More about that next time.

Part of the diagnosing process included checking the halyard at the top of the mast.  Thankfully our brave friend Pat offered to go up and do that for us.

The Many Colours of Spanish Wells

It was a long windy sail up from Rock Sound to Spanish Wells and we were beat by the time we got there.  We anchored out that first night but have since taken a mooring ball in the harbour.  What we have found is a unique  and very colourful fishing town loaded with  character.   The homes come in all shapes and sizes and in every colour imaginable.  Here is just an example...m

A pretty side street.

We would never get away with painting our homes these colours, but here it works.  The more colourful the better.

Golf carts are the main source of transportation.   Someone got creative with this one!

This dolphin lead us into the harbour.

We've met an awsome couple, on Island Pearl.  They are super fun and like to kill stuff.....I mean forage for food.  

I take pictures while the guys look for food.

The beach is amazing. 

One of the many fishing boats in the harbour.