BAHAMAS REPRISE

Don't tell our dermatologist about our tans!


View of RISING TIDE from the Canadian yacht FREE SPIRIT


"Waterfront Shack in Man 'O War Eastern Harbor, Abacos


This is being sent from Vero Beach FL -- we made it back on Monday 4/13/09.

MARCH 28 - APRIL 12

We are in our final days in the Bahamas. It seems fitting that we should get a chance to find, again, those experiences that we enjoyed the most while we have been here. So to wind up our trip we have been searching out more local bakeries with Bahamian bread, participating in Bahamian music/food/culture events, snorkeling “one last time“, and relocating some boats that we have seen or known while down here.

March 28 We bumped into people we met earlier in Warderick Wells, Peggy and Jack on FREE SPIRIT from Ontario, and our two boats left Nassau early this day bound for northern Eleuthera. We will only be in one spot in Eleuthera, Royal Island, but going there gives us a good jumping off spot for the Abacos, and we get to check off one more island chain that we have visited in the Bahamas. We had plenty of wind for our sail and wonderful weather. The next day was an early departure since we needed to cover 53 miles -- probably a 10-hr. sail -- and it was a wild weather day with high winds, large following seas added to by easterly rollers leftover from last week’s weather. At the end of the sail as we approached the Abacos, we were greeted by about a dozen dolphins, who stayed by our boat for about 3 miles, swimming up and back and riding the ocean swells and our boat’s bow waves!

March 30 We are spending several days in Marsh Harbor in the mid-Abacos as it is the largest town here and has a very protected harbor. We should see some other cruisers here that we know, and we still have FREE SPIRIT to play with and share stories with. We got back in contact with AQUILA, new friends that we shared Christmas Eve with in Florida and then got separated from when Barb got injured and laid-up a few days later.

April 2 We have planned a side-trip to Treasure Cay, not really a separate cay but on the same island that Marsh Harbor is on. Good friends Mary and Neil Rice have invited us to visit them at their second home there. After a 3-hour sail we found a marina, a well-protected small harbor, and a large number of homes and businesses at Treasure Cay. There is also a 3 ½ mile-long pristine beach and free internet in the harbor. What more could you ask for?

It’s so easy to meet people when you’re with vacationing people in the warm climates! Mary and Neil were already booked the first night we arrived so we took advantage of the Pizza Night at the outdoor bar, part of the marina. We became fast friends with a couple we shared a table with (it was crowded). They had just flown in from North Carolina for a long-weekend in their private plane. It’s the kind of place you can bump into people again, so in the semi-darkness the next night returning from dinner with Neil and Mary in their golf cart, we were hailed by our pizza friends, and saw them again in their boat in the harbor.

We were treated royally by the Rices and enjoyed cocktails on their balcony and a delicious dinner out. We got to discuss Marblehead news and people, and catch up on what children and grandchildren are doing.

Treasure Cay was a little more up-scale than what we have seen in other places in the Bahamas, but one morning we got to experience Bahamian small-town entertainment as the primary children from a local school were dressed in costumes from the Wizard of OZ and were parading through the small shopping area and singing songs from the show. There were about 25 students, and they stopped to act out some of the parts.

April 5 There is more strong wind predicted for the upcoming week so during the short lull we sailed to Man ’O War Cay where there is another very well protected harbor. Most of the cays surrounding the Sea of Abaco are short sails from each other and the Sea itself is fairly calm and shallow. Man ‘O War is known for boat-building and furniture-making. A few days later we sailed to Great Guana Cay. We did meet up with BRIAR PATCH and SERENADE, boats we have been looking for.

April 9 This was a perfect day and we headed north from Great Guana Cay, stopping in between cays to snorkel. It was calm, warm, and the reef we stopped at had tons of fish, fan coral, and other types of coral. I saw a shark, a turtle, and a ray as well as the small brightly colored reef fish. Our destination this day was Green Turtle Cay and the next day we enjoyed a Good Friday fried fish lunch there, put on by the youth group of one of the churches. The fish were fried whole and were served with small sweet banana pancakes. Bahamian gospel music was playing on loudspeakers.

April 11 We’re just about to cross back over the Gulf Stream to the Florida shores (this takes three days of sailing through uninhabited cays). We are hailed on the radio by the crew of LOS GATEOWS. By chance, they are sailing up the west side of the island that we are sailing up the east side of (they are just sending a random radio call)! So, one final meeting and rum drinks with “old” friends, Mike and Debbie and girls, at Great Sale Cay. As we compare notes from the past few weeks, we look forward to being back in the U.S………..