HEADING HOME, THROUGH THE ABACOS

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We are so glad we decided to return home by way of the Abacos. We could have come back to Florida the way we came, through Nassau, but chose instead to go farther north before we turned west.

Leaving George Town, we traveled back up through the Exuma Islands then hopped over to Eleuthera, anchored there for the night, then continued north to Little Harbour, at the bottom of the Abacos. We spent a couple of days anchored at Little Harbour, then traveled a half day to Hope Town.

Hope Town has special meaning for us. It was there that we chartered a PDQ 36 catamaran for a few days three years ago, trying to make a final decision on whether to purchase Sunshine, also a PDQ 36.

Hope Town is a charming place and we loved being able to sail our own boat back to that harbor. We looked up Peter Michie, the owner of the boat we chartered, who came along with us on our trip in 2006. Peter, a former RAF pilot, lives in Hope Town with his wife, Trish. They are out of the charter business but are still in the vacation rental business. Delightful people!

After two days in Hope Town, we moved on to Marsh Harbour. It was only a six-mile trip, but that was enough time for the port engine to burst a radiator hose and the mainsail to rip in several places. We limped into Marsh Harbour on one engine and with flapping sails.

Phil replaced the radiator hose and pumped out the bilge full of sea water in short order on the first day. The second day, we dinghyed into town and bought sail repair tape. Our friend, Graham, came over and helped Phil bring down the mainsail and I got out my trusty Sail Rite heavy duty sewing machine. It took all afternoon to repair the rips in the sail. When Phil and Graham reinstalled the sail, it looked like new. I was very proud.

Marsh Harbour is the third largest city in the Bahamas, next to Freeport and Nassau. That means we are in the midst of civilization for the first time in months. We have real grocery stores, liquor stores with a nice wine selection (for her), hardware stores and marine supply stores (for him), and lots of good restaurants.

The first of two cold fronts came through last night and so we will be stuck here for a few days before we can move on. We are not complaining! This is a great place to be stuck!

Yesterday, we did two weeks worth of laundry and resupplied the galley. The grocery prices were still high, but not as high as in the Exumas. We bought fresh milk (as opposed to boxed milk) for the first time since December.

And best of all, the internet connection on the boat is excellent. We are using the computer so much we've had to run the generator for a while each day just to keep up with the power usage.

We'll probably head out next week as the weather calms down, on our way across the northern edge of the Abacos and on to West End, on the west end of Grand Bahama Island. It will take at least three days, with stops each night, to make that trip. From Grand Bahama, it's a one-day trip across the Gulf Stream to West Palm Beach.

We'll check in as we can.

ESCAPE FROM CHICKEN HARBOR!

At dawn on Wednesday, March 4th, we pulled the anchor on Sunshine, our 36’ catamaran, and headed north out of Elizabeth Harbor. With us were three British monohulls: “Rasi,” “Ten Years After” and “La Danza.”

The Elizabeth Harbor anchorage, better known as “George Town,” had been our home for several weeks. It wasn’t intentional. When we arrived in January, we had planned to stay in George Town only a few days. Inertia prevailed.

George Town is a large Bahamian community that caters to cruisers. The winter season brings hundreds of boats into the harbor, sometimes as many as 400. This year, even with the bad economic conditions, there were at least 300 boats.

George Town boasts one of the larger grocery stores in the Bahamas, along with two liquor stores, several restaurants, two laundries, a source for propane refills, free water, a dinghy dock and friendly locals.

We loved reconnecting with old friends and making new friends in George Town. It was especially difficult to leave Harold and Val on La Buena Vida, Clay and Rita-Kay on Carleigh, Doug and Marlene on Solar Eclipse, Roger and Darlene on RollsDoc, Mickey and Lillian on Carpe Diem Philadelphia, Barbara and Ken on m/v Barbara, Ed and Sandi on Genesis, and Laurence and Joan on Better Than Working, plus many others.

The cruiser community in George Town is highly organized, which we found interesting at first and overwhelming after a while. Each year, the cruisers host a regatta early in March. This regatta isn’t a Bahamian celebration. It’s strictly a cruiser function. The organizing for regatta begins early in the year and by late February, regatta planning is at fever pitch. Multiple committee chairmen recruit dozens of volunteers, whose reason for living becomes the regatta.

Regatta activities include a pet parade, a sailboat “pass in review,” a dinghy coconut retrieval race, a talent show, a no-talent show, a bocci-ball tournament, volleyball tournament, a sailboat race, an opening show, a closing show, a dance, and many more activities too numerous to mention.

Many folks come to George Town to enjoy the cruisers’ regatta, and we wish we were among them. The regatta drumbeat became so strong that we felt compelled to make our escape from George Town before the festival began. Evidently, some others felt the same way. We had lots of company on our trek north.

The weather report for our retreat from George Town called for 10-15 knot winds and 2-4 foot seas. The reality was 20-25 knot winds, gusting to 30 knots, with 5-8 foot seas. The bad news was that we were tossed about, with waves constantly breaking over the bow. The good news was that we made good time. Motor-sailing with full sails, we averaged seven knots, sometimes reaching 8.5 knots.

We went “inside,” after about six hours, at Galliott Cut, our first good opportunity to escape the big seas. Once inside, we continued north, protected from the full force of the east winds by the Exuma Islands. We still made very good time motor-sailing and reached our destination by mid-afternoon.

We are now anchored at Staniel Cay, where we can receive a satellite internet signal and re-stock our pantry before heading north. The weather continues windy, but with protection from the wind, the sun is bright and feels warm. The islands are beautiful and the sea is aquamarine. If the wind subsided, we would be complaining about the heat.

Our plan is to leave here in the next day or two and head north to Norman’s Cay. From Norman’s, we will wait for good weather to make the crossing to Eleuthera. Up the west side of Eleuthera, we will then cross over to the Abacos. From the northern tip of the Abacos, we will head north and await our chance to cross the Gulf Stream to Florida.