Marsh Harbor

Hey folks,

Marsh Harbor is the 3^rd largest city in the Bahamas and from all the cars and crazy drivers, we’d have to agree.  MH is not known for its nature beauty (they suggest you not swim in the harbor) but it is known for having everything a sailor might need.  On the recommendation of another cruiser we found a nice marina to stay at and it was also economical.

What we did manage to discover were two jewels in MH, Conky Joe’s seafood stand and Matilda’s snack stand.  We tried our first conch salad at CJ’s and not only was it great, but the conversation with the proprietor was another one of those Bahamian opportunities you don’t want to miss.  At Matilda’s snack shack we had the BEST homemade Guava ice cream ever!  The ice cream is not one of those wimpy, low fat, healthy types of frozen yogurt, it was sugar and cream and well worth the hit to our cholesterol numbers. 

CHeeRS!

-m & d

Home of some great seafood caught by her brother!



Comfort food... ice cream!!

The missing pictures

Hey folks,

I can't believe we forgot to add pics from Little Harbor and Pete's Pub!!

Enjoy!

-m & d

Pete's Pub, one of a kind!

The mooring field at Pete's

Just over the dunes from Pete's is the Atlantic and  if you look closely you can see the cut we used to get to the Sea of Abaco.

Marsh Harbor

Hey folks,

Looks like we’re going to be ‘holding up’ here in Marsh Harbor until at least Sunday, to say the winds have been brutal is an understatement!  We’re not the only ones holding up here, there are at least 300 boats in the harbor, some waiting to move, some just here for the winter but no one is moving.  Mangoes Marina is where we’re staying and is a small place with a special interest in customer care, a good place to stay.

So, if we are ‘trapped’ on our boat in a marina you must be asking; what do our adventurers do?  Go for a boat ride!!  Yup, tomorrow we’re taking the ferry to Hopetown for the day.  What a relief to be on a boat and not responsible for anything!!  Hopetown is one of those picturesque  postcard settlements.  We wanted to visit Hopetown and this is a quick and easy way to still include a visit in our travels that we would have to pass on visiting due to weather delays.

With all this time on our hands Dennis had a chance to run for the first time in months, it was good!  We’ve also checked out the local shops including a package store where we picked up some fine rum.  There is a Moorings and Sun Sail charter establishment here so we walked the docks looking at all the boats (okay, it was the catamarans that caught our eyes).  Oh ya, Dennis was also spotted reading & highlighting sabbatical research reports today.

CHeeRS!

-m & d

Conch anyone???

Bond Cay and Cross Harbor –> Little Harbor

We left Nassau ahead of schedule with moderate wind and waves only to have the waves increase to the 4’ to 5’ range after an hour into our jaunt (7 hours) up to Bonds Cay.  The wind got stronger and the waves grew so much I was wondering if I read the correct wind/waves report?!  We wearily persevered onward and got to our anchorage late afternoon.  This was a beautiful place to spend the night, not another soul to be found.  The anchorage was completely protected from the rough seas and high wind.

We headed out as soon as possible to our next stop getting us closer to the Abacos, Cross Harbor on the southern tip of the Great Abaco Island.  What a difference a day makes, we had light winds and seas in the 1’ to 2’ range, these conditions made us much more rested by the time we arrived at another desolate anchorage!  Not seeing any other boats makes ya wonder if they know something we don’t??

Oh ya, today (Saturday) Dennis turns 58, wohooo and is celebrating with a cold Kalik and we’re having lobster tails (thanks Gunter)!

Tomorrow we move onto to Little Harbor, home of Pete’s pub, foundry and hopefully some INTERNET access!!

**UPDATE from Little Harbor…. Today we caught our first FISH (while in 4000’ of water), goes to show ya that even a blind squirrel can find a nut!  The fish was an Almaco Jack and it was landed, cleaned and in the freezer and frig in less than thirty minutes.  You guessed it, we had one fillet for dinner and it was great!! 

CHeeRS!

m & d

Abaco Lighthouse

Our first fish!!

Nassau

On our run into Nassau there was absolutely no wind so we could really look closely at the bottom for sea life.  Much to our surprise we saw lots of activity including: 22 large star fish, 2 sea turtles and too many different types of fish and other marine life to even start mentioning.  We both had to keep an eye out for boat crushing coral heads along the way while trying not to miss our surroundings.

Nassau is a large seaport for the Bahamas and it was busy to say the least!  Somehow we dodged all the crazies and found our marina without too much fuss.  After tying up we started going down our list making the best use of or time in the city.  Coming back to Nassau this time was fun, we were busy yet did not have all the drama of our last visit.  We used the buses and they gave us a chance to see a part of Nassau most never see (you can only guess what it was like…) though we were told not to take the bus at night.

Mary hard her insect bite checked by a local physician that said it was looking good, ordered some additional creams to speed the healing and sent us on our way.  Since this sucker will leave a nice scar, we are lovingly calling this; “Mary’s Bahamian tattoo”.

With our pantry stocked, errands completed, propane tanks filled and additional fuel in the tanks, we are leaving Nassau early for the Berrys.

CHeeRS!

-m & d

Lighthouse leaving Nassau Harbor

Atlantis from the harbor

Starfish in 18 feet of water

Good bye ECLSP

Okay, Friday was a busy day getting ready to leave ECLSP.  We changed oil, cleaned the windows, changed the fuel filter, inventoried our food for the Nassau provisioning trip and got our final Internet coupon to do a final check on the weather…. Hold on sailor, the weather for leaving was okay but not looking good for Nassau 2 days down the road (65 nautical miles across the great Bahamas bank).  Okay we’re flexible, we’ll leave Sunday.  But wait, again the weather would be more settled for anchoring if we waited until Monday to leave (16 knots at night versus 23 knots – see “weather game” below).  So, we ARE leaving (or did leave by the time you read this) for Normans Cay in the morning (home of nasty insect bites - Mary has officially ruled no one will go ashore at Normans!!) and with nice winds behind us we’ll be at Rose Island (near Nassau) on Tuesday evening.

Since we extended our stay (have I mentioned lately how beautiful it is here???) we have done our best to visit at least one new beach every day, tough work but someone’s got to do it!  Our disappointment came early when yesterday (Saturday) we ventured to loyalist beach not only to find foot prints in the sand, but people on the beach!!  We’ll just have try harder today.  We did trek over the island to the sounds side where we caught a glimpse of Johnny Depp’s island and his mansion under construction.

The ECLSP has a Saturday night happy hour (HH) with the park ranger – just a reason to share snacks and swap stories.  The big news is that at the HH, we got to see one of the ‘endangered’ Hutia.  They may be endangered elsewhere, but to this untrained cruiser, there are signs of them everywhere and it looks like they are destroying the native vegetation.  At the HH one lady was just going gaga over how cute they are, I hated to do it but I did…. burst her bubble by remaindering her they are just glorified rats. *smirk*

Also on our last day we checked out the work of some of our good friends; Mike, Angie and Bruce.  These folks volunteered to reassemble the remains of a beached pilot whale.  As you can see, it was like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle with many of the pieces missing.   The end result will make a nice display addition to the park.

CHeeRS!

m & d

*the weather game

Planning around weather is much like a game of chess, it’s not this move you’re concerned about, its how this move sets you up for the next series of moves.  In our case, the weather maybe just fine today (or not) but what about 2, 3 or 4 days down the road?  We’re trying to look at the best places to be when the weather really turns nasty and knowing we can find shelter after the 3^rd or 4^th move. 

Carins at the park

Guess who?

Pilot whale team, Angie, Mike and Bruce

One of the lives Mary saved today!

ECLSP 2-16

Hey folks,

Reporting in from ECLSP, we’ve been here a week now and seems like it was just yesterday we picked up a mooring.  I guess that’s a good thing! 

FWIW, our newest plan is to leave here Friday and head up to Highborne Cay then head west for Rose Island and Nassau.  This officially starts our homeward trek and from Nassau we’ll continue trekking home via the Abacos.

CHeeRS!

m & d

Another beach to explore!