Cat Island - 3/12/02
The morning after our farewell party with Alize and Dark & Stormy was a memorable one.  My head wasn't feeling much better and now my stomach was getting in on the action.  We pulled anchor at 6am along with Significant Other and had a 56 plus mile sail ahead of us.  My stomach was not feeling so well and after getting out there and bouncing around in the 4ft waves....well, I don't think I need to say anymore other than it was a very long day.  Needless to say I was so glad when we arrived at the Bight on Cat Island and were anchored in calm waters.  No cocktail hour for me tonight.  Just some well needed recuperation!

We anchored at the foot of Mount Alvernia which is the highest hill in the Bahamas.  On top the hill is The Hermitage - retirement home of Father Jerome which he built as well as a new church in the early 1900's.

The evening brought light showers and a beautiful rainbow.  It was a full rainbow in that you could see both ends.   One end appeared to be ending in our cockpit while the other end appeared to be ending at the Catholic church on shore.  It was a gorgeous rainbow.

Rainbow ending in our cockpit -- think we found the pot of gold???
 

Little San Salvador - 3/13/02
The winds were great for sailing to Little San Salvador so we decided not to stay at Cat Island for another day.  As we got closer to the island, you could see the Holland American cruise boat Zaandam anchored.  Since Holland American purchased the island (after which they renamed the anchorage Half Moon Bay) we had to anchor out until the cruise boat had left.  But in the meantime, we enjoyed a relaxing day on the boat watching all the tourists.  The cruise ship left around 3:30 - we picked up anchor and moved in closer.   Fred spotted a sting ray in the water and dove in for a closer look.  It kept swimming around the boat, so I decided to go in as well.  Had lots of fun following it around.  Amazing how close you could get to it....it didn't seem to bothered by us at all.

Significant Other trying to catch the banana boat full of tourists
 
 

Rock Sound, Eleuthera - 3/14/02 thru 3/15/02
On our way again.  Unfortunately the winds were light so we had to motor.  After dodging several coral heads along the way, we arrived safely in Rock Sound.  What a beautiful anchorage with great holding and lots of room.  Ensured the hooks were set then into town to check things out.  Boy are the folks on this island friendly.  They really appear to be trying very hard to attract more cruisers here.  This island really has anything one would need.  A terrific grocery, bakery and hardware store.  Its a hidden treasure for sure.

There are two blue holes here and a cave that one must explore while here.  A blue hole is a area of very deep water...some of which people haven't found the bottom of them yet.  We just took a look from above.  And then onto the cave.  After making our way thru the narrow path of trees and brush, we came to the spot.  Climbed down some rocks and into the cave.  The caves were about 40 ft deep with lots of open areas exposing the sunlight.  Very unique rock formations and interesting to see the exposed tree roots coming from above.  In fact Mike had to try his hand at trying to climb one.  Not as easy as it looks!   Saw several bats - luckily they weren't too interested in us.

Exploring the cave

Throughout our explorations of the islands here, we've mentioned how hard it was to find a phone...let alone a working one.  Here's a good example of the creative wiring used.  It would appear duck tape is their friend as well.

Facilities we found here:
* Grocery - an outstanding grocery.  Has almost anything you could need.   Fresh fruit stand right across from the grocery.
* Bakery - a must see - if for no other reason than to talk with the owner.  He also serves a great lunch.
* Liquor store.  Not as much selection as in Georgetown or Nassau, but good prices on what they had.
* Hardware store - wide selection of things.  Has a fishing section - very helpful since the local barracudas have eaten thru three of our metal leaders and gotten away with our lures.
* Airport close by.
 

Governors Harbor, Eleuthera - 3/16/02
We both enjoyed a great spinnaker run over to Governors.  Arrived, anchored and into town we went.   We've noticed as we make our way north thru Eleuthera that there are more flowers, trees and definitely more civilization unlike most of the islands in the Exumas (with the exception of Georgetown, of course).   And I love all the brightly colored homes.  Pink, aqua, yellow, purple.... you name it, they've painted a house with it.   Governors harbor has a mixture of colorful colonial houses and businesses placed on the steep hill surrounding the harbor.  The architecture is a mix of Victorian, New England and southern plantation.  It was the first capital of the Bahamas.  It also has the distinct honor of having the only traffic light this side of Nassau.  As we were heading back to the dingy we noticed a group of locals just coming in with their days catch.  So we stopped by for a closer look.  They had lots of lobster and grouper.   All four of us were so hungry for a good lobster, so we made them an offer.  We both picked up a wonderful 4lb. lobster for only $15.  And boy was it delicious and we had so much we could barely finish it!

Locals cleaning their catch of the day

This is the lobster that went home with Mike & Jan
 

Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera - 3/17/02
Enjoyed another beautiful broad reach sail.  Winds were 15-20 but only 1-2ft. seas.  Sailing along the coastline the water color was so beautiful.  The approach to Hatchet bay is quite intimidating.  Its a narrow opening cut into the rock so you have 40ft. rock walls on either side and its only about 90ft. wide.  Although while going thru it seems a lot less.   That combined with the current and waves, you have to be very careful.  So we had the engine in high gear to ensure we didn't slip sideways.  Once inside it reminded me of some of the lakes back home.  Nice wide open area with lots of trees all around...but no real beaches.  Unfortunately it was a grassy bottom, so holding was so, so.  And as you looked around the harbor you could see signs from hurricane Andrew.  Many boats were wrecked along the shore line.  Apparently lots of folks thought since this was such a well protected anchorage it would make a great hurricane hole...but as they found out, holding here was not very good.  It was pretty funny though - in town they had a sign that said "Welcome to Hatchet Bay - home of the country's safest harbor".  We wondered if this sign was made before or after the hurricane.  Since it was the weekend not too many shops were open.  But we got in some good exercise walking around.

This hunter has definitely seen better days
 

Royal Island - 3/18/02
On our trip to Royal Island we stopped by Current Settlement.  We knew Royal Island didn't have any phones, so we made a quick stop in Current in order to do email since it had been several days.  What a beautiful spot this was.  There was a beautiful beach with some gorgeous homes along it.  The town was charming, but small.  Unfortunately the only pay phone there wasn't working.  Found a grocery that did have a phone and they said we could use it with the owners permission.  So we went a couple houses down, knocked on the door and a really nice lady answered.  After explaining we've been looking for a phone for sometime and needed to checkin, she gladly offered us the use of her phone.  What nice folks!

Beach along Current Settlement - a beautiful, peaceful place!

Back in the boat and off to Royal Island.  It was another well protected anchorage - but also another grassy one.  Nothing on the island except the remains of an elegant private estate.   Walked around and tried to picture what it was once like.  There were lots of buildings/rooms so I'm sure it wa quite awesome in its time.

Ruins on Royal Island from a once elegant private estate
 

Spanish Wells and Harbor Island - 3/19/02 thru 3/20/02
Spanish Wells was just a short trip from Royal Island.  We called Edsel on the pilot boat Dolphin ahead of time.  He met us at the entrance of the harbor and we followed him to our mooring.  Spanish Wells is famous for its fishing fleet and boat builders.  The community here dates back to the 18th century when the Loyalists fled the American colonies in the Revolution.  Lots of charming cottages and gardens.  Golf carts are big on the island as they seem to be on many of the islands.

One of the many colorful homes of Spanish Wells

While in the area we wanted to see Harbor Island which is famous for its pink sand beach.  Two ways to get there - take the fast ferry or your boat.&nbbsp; Problem with taking the boat is you have to transit Devil's Backbone.  And its not called that for nothing.  Basically its an area of shallow coral heads and rocks.  And you can't  use GPS points to navigate thru them.  You basically have to weave your way thru them so good light is a must.  Its not recommended you do this passage without hiring a pilot boat... like Dolphin... to help you.  So the decision was rather easy - we all took the fast ferry.   After arriving, we were very glad of our decision.   It's a beautiful island with lots of flowers and interesting architecture.  It kind of reminds you of the New England area.  Thought of Marlene when we saw a Pigly Wigly grocery, she really loved those stores.  The 3-mile beach was beautiful and you could definitely see the pink sand....some of which I brought home.   It was that soft sand too.    Even had horses you could rent to ride along the beach but I couldn't talk anyone into that.  You could find almost anything here.  From elegant hotels & villas to shops and a small straw market.  We ate lunch at a spot recommended by the locals - Wades.  The restaurant was a take-away with plastic tables and chairs overlooking the water.   The four of us enjoyed a couple Kaliks (the local beer) along with cracked lobster and cracked grouper.  Both outstanding!   Jan and I decided to check out some of the shops so the guys decided they'd be better off staying at Wades and enjoying another Kalik.  Apparently it was a good thing because when Jan and I returned we heard about all the famous stars they met...like Pamela Anderson and Brad Pitt.  Even though its not unusual for stars to be seen on Harbor Island, somehow I think the beers were affecting their senses.

The Bahamian version of our Piggly Wiggly grocery - which they spell Pigly Wigly

Jan, Mike & Debbie - taking in some of the pink sand
 

Facilities we found in Spanish Wells:
* Grocery - a smaller one close by on the waterfront.  But a much larger one a mile out.
* Moorings - available thru Dolphin - $10/day
* Ferry service available over to Harbor Island - $20/person round trip
 

Crossing over to the Abacos - Little Harbor  - 3/21/02 thru 3/22/02
Well it was time to leave the far Bahamas and head towards the Abacos...about a 60 mile trip.  Two ways out of Spanish Wells to the Abacos.  The safer way we would have to back track several miles.  Fortunately the couple on Bravo Zulu who we had met earlier in George Town was leaving the same day and offered us to follow them out.  They had hired Edsel the pilot on the boat Dolphin to get them thru the reefs and into clear water.  Since this saved us quite a bit of time, we gladly took them up on their offer.  So Edsel came aboard their boat, trailing his behind and the two of us followed along very closely - matching them turn for turn.  After getting thru the reefs safely, Edsel got on his boat and we were off.   We were able to sail most of the way which was nice except that it was dead downwind which made for a rolly ride in the 3-5ft. seas.  When we saw the cut we wanted to go through all we saw was breaking waves from the distance which means shallow water. We looked at our GPS, double checked our way points and held our breath. We made it thru the cut with no problem but it was a little tense for a while. We arrived outside Little Harbor and decided to anchor off Tom Curry Point.   Things seemed great until the swell picked up.  It was a rolly, unpleasant night.  Not something we enjoyed after a long day of sailing/rolling.

In the morning we waited for high tide because of the shallow entrance, then moved to a mooring inside Little Harbor.  We all appreciated the calm waters.  Over breakfast we got a show from the local sea turtles.  They would pop their heads up, but by the time you'd have the camera ready to take a picture, down they went.  Guess they're camera shy.  Little Harbor, home of Petes Pub, is famous for their drink called the Blaster.  We tried one and boy was it good.  It contains an assortment of fruit juices and rum, or is that an assortment of rums and some fruit juice?  In addition to the pub, Pete maintains a gallery of his and other local artists' work.  And a short walk over to the other side of the island provides a beautiful view of the ocean and sand/volcanic shore.

Petes Pub -- an outdoor pavilion restaurant and bar

While enjoying our Blaster at the pub, a pontoon plane pulls in.  It had the Miami Dolphins ensignia on it.  We sat and waited to see football players get off.  About 14 people did get out of the plane, but none were players.  They were friends of the owners who had the plane for 3 days to do some bar hopping around the islands.  Life is rough....

Miami Dolphins plane buzzing past Significant Other

So we didn't have to wait for high tide the following day to leave, we pulled out in the afternoon and went to Lynyard Cay for the night.  Only a couple miles away.  Very nice anchorage in good holding.
 

Man-O-War Cay - 3/24/02 thru 3/25/02
After a great sail and successful navigation of the cut at Man-O-War, we had arrived.  Since it was Sunday most of the shops were closed.  But we did manage to locate a phone to catch up on email.  On our way out we noticed a boat from Ft. Thomas, KY.  Naturally we were intrigued.  We saw someone aboard and stopped by to chat.  Come to find out it was Nick Ellison who we had met several years ago at a local BLSA sailing event.  Nick had done a circumnavigation in this boat - Lusty Wind and had done at talk.  It was great catching up with him and seeing his boat.  Again, what a small world!  While there we also ran into some cruising friends on Kotchka that we hadn't seen for a while.

After a leisurely morning of listening to the Abaco cruiser net on VHF 68 we ventured back into town.  The cruiser net is similar to the George Town net, but much more relaxed.  Its very informative so everyone is up on the latest events around as well as weather and sea state.  In town we found several nice shops including a grocery, local bakery out of someone's house, hardware store for the guys, ice cream and more.  Its also home to the Sail Shop which evolved from earlier days of sail making to now sturdy canvas bags.  Man-O-War is famous for superior boat building and the streets are large enough for golf carts.

Fred and Jan enjoying some local ice cream

The evening brought some excitement.  We were just getting ready to get in our dingy to go over to Mike & Jan's when Fred noticed it wasn't there.  Looked out into the horizon and saw it quickly drifting away.  Somehow it got loose from the boat.  Fred yelled at Mike "Dingy", pointed to it and Mike sprung into action.  He came over to our boat, picked up Fred and away they went.  Boy were we lucky it didn't get loose at night and that Mike & Jan were close by.  Otherwise we may never have recovered it.

Mike and Fred rescuing our dingy
 

Hope Town / Elbow Cay - 3/26/02 thru 3/27/02
Winds light, but it was only a short motor from Man-O-War.  Hope Town is known for its candy striped lighthouse originally built in 1864, it stands 120ft. above sea level with a visibility of 17 miles and is the only manned lighthouse remaining in the Bahamas.  We later climbed up the lighthouse and were treated to a beautiful 360 degree view of the island and beyond.  Hope Town was founded in 1785 by Loyalists escaping the American Revolution.  The town contains lovely vacation homes and resorts, an assortment of shops and coral heads right off the beach great for snorkeling.  On our ride thru the harbor we ran into some friends of ours on Starshine.  We were with them on 9/11.  It was great seeing them under better circumstances.

The Elbow Reef Lighthouse

View of the harbor at Hope Town from the lighthouse
 

A typical bahamian delivery truck

The next day the winds died.  Fred, Mike & I decided it would be a great day to explore the reefs off Hope Town / Elbow Cay.  What a great decision.   With the light winds there wasn't any breaking waves and the reefs were some of the best we've seen so far.  They were very large, colorful reefs with lots of different species of fish, coral, fans, etc.  Fred spotted a sea turtle and even came across a lobster, but was unable to get a shot at it because it crawled in a hole too quickly.  This is what its all about!

We later ran into friends we met back in Vero Beach, FL -- folks aboard Southpaws and Evergreen.  That evening we went over to Southpaws to join them for some cocktails and celebrate John's birthday.   Lots of fun.
 

Marsh Harbor - 3/28/02
Today was work day.  Lifted anchor and headed over to Marsh Harbor.  Marsh Harbor is the "big city" of the Abacos.  It has a well protected harbor, all the facilities a cruiser would need and its a great place to reprovision before heading north or south.  They had a very nice laundry mat here, so we treated ourselves and gave our plunger another day off.   After several hours of doing laundry, it was off to the grocery.  Next stop, the important one, was the liquor store.  Since Marsh Harbor is the last large harbor we'll be visiting before returning home, we filled up on our favorite liquors.   I always find it amazing how long it takes to do laundry and grocery shopping.  We were gone all day.  At home, it would have only been several hours.
 

Bakers Bay on Great Guana Cay - 3/29/02
Fred and I started off the day with a 5-mile walk in search of the Catholic Church - St. Francis De Sales on Marsh Harbor.  We started out in the wrong direction which explains why our walk was so long.  We finally found it only to discover there were no services today.  But we did get the schedule for Easter and also heard they have a bus that would pick us up in front of the marina...yea!  So we started the trek back and a local stopped us - guess we looked pretty tired - and offered us a ride.  We gladly took him up on it.  Very interesting gentlemen.   Come to find out he's a 10th generation loyalist.  Got back to the boat, hoisted the motor off the dingy and took off for Bakers Bay.  Had a great sail over to Bakers.  But by the time we got there it was late afternoon and we were all tired so we took the rest of the day off.

In the morning the four of us took off in search of some reefs to snorkel, but couldn't find any that didn't have breaking waves over them.  So we explored the beaches instead.  Did some shell hunting on one of the islands that cruise ships used to visit.  The ships no longer come because they couldn't always get thru the cut (reefs) at Whale Cay.  Then we walked the beach on the ocean side of Great Guana.  What a beautiful beach - even had pink sand similar to what was on Harbor Island.  In the afternoon we took off for Marsh Harbor so we'd be there for Easter Sunday mass while Mike & Jan went on to Fisher's Bay on Great Guana.
 

Marsh Harbor and Fisher's Bay on Great Guana Cay - 3/31/02
Its a beautiful Easter Sunday!   We went to the marina to catch the bus to church and found about 50 other people were doing the same thing.  I remember thinking I hope they have a big bus.  While waiting we saw the priest (who we met a couple days ago) go by several times in his red truck.  Later in church we found out that he was trying to line up a school bus to pick us up as the church bus wasn't working.  The mass was very high energy and the priest who had been there 12 years was great.  The choir was made up of local haitians who did a terrific job with the music.   After church we picked up anchor and headed for Great Guana to meet up with Mike & Jan.  There was a big Easter celebration going on at Nippers.  The day began with a plastic easter egg hunt among the reefs.  Then a pig roast buffet followed.  We also saw our friends from Southpaws and Evergreen there.  It was lots of fun.  Finished the evening off with having everyone over to our boat for cocktails.