April 30

We just paid for another week in Hope Town. We love it here and plan to come next year and pay for a month.

We have met several other boats and have been busy socializing. Today Bo took me back to the beach so I could search and found some of the coolest coconuts so have some ideas with them already. Jaymi look out one is coming to you. At 4 we are back to the beach playing bocce ball and let me tell you it is so much harder then on a green grass or even smooth sand but so much sand.

One couple is from New Orleans the couple on the left, one from FL she took the picture and us. Today we are playing with 2 other couples so next year have to bring our bocce balls along.

Bo continues to work on Waterway Guide while I play. 

Hope to rent a golf cart tomorrow and look around the island. They have so few so it is really a job to get one. If the weather holds out we will to to Man o War and anchor out and see the island then back to Hope Town to prepare to leave for our trip back to the US.

Have a blessed Sunday from blue skies and blue water.

Joyce

April 26

We never did get into Spanish Wells, Bo worked all day yesterday so I had the tough job of using the binoculars and keeping an eye on people going in and out of town and boats around us. Tough job.

We decided to head back to Lynyard Cay. On our way back in the ocean Bo was fishing and caught 2, one a huge Barracuda which we do not keep but it took his lure. So he got a new lure and caught a Mahi, last year he caught a 55 inches and 36 pounds this year it was 44 inches and 20 pounds but man do we have some good eating .He will have 2 more chances to fish so who knows.

The starfish was under the boat when Bo was scrubbing the boat.

Not sure where we go next or stay here for a day but looks good for the next week to head to St. Augustine.

We are having fun.

Joyce

April 24

We left Hatchet Bay this morning, I had said we had to go in an inlet and the surrounding area was rock, so here is the entrance.

We are now in Spanish Wells for a few days and as we were crossing over to here just had to take a picture to share. I use to send these all the time but have not done this so much this year. Will write more when we go to town, we have about a 2 mile dinghy ride.

What more can I say.

For now the seas are calm not like last night and a great forecast for several days.

Joyce

April 23

Yesterday we left Rock Sound at 9:00 am and got to Hatchet Bay at 2:45. It was a total of 35 miles so those of you that are non sailors can see what a long haul it can be. We had a great sail going about  8 knots for about 3 1/2  hours then had to motor sail for the next 2 hours. Our total time was  5 1/2 hours. It is a narrow cut into a well protected harbor and we got in with no problem. We are anchored in 30 ft depth to drop our anchor then dropped back to about 10 ft.

We have spent the entire day on the boat as there has been squalls passing over us all day with at times strong wind.

No pictures sorry.

We plan to leave tomorrow and start our trip back to the Abaco's then to the states. This has been quite a winter. We got started so late  then the weather has been a huge issue for us. This has been a great experience this year to go,see and do so many different things.

We took a pork loin and cut it into steaks and put it on George Foreman, with potato salad and veggies, sounds good to us.

We will keep you posted on where we go tomorrow, think we will go back through Current Cut then Spanish Wells. We have another front coming which could change that plan also.

Sun where are you.

Joyce

April 21

We have been in Rock Sound for 3 days. In those 3 days we have covered a lot of ground. This is usually a place that people go to on their way back home through to get to the Abacos. It is usually a fairly full harbor but since we are the late ones there have been maybe 3 power boats and 13 sailboat. As of today there are 5 sailboats left and all power are gone. There is a front coming and we will leave early tomorrow for Hatchet Bay and then may be anchored there for maybe 3 days before we can go further north. The Norway people are going also.

Sorry for the poor picture we were eating lunch at Sammy's and the light was terrible.

There are 2 what they call dinghy docks here. One is close to us and it will hold maybe 3 dinghy's. You need to put out a back anchor and your motor has to be us as in order to get in when the tide is low you use your oars. It is close to a restaurant and the grocery but you have to watch our you don't want to swing as there is a lot of junk in the water you don't want to hit.

You can see the boat that is tied up there full time. You then see a ladder that you climb,it is high tide now so you can go in. Next door is a great restaurant .

The other dock is a little further down and at one time it had been a huge pier but now only the pilings are left and the ladders for the dinghy's is great, a strong dock and then cement dock. There you also have to be careful not to swing to far as there are lots of huge cement structures in the water behind you. At this end of town are most businesses.



So far we have been to town every day and sometimes 2-3 times, making up for the 11 days of sitting on the boat.

Todays adventure is to go in and walk to the Ocean Hole . When we were at Ocean Hole and Bo was flying his drone it brought attention and one was 16 year old Christopher.

He was awesome and think our kids in the US need to take lessons from these kids. Always yes mam, thank you, it is that way all over down here. It was spring break so he had come to work with his mother and was going to go swimming in the Ocean  Hole.

The hole is 600 ft. deep and connected underground through a passage to the ocean and is over 300,000 years old. It is suppose to have medicinal help also, there were so many fish wanted a hand out and we forgot it.

We later met Christopher as we were walking down a street and all of a sudden a voice called out to us and he came running down the street I could not help but give a big hug. I forgot to say he is a triplet and the other 2 are girls.

 Yesterday we took our laundry into a gas station called Dingle's and they called a lady to come and get it. It was 3 big loads. She washed it, dried it and folded it for $21. I will save all my laundry for this kind lady.

We are meeting people we met here from Norway for lunch at Sammy's then back to the boat get some things done so we can leave tomorrow early .

 We need to make water and Bo has several things to do.

This is a place we would come back to for sure. The people are so friendly and helpful. Next year one of the car rental places is hopefully going to have some golf carts and bikes for rent. That would have been great as it would have been fun just to ride around all the streets to see what is there.

We met a minister Brad and will stay in contact with him and bring items back to Rock Sound for his congregation so if you think about it we will bring items when we see any of you. School supplies and so forth.

Now this is shopping!! At one end of the strip is a hardware store, next to it groceries, then liquor then car store. Across from it a bank. In front is the gas station we need to live like this one stop shopping.

Calmer winds....

Dreamcatcher

Good Morning,

Still holed up as winds are about 30 knots. One power boat left as they could not get their anchor to hold and kept dragging. Our catamaran in front of us called them yesterday and asked if they needed help with the anchor. It was a boat like a picnic boat from Jupiter, FL and had a small delta anchor and it would not hold. They moved to a spot behind all of us and this morning they had drug almost to shore and the winds are to pick up today and the next thing we knew they left so guess they were going to Spanish Wells, there is a marina there but can not imagine it was not full.

I sent my niece a note yesterday about our safety and our EPIRB and thought maybe some of you are not familiar with what that is.

Ok here is the scoop.

 This is called an EPIRB. This is hung beside our steps(companion way) coming down into our boat. There is a button on this that when we push it sends out a signal, SOS to satellite network which delivers it directly to rescue centers. It notifies them that we need help and our position. If we are on the east coast or Bahamas it goes to the Coast Guard and they try and validate it and see if we are really in trouble. ( We heard one of these coming south and a coast guard helicopter hovered over the boat until they got a response, some one had triggered it and there was no issue so the Coast Guard backed off.) This signal continues it is turned off or the battery runs out which is several days. When we bought the EPIRB we had to register peoples names as responders as to the people that  would know what our itinerary is. We have a Delorme that we start every time we leave to go someplace and that way Bo's family and some friends can send us quick emails during our travels.The Coast Guard would contact them to see if this was our plans.

 We have heard where the Coast Guard contacted a freighter in the vicinity to see if they can help. This happened off Savanah out in the ocean and the freighter picked up these people as their boat was taking on water.

So here is your class lesson for today.

Joyce

April 12

Good afternoon.

Another really day guess we are here until maybe Sunday.

We are still anchored in Royal Island. If you read the article about the resort that Strauback started and saw the video you saw the natural inlet and boats anchored. Now I thought I would show you what it looks like in here.

There is a resort on the outside with 2 huge houses and 5 small like huts. Not sure if this is the resort part and the golf course has not started or if that is something else.

Behind us are all the trucks, tanks trailers and fences plus a pick up that was left when they stopped construction. Today I saw a fishing boat from the resort go over and get fuel by the deserted area so not sure what is going on or if they really did start it back up.

Across from us are 2 ruins and have tried to find out about them but until we go into Spanish Wells and can ask questions have no idea, they even have a cave.

There are no beaches in the inlet all rugged rocks.

This is the inlet we came in to the anchorage.

Sorry there are 2 of the same place OH WELL. If you look close you will see what looks like white going up the island,these are stone steps that go to the house on the right and then to the left of the steps there is a chimney. Now look at the beach and almost to the edge of the picture you see a white sand path, that goes into a cave. About 100 yards past this is another place that is also in ruins but is a flat place. Have not been able to find out anything about either one of these places.

As there is a very strong winds coming Friday-Saturday we now have 9 boats in here, one from The Netherlands and one from France can not tell about the rest.

This is my note for today, enjoy.

April 11

We are still anchored in the natural protected cove in Royal Island. If you were to go to the internet and put in Royal Island you would find out about the huge development that Strauback had planned to develop.  Go to Developers reboot Royal Island resort and you will see where we are anchored. It is really pretty best thing is the wind is getting less so we can got to Spanish Wells tomorrow and anchor for a couple of days before heading further south.

Joyce

April 10

We left Hopetown on Saturday April 8 and motored to Lynyard Cay and anchored. It was very protected and had several beaches for me to walk. A dinghy from a catamaran by us came over to talk   and it was so cool. The graduated from Arizona State and with Bo an Arizona Wild Cat they had some great conversations. He had also been a police officer and turned Air Martial and had just retired and she was a retired teacher. Great fun to talk and we were going to cross over to  Spanish Wells together.

We got up on Sunday morning and took off forecast was a little windy and a chance of squawks but we took off. Going through the cut was a little dicey but put up our sails and man did we fly about 8 knots plus. Freedom started out and turned around and went back so will meet up with them some where along  our way south. With the speed we were going it was going to be a 4-5 hour trip. The wind went down and we turned into a motor sail boat for several hours then turned into a motor boat. The trip took us 8 hours. We tucked into a great natural harbor in Royal Island. We will be here for a couple of days as we both have things we want to do on board then move to Spanish Wells.

Back to Lynyard Cay. We anchored just off of a beach where it looked like a place boaters had been as it had a picnic table and many things on the land around the beach. When we went ashore there was a sign saying that in 1976-2017 think his name was Uncle Charlie. Story had it he had lived here, true or just a tale? There was what was left of a tent in a protected area. This is the story we have been told so have tried to find out more info but have not found it.

 In the town right across from us was Little Harbor, it also had a great story. In 1952 a family from Northampton, MA

This is where the guy lived until 2017.

More later from Spanish Wells.

Calmer seas

Joyce

April 7

We are still in Hope Town and plan to rent a mooring ball from the same guy next year for a month on our way home and that would be April. It is great here. No shells but great beaches, walks and people. We could leave out mooring and  go to several out islands for days that are good and still have a place to return to.

We toured the lighthouse this week. (Elbow Reef) Or I should say Bo climbed all the way to the top, me who is scared to death of heights,claustrophobic  could not do it.  Built in 1864.This is the only remaining Kerosene Lighthouse remaining. There is a light keeper full time at night as it has to be hand cranked every 2 hours to make the light turn, please look it up and read about it.

We have done a great deal of walking and yesterday walked to a restaurant named ,On Da' Beach. It was about a 30 minute walk but so worth it.

You look out on the Atlantic Ocean another wow.

We are waiting for another front to pass tonight then hope to leave on Saturday but time will tell.

I want to thank each of you for spending the time and reading about our adventure.

Joyce

April 4

We have been in Hope Town, Abacos for 4 days and would make this a definite stop and stay. We plan to leave here in about 3 days as the fronts should have passed and we can move on closer to Eleuthera.

This is what we see from our boat and you see our boat in the  in-front of the fishing boat. This is the oldest working light house in the Abacos. It is free to tour but they ask for a donation. That island is called Elbow Cay and the part our boat is facing the town of Hope Town on Elbow Cay. Hope Town says they have 500 people living here but during tourist season it raises substantially . There are so many rentals and each has an awesome view. They have a very active Yacht Club that raises money so kids can learn to sail and promotes safety.

This is a large home to rent that looks out on the Sea of Abacos, wouldn't this be great for a reunion.

Bo and I walked part of the town one day and the next day I went by myself, I could spend hours just walking the streets as there is so much to see. Sunday we were walking by a park late in the afternoon  and people were sitting in benches  and it was the Catholic  Church getting ready to start and they were doing communion . A priest comes over every Sunday in the afternoon to hold services.

 They have Yoga on the beach every morning at 8:30 as it is getting so hot out now. 

So many boats are leaving to head back north and here we are  just getting started. You can not call ahead and  reserve a mooring ball it is first come first serve. We do have the name of the guy that has our mooring ball so we could call him and check with him for another time but think in March most people are heading home and you should not have a problem.

 Yesterday as I was walking around I went to one of the 2 grocery stores and it was called Vernons. He had had to store forever and is in his 80's. He bakes bread everyday so bought 1 loaf coconut for $4.50 and some Cuban hard rolls, 2 for $2.50 man is it good. The bread is so moist you slice it and then put it is a pan with a little oil and fry it you can not toast it. We found this out several years ago. The mail boat came about 3 yesterday with the supplies for another week and about 4 the dinghy's were flying to the grocery dock for people to get fresh provisions.

Just so you know we have a hammock waiting for you at the beach.

Blue Water and fair winds.

Joyce