Getting Ready to Leave

Wednesday May 8^th

Today we went to Hope Town again.  Great day! We ate at Captain Jack’s.  We also bought one of Mr. Vernon’s key lime pies.

 

On top of the Light house.  George's shirt is not polka dots, it is a reflection .

Hope Town Light House

View from Light House

An Alley in Hope Town

Thursday May 9^th

We had to say goodbye to so many people during the last few days but today two people who have been here since we have had to leave.  Linda and Al were from Chicago.  Linda was the life of the dock and Al was always blowing the conch horn with Enny.  Tomorrow morning it will be our time to leave.  So today we will put water in the tanks, put the dingy on the davits, wash cloths and buy groceries for the trip home.  We went by Don’s and said good bye to him.  We also visited Johnny Cash and his sweet wife Rapeepan. Jack wanted to but a painting from Johnny.  The people here are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  They are always happy and seem content.  Who wouldn’t when you live in paradise.  We will leave at high tide in the morning which will be around 9:00.  My watch at the helm will be 8:00 – 12:00 am and pm, Jack’s watch will be 12:00 – 4:00 and George will take it at 4:00-8:00. It should take us between 68 and 72 hours to go from Marsh Harbour, Bahamas to Brunswick Ga.  The weather looks really good.  The winds will be where we can sail most of the way. We have had a wonderful trip.  Most of the time it was just the two of us and we really enjoyed the time together. We also have enjoyed the people of Marsh Harbour, New Visions Ministry Church, and the many other cursers we have met.  We have two special friends at Marsh Harbour, Rey and Bill, both of which have helped make this trip very special.  It is always bitter sweet to leave.  We are so blessed!   

Jack and Lynda's Arrival and The Third Trip to Nippers!

Monday

April 29^th

Monday we walked to the grocery store.  Again we stopped by Don’s studio to pick up my wooden grouper.   He invited us again to sit with him and talk.  He had two other friends with him already sitting under the almond tree, a women and a man.  The woman was named Gayle and the man was Dave.  We talked for a while and Dave had to go back to work.  After a while we ask Don if he had finished the grouper.  It was really neat!  He mentioned as we were walking out of the shop that Gayle was the lady that lived in the Castle.  George and I both were very surprised.  We had just finished reading the Out Island Doctor and Gayle was the doctor’s daughter. The Out Island Doctor is a great read for everyone especially if you are a boater. 

Gayle's house

Tuesday  April 30^th

We did not get off the boat that morning.  Rey came around and asked “Hey you all OK, Haven’t seen you around today”.  We were changing the oil in the engine and in the transmission.  It was an all day job.

Wednesday May the 1^st.

We needed to get started cleaning the boat and preparing for guest.  We are going to move to the aft berth because on our way back to the States we use the aft berth as a sea berth.  When under way even in fairly smooth seas the V berth is a little bumpy.  So while Jack and Linda are here they will use the V berth and we will be in the aft berth.  That way we will already have our stuff in the aft berth.

Thursday May 2^nd

We were getting excited about visitors.  However our boat looked a mess.  You know you have to mess up to clean up.  When a small space is in disarray it is really bad.  There was a festival in Turtle Cay I wanted to go to but because of the timing we just were not going to be able to sail to Turtle Cay and be back before Saturday.  The next year I promised myself we would go.

Friday May 3rd

We finished preparing the boat for guest.  We have been wanting to go to Boat Harbour Marina to eat at their restaurant, so we decided to go tonight. It was probably the nicest dinner we have had. I think I embrassed George by taking a picture of my plate.  The scenery was beautiful, food was great and the live one man band was the best in Abaco.  Just when we finished eating the lights went out in the restaurant, but of course came right back on with a generator.  We walked back to our boat, about a mile, lit only with a cell phone and a flash of lightening ever few minutes.  We did get home without getting wet. 

Dinner at the resturant at Boat Harbour.

Saturday May 4th

It was George’s birthday!  We got up to do some finishing touches on the boat. George jumped in the shower at 11:00.  Jack and Lynda’s plane was to land at 11:00 and it takes about 30 minutes by taxi.  Just as George was getting out of the shower, there was a knock on the boat.  I had to yell up at our guest to tell them to wait for George to put his clothes on. Of course we will never heard to end of that.  George received telephone calls from all of the kids.  It was really good to hear their voices, made me a little home sick.

Jack and Lynda gave George a sail bag that was made from the sail they lost in the storm the day they left Vero Beach.

George's Birthday Gift. 

Our guest, Jack and Lynda.

First stop was Curly Tails for lunch.  Jack has to see Gerta, his favorite waitress.  After a short nap we continued celebrating George’s birthday with a steak dinner at the Job room.

Sunday May 5^th

We are headed back to Nipper’s.  I hate to admit this but this will be our third time this year.  Does the song,” I Love this bar” come to mind?   I had my camera ready this time but did not get any good shots.  Jack did!!  It was getting to be about 2 or 3 and no one was dancing.  George and I had to get it started.  Yes, kids you daddy danced when no one else was on the dance floor, not one but several dances.  There was a Kalik or two involved.   However it was not until about 4:00 that everyone else started dancing.  We meet some really nice people from South Carolina, Clemson fans.  He had flown his airplane over to visit some friends in Hope Town. After a quick walk on the beach, and a stroll to Grabbers, where we played the string and hook game, we headed back to Marsh Harbour on the ferry.  We met some of our friends from the dock and they said come on over to Snapper’s, a restaurant near our docks, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  We were so tired we told them we had been to Nippers and we just did not have it in us.  We had dinner on Celebration.

Waiting!

Caroline with the guys minus one.

Jack and George catching the sights!

Nippers Beach

Monday May 6^th

Lynda and I went shopping while Jack and George were to replace the foot switch on the bilge pump.  Lynda and I stayed gone for about 3 hours.  We were wondering if they had fixed the pump and if we were going to see them in the middle of the job with the boat in a disarray.  They had not even started.  With all the moving things around making room for our guest, George could not find the foot switch.  I came in and he told me,  I have looked everywhere and Jack came behind me and looked.  I went to the top shelf of our closet and pulled it out.  After lunch they replaced it with little trouble except George had to stretch his arm as far as he could reach to get it in place. That afternoon we walked to the Boat Harbour Marina Bar.
 The conch shell blowers gathered at sunset for a beautiful sunset.

Boat Harbour Bar

Enny, Carol and Al , our dock's conch blowers.

Wishful thinking!

Tuesday May 7^th

Today we wanted to take the boat to Man O War but we did not want to be on a schedule for the tides so we all decided to take the ferry. We had a great day walking on the beach, looking for seaglass, and shopping.  Of course this is one of the favorite Cays for the guys because this Cay is known for their Boat building.  We came home and took another nap .By the way the nappers are mainly Jack and George!! Had dinner at Mangoes. 

Courtney, remember this beach on Man O War Cay!

Dinner at Mangoes, the waitress had a hard time remembering everything. It was a long dinner.

Guana and The wooden Grouper

This is Buck a Book

This is the trail leading to Buck a Book

This is the return cooler for the books or DVD's

Tuesday April 23^rd

Plans are to go to Guana Cay tomorrow. So that means another trip to the grocery store.  On our way back from Maxwell’s, we noticed that our friend Don was in his shop.  We stopped and he recognized us when we said you took us the Easter Sunday in the back of your pick up last year.  We asked how his house was coming and he told us it was finished.  He had some other customers so we went into his shop.  We noticed he had carved some of the little wooden groupers that he is famous for.  They are his trade mark.  After the other customers left he invited us out in his yard.  We sat under a titki hut made from an old satellite dish and palm branches.  It was an outdoor work shop for him.  He had a table with tools on it and a few finished and unfinished groupers.  I ask if he would curve one and think about me and call it Freida.  He said he would.  He told us about his “pole” house and invited us to see it.  He said one day when he was going home during the week he would take us to see it

We talked some about his personal life in the states.   He then told us the story of the groupers again, we heard it last year but without so much details.  He was anchored out in Marsh Harbour and would make these little wooden groupers and the take them to the Jib Room and drink all night on the money he made.  Wake up the next day and do it again.  He realized that he was just drinking his money away. He moved his boat Pipe Creekin the Exumas.  He woke up one morning and realized he didn’t have but 35 dollars, no food, and very little fuel.  He looked out and could not see any boats.  He found two pieces of wood and started whittling some groupers.  Later that day a big fishing boat pulled up beside him, and asked to see the groupers.  The man and lady bought several little groupers. They loved them! He said his net worth just tripled in a few minutes.  The couple said they own the Compass Cay.  They had a dock if he wanted to dock his boat there.  They also had a generator if he wanted to use it.  The lady said her husband has to go in for treatment every weekend. I am not sure where he had to go.  Don said you could tell he was not in good health. One day he was in his boat the man came up and asked, in his very feeble voice, “would like to go fishing”. Don said he would love to go.  The man told Don the care taker is getting the boat ready now.  When the two were sitting in the boat, the owner of the island asked if he would like a cold one. Don responded, “yes, I believe I would”!  Don said at that moment he realized, “ Here the rich man who own a big fishing boat and owned the island but had all these health problems was not the rich man … he was.”  I am not sure if this was the pivotal moment in Don’s life but he is now a respected artist in the Abacos.  He has not had a drink in over twenty years, has built a home and obviously attends church. I told him he should write a book.  He replied, ‘oh that is also kind of in the making”. We told him we had to go but we would be back next week to pick up the grouper.  As we left I couldn’t help but believe that there is so much more to that man than we will ever know.  

That night we went to Mangoes for dinner sat with Enny, the lady that blows the conch shell so well and a few other people we did not know.  We enjoyed getting to know the group.

Wednesday April 24th 2013

We decided not to go to Guana until Thursday.  High tide was at 7:00 and we would have to leave at 6:30.  Rey brought us some mahi mahi !  It was a lot.  It will go great in the paella we plan to cook when Jack and Linda get here next week. 

Thursday April 25^th 2013

We left the docks before anyone was up.  That meant we had to undock by ourselves.  We did great!  Then we decided to get some fuel.  So we had to dock by ourselves.  We are getting pretty good at this.

 We then sailed over to Guana Cay. On the way to Guana we were surprised by a big fishing boat passing us on our starbough side.  He was on plane and was only a few hundred feet from our boat!  Needless to say we were hit with the wake of his boat before we could react!! All things in the cabinet were on the floor.  I almost lost my kuerig.  This could have meant WAR.  To make this worst the name of the boat was Georgia Girl!  So if any of you ever see Georgia Girl ask if they were in the Bahamas on April 25^th near Guana Cay……And if they were, just give them our REGARDS!

View from Grabbers 

Beach at Nippers

We wanted to pick up a mooring ball.  We saw all these boats and they were anchored.  We called Troy at dive Guana and he said come on in we have plenty of mooring balls but the are infront of the anchored boats.  We thought we would have a long dingy ride but we were very close the beach at grabbers.  We were going to have dinner at Grabber’s and see the sunset but only the bar was open.  So of course, we then decided to get another cracked lobster on the bun at Nippers.  It was too early to eat dinner so we walked on the beach looking for sea glass and just enjoying the view.   After we walked on the beach we walked back the grabber’s to check on our dingy.  We came in at low tide but it was a full moon so the tides are high high and low low.  We walked back to Nippers for our dinner.  Yes Jack we saw Caroline and told her you were coming.  She was very pleased.  After our dinner we walked back to Grabber’s for a sundowner.  As we were sitting there I saw a dingy go floating away from the beach.  I alerted George and he, being the nice guy he is, got in our dingy and got the run away dingy.  By the way Dingies are not cheap!  A few minutes after that, a guy probably coming from Nippers, past where we were sitting and was obvious looking for his dingy.  I kind of enjoyed watching him worry and then find it tied to a palm tree.  He had just pulled it up on the sand without an anchor.  There were some young people that had anchored their dingy too far out.  We wanted to ask if we could help but decided it would be a better show if we just watched.  The guys stood back as the girls in her swimsuit swam out to get it.

We decided to leave just before sundown to get some pictures of Celebration.

Friday April 26^th 2013

  We got up and slipped the mooring off just before high tide. We were headed to Man O War. We had so much fun with Scott and Courtney last year on the mooring balls.   The entrance to Man O War Cay is very shallow.  The moorings are very much in demand so we called to be sure we could get one.  The marina indicated, “There are plenty”!  Well when we got there we could not see but one.  It was so close to the boat next to it I was afraid I was going to hit it while George grabbed the ball.  We bumped the bottom as we were going to the ball.  When we got the ball tied on I looked and we were in 6 and half feet of water.  Our draft is 6 feet. We were kicking up mud as we were tying on the ball.  Remember this is high tide falling. If we stay here we would be aground in just a few minutes.  So we called and asked again if he could see any ball down the way, he replied “unfortunately, I can’t see any but just get in your dingy and look around”. We think he just wanted to get us there and offer us a slip.  After he lied to us we did not want to give him any money.  We did not want to play his game so we left and came back to Mangoes.  We saw several boats anchored on the outside so next time, if the winds are right we will just anchor out.  We are going back with Jack and Linda anyway.

Celebration at Sunset

View from Grabbers at sunset

Home sweet Home at sunset

Full Moon at Anchor

Saturday April 27^th

We heard that Jimmy was singing again at Mangoes but we wanted to go to Wally’s.  Wally’s is very nice restaurant here in Marsh Harbour but for some reason we have never been. 

We decided we would go on Saturday night.  It is only open two nights a week.  It was beautiful.  It ranked right up there with Abaco Inn in Hope Town.  We sat on the porch and watched the sunset.  They have a beautiful landscaped entrance.  The food was great.  I had Smothered Grouper and George had Mahi Mahi. The service was the best in Abaco.  As you can tell I really liked Wally’s. 

View on the way to Wally's

Wally's Entrance

We sat on the porch at Wally's.

Sunday April 28^th

We walked to the public docks to meet the church bus.  We thought if Ricky does not pick us up we will still have time to walk.  I was thinking about all those people who walked days and even weeks to hear Jesus.  I was thinking, yes I can walk three miles to hear Pastor Derek, but I sure didn’t want to.  George had called earlier that morning and the driver didn’t answer his phone.  We called again and I guess he recognized our number because he answered,” yes, man I am on my way to get you”.  We met a man on the bus that almost told us his life story by the time we got to the church.  We also saw Super, yes that is what people call him.  He remembered us from last year. I think they call him super because he is a super guitar player.  After church we ate on the boat.  I made Mac and Cheese and slaw to go with our hamburger. 

Our freezer is now at 10 degrees!!!!

Bill's Beach Cottage with a Million Dollar View

View of Sunset looking from Mangoes

Monday April the 15 th

This was day of recouping.  I am not sure if it was the food, the sweetie drinks, the sun, the excitement or all of it put together, but we needed some down time.  At first I thought oh no, what if this is a gall bladder attack, not here, not now.  I basically laid around all day.  George had something a little less serve than my ailments but similar. My stomach was not much better by night fall. I had slept off and on all day. I was really surprised when I heard all the conch shell blowing at sunset.

Tuesday April 16^th

I was much better today.  I felt like doing some retail therapy. We were looking to go home in a week or two so I had to do some serious shopping.  That night was pizza night at Mangoes so we went to Mangoes. Jimmy, the owner was there and talked to us about having an Asian night at the restaurant.  His cook lived in Hong Kong and Rey’s wife was also going to help cook on Saturday night. We saw a beautiful sunset from the restaurant. 

The two guys that cleaned our bottom. They also perform at
snappers.  They do the rake and scrape music.

Wednesday April 17^th

This morning I was walking down the dock just before getting on the boat and George calls out, “Do we need our bottom cleaned?”  I was looking at our slip mate whose wife is French Canadian, and he of course said, “That a little personal don’t you think!!” Of course I replied,  “ my bottom is fine but you can have yours cleaned it you would like”.  We all knew he was talking about our boat bottom.  The couple next to us was having theirs cleaned so we asked the guys to also clean ours too.  The Canadian couple did as well. The two guys who cleaned our bottom were almost like a comedy act. We enjoyed their antics after they finished to job.  The Canadian boat beside us had red moss on it.  It was very hard to clean.  They had been in the Exums and had not had it cleaned in 6 months.  Not sure if that helped our price or hurt it but ours was a little less.  That night we had pecan crushed salmon on the grill.

Salmon on the Grill

Pecan crusted Salmon, Asparagus, rice pilaf

Thursday April 18^th

Today the Buck a Book store is open.  If you remember that is the old trailer that has all the books and DVD’s in it.  You can take one for a dollar and bring it back.  They are only open on Thursday and Friday from 10:00 to 12:00.  If you need to leave a book or a DVD you just put it in a cooler outside the door.  George showed her the DVD we got and ask aren’t you going to write it down?  The lady replied, “Why no we trust you.”  George said I know but what if we put it in the cooler and someone gets it out.  No we never have that to happen, she responded.  So off we went with four DVD’s to watch.  By the way, we do not normally watch TV while we are cursing. 

Found out today that Jack wants to come and that Lynda will be coming with him.  Lynda will fly back and he will ride with us back to Brunswick.  They will get here on the 4^th.  We will be able to hold out until then but don’t think the beer will.  When we provisioned the boat we provisioned for the Keys and not the Bahamas and not for this amount of time.  So we may have to learn to enjoy the Kalik.  I just want to keep George away from the kalik gold. (long story!)

Friday  April 19^th

 We got up this morning with a list of projects to do, but that all changed when Bill called us and wanted us to see his house.  He was to pick us up a 11:00.  We rode past two communities before getting to his house.  I will let the pictures do the talking, however pictures do not do it justice.  I only took pictures of what he calls his forest and his view.  I thought it would be a little intrusive if I took picture of house.   He calls it a beach cottage and I guess that is what it is.  A beach cottage with a million dollar view! It is a lovely place and is solar powered. His battery bank will run the house for two days with no help from the utility company. As long as the sun shines, Bill does not need the power company. 

Bird of Paradise in Bill's yard

Bill's pet Bird...Really

Looking at the North Man o War Cut

Looking at Quana Cay

Looking at Elbow Cay, Hope town Light house can be seen at night.

Hybiscus Tree...Yes tree! About to be in full bloom.

After we got back to the Marina we invited Rey and Bill for some Bar B Que that George had made on his grill at home.  Southern Bar B Q, Bill could not refuse nor could Rey.  We had a great visit.  They wanted us to come back in November where they would have more time to take us fishing. 

Saturday April 20

Today George was going to clean the grill.  It has been burning only on one side.  He proceeded to take the grill apart.  Of course when you work on something, you always meet someone who is willing to help, inters another John from Georgia, an Auburn graduate. However, the grill maybe to far gone to fix, even for a UGA grad assisted by an Auburn grad.  If they had asked this Ole Miss graduate, I would have found some way to rig it up to work.  The burner was all in pieces.

Another view from Bill's house.

Tonight is Asian night.  Yes we have even mentioned it to Rey several times.  We were pretty excited.  We went to Mangoes restaurant and ask what they were serving for Asian night.  To our surprise, the waitress had not heard of such a thing!  Oh well, instead we got smothered grouper.  It was excellent!

Sunday April 21

It was another lazy day in paradise.  Forgot to call the bus for church so didn’t get to go this Sunday.  We never set an alarm to wake up.  It is the sea gulls that wake us up or the cool air coming from the hatch over our bed, or maybe the sunshine coming in. An alarm is just not allowed unless we have to pull anchor early. 

I have not mentioned the freezer problems we have been having. The freezer is staying around 27 degrees to 29 degrees.  We have taken our frozen food and put it in a freezer at Mangoes.  We have defrosted the freezer but it did not seem to improve.  Tomorrow we calling another freezer guy!  Another mechanic!

Monday 22^st

 We walked to the marine store to get a burner for the grill.  They did not have one. As soon as we got back to the boat it poured, a great day for a buck a Book movie.  When we finished the movie the freezer man arrived. Our freezer is now 22 and on a downward trend.

What happens at Nippers Stays at Nippers (until we get home and tell it all)

Monday 8^th

We got up with good intentions of polishing the stainless.  After we noticed that we were on our keel at low tide, George decided to clean the bottom of the boat. I washed clothes so we did not get to the stainless.  George did continue to study his radio book while I goofed off.  Late that afternoon we went to the little store we loving call Sam’s club. It is a small store but they sell things in bulk.  We go by dingy and buy water so we don’t have to carry water from the store 2 miles away.  We also buy our crawfish (lobster) from there. What we call lobster they call crawfish.

This one's for you Lynda

Swim Up Bar

Tuesday 9^th

We walked to another Marina on the other side of the Marsh Harbour.  They have a great view and but not many sail boats.  The Boat Harbour Marina is a little more “upscale”  than Mangoes, but we love Mangoes. 

Just one drink.... Just took two pictures 

Wednesday 10^th We went to the jib room tonight to have ribs.  It was a little chilly so after trying to stay outside, we moved to the back of the jib room.  George was still chilly so we moved inside.  All of the tables had people setting at them.  There was one table with a nice looking couple and we ask if we could join them.  They seemed happy to have us sit with them.  We started talking and they were from Colorado.  Curt and Karen from Colorado even I could remember that. They were here renting a boat to see how they liked the area. They want to retire and “do what we are doing”.  I could not believe they had grown children, they looked so young. She was a Pilates instructor.  Move over Joe, pilates may be in my future.  We had a great time answering questions.  It doesn’t seem very long ago we were asking the same questions.  We asked them to come over for a visit and see our boat.  We did not see the limbo man this year.  I didn’t even dance, I am saving myself for Nippers.

Now that's a dingy!!

A Green Mango?

Thursday 11^th

It was a beautiful day.  We straightened up the boat after breakfast. George was studying down below and I was in the cock pit playing on the Ipad when I hear “Freida”, it was our Colorado friends.  We asked them to come aboard and we had a nice visit.  It is amazing how you meet people and you just hit it off. That is the way we feel about Curt and Karen. Karen shared with us that the night before they felt bad about taking a whole table and talked about moving, but said, “instead of us choosing some one to sit with, let’s let someone choose us.  She said she was so glad we had chosen them.  We gave them a boat card and asked them to stay in touch.

Friday 12^th

I was so excited we were going to my favorite Cay, Elbow Cay home to Hope Town.  This is the Cay with the light house and the quaint little brightly colored houses. The other reason this is my favorite is because we always take the van to Abaco Inn. The Abaco Inn has the best beach for sea glass, best meal, best view, best service, and we had it all to ourselves. 

Elbow Cay

Now this is what happens when you waitress really likes you!

Our view at lunch from Abaco Inn.

Like I said, we had it all to ourselves.

Hope Town's School House

I did not take many pictures of the light house because well I have a million already.  We did go by Vernon’s grocery store.  He is famous for his key lime pie.  We made a big mistake.  We got his coconut custard.  It was good but very unusual. It has big chunks of coconut in it but it did not compare to his key lime. 

On the walk home from the ferry landing we met a lady from our dock.  Her name was Shirley and she had been to Spanish Wells.  We talked to her about what was in Spanish Wells.  She said it was nice to visit if you are there but not a destination. She told us she had some friends coming in on Sunday to help get their boat back to Massachusetts  She asked us some questions about which cay to take her friends on the way out. They decided to go to Guana, Green Turtle, and West Inn.

OK so I sneaked one in of the Light House.

Saturday 13^th

We ate at Mangoes Restaurant because we didn’t have any eggs.  Yes, we have to walk to the grocery store today.  Before leaving for the grocery store we stopped by to talk to Shirley.  We meet her husband and found out they were from near Buzzard Bay Massachusetts.  George and Bruce talked about how to use the AIS feature on the radio. George got back to the boat and said, “How about that. I taught a navy guy something about his radio.”  After going to the store we were tired.  We decided to have sandwiches instead of pecan crushed salmon.  It was a good thing, because it started raining and did not stop until the middle of the night.  There was some lighting in this storm also.  We wanted to go see Jimmy, the owner of the Marina, and Mike, someone we meet last year, at the restaurant tonight.  Mike, a professional pianist, was to play the piano and Jimmy was to sing.  We did not make it. The electricity was off because of the storm and we were without internet for two days.

I just can't stop taking pictures of the beach!

Sunday April 14^th

This morning we are heading to Guana Cay, home of Nipper’s and the big pig roast.  However, we were not going for the pig roast.  We were hoping they still had the cracked lobster on the bun. They did.  We saw Caroline and she was worried when she didn’t see the rest of the group. We danced and enjoyed the scenery.  My camera’s battery ran out just as I needed it so not many pictures of Nipper’s.  George had a special treat!!!!  That’s all I am saying about that!  We had a great walk on the beach before going to Grabbers for a swing in the hammock.

Caroline recognized George ! 

Caroline and George

Cracked Lobster on the Bun

Another photo shoot.

I can't believe my camera died!!!  This is one of the prettiest  beaches 1