January 28, 2017- Back to Marsh Harbour

January 28, 2017
7:00am- I took the dinghy to the beach for an hour in Hope Town while Steve was still sleeping.

8:30am- it is so funny. On VHF channel 39, Hope Town broadcast to all the boater's every morning the Abaco weather and different events happening for those interested.  It is quite amazing to listen to them.

9:00am- After listening to the broadcast, we fired up GaYa and headed to Marsh Harbor.  First we anchored outside the harbor for an hour to make water.  We want to make sure our tanks are full since we will be having visitors join us tomorrow. 

10:15- Headed to Marsh Harbor

11:30am- Arrived at Marsh Harbor.  After dinner, we went in town to pick up provisions.  Unpacked everything and then we went to an art show in town. We then went for a drink before coming back to the boat. 

5:45pm- Made a great pasta meal and watched the sunset before watching more Soprano. 

January 31, 2017 Hopetown with Kim & Don

January 31, 2017
6:30am- Got up to see the sunrise while everyone was sleeping.  It was cloudy, however still amazing.

After breakfast, we went up the lighthouse.

  We then toured around the island with the dinghy where we saw star fish and turtles. 

12:00pm- Came back to the boat to have lunch. 

1:30pm- Went to the beach where Steve and Don went snorkeling and Kim and I went for a nice long walk.  Kim even went swimming.  What a gorgeous day!  

4:00pm- Went back to the boat for hors d'oeuvres and then went for a shower at 5:15pm. 

6:00pm- Time for dinner.

January 29, 2017- Someone is knocking on our door

January 29, 2017

6:30am- Looks like it is going to be a cloudy and rainy day.  Not a way to greet our guest Kim and Don from Smithville who will be with us this week.

9:00am- We spent the morning organizing and cleaning the boat in preparation for our visitors.

11:00am- Steve and I walked into town to get ice.  Most stores are closed on Sunday.  We had a chuckle when the woman was giving us ice, she said to Steve: "God made man to carry heavy things, so here is the ice.

1:45pm-  from a distance we saw Kim and Don arrive at the dock from a taxi.  Steve went to pick them up with the dinghy.  They will be with us until Friday and then they are renting a condo in Treasure Cay.


 

Unfortunately, the weather is rainy and cool. 

We had a wonderful dinner and then watch a DVD before going to bed.

January 30, 2017

We were all up and having breakfast by 8:15am while listening to the local Abaco updates on VHF channel 68.

9:00am- Left Marsh Harbor and heading to Hope Town. 

10:30am- it was a nice sail over in 30 mile winds.  Arrived at Hope Town and it took a while to get a mooring.

Don is at the helm

12:15am-  Had a little lunch and then we all went to shore.  

We walked around the island and showed them the gorgeous view.

We went to the beach and town and went to the Reef restaurant for a coconut ice cream.  We had to continue our Fifty Point ritual do going for an afternoon ice cream.

Then we cut thru the school down to the main road and walked to the Southern part of the island.   Along the way, Steve managed to ask a local worker for fresh coconut which just fell off the tree. He was kind enough to cut it up for us also. Nice way to have fresh coconut milk.

Of course Kim wore Victoria Secret 's lingerie.

What a view.  We stopped and had Margaritas and Kim had a Pina Colada while sitting at the cabana.

4:00pm- We took a free shuttle back and we all decided to go for a shower. 

6:00pm- Steve barbecued steaks and we had a wonderful dinner.  Sat outside the boat and enjoyed the evening. It is funny how we all go to bed early.  

January 26 -27, 2017

January 26, 2017 

Another gorgeous day to wake up to.

9:00am-  After breakfast, we decided to go do laundry before everyone else does.  Lucky for us, no one was at the marina's laundry facility.  They have 3 washer and dryer but only two of each work.  

After lunch, we went to the beach.  Steve went snorkeling.  I laugh so much watching him try to put on his fins in the waves.  I looked for shells although there are not too many shells on this beach.

 

I noticed fossils in the rocks.  So interesting.

2:00pm- We decided to go to the pool seeing that it is a fresh water pool.  The sun was super hot so we had a drink.  It was nice to relax most of the day.

Steve in the pool

 

5:30pm- Had dinner and then went back on shore for a bit.  Wifi sometimes sucks when the boat is turning around so we thought we would go on shore to catch up. 

Sat on the boat later and listened to music and watch another Sopranos.  

 

January 27, 2017

6:45am-  A huge boat started his engines this morning and I think woke up the whole marina including Steve.  I decided to go for a nice long walk on the beach while Steve stayed behind and had his coffee.   It was so peaceful and serene.  After my walk, I just sat and was mesmerized by the waves hitting the rocks.  I just love it.

 

900am- We noticed last night that our mooring light wasn't that bright so Steve had me hoisted up the mast to check it.  I took off the cover and moved the light around and hopefully that did it.  We will find out tonight if the light is brighter.

Wanted to show the perspective with my leg and what I see when I look down

 

 

10:30am- Tonight Steve and I will be going out for dinner so we walked around and checked out one of the restaurant's menu.
11:30am- We went for a shower before it rains. At least it looks like it might rain

12:30- Made it back to the boat before it rained.  It only lasted 1/2 hr and then the sun came out.  

After lunch, Steve had a fiesta while I painted.

2:30pm- Went back inland to challenge John and Terry to a bean bag contest.  I am not going to tell you who won 3 times in a row. 

January 25, 2017- Water we must make

January 25, 2017

7:00am- Went out the harbor while the tides were up to make water.  We ran into a little glitch since the water maker blew a fuse.  We think it had an air lock but all got resolved and we made 165 gallons of water. 

 Afterwards, Steve tried to replace the anode on the propellor trying to use a 4 ft hose as a snorkel however he just could not do it.  

He put on his diving gear and fixed it.  Seeing that he was all geared up, he decided to clean the bottom of the boat.  

Afterwards, we did a little snorkelling and then had a late lunch.

3:30pm-  Now that the tides were back up, we went in the harbour on our mooring.

5:00pm-  After having a little nap ( guess swimming tired us out), I prepared dinner.  Leftovers tonight.



 

6:30- What a gorgeous evening.  Sat outside listening to jazz.  The sunset was beautiful. 

Not sure if I mentioned this before but at night we can hear fish tapping against the hull.  I remember when we first heard it, we thought it was some kind of electrical current and couldn't figure it out until we talked to other boater. .  Guess they want to keep the bottom of the boat clean.  We noticed the noise before at other Abaco Harbours but they seem to be noisier here.

7:30pm- Time for another Soprano. 

January 22 - 24,2017- Hope Town

January 22, 2017

7:00am-  Every night we bring the dinghy up on the side of the boat with the halyards so that the bottom doesn't get dirty.  This morning, I decided I would take initiative and bring the dinghy down myself.  I successfully did it and thought that wasn't too bad.  I tied it to the back of the boat in preparation to go to shore.  Guess what happened.  The line detached and there was our dinghy floating by itself. Guess I need to practice my knots.  We were about to use the kayak to fetch it but a kind young man came by to rescue the dinghy. Whoops!

9:00am- Steve, which I now refer to as, Tony Soprano, relaxed by the pool while I sat on the huge porch while I did a load of laundry and caught up with my email.  There is good free Wi-Fi here.  It seems to slow down at night though. 

Noticed Steve is the only one around the pool. 

They have a beautiful porch with rocking chair and benches.

It is a nice place to sit around.

You can tell I am not used to Bahamian time.  I sure need to chill.  It ended up taking us 3 hours to do one load of laundry.  Their dryer wasn't functioning correctly, so we had to keep putting in tokens to continue the drying process. Good thing they have wifi that work.  Take a deep breathe!
1:00pm- We went on board a stainless steel boat which a guy from New Zealand had it custom made.  What a gorgeous boat.  He was a very interesting gentleman and now needs to sell it for health reasons.  Only $850 US in case anyone is interested.
2:30pm- I dropped Steve off at the dock since he wanted to watch the NFL games at the local bar while I went back to the boat to paint.  I went back to pick him up but the game wasn't over until 6:00on so I went for a nice long walk on the beach.

Everything is closed on Sundays.  Even gift shops and museums.

Museaum

There was a church right on the water.  What a view!

View of the church

 

View of the church looking out

 As we were coming back to the boat at sunset, I took this photo. 

7:00pm- After I made a nice stir fry for dinner, Steve went back to the bar to watch the football game while I stayed on the boat and watch a movie and painted. He came back around 10:30pm.  Looks like a windy night.

January 23, 2017

7:00am- The boat was rocking and bouncing around last night.  

8:00am- Heavy rain and wind picked up.  Steve went out in the rain and decided to wash his hair.  At least it is warm enough to do that.  We are trying to conserve water since it is too rough to go out the bay to make water.  You always want to make water out in open water and not in closed harbours. 

Pouring rain

Looking out the boat while it poured

12:00pm- After the sun came out and we had a bite to eat, we decided to go explore the island.  First stop was the post office which is only opened until 3:30pm. 



I was going to try and sit on this ledge but almost lost my balance

 

Such beautiful scenery

 

 

Went by a school while the children were out playing



It was cute to see a model home match the original home

Visited an old cemetery

 



Went inside a memorial for locals

Resting time

6:00pm- Had Sheppard's Pie for dinner then washed a DVD Berlin. 

In this town, at every sunset, you can hear someone sounding the conch.  Also, a couple of times a day, you hear music from the church for 5 minute periods.  So quaint.

January 24, 2017

Another windy and bouncy night.  At least the sun is out and no rain.

 

9;30am- Went for a nice long shower at the marina which cost $7.00. You sure don't take water for granted here.
10;30am-  Filled up the dinghy with fuel. $21.45 for 4.2 gallons.  Wouldn't want to be a power boater filling up.
Went up the Elbow Reef lighthouse in Hope Town which is the most recognized landmark in Abaco and the last lighthouse of its kind in the world. It was built in 1864 and at the time showed a fixed light only.  In 1936, the lighthouse got a major refit, using the lens and turning mechanism which had been at the Gun Cay Lighthouse. The brick lighthouse is 89 ft high with 101 steps.  Good exercise for us.  The lighthouse is in great need for more repairs and welcomes any donations.


We just listening to the waves crashing on the beach

Looking down the stairs as we go up the lighthouse



 



Gorgeous view looking down the lighthouse.  A video is posted on my Facebook page.

 

3:00pm- Met John and Terry and they showed us more of the island.  What a beautiful place.  Along our walk they had signs posted with distance signs to different places.

We sure enjoyed our long walk

















Coffee  time on the beach....cappuccino with a heart

 6:00pm- Came back to the boat and made hamburgers, then watch DVDs.