Pete's Pub and Great Guana Cay Update

A small Nurse Shark cruising around the dinghy

The Canadian Schooner that we admired so much!

A view of the beach at Nipper's - my favorite spot thus far.

Merrill and Chris on the beach at Great Guana Cay

Feb. 20, 2009 - Pete’s Pub
We finally backed Long Gone out of the slip and headed down to Little Harbour to Pete’s Pub which is located south of Marsh Harbour. It was a windy day and Long Gone surfed her way down to Pete’s. The harbor there has a SHALLOW bar at its entrance (3 ft. at low tide) so we had to time our arrival for mid to high tide which was 4-5 pm. It’s a small harbor with about 2 dozen mooring balls and not enough room to anchor at all (especially the way that Long Gone dances at anchor). When we arrived unfortunately all the moorings were taken. We cruised around for about an hour trying to find a spot but were unsuccessful. To add insult to injury we ran aground on the bar on the way out. Fortunately we were able to twist off, but there were a few hairy moments as it’s a really narrow spot with big coral heads on both sides of the “channel”. It was too windy to anchor at Lynyard Cay nearby so we made the decision to come all the way back to Boat Harbour. We arrived back in the slip after dark (eek).
Our friends and dock neighbors on Sea Grape, a 40 ft. Pacific Seacraft (Lowell and Cecille) from Oriental left yesterday for the Cayman Islands. We really miss them and hope to catch up with them again at home.

Feb. 21, 2009 - Anchored in Fisher’s Bay, Great Guana Cay
Position: N 26° .39’.813, W 077° .07’.22
We decided to go to Great Guana Cay today since we didn’t get to stay in Little Harbour. We had one of the best sails EVER. In 18 kts. Of wind we hit 7.9 kts! We were just flying and it was one of those perfect sailing days. We even got a chance to test out the whisker pole before the winds picked up. Fisher’s Bay anchorage is just lovely and the temperatures were perfect. We were joined by a 60 ft. Canadian flagged schooner who we just sat and gaped at because her lines were just so gorgeous! Later a 100+ ft. motor yacht flying a Cayman Islands flag came in and anchored. It was unusual to see such a large vessel in an anchorage. Her tender was about a 29 ft. center console with twin engines. Must be nice! The photo is of the beautiful schooner that we enjoyed and we thought of Donnie and Vicky - they would look mighty great sailing this beautiful yacht! After we anchored, we went exploring on the dinghy over to a private island where a HUGE house is built. The water was so clear that you could see forever. I just love the water here - I’ve never seen anything so clear.

Feb. 22, 2009 - Went snorkeling at the reef in Great Guana Cay
Our friends on Indemnity joined us as well as Merrill on Ambition, a 41 ft. Beneteau from Montreal Canada. We all went up to Nippers famous pig roast to enjoy the “all you can eat for $20 buffet” (which is a DEAL for here, trust me). After stuffing ourselves with pork barbecue, mac and cheese with all the accompaniments, we went snorkeling on the reef just outside of Nippers. It was the first time that it was actually warm enough for me to even get in the ocean and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Steve and Chris went to the outer reef but I was content to be right offshore. When we came back to the dinghy, we saw a small Nerf shark and this time I had my camera so here’s a photo of him. There’s also a photo of Merrill and Chris on the beach. It was one of the best days here in Abaco for me which was especially nice today because it was my dad’s birthday! We had a toast of rum for him. We motored all the way home since there was no wind at all and arrived back in the slip around 5:30 or so.

February 14, 2009 - Happy Valentine’s Day Everybody!

The "road" to the beach!!! It's very hilly in Man O' War Cay!

A photo of Chris standing on the Queens Highway in Man O' War Cay

Chris & I at the Commodore's Ball!

Some of the Dock 7 crew going to the Commodore's Ball

A photo of the library on Man O' War Cay

The Commodore’s Ball was last night and it was lovely. Everyone danced the night away and the theme of the Ball was “Mardi Gras” so of course masks were involved. Here’s Chris & I in our “boat finest” duds accompanied by masks!

Today we took the Donnie Ferry over to Man O’ War Cay. There was an island-wide flea market, bake sale, etc. to raise money for the school on the Island. We left Boat Harbour at 9:00 am and came back at 1:30 pm. Man O’ War Cay was wonderful. It was the “cleanest” cay we’ve visited thus far. I mean, there was NO litter whatsoever and once you got away from the crowds downtown, it was so tranquil. Everyone's yard was a picture postcard with colorful flowers. It’s a “dry” cay so no bars at all, but the waterfront is very pretty and there aren’t many cars on the island at all - just golf carts - quite a contrast to the busy streets of Marsh Harbour. Normally Man O' War only has about 320 residents, but today it was packed with folks brought in from all over the Abacos. I’ve enclosed photos of the Library and a photo of the Queens Highway - yup, this is a highway folks and a photo of the street that leads to their beautiful beach. It was a nice day and the weather was perfect!

Tonight none of the women on 7 dock wanted to cook and going out to dinner here is REALLY expensive so we’re ordering pizzas and having our own version of a Valentine’s Day Party - maybe I’ll even drag out the guitar (where are you Dave Hawley).

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!!!

Conch Crawling and Tiloo Cay

A view of Tiloo Cay from the Sea of Abaco.

Sorry guys - tried to upload a video of Browntip and "Rake and Scrape" music, but it wouldn't upload!!!!

On Friday night we went "conch crawling" (aka pub crawling) with most of dock #7. We first went to Mangos and saw "Brown Tip" who does "rake and scrape" by playing saws. I've enclosed a video so you can experience it too! From Mangos it was onto Curly Tails Bar where we saw a really great band and even managed to shake a leg!

Today (Sunday) we backed out of the slip bound for Tiloo Cay where there is a bird sanctuary and supposedly, wild parrots, etc. fly at will. Well......we motored Long Gone up and down the coast of Tiloo looking for a place to dinghy in but after an hour, we gave up. It's a very rocky coast and the only docks that we saw were private. The Island is also very rocky and we were looking for path from the Sea of Abaco side to the Atlantic Ocean side so that we could beachcomb, etc. Unfortunately, we didn't see either so came back to Marsh Harbour and are now docked again. Bummer!

We're hoping that the weather will warm somewhat and we'll be able to once again explore by dinghy. I'm getting hungry for another lobster so it's time for "Team Long Gone" to go find a coral head and hunt!

We hope that you are all staying warm!!!

We're FREEZING here in Marsh Harbour

It's been REALLY cold the past 4 days (record breaking lows) with howling winds so we've not done any exploring whatsoever. We've been holed up in the cockpit with long pants, jackets and horror of all horrors, SOCKS and SHOES! How awful! :-)

Chris and I took ourselves out to lunch today to a small restaurant that is mostly frequented by locals here called "Jamies". We pigged out on cheeseburgers and FRIES (sometimes you just need junk food!). It tasted WONDERFUL!!!!!

Tonight is "talent night" here at the Abaco Beach Resort so we may just hike up the dock for that. We've been experiencing a bit of "cabin fever" from not being able to dink around or back the boat away from the dock and we've heard that the Commodore from the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club does a mean Elvis impersonation.

We hope that you are all staying warm and dry. I heard that even Oriental and New Bern had a dusting of SNOW - unbelievable!