January 30 - Another update

Sorry for the fuzzy photo - must've taken this one after my 2nd glass of wine!


This sign explains EVERYTHING!!!!

A view of Cracker P's on Lubbers Quarter

Tahiti Beach at Sunset

A very small starfish - isn't he cute?

We’re expecting a “big blow” here in Marsh Harbour so the night before last, Steve, Chris and I took the dinghy over to Cracker P’s in Lubbers Quarter. Cracker P’s as you probably guessed is a bar (yup) which is unique to say the least. I thought you might enjoy these pics. The first one is the sign you see on the dock as you pull up and it explains everything! Chris enjoyed a rum drink called “double shot gun” while I stuck to wine. Note the dog inside the bar! Hysterical! We also enjoyed some really wonderful fish dip with crackers before heading back to the dink and over to Tahiti Beach which is just breathtakingly beautiful at sunset so I’ve enclosed a picture of that too. It’s really starting to blow at the moment and we are expecting temps only in the upper 50’s tomorrow which is REALLY cold for here. Time to locate the socks and jackets (bummer). Tonight the entire dock is going to Mangoes, a little bar which has fabulous happy hours and great FREE appetizers to hear “Brown Tip”, a local entertainer so we’re really looking forward to that. I cannot believe that it is already the end of January - time is flying by. We have some decisions to make in mid-February - whether we will head a bit further south or start turning around and head back to the States. Of course, me the gypsy, wants to feel the wind in her hair as long as possible!

January 26 - Update from Marsh Harbour

Tracy & Chris enjoying the beach at Great Guana Cay!

The gang from Dock 7 going to Nippers in style!

This is Shade Mor - the 61' Hatteras that took us to Nippers!

The Harbour Lodge in Hopetown - SOOO pretty - a tropical paradise (and good rum drinks!)

All of us at Nippers enjoying the Sunday festivities

It’s been a busy time for us. Our guests, Roxy and Joe left on Friday morning--just as it was beginning a warm spell. Go figure.

On Saturday we headed over to Elbow Cay and Hopetown on Steve and Berta’s DeFever 49. We anchored and took the dink into White Sound and went to the beach. It was a beautiful day, but the water was still under 70° with a cool wind so none of us braved the ocean for snorkeling. We walked up the beach about a mile and tried a new bar/restaurant called appropriately “On Da Beach”. Chris tried the Jerk Mahi while I opted for a good old burger! On the way back to the Harbour, we must’ve looked mighty tired as a local woman named “Mimi” stopped and offered us a ride on her golf cart. We all hopped aboard but alas, it was too much weight for the small cart and we started to “wobble” so Steve and I got off while Berta and Chris hitched a ride. Moments later Mimi returned for Steve and me. This is the way it is here - everyone is just so friendly.

Yesterday the call went out from Shade Mor, a 61 ft. Hatteras that he was going to Nippers for the Sunday Pig Roast. This is a huge weekly event on Great Guana Cay and many boats take off for the fun. There were probably about 30-40 folks aboard, kids included and everyone had a great time. This is the 2nd week in a row for us. After tasting several “Frozen Nippers”, Chris and I opted for a walk on what I consider to be the most beautiful beach in the Bahamas (but of course I haven’t seen them all yet!). Some of the folks aboard the boat took their snorkel gear and claimed that it was the clearest visibility that they’ve seen in quite some time. The reef is about 25 yds. From the beach so a very easy swim, especially with fins.

In just a few moments, Chris and I will be taking our very first Yoga lesson here in Boat Harbour. It’s held every day M-F in the Tiki Hut which overlooks the Sea of Abaco. You couldn’t ask for a more peaceful or tranquil setting. The lessons are given by Ron on Tiki III, a fellow from Washington, NC. In fact there are LOTS of boats here from NC - we must truly be a traveling bunch!

Here’s some photos for you all to enjoy. We miss all of you, but have discovered “Skype” so have been able to call “sometimes”. The Internet is a bit sketchy here so connections aren’t always clear. We’ll be warm today - highs in the low 70’s but a strong cold front will be coming through on Friday so we’re going to enjoy dinghy riding this week as much as possible. Chris and Steve have promised to brave the cold waters to go in search of Lobster this week and I’m looking forward to some fresh grilled “bugs”!

Team Long Gone

Joe, Chris and Steve went lobster hunting today and this is what they caught!

A Marsh Harbour Update

The beach at Hopetown on Elbow Cay

Lunch at SeaSpray on Elbow Cay

Roxanne and Joe on Great Guana Cay


Well, we have a new President! We were just watching the inaguration aboard the boat with our guests and as Mr. Obama was sworn in, boat horns throughout the marina blew. We are experiencing gale force winds today as a cold front is moving through from Florida. Tomorrow is supposed to bring significantly lower temperatures - highs only in the low 60’s.

Roxanne and Joe from Pennsylvania arrived last Friday and we have been busy indeed! On Sunday we sailed (mostly motored actually) over to Great Guana Cay for Nipper’s famous pig roast. First we stopped at Grabbers for a Guana Grabber, a rum punch concoction that is addictive. Then it was onto Sea Shore Villas for yet another Grabber and then it was a short trek up the hill to Nippers. WHAT a view! We had Roberta and Steve aboard also from “Indemnity”, a DeFever 49 that is also docked here at Boat Harbour. Another boat, a Beneteau 41 named “Ambition” from Canada with Merrill and Cindy aboard joined us as well. We all sat together enjoying our frozen Nippers Rum Drink as well as pork slices, potato salad, coleslaw, green beans, mac and cheese and many other dishes. The music played was right from our era and Rox and I danced a few dances and then met a local woman who was 78 years young (and looked decades younger) joined us! She lives in Great Guana Cay 7 months out of the year and she was inspiring indeed.

We then hit the beach and the Canadians (Merrill & Cindy), the Pennsylvanians (Rox and Joe) and the folks from Detroit, MI (Steve and Roberta) hit the water while us wimps (Chris & me) watched from the beach. After swimming, we all headed back to the dinghies for a sail back to Marsh Harbour.

Barometer Bob was predicting this front today so we realized that yesterday was the day to explore. We rented a 28 ft. power boat from the marina here and took everyone over to Hopetown. We went up the lighthouse, had a drink at the Hopetown Lodge (an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful spot), then it was onto Sea Spray on the other side of Elbow Cay. We had lunch there - cracked conch, grouper burgers and their very famous Pina Coladas (the BEST I’ve ever had ). From there it was onto Lubbers Cay and Cracker P’s (another bar imagine that) but they were closed. By then the wind was starting to pick up substantially but we thought that we had better make use of the day so we crossed the Sea of Abaco to Man of War Cay. It was ROUGH and we were thoroughly soaked by the time we arrived. We briefly got off the boat and looked around for about ½ hr. but made the decision to return to Marsh Harbour as the seas were growing rougher by the minute. It was a BUMPY ride back, made a bit easier by our “guide” from “Indemnity” who knew the short cut ferry routes. Otherwise, it would have been a really miserable ride back.

Today it’s blowing steady 25 kts. With gusts to 35 kts. We are rocking in the slip. Chris & I got up early and walked to the grocery store before the really bad weather which is forecasted for later today hit.

We miss everyone and have installed “Skype” on our computer so hopefully we can get a great connection and call for $.02/minute! Take care everybody!

PS - Joe and Roxanne say hello to Steve and Yvonne - they said that the weather is “terrible” (not really)!

Recent Photos

Chris and I took the dinghy to explore and this is one of the beaches we found! We had to row over a shoal as the dinghy motor was too deep. It's so beautiful, isn't it?


A view of Hopetown Harbour from the top of Hopetown Lighthouse.


This is the famous Hopetown Lighthouse. We dinghied over (about 4 miles) from Marsh Harbour and unfortunately it started to pour on the way home so we were soaked! Hopetown is my favorite spot so far. It's so picturesque and colorful.


This is our starfish photo - he's about 15 ft. down and we took it just to show how clear the water is here.


This is Nippers - a very famous bar on Great Guana Cay. On Sundays they have a pig roast starting at 11:30 am. We didn't go as we left on a Sunday, but we intend to get back over and party very soon. The "Barefoot Man" play here on Sundays as well - steel drums and lots of reggae!



Along to road to Nippers (a famous bar in Great Guana Cay) is this painted tractor! Everything in the Bahamas is so colorful. Pink and purples houses, greens and yellows - I love it!


Great Guana Cay - The bar where we took our laptops to connect to Wi-Fi. Also the place that made the best "Guana Grabbers" - a rum concoction!


Green Turtle Cay - A typical street in New Plymouth. We rode our bikes from the marina to here and it was SO hilly! A beautiful little town which is extremely clean!

Jan. 10 - Long Gone in Marsh Harbour

It was an easy motor (no wind) to Boat Harbour in Marsh Harbour yesterday from Great Guana. The Sea of Abaco was dead calm and you could see everything 15 ft. down--my favorite was seeing huge starfish sitting on the bottom. We arrived in Boat Harbour and are on dock #7, the furthest dock from the facilities (and the internet) but it gets the most breeze and the people on dock 7 are the party crowd.

There's much to do here with the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club. Cocktails are held every night (rain or shine) at 5 pm. Tomorrow is chili cookoff night. It's $10 per person but that includes 28 chili entrees plus all the liquor you can drink! 9 am every day is water aerobics and 10 am is yoga.

Today we took the dink over to Hopetown. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen and a dream fulfilled for me as I have always wanted to go. We climbed to the top of the Hopetown Lighthouse and had lunch at the Harbor with our boat neighbors. Unfortunately it started to rain and we had left all the hatches open on the boat and all the laundry on the rails. We radioed back to "dock 7" and one of our boat neighbors answered and was nice enough to close the hatches and take in our laundry. This is a fellow that took a bad fall a couple of days ago and ripped two of his nails clean off his toes. The thought gives me the heebie jeebies. He went to the clinic here where they loaded him up with painkillers, antibiotics, cleaned the wound and drove him back to the boat in the ambulance for a whopping fee of $42! Unbelievable, we thought.

We have yet to see the town of Marsh Harbour but tomorrow is provisioning day. We heard that we can get a case of wine with our Royal Marsh Harbour membership card for $66 and they will even deliver it to the boat! Our kind of place.

My cousin and her boyfriend come on Friday afternoon so we're hoping that our current weather (rain) moves out of here and some warmer and drier weather will prevail. Our boat neighbors on a Defever 49 showed us today where to dive for Lobster so we're hoping that we can fill the empty fridge with some "bugs" (what the Bahamians call Lobster).

We hope you are all staying warm up there!!!!

Long Gone in Great Guana Cay

January 7 – Green Turtle Cay Anchorage
Position: N26º 31’.992 W077º 01’628
We spent the night at anchor so that we could take off early on Friday through the Whale and onto Great Guana Cay.

January 8 – Made it through the Great Whale Passage! We’re in Great Guana
Position: N26º 40’.088 W077º 06’974
We were the “guinea pig” boat who left the earliest to make it through the Whale. We called back to our “buddy boat”, Bonnie Lass and gave her the report. Swells were 3-4 ft. but nothing breaking and it was much easier than we anticipated. We were lucky. Once we gave our report, everyone pulled up anchor and left either Manjack Bay or Green Turtle. We are anchored in Fisher’s Bay off Great Guana Cay. Chris and I are “real” cruisers now – we took the dinghy into Orchid Bay and snuck in the marina to use their showers are we are on our last tank. While getting off the dinghy, we saw our first shark. He was a biggie – about 6 ft. long. I wanted so much to get a photo of him but couldn’t get the camera out of the dink fast enough and surely didn’t want to fall in while he was around! We walked over to “Grabbers” for a rum drink and then onto the famous “Nippers”. The beach here in Guana is gorgeous – very wide with lots of white sand. We’re going to stay in the anchorage another night so we can explore Great Guana a little bit more. There are 2 wi-fi spots in town so I’m writing this aboard and will upload when we go to Grabber’s for our afternoon Grabbers Sundowners – a rum drink that has probably the equivalent of ½ rum and ½ pineapple juice with bits of other things thrown in for good measure.

Leaving Green Turtle Cay

Chris and I have decided to leave the marina today at 11:00 am (check out time) and anchor out in White Sound. We'll hopefully be able to transit the Great Whale Passage tomorrow and onto Great Guana Cay. We're only about 30 miles from Marsh Harbour now! Keep your fingers crossed for CALM seas through the Whale. They have 8-11 ft. rollers today. Ugh!!!! We'll spend this afternoon battening down the hatches literally! We're hoping to catch up with another sailboat named "Bonnie Lass" whom we met in the Great Sale Anchorage. The plan is to transit the Whale together, anchor out in Baker's Bay and open a bottle of wine or 3 to celebrate our successful crossing!

I have photos to post of Plymouth in Green Turtle Cay but the internet is awfully slow here so I will post when I get to Boat Harbour in Marsh Harbour!

January 7 - BIG BLOW!

Yesterday Chris and I borrowed our boat neighbors' bikes and rode to Plymouth, a small settlement on Black Sound (we are in White Sound - a bit deeper). It was surprisingly hilly and the roads here are a bit "rustic" - some are paved, some are dirt but it's usually a combination of the two. We found Angie's Bakery and bought a brownie goody, went into the local hardware store (actually very well equipped) and into the local marine store (very pricey!). We tried to visit the library to donate our used books, but they were closed yesterday so we'll have to wait until we get to Marsh Harbour.

Today our adventure was a L-O-N-G walk. We started down a dirt road that appeared to be going in the direction of the beach and it wandered up and down hills but eventually we came across this lovely deserted white sandy beach which started out as sand, ended up as rock (and I had on flip-flops). We finally found a house and wandered up their lawn and driveway, ending up on a dirt road and had no idea where we were. We walked a few more miles and finally spotted a gentleman walking so we asked directions. For such a small island, there are lots of little dirt roads!

We had a late lunch at the Green Turtle Club today. Chris had a blackened grouper sandwich and I had grouper fingers and fries and both entrees were excellent! We certainly have taken advantage of our boat dollars here for sure! Happy hour begins here at 4 pm in the Lounge which is decorated with every kind of yacht club flag you could ever imagine!

This morning we listened to our first Marsh Harbour cruisers net at 8:15 am to 9:00 am on VHF channel 68. Patti gives weather, stock prices, headline news, there's an open mike section where all "new" boats into Abaco are to introduce themselves (and we did) and then the "contributors" call in from all the outer cays to report passage conditions that day. Nobody was crossing the Great Whale Cay Passage today as seas were forecasted to be 8-11 ft. Yikes - NO THANKS! We're hoping that this front dies down by Friday so we can again be on the move as there is another front right in back of this one forecasted for Saturday. All the waypoints are in for Marsh Harbour and it's a short jump - only about 30 miles or so. Unfortunately part of that is through the Great Whale - so cross your fingers for us!

Photos as promised - Double click photo to enlarge

Coming in to Green Turtle Cay - VERRRRY shallow! EEK!


Sunset at Great Sale Cay Anchorage over the Bahama Bank


A view of the pool at Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End.

Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End, Bahamas. VERY nice place!!!!

A few of the Jupiter Inlet Light House. We didn't go out here as we just kept on the ICW.

January 5 - We're in Green Turtle Cay

It was another long day as we motor sailed from Great Sale Anchorage to Green Turtle Cay. We are tucked in tight for the next 3 days as "Rages" are forecasted on Tuesday/Wednesday nights. On Wednesday evening, a front is predicted and 35-45 kt. winds are forecasted. We are at Green Turtle Cay Club Resort - way back in a secluded cove off the Bahama Bank. We didn't get here until 4 pm so haven't had the opportunity to explore yet. But they have a deal going where if you eat at their restaurant, your bill is applied to dockage so needless to say, we are on our way out to dinner. It sure beats the pasta with leftover brats that we had intended to make for tonight. Chris is having fresh Mahi and I've elected the coconut encrusted fresh shrimp! Can't wait to have someone else cook and clean up!

I promise, promise, promise to post pictures tomorrow. Right now, I'm dreaming of a long long long HOT shower, a cold glass of wine and dinner!

January 4, 2009 – Great Sale Cay Anchorage – passed Crishy Swash Cay (no lie)!

Position: N26º 58’.687 W076º 13’076

We left West End at 7:45 am which, in retrospect, was too late. We didn’t feel comfortable in taking the Indian Cay Passage due to depth constraints so we went 15 nm out of the way to Memory Rock, then onto Mangrove Cay and finally to Great Sale Cay. We didn’t arrive until 5:00 pm and we were nervous that we wouldn’t get in before dusk and you absolutely need to see here. Eyeball navigation is crucial as we didn’t see more than 15 ft. of water all day! We also didn’t see any other boats all day so we were happily surprised when we reached the anchorage and saw 3 sail and 3 power boats sitting in the Great Sale Anchorage. Great Sale is one of those places you dream about seeing. Blue water crystal clear and talcum powder white sand. We wish we would have had the luxury of staying to explore, but according to the weather, there is a bad front moving through tomorrow evening so we felt we had to press on. When we arrived at Great Sale we hailed “anybody in the anchorage” and a Morgan 384 named “Bonnie Lass” replied. We wanted an up-to-date weather report and he luckily had a Single Side Band Radio and gave us the scoop from Chris Parker’s weather service. Another retrospect is that we absolutely NEED a SSB here. Starting on Tuesday night, the weather is turning ugly and Wednesday night one absolutely needs to be at a marina or tucked in a secure anchorage as the “Rage” is coming – a strong front packing 30-45 kt winds. We call it a squall but in Bahama language, it is a “rage”. We will duck into Turtle Cay which looks like the most secure marina around.

One more thing on West End – there was a huge party over the weekend with lots of celebrities. Apparently Oprah and John Travolta attended. John Travolta’s 16 year old son apparently died as a result of a fall in the shower after he had a seizure – what a tragedy.

January 3 - WE'RE IN WEST END BAHAMAS!!!

HOORAY!!!!

Did you think this day would ever come?

We left the anchorage at 4:00 am and right off the bat, we had no bow running lights. Thank goodness for the stick on dinghy lights because that's what we used! It was a L-O-N-G day but the weather held as predicted and the seas were fairly light. We were all by ourselves except for a few container ships and a couple of sport fish!

We got to the Marina about 3:00 pm, fueled up at $4.50 per gallon (yikes) and then checked in with customs...took about 1/2 hr. to clear with no problems (even WITH the shotgun). We took down our 'Q' flag and now we're legal to go whever we would like in the Bahamas! Chris is busy hosing off the boat as she resembles a salt shaker. We have some lovely pictures of the blue water but we are at a slip without power tonight (they wanted a $280 deposit to get power) so I want to conserve the laptop batteries - it takes forever to upload a picture. A few moments ago, a sailboat from Oriental, NC came and docked behind us - a small world after all!

I have no idea what's around here - I just wanted to get this posted so you all would know that we are safe and WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 2 - Made it to Lake Worth Inlet!

Position: N26º 45’.617 W080º 02’684

We are currently anchored next to Peanut Island right by the Lake Worth Inlet (near West Palm Beach). We’ve put in our waypoints so we can depart here tomorrow morning before first light. There are about 30 sailboats anchored here and we’re hoping that a few of us will be buddy boating together.

We left the Harborage Marina this morning and it was difficult to say goodbye to such a lovely facility and new friends. Going down the ICW today was lovely – too many beautiful homes to count and BLUE water! Wahoo!!! It was a day of bridges, but the Bridge Gods were with us as we waited for none of them. Lucky us!

We have a reservation tomorrow evening at Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End where we can check in with onsite customs and get squared away before proceeding further onto the Bahama Bank. The weather looks really great for the next 3 days so we’re hoping to get all the way to Green Turtle Cay which we’ve been told has gorgeous water and we’re looking forward to spending a few days snorkeling if the weather permits.

You can reach us by Skype when we have an internet connection. Our log on name is LongGone.

Happy New Year!!!!

Leaving Tomorrow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Yesterday Chris and I worked like crazy - loads of laundry at the laundromat, provisioning at Walmart to the tune of $300 and putting the dinghy back up on the davits. We rewarded ourselves with dinner out last night at Wahoos at the top of the dock, but were in bed by 10! We were so tired from boat chores that couldn't stay up to watch the ball drop!

According to all the websites we checked (Windmapper, Wunderground and Buoy Weather) the winds will be from the east and are light at 6-8 kts. on Saturday. We plan to leave here tomorrow morning and travel to W. Palm Beach where we hope to anchor out behind Peanut Island to get an early jump over to West End Bahamas where we'll check in with Customs & Immigration and spent the night at Old Bahama Bay marina. After that it's onto Great Sail Cay, then to Green Turtle Cay and then the next weather window we'll need is crossing the Great Whale Passage which has a treacherous reputation. We've booked a slip at Boat Harbour in Marsh Harbour at the Abaco Beach Resort. From there we can jump off and do day or 2/3 day trips to explore the smaller cays. We will probably be without internet from West End to Green Turtle.

Our Cell phones won't work in Marsh Harbour, but you can reach us via Skype. Our login name is "LongGone".

I'm looking forward to seeing some blue water! We might even use that fishing rod we purchased and hopefully catch some dinner!