2012-03-06 - in Hope Town, Elbow Cay

We headed over to town in the dinghy this morning, braving the light chop in the harbour. Kerry got them all suited up in foul weather gear so that they would not get soaked.  Currently there is no road joining the town to the marina, so this is the only way to go.  It's still plenty windy today.  We are, however, more protected from the wind in the town so it actually didn't seem too bad.   We ventured down to the beach, made a quick pose in the water and scrambled back to the roadways.  The wind was whipping the sand around unfortunately, so our visit had to be very quick.  In a few

days we will get our chance to enjoy these great Bahamian beaches once the winds die down.
We all headed up the lighthouse again in the evening to experience the beautiful view and the gale force winds at the top!

2012-03-05 - in Hope Town, Elbow Cay

Mom, sister Adele and neice Brooke all made it to see us today!  We have been very excited about them visiting. We ended up staying in Hope Town and using the local ferry service to pick them up.  Connor and I headed over to Marsh Harbour in the morning to do a bit of grocery shopping and then get them on the right ferry for Hope Town.  We had decided not to move the boat over to Marsh Harbour as originally planned as the wind had picked up with the cold front and maneuvering out and back into the marina would be challenging.  There was only a couple of inches of play on either side of our 18 foot beam so moving, even in a slight breeze, could be difficult.  Besides, the ferry took only 20 minutes zipping across the Sea of Abaco, so we could all enjoy each others company that much sooner.   We will probably stay in Hope Town for a couple of days to wait out the front.  Hopefully, we will be able to get off the dock mid to late week to explore some of the great spots in the Abacos before they head home next Sunday.

2012-03-04 - in Hope Town, Elbow Cay

View from the top of Hope Town lighthouse

Hope Town is a lovely spot.  We are still on the dock and enjoying the break of getting off the boat when we like and not having to all climb in the dinghy!  In the evening  Kerry took Connor along with the Cee Jem gang to get a demonstration of the lighting of the Hope Town Lighthouse by the lighthouse keeper Sam, who also helps out at the docks at the marina during the day.  The 1863 lighthouse is 120 feet high and is  one of three kerosene-powered lights in the world.  All three lighthouses are in the Bahamas.  The large Fresnal lens floats  in a bed of mercury and generates a light that is visable for

Dark clouds move over Hope Town

more than 17 miles.  It is one of the few mechanically operated lighthouses in the Western hemisphere using a 'grandfather clock' chain mechanism with pirate cannon balls as the weights.  Because of this mechanism the lighthouse keeper has to wind it up every two hours throughout the night.  The kids got to get a feel for how this is done which was a marvelous experience.

There was a cold front approaching today.  We were all at the pool later in the afternoon when a dark cloud moved over all of Hope Town.  I was talking with my mom at the time on the telephone, when I had to quickly get off to gather our things and head to the boat.  My mom, sister and neice are heading our way tomorrow and we are all very excited.  It's too bad though that this cold front had to arrive now.  We will do our best and enjoy our time together regardless.

Connor tries his hand at winding up the lighthouse

The wind at the top of the lighthouse was incredible!

2012-03-03 - in Hope Town, Elbow Cay

Today was heritage day in Hope Town.  We headed to shore to take in the festivities.  They had local crafts, games for kids, Bahamian food and the local museum was open with young girls dressed in traditional clothing.  It was quite fun.  We had moved into the marina this morning.  What a place!  It is still in the process of being built but it is beautiful.  We enjoyed time together around the pool with fellow boaters while the kids enjoyed the pool.  I don't think we are in the Exumas anymore!  I could get used to this.

2012-03-02 - to Hope Town, Elbow Cay

We pulled into the beautiful harbour in Hope Town and grabbed a mooring ball.  Getting a ball is not that easy.  Several people own a set of balls in the harbour.  Some are white cones with blue stripes, some are round and red, some are smaller round and kind of red....too much variation.  We found one that belonged to the Hope Town Inn and Marina.  Perfect.  After a few calls on the VHF to confirm that this ball belonged to them, we hooked on and turned off the engines.  Hope Town is a sweet little town where all of the homes are painted a combination of various pastel colours.

At first we didn't see Cee Jem.  They pulled ahead yesterday when we were heading towards Tahiti beach as their draft of 6 feet was limiting them from going there.  They pulled up in their dinghy and said they were at the marina.  We decided to check it out in the morning to see if they had a spot that would accommodate us on the dock.  We joined up with them for an afternoon of fun at the pool.  Another boy Sabastian joined in.  He is on a boat but lives at the marina and goes to school here in Hope Town.  He brought a couple of swords and Connor was in his happy place as they dueled around the pool deck.  Kerry and Greg from Cee Jem were also in their happy place as they found the liquor store and bought so much, they got a ride back in the store dinghy.

2012-03-01 - to Elbow Cay (Tahiti Beach)

We took the short hop over to the south side of Elbow Cay to a sweet little spot called Tahiti Beach.  It has a large sand bar that dries at low tide and fun to walk out on.  The one thing that we are noticing about the Abacos, is it is far more developed than the Exumas.  We knew that the Abacos had more services in general than the rest of the Bahamas - but, in our mind, this kind of feels like Florida.  Many beautiful homes line the shoreline, with docks and large sport fish attached.  I am probably partial to the rugged beauty that the Exumas had to offer.  The water seems a little more green here, less clear....but, having more access to grocery, water, fuel is not a bad trade off for the last part of this trip!