The Bluff House marina was a great place to stay....we anchored out for a few days and realized it was not great holding (anchor) . So we negotiated a price of $399.00 for a month. That came out to $13.30 per day plus electricity and .25 cents a gallon of water after the free 100 gallons. The facilities were clean and new..... There was a restaurant on site, a pool, laundry facilities and plenty of good neighbors coming and going on the docks.
My collection of Sea shells
This boat sunk across from us at the dock. They did manage to float it after about a week....It was the Marina's ferry to run people into town. It sank New Year's Eve night. They suspect it was a faulty through hull fitting in the hull that let go. The dangers of leaving a boat unattended for any period of time. The bilge pump kept up as best it could but eventually the batteries went dead and then, end game! They did raise it but only after a diver plugged the faulty through hull fitting. Major pumps and bailing at low tide saw it floating again but of course the motor will require rebuilding. Sad situation for the Marina expenses.
Now back at the seaside...this is an Atlantic Ocean shore.....very rugged...not as smooth as the shores of bays or the seashore of the Abaco Sea. Still a marvel to look at! Our next destination is Treasure Cay. To get there we have to go into the Atlantic for a brief time. This cut is called the 'Whale Cut'. Because it is water coming in from the ocean between two islands, if the weather is not favourable it is referred to as a "Rage". Huge waves coming into the cut opposing the out flowing tide. Results are huge waves and very rough going.
The day we went through the wind was from the NW at 10 to 15 kts. However the weather systems from the previous days were not great and the ocean was still lumpy.
We were on our way and entering this Ocean Whale Cut when Guy glanced down at the engine instruments and none were registering any data!
Yikes.....here we were with the wind on the nose, (no sail up)
and very low battery power as we thought the engine would be filling our batteries with power. To make a long story short, I steered Miss Ellie through the Whale while Guy was below bouncing around and making sure there were no loose wires.
We did make it to our destination without incident. Once we arrived, Guy turned the engine off and restarted it.....Now the instruments worked . It must be that the ignition button needs to be pushed and held to engage all the instruments!
Our first sail after our month in Green Turtle was to Treasure Cay.....on the Great Abaco Island.
The beach here is spectacular....The sand is like icing sugar. We anchored out in the anchorage for about a week....watching weather systems pass us by.
The Sea of Abaco from Treasure Cay.
There are many private condos and rental condos here as well as a few resorts.
There goes my captain...out into the great big sea! Sand bars stretch far out into the Sea of Abacos. Very odd to be out so far and only knee deep in warm clear water and snow white sand.
You can walk for miles on the beach at Treasure Cay. It is rated as one of the World's top 10 beaches.
I have been baking foccacia.....
It's going to go great with the artichoke linguine Guy is preparing.
From Captain to Cook....who would have guessed! LOL!
The meal was delicious!
This is the most fabulous sunsets we have enjoyed so far! The sky was a blaze and coloured the water also. The picture is amazing but being there was mind blowing!!
This is the gang we have mostly been hanging around with since we left Florida. The two fellows in front of Guy, Scott and Greg, have been exposed to Ciguatera
Ciguatera is a bacteria that reef fish carry.
It is a neuro toxin. They both started feeling ill after they ate a grouper sandwich. They both have burning hands and feet, nausea, low pulse, and profound weakness. Greg actually fainted in our cockpit. I have read that this condition can last for weeks or months. I hope this is a mild case for the two of them. In the meantime they are not eating fish, nuts, or drinking alcohol as
these things aggravate the symptoms.
As is the nature of things while sailing from one island to another, we don't all sail together or go to the same places. We parted ways after this pic was taken. We hope to meet up with them again somewhere
.
Time to move on.......to Marsh Harbour. We turned off the motor just out of the harbour and had a great sail all the way into the entrance of Marsh Harbour. Great to be sailing rather than a motor boat ride.
You might notice our 5 gallon jugs where we keep extra diesel and water, on deck. We met a fun couple Ed and Valerie from another boat. They had some great covers for their deck jugs. Turns out that Valerie was the one making and selling the covers. We bought 6 of them. The covers help cut down on the UV damage and the heat factor that affects on-deck jugs. She even had some in our colour of Sunbrella fabric, Bonus!!
We still need to dodge these!
A rainy day at anchor in Marsh Harbour. We only came here to provision. It is not the prettiest place. While anchored here we had two days of a fierce NW wind. We did manage to get to Maxwell's (the largest grocery store in the Abacos). The first time we went there was no produce....and the shelves were lacking stock. After chatting with other boaters, we found out the delivery of goods arrives on Wednesday...so we went Wednesday afternoon and filled our bags...
One negative thing about the Bahamas.....they have very few choices of vegetables and fruit. Being vegetarians has been a bit challenging at times. For example....a cabbage set us back 7.99 !
A dozen eggs are 5.99 ! A bag of chips.....5.99 ! or 8.99 for the family size. Not quite the Cosco/Sam prices we enjoyed in Florida before we sailed over. Cost of alcohol here is about the same as in Canada. We do however still have some beer and wine and spirits that we brought over from the states.
We left Marsh Harbour with our groceries all put away on Thursday the 23rd ...a few hours before high tide to make it into the entrance of Hope Town at High Tide....
The house above is at the entrance to the very safe and secure harbour of Hope Town.
It did not take long for us to get Miss Ellie settled in her slip for a month. Here at the Harbour Inn and Marina we have a monthly rate of 599.00 or 20.00 per day plus any hydro we use and .25 a gallon for water. We have free internet and the facilities are the best we have been to so far! No one can anchor in this harbour. They have mooring balls for 20.00 per day...
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| As with most islands the modes of transportation are walking, biking and golf carts. Cars are rare. |
Many of the houses here in Hope Town are for rent since there are no Holiday Inns or Hiltons here. What a pleasant situation. As a result the homes are well painted and clean. Pink walls and green shutters. Salmon walls and blues shutters. Any combination works. All the bright colours add to the charm.
Tons of subjects to paint. Guy will have to find time to paint some of the beautiful scenery.
Till my next post.....stay warm.
