Drew and I arrived in Marsh Harbour on December 28th. Our taxi took us to the Jib Room and as we were unloading our bags, we and the driver were completely startled by the ecstatic shrieks of Maggie and Branko, (okay, maybe Branko wasn’t the one shrieking!) who had just come up from the dock and had realized we had arrived. After settling in on the boat, we quickly got caught up over dinner.
Before we had left Toronto, Branko had alerted us to a problem with the boat. Water was leaking in whenever the motor was running and in gear. Until it could be repaired, traveling would be limited – at least if lengthy motoring was required. Sailing would be okay, as long as wind speed and direction were favourable.
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| Sailing to Treasure Cay |
The next morning dawned sunny and a little cool, and quickly warmed up as the day progressed. After provisioning in Marsh Harbour, we decided to try and sail to Treasure Cay, a scenic anchorage up the coast, reported to have spectacular beaches. The tide was high enough to get us out of Marsh Harbour, and we got the sails up as soon as possible, only to have the wind die a short time later. We decided to anchor where we were. The waters in the Sea of Abaco are fairly shallow, so it is easy to anchor almost anywhere.
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| Treasure Cay |
The next morning, light winds allowed us to fly the jennaker (for the ‘lubbers – it’s a triangular spinnaker), and we had a beautiful sail over to Treasure Cay. Tides and timing were in full cooperation, and we were anchored and enjoying a cold beer by mid-afternoon. Here, there is an arrangement with the marina where for $10 a night, all crew have full use of the pool and showers. We spent a number of days here, enjoying the pristine white beaches and turquoise waters.
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| Picnic on the beach - or a' paparazzi photo' |
On our last trip in Nova Scotia, Drew and Branko discovered and played numerous games of dominos. InFlorida, they found another game using dominos, known as Mexican Train. What a blast! We had a few fun evenings playing the game.
Sometime after we had arrived, a 47’ Passport called Civil Twilight, crewed by Alan and Gerri, came in and anchored nearby. Maggie and Branko had made friends with them earlier on in their travels. The six of us decided to celebrate New Year’s together, first with dinner on Water Hobo, followed by fireworks on the beach put on by the locals, and then drinks at the Tipsy Seagull at the dock. The fireworks were very impressive, but the music back at the bar was not, so Gerri and Alan went back to their boat, we went back to ours and rang in the New Year playing cards.
Winds for the next several days were not going to be favourable, but there was really no hardship since we were in such a terrific anchorage. Gerri and Alan very generously offered to take us all snorkeling the next day. An hour’s motor in Civil Twilight, with two dinghies in tow, took us to an area reported to have lots of conch. Once in the water, I located two conchs, but the supposed plentiful supply was not to be found. The water was cold, even with wetsuits, but we snorkeled in two locations, with a break in between on a small island, searching for pretty shells on the beach. We had lunch back on the boat, and a motor/sail back to Treasure Cay rounded out the day. Drew and I took full advantage of the comfy chairs in the stern of their boat, catching a few zzzzz’s.
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| Pedal power gear bikes |
By a series if neat coincidences, the part needed for the boat repair made its way to the marina office in Treasure Cay. The problem now was that the boat had to get to Man-o-War, another port, to get hauled out. But, with all of the New Year’s holidays and lack of sufficient winds, it was becoming difficult to arrange repair. In the meantime, Maggie and I decided to rent a couple of bikes and ride over to a ferry that would take us to New Plymouth, a small island only a 15 minute boat ride away. We kept up a steady pace on the sturdy one-speed “cruisers”, and arrived at the ferry dock with about 10 minutes to spare. Not bad for an 8 mile ride – probably the two wild looking dogs chasing us down the road at one point helped us reach the destination that much quicker!
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| Hammock on Atlantic Ocean |
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| New Plymouth |
Once over at New Plymouth, we wandered around the town, looking at the shops and the area and then cycled over to Green Turtle Marina. Along the way, we stopped at a beach on the Atlantic side, a pretty spot with a hammock rigged up between two trees, overlooking the ocean. We lunched on conch fritters, cracked conch and grouper, washed down with an ice-cold Kalik beer – we agreed that it was probably one of the best meals ever. Back to the ferry, and while waiting for it to depart, we noticed that the locals also boarding the ferry would come on, then look around and greet all others already there with a cordial “good afternoon”. I found this to be typical of the culture there – overall, very friendly and welcoming.
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| Terri in New Plymouth |
The ongoing dilemma of where to go (because of the motoring issue) was solved the next morning. There was sufficient wind and wind direction to take us back to MarshHarbour. The tide took us out of Treasure Cay, and a short time later the winds built and took us up to a whopping speed of 8 knots at one point. We moved so fast, we were docked in Marsh Harbour with sufficient tide to get us in, having a cold beer by noon – awesome! This time, we were at Mangos marina, with even nicer amenities (a.k.a showers), closer to the town. We spent the rest of our time in and around the town, enjoying locally prepared conch salad, our own fabulous cooking, and of course wine and beer. Thursday evening was rainy, and the marina put on an appetizer buffet for all of the boaters there.
All of a sudden it was time to leave – 6:15 Friday morning. It was a fantastic experience, spending time with our great friends.
Terri
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