Abaco Update

Thankfully, I have no bad news to report this time - it's all good.

As Maggie mentioned, the anchor is working out superbly: we can sleep at night knowing that the anchor will be in the same spot that we left it when we went to bed.

I got my tooth installed yesterday, so that is out of the way also.  Dr. Vargas did a fine job and I would recommend him to anybody in need of some dental work in the Bahamas.

Marsh Harbour

Several days ago, I went conching with Gerry from FREE SPIRIT.  He showed me one of his favorite conch fields so we gathered up about 6 shells each.  Then he showed me how to clean them.  For those of you who know my squeamishness about killing/cleaning animals, you will be surprised that I manned up and got the job done without barfing.  In fact, I didn't even get mildly nauseous.  To clean a conch you basically have to get it out of its shell, cut off it's eyes, gut it, skin it, bruise it, and then chop it up for fritters.  I did all that, made some fritter batter, deep fried them and we had a delicious meal.  I am still working on getting my first lobster and fish with the spear.

The great white hunter

Actually, that is not quite true - I did spear a fish already.  I was snorkeling around a small corral head when I saw  a fish that I thought I could eat.  I took careful aim with my Hawaiian sling and got it right in the gut.  My jubilation quickly turned to remorse when I got it to the surface and realised that it was actually too small to eat.  I got fooled by the magnification of my mask.  What looked like a whale under water looked like a minnow out of it.  I vowed to be more careful next time.

Conch at home

Sadly, talk of going back to Florida is creeping into our conversations more often, so it won't be long.  We will have another month here after visits from some friends.  On the brighter side, talk of crossing to the Med is also creeping into our conversations more, too.


Branko

Jigging for fish

Still no fish

Life with a New Anchor

Tahiti Beach

Our secondary problem  (no confidence in our anchor) became our primary problem once the leaky seal was fixed.    Why did we not
work on both problems at the same time?  We think we are getting 'relax brain'  and can only cope with one issue at a time.

Not to worry, the universe has its way of working.

We had scrapped some crazy ideas,   like flying to Florida, buying an anchor and flying back with it.....like I said we scrapped some crazy ideas.  But because we hauled out at Edwin's Marina,  we met the owners who buy and ship product all the time  - we found out who they use and the rest is history.

Short story -  bought a 55lb Delta from West Marine in Florida, shipped it to a container yard in Lake Worth,  had it loaded in a container and shipped via the vessel Tropic Night to Marsh Harbour for,  wait for it $16.76.  They were having a special on cubed freight and the anchor fell under the special  pricing.
I cleared the anchor through Customs and paid,  wait for it - no duty and it was bought,shipped and in our hands within a few days.

life is good in the Bahamas!

Maggie

p.s. the pictures in this blog of are our new anchor adventures

Sea of Abacos

Geri and Alan - catching dinner

Starfish under water 

A conch that Branko found on the beach

Starfish - using my underwater camera

they  actually lined up for this picture

Tahiti Beach - the other side

Coral and Rocks

Man O War

Made in "Man o War" traditional boat 

Doorway to a home

Pictures of Man O War.

 

We hauled out at Edwin's,  on a marine railroad that uses an elderly, rusty motor that pull the cables,  in which the railroad and our boat were attached - the motor blew black smoke and made all kinds of creaky noises - but since the Albury's who ran the marina seemed unconcerned I too took that stance,  but moved to the side out of cable snapping harms way. 

 Sorry,  no pictures of the railroad nor our haul out.

Dock with its own lighthouse

 Man O War is one of the oldest settled islands in the Abacos.  Loyalist families arrived in the 1780's following the Revolutionary War, to avoid persecution.

View of the Atlantic Ocean

 The residents (descendant's of Loyalist families) on Man O War have allowed no hotels to be built, nor alcohol to be purchased.   Families thrive here.  Mom's take their children to school, kids play outside and everyone greets each other  - their strong religious background and heritage supports the old school family traditions.

Gerry and I were purchasing some rope in the local hardware store,  I asked the owner if he was related to the Albury's who run Edwin's,  his daughter looked at him and asked if "Uncle Keith was related" - she then mentioned to us as a side note "that everyone calls each other uncle or aunt."   The father said "no they were not related".... although he had similar facial and body features of the Alburys and the same surname,  Albury.

All in all a very beautiful island, well cared for with lovely homes, gardens and people.

View of Atlantic

 Intermission, (Theresa and Brian) one of the boats we traveled from Lake Worth to Manjack with,  invited us to lunch on their boat, we had a great time.  After eating, Theresa took us to one of her favorite swimming areas on the Atlantic side of the island.   The water was so warm and beautiful and the day delightful.   We walked down the beach to where a spit of land separates the Sea of Abaco and the Atlantic Ocean -  we watched the sun set.

Very romantic.


Maggie