Hope Town to Home

We are now back in the USA. Its hard to believe that our winter odyssey is about over. The last several weeks Internet connection was problematic and we were on the move most of the time. Hope Town was a nice town with a New England feel. Loyalist originally settled the town during and after the Revolutionary War. The streets are narrow and lined with homes painted in pastel colors with a historic iconic lighthouse overlooking the harbor. To enter the harbor it must be high tide because the approach is shallow. Once inside the harbor it filled with moorings and affords 360-degree protection. One day we rented a golf cart with Don and Gretchen and toured the island. Again the beautiful beaches astounded us. The island, Elbow Cay has a much different feel than the islands further south. The majority of the homes are second homes owned by well to do people from the States.

After 5 days in Hope Town it's time to move to Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island where Gretchen will leave us and fly back home to Colorado. The weather gods provided us with 3 1/2 days of weather suitable to make our way back to Florida. The only down side there was very little wind, mostly from the SE. This provided us with flat seas to motor in, not all bad. We staged ourselves at Great Sail Island, a deserted island in the middle of the Little Bahamas Banks. Don finally got some Bone Fishing in but didn't catch anything. Diana and I got to walk the beach. At 7:40 AM the next morning we started our passage back to Florida. It was 53 miles to clear the banks, then across the open ocean and Gulf Stream. A Gulf Stream crossing always must be taken seriously. The current is often up to 4 knots and the area often is covered with squalls. With navigational planning we were able to use the current to speed up our crossing. There was a great deal lighting activity all around us but not in our immediate area. The trip was made much more pleasant having Don's help. A week or so prior to the crossing the Auto Pilot died making it necessary to hand steer, not an easy task in the open ocean with no reference point to steer to.

We entered Canaveral inlet at first light about 22 hours later. The trip to Titusville, our chosen place for Geo Nova to spend the summer months is about 23 miles through the ICW. We had to pass through a lock to enter the ICW. When I went forward to attach lines for the locking I found a flying fish that landed on the deck sometime during the prior night.

This past week has been work, work and more work to get the boat ready for the summer. She will spend the summer at Westland Marina on the hard. Today we get hauled and this weekend we will finish up by making a sun screen cover. Tuesday Diana flies to California to help her sister who still dealing with a painful orthopedic condition and I will drive home in a rental car. The last several days we are here will be much more comfortable for us because we be able to stay off the boat at our friends Dick and Andrea, once the boat is on the hard.

Beach on Elbow Cay overlooking Lubbers Cay

Beach on Elbow Cay Ocean Side

Hope Town Light

West Indies Woodpecker

Red Legged Thrush

Sun Setting Great Sail Cay

Flying Fish on deck

View from cockpit in Titusville Municipal Marina

Sun Set Great Sail Cay with silhouette of distant island

Haul out

Georgetown to Hope Town

Georgetown to Hope Town

We have covered a lot of territory the last week. We also have a new crew. Don and Gretchen our sailing friends from Colorado flew in on the 23^rd of April and Zach had to go back to California on the 24^th of April. The plan is for Don and Gretchen to help us on the return to the North where Gretchen will fly out of Marsh Harbor and Don will help us go back to Florida.

The first leg of the voyage brought us back to Black Point Settlement for a night. I can’t say enough nice things about this place. It typifies the small Bahamian village. The anchorage is large and the water is crystal clear aqua blue. Part of the process is trying to get the most favorable weather to sail in.

We sailed north Big Majors Spot a deserted island near Staniel Cay the home of Thunderball Cave where a scene from the movie Thunderball was filmed. Big Majors is home to a group of wild pigs that will swim out to any close by dinghy and beg for food. Don and I dinghyed over to Thunderball for a great snorkeling adventure, as promised the fish were numerous.

Our next move brought us from the Exuma Banks 70 miles across the open ocean to Governors Harbor Eleuthra. Unfortunately the wind was not quite in the right direction so we had to motor sail the whole way. During this leg we discovered the Auto Pilot would not hold a course so we have to hand steer.  Next stop Royal Island. This requires us to sail through a narrow cut between Eleuthra and Current Island. The navigational challenge is to time the passage with tide and current in mind. If done incorrectly the passage could be very difficult or perhaps dangerous. Fortunately we hit it just right and were at anchor in Royal Island an hour later.

Royal Island has changed some since we were last here 14 years ago. It is still uninhabited but it has a failed subdivision. The island is also home to ruins from years ago. One story is a rumrunner owned the home in the days of prohibition.  On our walk we found a bird new to us, a Great Fly Catcher. The up coming weather report is not ideal but not dangerous so we motor to Abaco Island the next day.

The entrance from the Ocean on to the Banks was through a cut between to reefs.

This time we did not hit it at the best time. The Ocean was supporting 6-8 foot swells and the tide was opposing the swells.  It looked like a washing machine but Diana piloted us in skillfully. Yesterday we visited Little Harbor by Dinghy as the entrance was too shallow at low tide. Inside the harbor is a very nice and charming anchorage. We visited Pete’s Foundry a world famous bronze sculpture foundry. They specialize in creatures from the sea. After a nice lunch we are off to the north where we hope to join our friends Curt and Jane on Escapade in Hope Town tomorrow.

swimming pigs

sail boats on ferry

off loading sail boat

boat race

sun set Royal Island

Ruins Royal Island

At anchor Royal Island

Giant King Bird

Pete's Foundry

Don, Gretchen and Diana