Little Harbor; Abacos, Bahamas

We finally had a stretch of good winds to head down to the southern end of the Sea of Abaco to Little Harbor. Beautiful downwind sailing always makes a pleasant day! We had to anchor for the night outside of Little Harbor to wait for high tide the next day. Low tide at the entrance is 3.5' and we need 6'. We crossed the bar with 6" to spare and grabbed one of the few available mooring balls in the small harbor.

This is a very unique place. Randolph Johnston had a good career as a sculptor in New England in the 1950's. He bought a sailboat and gave up his New England work to set sail for the Bahamas (sound familiar?) with his wife and 3 children. The boat sank in a storm before he even left Boston! Undeterred, they drove to Florida, took a boat across and moved to the central Abacos. After a short time he moved the family to a cave at Little Harbor to start a homestead.

Yes, his wife and 3 small kids lived in this cave for several months while building their first home in what was wilderness. He eventually set up a foundry and started casting bronze again.

His son Pete continues to cast bronze in the foundry but also runs Pete's Pub. A true beach bar, great atmosphere.

Rush hour on the way to the pub.

This is one of those magical little places that is hard to describe. We'll be back.

Eye Candy

Here are some random shots, some eye candy, if you will.

Guana Cay and The Barefoot Man

For the St Patricks day weekend we HAD to go to The Barefoot Man concert.  He played at a restaurant on the beach on Guana Cay called Nippers.  You could sit at tables on the many outside decks, relax by the pool or enjoy the beach.....but pay attention to the lyrics.  You don't want to miss his classics, like "who the f#@k is Alice".

Hope Town Architecture

We love this quaint town and thought you might enjoy some more pictures.  The yellow shuttered building is the church.

Hope Town Beaches

Love the sugar beaches of the Bahamas.  Look at the sea foam washing the shore. Freedom looks good moored here.

Hope Town

The approach to Hope Town Harbor can be tricky at low tide.  They have range markers, lit with led rope lights on shore.  You find them at daylight next to the pink house and the white bench.  Hope Town is a charming town with a red and white striped lighthouse.  The lighthouse is lit with a kerosene lamp and Fresnel lens.  Very narrow streets, charming cottages, great shops and lots of cruisers. 

The Ocean is Swell

Tahiti beach faces out on the Sea of Abaco where it is nice and calm.   If you walk across the island to the Atlantic Ocean you can see the huge swells beginning to come in from a storm way out towards Bermuda.  The landscape changes as well.  The shore is rocky and at times looks like you are walking on the surface of the moon.  Filled with craggy rocks and craters.   The crashing sea was really something to see.  The sea spray climbed the cliff and the picture below gives a bit of an idea of the power of the mighty Atlantic.  We saw areas where the spray climbed 75 feet.

A Day in Tahiti.

The wind has been blowing for days and days.  We took a quick sail this morning through a narrow channel.  This area is too shallow to get to at low tide and we will have a super low tide today.  Most charts are marked with depths at mean low tide.  Today the depths will be lower than charted depths!  No problem, we will just need to transit the area at near high tide.  The prized anchorage is a place called Tahiti Beach.  It is prized because of it's beauty and because it is so well protected from the ocean.  We arrived and got anchor down and headed out on our dingy with friends Ben and Jane. We landed on TahitI Beach and explored the beautiful beach and sand bar (remember the extra low tide).  Lots of cool critters.  Royal Terns stood sentry along the sand bar.  A starfish and a conch were caught in a little tidal pool.  And we found a sea cucumber.

A Broad Reach.

We sailed, a broad reach, to Boat Harbor.  Nice day with 6-12 knots of  wind on the Sea of Abaco!

Hanging with the Canadians!

We have been hanging with a great group of people here at Treasure Cay Marina.  You heard about our lobster hunt, well Ben from Owen Sound was the only one to capture a prized "bug" and was gracious enough to share his prize......he felt it was a group effort.  Jane whipped up a fabulous lobster appetizer, pictured below........really yummy.   You can see us all on the Motor Sailer Old Rosie after our delicious repast.  We also spent pizza night with a crew of Canadians, see us below waiting for our pizzas to arrive at the Tipsy Seagull.  A fun time was had by all!

No bugs

We finally had a beautiful, clear, warm day to go lobster hunting.  The guys headed out in their wetsuits and the girls went looking for shells.  In total we got one bug (lobster) and lots of great shells.  We had a great time with good people and enjoyed the beautiful Bahamian waters.

Moon over Marsh Harbor

We enjoyed our stay in Marsh Harbor.  The full moon was spectacular,  even at sunrise, as you can see in the photo.  We finally got a chance to try the famous Bahamian coconut bread from Da Bes Yet  bakery....yum.  Also, a first for us, Rake n Scrape band with Brown Tip.  He cleans boat bottoms by day and entertains by night. Rake n Scrape is music with a saw and a grater. Wish I had his energy!  This little lizard joined us at the bar for happy hour.  We are now at Treasure Cay awaiting the Bahamian sunshine....its cold (61 degrees) and cloudy.

By the way, an update,  the Captain has fixed our generator and outboard dinghy engine (knock on wood). Great job, Bud jr.!

Holy Mackeral!

The weather has been unusual for Bahamas...lots of west winds.  On Monday we decided to head out the Whale passage to go south, an area with more choices for protection from west winds.  The passage can "rage" if the wind and sea conditions are just right (or just wrong).  Conditions were good so we headed out to sea and put out a lure...hopefully catch some dinner.  No luck outside but when we came in to the Sea of Abaco we switched to a smaller lure and......holy mackerel Ed caught a Spanish Mackeral!  Too small, we sent him back, but it was nice to finally catch one.   We are in Marsh Harbor...big town but only have internet at the restaurants and cafes.   TAke a look at the beautiful Marsh Harbor sunset.