Tahiti Beach and a Full Moon Party

From Tahiti Beach to Man O’ War including a ‘Full Moon Party’.

We left Hope Town on a beautifully warm, blue day. In fact the whole of Hope Town harbour seemed to empty out that morning as the weather forecasters promised no cold fronts into the foreseeable future! We did not plan to go far, just a few miles south to Tahiti Beach, which lies just to the east of an island called ‘Lubbers Quarter’. The beach is a finger of pure white sand and is mainly covered at high tide. As the tide was low when we arrived, we dinghied over and spent the afternoon swimming, snorkelling and looking for shells. That evening was warm and still, and we barbecued on board. A perfect day.
Next day we took a look at our batteries and decided we should spend a night at the nearby ‘Sea Spray’ Marina to get them boosted. The marina is just a ten-minute trip from Tahiti Beach. It’s very well run, has a restaurant and pool, and is within walking distance of the Abaco Inn, one of the original inns of Elbow Cay, situated on a well-known surfers’ beach. While we were there ‘Lady’, a boat we had met on the ICW in Florida, came in. Charlie and Jennie had originally hailed us on the ICW because they had recognised the name of ‘Southern Vectis’ and asked if we were a bus company! (“Southern Vectis’ is the name of the main bus company on the IOW.) Jennie had just returned from the IOW. Her mother lives in Blackwater, and she grew up in Portsmouth.
The next day we moved out to our anchorage again and were pleased to see ‘Gray North’ and ‘Jilli Q’ there. We hadn’t seen ‘Gray North’ since she was sitting high and dry at the Marsh Harbour Boat Yard awaiting repairs, so it was great to see her afloat once more. Glen and Louise invited us for a delicious lunch of home made rolls and smoked salmon on board, and we caught up with their news.
That evening we all dinghied over to ‘Cracker P’s’ bar on Lubbers Quarter for the Full Moon Party. It was a good evening and the moon shone clear and bright. We had hoped to see the space shuttle pass over us after its 9:30 p.m. launch, but found out later that the launch had been cancelled.
The next day we sailed from Tahiti Beach to Man O’ War Cay – again, not very far. The entrance to Man O’ War is very narrow and shallow at low tide, with rocky ledges just below the surface. We made it through with no problem, picked up one of the moorings just off the marina, and settled down with our lunch and a nice cold glass of white wine. It was all too good to be true, because after an hour or so we heard a large ‘clunk’ and then another. We looked over the side and discovered that we were banging against the large concrete block that held the neighbouring mooring buoy! The tide was still going down, so we knew we couldn’t stay there, and we moved off to find another buoy. Unfortunately the water levels in the harbour vary a lot at low tide and we went aground in the soft sand! And there we had to stay for a few hours while the tide went down and then came up! Luckily we were within reach of another mooring buoy and could tie ourselves on while we walked around the island! At 6:30 p.m. we were afloat once more and took a dock at the marina!
We treated ourselves to dinner out at the marina restaurant - you can bring your own beer or wine to have with the meal. While we were waiting we saw a familiar face from the RCYC – it was Bruce McKelvey. He and Janet had chartered a ‘Moorings’ boat from Marsh Harbour for the week, and were anchored off Man O’ War for the night.
It was such a nice surprise to see them and catch up with all their news. They sailed over to Hope Town yesterday, and we are now moored at Fishers Bay off Great Guana Cay. We plan to sail back to Marsh Harbour tomorrow and get together for dinner on their last night.