There's a full moon tonight, the tide will be high at 8:40 a.m. tomorrow, and the winds will be from the southeast at 10 to 15 knots. A small cold front may arrive in a few days, but that's some time in the future and we can put off thinking about it at the moment! And so our days here in paradise go. The days of the week are noted by whether it's 'Rib Night' at the 'Jib Room', 'Browntip' is entertaining at 'Snappa's Bar', or there's a pot-luck supper beside the pool. Maybe we'll rent some bikes tomorrow, or go snorkelling at Mermaid Reef, and, in the evening we can go to the book- reading by a local author and sip some wine and nibble some cheese. This is winter Abaco-style and we are enjoying every minute of it.
The promised 'weather bomb' arrived on schedule while we were docked at Treasure Cay. We were sheltered from the worst of the winds, but as we watched the barometer drop 'like a bomb' over the space of an hour, we checked our lines and changed from shorts to jeans and sweaters, and then into our 'foul weather' gear! Daytime temperatures were a 'freezing' 16C, and dropped one night to an unheard of 10C. Brrr! But we survived! We walked the beaches, cycled to a beautiful new restaurant called 'Treasure Sands' and had our best meal so far in the Bahamas there, and did a return trip to 'Burner's Bar' with Ellen & Siegmar. We also got to know our fellow boaters, Jane & Ron on 'Rachel', and Jean & Brian and their dog, Zephyr, on 'Clairvoyant'. We had first met up with them at the Green Turtle Club.
The sun is never absent for too long in the Bahamas, and once it returned it was time for us to set off for Marsh Harbour, the big 'metropolis' of the Abacos. Marsh Harbour is only about 14 miles from Treasure Cay, so, before leaving, we lingered and spent a last morning on the lovely beach, now returned to its' pristine condition and no longer lapped by fearsome white caps.
We arrived in Marsh Harbour just as the sun set. The anchorage was very busy, but we dropped our 'hook' and prepared to spend a peaceful night rocked by the gently lapping waves. Unfortunately we were close to the main loading dock for the small freighters that service the islands and our peaceful night was interrupted by much clanging and banging of cranes and loaders! We were also close to a channel for boats of all sorts entering or leaving the harbour! The next morning we made the easy decision to move in to 'Harbour View Marina' where we had spent some time on our previous trip. It's a well run marina and full of very friendly boaters. Our first night, after drinks on Ron and Jane's boat, we all dinghied over to the Marsh Harbour Marina's 'Jib Room' for a delicious dinner of ribs, followed by a uniquely Bahamian form of musical entertainment called 'Rake and Scrape' in which a saw is scraped by a metal bar to make a rythmic buzzing accompaniment! It's very effective and sounds surprisingly good! We also enjoyed watching 'flaming limbo dancing', and some of us even closed the evening joining in with the line-dancers! Since then we've taken advantage of the restaurants and bars that line this part of town, and have spent very little time slaving over a hot stove! Lunches, 'Happy Hours' and dinners at 'Snappa's', 'Mangoes' and the 'Conch Inn' are too enticing. Yesterday we joined a group from the dock and played 'Bocce Ball', a kind of bowls and a good way to while away a warm afternoon while watching boats come and go on the harbour.
Today we met Glen and Louise, friends from our last visit to the Abacos four years ago. They have bought a plot of land in Hope Town, and are preparing to build on it. We'll look forward to seeing more of them when we get to Hope Town later this week.
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