Sunday, March 24, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
We're still here - reporting in from Hopetown.
It's been some time since I wrote last - but that's life "in da Bahamas mon". If the sun shines, or even if it doesn't, it's so easy to put it off until..........? Eventually "until" becomes "today" though!
Today is a day of fragile calm after a storm-tossed night of raging winds tearing at mooring lines and hopeful anchors, and skies lit up by strobes of lurid light. But don't think for a minute that, after last night's sleepless hours, we have changed our opinion of our lovely haven here in Hopetown Harbour. Where to start on our saga of the past two weeks? Well, here goes: I've made a list (and checked it twice), and here is as abbreviated a version as I can manage.
The harbour of Hopetown is an ever-changing community so we are often saying "hello" to new friends - many from Canada - and "au revoir" to old ones.
Ron and Jane on 'Rachel' are from Maine. They have been on the same trajectory as 'Southern Vectis' since we met up at Green Turtle Cay. Now, in Hopetown, we are close mooring neighbours, and have discovered that our partying habits run along similar lines! We continue to share adventures and fun with them. Tomorrow we'll go on a dinghy jaunt with them and others to have lunch at the lovely 'Firefly' resort.
We met Steve and Debbie at Green Turtle also at the beginning of our trip. In Hopetown we were moored beside 'Tosmo', their 50 plus foot, splendid 'floating condo' and spent many good evenings together. They have moved on now, but we hope to meet them again sometime, somewhere.
Also here are friends from Fort Pierce and Toronto, Ross and Valerie with their faithful, and very well-behaved hound, Madison. And then , of course, there are Sigita and Martin, our gulf stream-crossing boat buddies, who are always around and about somewhere in the Sea of Abaco on their
boat 'Jumasi'.
Yesterday we hitched a ride to Marsh Harbour with Benoir and Margaret from Kingston, Ontario on their handsome Hunter, 'Diva'. Old friends from four years' back are also in the harbour - Glen and Louise on Gray North, and David and Jill on 'Jilly Q'.
Events of the past two weeks began with the arrival of a boat with RCYC (Royal Canadian Yacht Club) emblazoned on the stern and a young Quebec man, Guy, at the helm. The boat, Solera - a C&C 29- seemed familiar to us from our days docked at the RCYC. Guy caused quite a stir in the harbour by first anchoring in the middle of the mooring field, and secondly arriving with several bikinis flapping from the life lines! He provided good entertainment value for a few days.
Other notable events have been our visit to the brand new Hopetown Inn and Marina. It's all pink and splendid and seems always to be full. Then, one night, the Hopetown Lodge invited the whole town to an open house to introduce its' five new owners. Great fun, especially as the drinks and appetizers were on the house.
The Abaco Inn, further south on Elbow Cay held an Art Show last Saturday - a beautiful day. We had lunch there and met up with Pat and Peter, friends from our trip four years ago. They kindly invited us to a 'Bloody Mary Party' on their boat the next day. There we met a whole group of 'almost locals'. In fact there are many 'almost locals' here, either in boats or cottages. They've been enjoying winters in Hopetown for many years. How very sensible! That same day we joined a 'dinghy drift' around the harbour. It was miraculous to see 28 dinghies floating around the jam-packed mooring field without careening into even one boat!
The high point of the past two weeks has been the 'Barefoot Man' concert held at Guana Cay. A group of enthusiastic party-goers boarded the Albury Ferry on a beautiful day for the half-hour trip to Guana Cay. Once there, we climbed the hill to Nipper's Bar, perched on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. It was an entirely perfect day, though many felt a little the worse for wear (or rum) at the end of the day. Some even missed the ferry home!
I've saved the following event to last as it took place over such a short interval of time, but could have meant the end of this blog and its' writer. Bill and I were beach walking one day of high seas and crashing waves, and were caught up by a rogue wave which came from nowhere. If Bill hadn't grabbed me the force of the wave would have washed me across the vicious coral into the ocean. He did grab me luckily, and I limped back through the town soaking wet and dripping with blood from a graze on my leg. Long story short - my leg is healing slowly but my camera is not. My course of anti-biotics means I can't drink alcohol for ten days! On the whole, not a bad thing! But no pictures for the blog at the moment.
Today is a day of fragile calm after a storm-tossed night of raging winds tearing at mooring lines and hopeful anchors, and skies lit up by strobes of lurid light. But don't think for a minute that, after last night's sleepless hours, we have changed our opinion of our lovely haven here in Hopetown Harbour. Where to start on our saga of the past two weeks? Well, here goes: I've made a list (and checked it twice), and here is as abbreviated a version as I can manage.
The harbour of Hopetown is an ever-changing community so we are often saying "hello" to new friends - many from Canada - and "au revoir" to old ones.
Ron and Jane on 'Rachel' are from Maine. They have been on the same trajectory as 'Southern Vectis' since we met up at Green Turtle Cay. Now, in Hopetown, we are close mooring neighbours, and have discovered that our partying habits run along similar lines! We continue to share adventures and fun with them. Tomorrow we'll go on a dinghy jaunt with them and others to have lunch at the lovely 'Firefly' resort.
We met Steve and Debbie at Green Turtle also at the beginning of our trip. In Hopetown we were moored beside 'Tosmo', their 50 plus foot, splendid 'floating condo' and spent many good evenings together. They have moved on now, but we hope to meet them again sometime, somewhere.
Also here are friends from Fort Pierce and Toronto, Ross and Valerie with their faithful, and very well-behaved hound, Madison. And then , of course, there are Sigita and Martin, our gulf stream-crossing boat buddies, who are always around and about somewhere in the Sea of Abaco on their
boat 'Jumasi'.
Yesterday we hitched a ride to Marsh Harbour with Benoir and Margaret from Kingston, Ontario on their handsome Hunter, 'Diva'. Old friends from four years' back are also in the harbour - Glen and Louise on Gray North, and David and Jill on 'Jilly Q'.
Events of the past two weeks began with the arrival of a boat with RCYC (Royal Canadian Yacht Club) emblazoned on the stern and a young Quebec man, Guy, at the helm. The boat, Solera - a C&C 29- seemed familiar to us from our days docked at the RCYC. Guy caused quite a stir in the harbour by first anchoring in the middle of the mooring field, and secondly arriving with several bikinis flapping from the life lines! He provided good entertainment value for a few days.
Other notable events have been our visit to the brand new Hopetown Inn and Marina. It's all pink and splendid and seems always to be full. Then, one night, the Hopetown Lodge invited the whole town to an open house to introduce its' five new owners. Great fun, especially as the drinks and appetizers were on the house.
The Abaco Inn, further south on Elbow Cay held an Art Show last Saturday - a beautiful day. We had lunch there and met up with Pat and Peter, friends from our trip four years ago. They kindly invited us to a 'Bloody Mary Party' on their boat the next day. There we met a whole group of 'almost locals'. In fact there are many 'almost locals' here, either in boats or cottages. They've been enjoying winters in Hopetown for many years. How very sensible! That same day we joined a 'dinghy drift' around the harbour. It was miraculous to see 28 dinghies floating around the jam-packed mooring field without careening into even one boat!
The high point of the past two weeks has been the 'Barefoot Man' concert held at Guana Cay. A group of enthusiastic party-goers boarded the Albury Ferry on a beautiful day for the half-hour trip to Guana Cay. Once there, we climbed the hill to Nipper's Bar, perched on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. It was an entirely perfect day, though many felt a little the worse for wear (or rum) at the end of the day. Some even missed the ferry home!
I've saved the following event to last as it took place over such a short interval of time, but could have meant the end of this blog and its' writer. Bill and I were beach walking one day of high seas and crashing waves, and were caught up by a rogue wave which came from nowhere. If Bill hadn't grabbed me the force of the wave would have washed me across the vicious coral into the ocean. He did grab me luckily, and I limped back through the town soaking wet and dripping with blood from a graze on my leg. Long story short - my leg is healing slowly but my camera is not. My course of anti-biotics means I can't drink alcohol for ten days! On the whole, not a bad thing! But no pictures for the blog at the moment.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Blown Away in Hope Town
Since we crossed from Marsh Harbour to Hope Town a week ago two cold fronts have charged across the Abaco Islands bringing overcast skies, blustery squalls and cool temperatures. At nights some sailors have even resorted to wearing socks in bed! As I write, the second cold front is upon us, but 30 knot gusts don't seem so bad under today's clear blue skies.
Our trip over to Hope Town was short and sweet, until we discovered that all the mooring balls in the harbour were taken, and there was not even any room left in the newly renovated and very splendid Hope Town Marina. The only other option, apart from a retreat to Marsh Harbour, was to find a dock at tiny Lighthouse Marina. We were lucky, and managed to squeeze Southern Vectis into a spot beside the gas and ferry dock. Not the most peaceful dockage, but nevertheless a foot in the door. The marina is right under Hope Town's famous candy-striped lighthouse, built in 1863, and one of three hand-cranked, kerosene burning lighthouses in the world. It's worth a climb to the top for the spectacular view over Elbow Cay, the Sea of Abaco and the breakers of the Atlantic.
The next morning a few boats left their moorings and we slid into a good spot close to the town dock.
Since we've been here the harbour has become filled up once again with boats seeking shelter from the next weather front.
Hope Town is on Elbow Cay. Its' pastel coloured homes, narrow streets and friendly inhabitants, many of whom are second home owners from the U.S. and Canada, make it a favourite destination for cruising boaters. It's rare to have a night in around here, although the bad weather has sometimes put a damper on the festivities. There are some interesting eating spots at the harbour's edge - Capt'n Jack's is a favourite. Further south on the cay the Abaco Inn sits perched on a bluff overlooking both the Atlantic and the Sea of Abaco. We had a very good Sunday brunch there with Sigita and Martin, and had to walk the two miles back to atone for our eating habits! Yesterday we rented bikes and cycled to the south end of the cay, stopping at the new 'Firefly' resort for a delicious lunch overlooking the water.
We plan to stay on our mooring for at least another couple of weeks. Our weather guru, Chris Parker, has promised that the current cold front will be the last of the big winter blows. We'll see!
(A housekeeping note: Weekly rents for a Hope Town home start at $2,000 a week, moorings in the harbour start at $20 a night and move down the longer you stay!)
Our trip over to Hope Town was short and sweet, until we discovered that all the mooring balls in the harbour were taken, and there was not even any room left in the newly renovated and very splendid Hope Town Marina. The only other option, apart from a retreat to Marsh Harbour, was to find a dock at tiny Lighthouse Marina. We were lucky, and managed to squeeze Southern Vectis into a spot beside the gas and ferry dock. Not the most peaceful dockage, but nevertheless a foot in the door. The marina is right under Hope Town's famous candy-striped lighthouse, built in 1863, and one of three hand-cranked, kerosene burning lighthouses in the world. It's worth a climb to the top for the spectacular view over Elbow Cay, the Sea of Abaco and the breakers of the Atlantic.
The next morning a few boats left their moorings and we slid into a good spot close to the town dock.
Since we've been here the harbour has become filled up once again with boats seeking shelter from the next weather front.
Hope Town is on Elbow Cay. Its' pastel coloured homes, narrow streets and friendly inhabitants, many of whom are second home owners from the U.S. and Canada, make it a favourite destination for cruising boaters. It's rare to have a night in around here, although the bad weather has sometimes put a damper on the festivities. There are some interesting eating spots at the harbour's edge - Capt'n Jack's is a favourite. Further south on the cay the Abaco Inn sits perched on a bluff overlooking both the Atlantic and the Sea of Abaco. We had a very good Sunday brunch there with Sigita and Martin, and had to walk the two miles back to atone for our eating habits! Yesterday we rented bikes and cycled to the south end of the cay, stopping at the new 'Firefly' resort for a delicious lunch overlooking the water.
We plan to stay on our mooring for at least another couple of weeks. Our weather guru, Chris Parker, has promised that the current cold front will be the last of the big winter blows. We'll see!
(A housekeeping note: Weekly rents for a Hope Town home start at $2,000 a week, moorings in the harbour start at $20 a night and move down the longer you stay!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
