We left Treasure Cay on a blustery, warm day, to sail 12 miles east across the Sea of Abaco to Marsh Harbour. The water was quite choppy, but still crystal clear so that we could look down and see the sandy and sometimes rocky bottom. The Sea of Abaco is only about 12 foot deep, after all!
In Marsh Harbour we docked at our favourite marina, 'Harbour View', and soon met up with some old friends from previous years. Richard, keeper of the Sunday afternoon bocce ball game trophies, was there, as were Patrick and Sarah, the crew of a large and luxurious motor cruiser, which sits at the end of the dock awaiting occasional visits from its' owner. We had a good evening meeting other dock residents at a BBQ and Trivia evening, and discovered that we are not good at trivia, particularly when it's all about basketball!
After three days we sailed over to Hope Town. It was a sparkling day and we were excited that we were heading for the end of the rainbow - lovely Elbow Cay with Hope Town as its' pot of gold. The entrance to Hope Town harbour is very shallow, and, with our five foot draft, we can only enter two hours either side of the tide. The harbour is very busy at this time of year, and we were happy that we had reserved one of Capt'n Jack's mooring balls. As we entered the harbour we saw boats cruising through the tight mooring field, searching for somewhere to tie up. It's a competitive sport, and one we didn't want to get involved in! We had called Capt'n Jack on our VHF radio, and, as we entered the harbour, there he was, waiting to hand us our mooring line, on the same mooring ball as last year. It turns out that he had to shoo three boats off before our arrival! What service! Capt'n Jack also owns the pink restaurant just off our stern and we'll visit there often for Happy Hours!
Next to us in the harbour is 'Gray North', with Glen and Louisa aboard. We first met them six years ago, and it's always good to see them again. They jumped on board to welcome us after we tied up, and much gin was consumed as we swapped news and views! Glen and Louise are building a house here on Elbow Cay, and they took us to see its' progress. It's a very exciting project with some very unique design features. We all went for lunch at the lovely 'Firefly'.
There are so many boats here that we know from previous trips, and people are referred to by their boat names first, before their actual names. 'Diva', with Benoit and Margaret from Kingston, Ontario, is docked at Hope Town Marina, as is 'Bohemia', with Pierre and Francine from Quebec. Yesterday afternoon we took 'Southern Vectis' out of the harbour, and went a little way south to swim. When we arrived back at our mooring, 'Tosmo', with Steve and Debbie, was just tying up. We joined them for drinks on board, and then dinghied over to Capt'n Jack's for dinner.
We love being on our mooring and we love being in Hope Town and watching the world go by. Next week our guests, John and Alex, arrive. We are looking forward very much to showing them how very special the Abaco Islands are.
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