Abacos

We woke early on Monday morning and weighed anchor as the sun was rising making our way to Lanyard Cay. To begin with it was pleasant sailing but soon the waves picked up and the wind turned more north.

Sunrise

Much muttering and grumbling at the weather from a certain quarter in the cockpit occurred, making absolutely no difference to the weather at all. We forged on, with Andrew making constant changes to the sails to try and catch up to the two boats ahead of us. Confetti, a catamaran, could not hold the angle and had to tack way out and back again to get to the destination. We spoke to them on the radio a couple of times, informing them of wind changes and later which cut we went through.

I mentioned to my friend, Chariesse back in Cape Town, that I had cooked breakfast at supper time. She was a bit confused until I explained the reason why. No, we didn't have egg and bacon for supper. I cooked supper as well. I wanted to be well prepared for the trip so I boiled some eggs and cooked a few sausages to eat along the way. 

A tip on making boiled eggs easy to peel: put a little vinegar in the water with the eggs and bring them to boil. It works like a treat and the eggs don't pick up the vinegar flavour at all!

We were supposed to see a partial eclipse that day, but we didn't see anything. I tried to take some photos but they showed us nothing! Don't worry, I didn't look up into the sun!

Alien craft below the sun?

We battled through the waves, pinching as much as we could. There was too much north in the wind which meant the wind was coming from the bow. The wind was 30 - 40 degrees apparent, which made sailing in the direction we needed to be going, very tight.

Finally at around 3pm we arrived at the first cut. We had been following two boats ahead of us and they chose not to go through that cut. It is narrow and deep, but not easy with a swell. As we didn't really know what it was like we decided to be safe rather than sorry and sail the extra 5nm to the next cut. This one was wide and was no problem at all.

Putting on Laura's hatch cover

We chose a place to anchor and dropped it with a sigh, only so find that we were on the slipperiest grass ever and we were dragging.

We are still having problems with our anchor chain which skips off the gypsy when we pull it up. It seems to be very twisted. We are going to try and fix it when we are on a mooring ball. Andrew went to the fore deck to pull it up and I drove. It sounds like he had to do it manually, but no, we have an electric windlass. No manual labour necessary! We tried to anchor further forward between two monohulls but again we dragged. All on board were getting very short tempered! Andrew took over the helm again and drove over to another spot. 

I spotted some sand and yelled at Andrew who brought the boat to a halt. I dropped the anchor, praying it would take hold. And thank goodness it did! 

Some people have headsets through which they talk to each other while one is at the helm and the other is on the fore deck. These are called "Marriage Savers" for good reason. We do not have these. We use hand signals and when necessary shout loudly! I am sure people around us think we are cross with each other but in order to be heard over the noise of the engine, one has to shout.

I must say we have perfected the hand signals when hauling up the anchor, although Andrew had a new one the other day, waving his arm down the length of the boat, and I had no clue what he meant. I asked him later and he explained that the chain was going under the boat and I had to wait for the wind to push us back. Clear enough. 😀

We always set an anchor alarm, but we made sure it was on this time.

We were exhausted! The trip took 3 hours longer than expected making a very long 11 hour day. We slept very well that night!

Confetti

The following day we did some cleaning. Laura’s hatch tends to leak which makes her mattress wet. So I had to put that out to dry and wash her sheets. 

We made radio contact with Tina and Kevin on Confetti, but didn't get a chance to go across and meet them properly.

The chap in the picture above was in front of us when we arrived. Two days later, we woke to find him next to us. Time to leave!

We upped anchor and moved to Tilloo Cay which is sheltered from the east wind which was predicted. 

Use to be Gary Larson's house

Andrew had noticed that Ohana was in the bay next to ours, so after hailing Grant on the VHF we hopped in the dinghy and went to visit. It was lovely to chat and catch up with Grant and Leanne. The last time we saw them was in St Martin.

We hunkered down for a couple of days expecting strong winds. We woke early one morning to the sound of thunder and watched the sky get lighter as the lightening flashed overhead. Next thing, Andrew’s phone blares the warning that the anchor is dragging. We leaped up and turned on the engine and the instruments. We had turned 180º and the anchor had turned around. We watched and waited with baited breath as we were quite close to a rocky outcrop, but our trusty anchor settled and hooked again.

Later that day we went to Ohana for supper and a game of Mexican Train. It was great fun! I have missed playing games. We learnt new rules, or maybe the correct rules. I have only ever played with cruisers and my family. I think those cruisers down in Trinidad had their own set of rules!! 

Supper was delicious. Leanne had made a very interesting broccoli salad, which was different to what we normally have. Andrew enjoyed picking Grant’s brain about various things including anchorages in America and what the protocol is with fresh food when you enter US territory. Apparently you are not allowed to have any fresh produce or meat on board. We will have to provision carefully for the next few weeks. I don’t want to have to throw food overboard!

On Saturday morning we upped anchor, and a line of wire, which thankfully wasn't hooked on our anchor too badly. Andrew could just pick it up and throw it back, and headed over to Boat Harbour South Anchorage as the wind was changing direction again. 

We were going to go ashore but they charged $110 in one place to dock your dinghy (no, I haven't got an extra 0 on the end of that amount, we even hailed them on the radio to check) and $2 per foot at the other place. That's R2 000 or R322 just to park the dinghy!! We decided it wasn’t worth it, so we stayed on the boat. 

The following morning, Sunday, we went across the way to Hope Town. We dropped anchor quite far out, making sure we weren't in the way of the ferries and went ashore to go up the lighthouse, but it was closed! There must have been at least 5 other cruiser groups that came to the lighthouse and were disappointed. 

We bumped into Kevin and Tina from Confetti while we were there and had a long chat. They were going in more or less the same places we were, so we might see them again.

We had a short ride around the bay and then went back to the boat. The houses on the waterfront were lovely.

Derelict boat - see them everywhere

We upped anchor and had a slow sail over to Marsh Harbour. Andrew said he was quite nervous going in but it was fine. It was quite full with lots of boats but we found a space on the outside, where we prefer to anchor. 

The following morning, Monday, we went ashore for a much needed walk. Unfortunately it wasn't a very long walk as the shop wasn't far away. The shop was excellent, albeit a bit more expensive than Nassau. We were very impressed with the selection of good we could find.

Cheaper beer

Bottle Store

One of our gas bottles had run out a while back and we needed to get it filled before getting to the US. We had been warned that getting propane, as it is called in the US, would be difficult. They can't fill our South African bottles, apparently. So we found a place that would fill our bottles for us. The chap came to fetch the bottle and delivered it back on the dock. 

We had a lovely supper with Tina and Kevin on Confetti, their beautiful Fontaine Pajot 50. Tina was very helpful with information about Orlando and Disney World. We had promised Laura that if we got to Florida we would take her to Disney World. We may have to sell our souls to pay for it, but it is on the list of things to do!

Andrew and I went to find the laundromat. It wasn’t a far walk, thank goodness as we had three bags of washing.

Pay at the counter

It was the best laundromat we have seen so far. But at $4 a wash and $5 to dry, not the cheapest we have found. They had lots of machines so we could put three loads on at the same time. They tell you which machine to use, pay at the counter and they set it off. All you have to do is push start! I usually do the washing on the back of the boat, but it had built up and I had sheets and towels to do as well. So grateful I didn't have to do those on the boat!

Grant and Leanne had also arrived and they invited us to join them for dinner at The Jib Room which was a short dinghy ride away. Leanne was flying back to South Africa on Thursday, so it was lovely to have a last catch up before she left. They had invited another solo cruiser, Debbie, to join us, which was fun. Grant was waiting for a weather window before sailing to Bermuda where he will join the ARC crossing to the Med.

We left the following morning and headed for Whale Cut. This cut can be treachorous. A boat was wrecked on the rocks a few weeks ago trying to get through. Andrew was very nervous about it. 

We had a good sail to the cut but as we got closer our AIS stopped working. There is a loose wire somewhere that stops us from seeing other boats on the chart plotter. Andrew tried to fix it, but he had to take a few things apart, so we decided to anchor in Baker’s Bay in Great Guana Cay, so that he could fix it. We also hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. Andrew got to fixing and Laura made breakfast.

We watched a few boats going through the cut but waited until slack tide.

I am sure it could get dangerous as it is quite narrow in places, but it was fine for us. It got a bit rolly at one point, but nothing we couldn’t manage. 

Once we were through we sailed on beautiful blue water to Green Turtle Cay.

Happy chap!

We noticed another monohull dropping anchor close to where we wanted to drop. Andrew said that it was an Island Packet. We had been in contact with Mel and Caryn, via No Foreign Land, on a boat called Passages which is an Island Packet, watching their progress down the Abacos, and Andrew was sure it was them. We had met Mel and Caryn in South Africa in 2018, through a mutual friend, Carol Cromhout, who taught at Rondebosch Boy’s Prep School with me.

SV Passages

As I was dropping anchor I looked up to see Mel waiving at us. It was them! What are the chances?! 

It was time to get off the boat to stretch the legs. The beach was short but it was so good to walk. 

Just too high for Lau

Sharp rocks

Always miles behind

That evening we met Mel and Caryn on the beach for sundowners. It was super to chat and find out what they have been up to.

The following morning we went to the town, New Plymouth, for a look see. It is so beautiful with lovely houses in amongst the still derelict houses. It seemed that golf carts are the go to vehicle on the island.

Dog house?

We found the Loyalist Sculpture Garden. This garden is a monumental tribute to the Loyalists and their slaves, who played a significant role in the history of The Abacos.

The garden contains 24 busts of Bahamians representing different islands, surrounding the life-size figures of two girls, one black and one white. One child holds a conch shell and the other use to hold the Union Jack. The two figures represent a new beginning for the thousands of Loyalists of the American Revolution in 1783.

We found a small supermarket and bought the essentials. Can't run out of eggs for breakfast!

We continued our walk completing the big loop back to the dinghy dock.

Later that afternoon, Kevin and Tina stopped at our boat. They had been round the corner and said there were turtles and rays there. They came aboard for a drink and a chat.

On Saturday morning, we went to look for this magical place with the turtles. It was beautiful and I am so glad we made the effort. The rays swim right up to you and the turtles are very inquisitive. Apparently people feed them, so they are looking for food. I’m sure that isn’t the right thing to do, but humans will be humans.

We found a path that led to the other, wilder side of the island. This time we didn't even have slops on, we had left them in the dinghy!

Not impressed!

Beautiful beach

Laura has been knitting again. Every now and then I have to check the pattern or fix something. But she is getting really good at it. Her knitting is no longer loose but much tighter! Well done, Laura!

We had to move again because of the weather. We just went across the way to hide behind the Great Abacos. We thought we had lots of space but quite a few boats came and dropped anchor there as well, thankfully not too close to us.

We had a bit of wind, no more than 30 knots and some rain, but it wasn’t bad at all during the 24 hours we were there.

Unfortunately there was a fire burning somewhere on the island which was making a lot of smoke. Thankfully it blew past us for most of the time, but I could definitely smell it during the night.

We didn't need to stay there long as the wind changed direction again. We upped anchor and sailed across to Nanjack Bay leaving the smoke behind.

In the next blog we go looking for turtles who are not as tame as the ones in Coco Bay.

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