Spanish Wells to
Hopetown 2017
Monday, April 3,
2017. Sunny, cooler, wind gone east 10-15.
Very pleasant night, low humidity – quiet too! We checked out of the office and we said
good-bye to Leroy and the guys on Lighten Up.
8:30am, we are off the dock. Wind is SE @ 10-15 as we round Gun Point and
head north through the reef towards the Abacos. Talked to Baila, Dorenavent and
Avalon. All are headed toward Lynyard
Cay today. Both sails out, making
5.5-6.5 knots. We put out both fishing
lines, one using a squid lure and one using the cedar plug Dennis (Lighten Up)
gave us.
10:30am We hear on the vhf that Dorenavent has caught a “red
tuna” and Baila has missed what he thinks was a sizable Mahi. There are big ocean rollers (about 6 feet –
occasionally to 10 feet) coming in from the east but spaced well apart, with
about a 2 foot chop on top. Not unbearable, but right on our stern right-hand
(starboard) quarter (called a “quartering sea”). These “rollers” come all the
way from Europe! As long as there is sufficient
wind to push us through these seas, the ride is not too uncomfortable. Occasionally, the wind dies off to about 10
knots and we tend to “wallow” in these waves.
3:40pm Land Ho! Great
Abaco Island off to our port. The cut at
Lynyard Cay is 10 miles.
5:00pm Main sail down
as we approach the cut. We pulled in one
fishing line and found the lure was dragging a bunch of sea weed. We were told later that we should pull in the
line every hour or so to make sure this does not happen. Also, we need to get the lure farther away
from the boat.
6:10pm Anchor down at Lynyard Cay. Baila,
Dorenavent and 5 other boats here. Avalon managed to get a mooring in
Little Harbor (which is usually full and has a very shallow entrance). Pete’s Pub and Gallery is there. A traditional beach bar and grill and the
sculpture foundry of Pete Johnston. www.petespub.com
When we pull in the second fishing line, we find that the
line is cut/broken and the lure gone.
Maybe we backed over it when we anchored? We have to remember to mind these lines and
get them aboard sooner.
Wind is SE @ 15+, mostly cloudy, but flat here behind the
cay. Dinner on board. Lisa made Shedherds’ Pie.
54NM today.
26°22.00’N 076°59.06’W
Tuesday, April 4,
2017. Sunny, 75 degrees, wind has
gone more to the south, so the current anchorage is providing little
protection. There are storm clouds over
Great Abaco Island, but not over the cays.
We see this often, where the heat of the land forces the air to rise,
forming clouds (in summer thunder storms), but over the out islands (cays) the
skies remain clear.
Lisa dove on the prop to make sure we did not have a lot of
monofilament wrapped around something.
No, but she did find a bit of line stuck in the line cutter. Another learning experience.
8:40am Anchor up and
we head for Hopetown. It is dead low
tide and we are finding that the shoals on the chart are larger than
shown. We did not go aground, but we did
have to make a couple of tactical dodges we did not plan on. Pretty much everywhere in the Abacos is
shallow.
11:30am Inside Hopetown Harbor. There are lots of moorings without a boat but
with a float or a “bottle” which we are told indicates either a reserved
mooring, or one paid for, but the boat has gone elsewhere for the day
(snorkeling, fishing, over to Marsh Harbour shopping, etc). This is the first time we have seen this
(especially the “reserved mooring”). In
previous visits here, the moorings were always “first come first served”. We saw a catamaran leaving and were able to
pick up his mooring as soon as he dropped it.
Donny, who came by to collect for the mooring, says the “reserved thing”
is new and really does the mooring owner no good as the moorings are full all
the time. It is a convenience for the
boat owners, but they have to commit for at least 3 days. Some of the “reserved moorings” are paid for
by the charter companies over in Marsh Harbour so their customers are
guaranteed one. There are also more people staying the whole
season on a mooring. The boat next to us
has been here seven months! There is a 60 foot catamaran here that is on
one mooring, but “covering” two others! The net result of all this is that available
moorings on a “first come first served” basis are now hard to find.
Robyn is here and “tags” an empty
mooring with a bottle. Dorenavent comes in for that
mooring. Baila elects to anchor outside of the harbor so they can use their
water maker tonight.
Dream Catcher is on the mooring next to
us (Bo and Joyce). We first met them in
2014 crossing Albemarle Sound in North Carolina (heading north).
Dinner
on board, fresh wahoo from Lighten Up. Yum.
After dinner we went with Dream
Catcher to Munchies for ice cream!
19NM
today. 26°32.32’N 076.57.57’W
Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Sunny, still breezy, wind
East 15-20, sunny, no clouds, nice and flat in this protected harbor. Today we walked the beautiful beach here
finding no sea beans and few shells. There
were lots of kids, though. Baila was there (3 kids), Dorenavent (2 kids), Robyn (2 kids) plus about a dozen
more. Lots of squealing and giggling in
the surf.
Later
in the day we had a visit from Bev on Wind
Dancer. We have seen them many times
during our trip this year, but had never actually met her and Ann.
Dinner
was at Capt Jacks. The food is always
good, the sunset today was spectacular.
We sat with the adults from Baila,
Dorenavent (which in French means “From Now On”) and Robyn, while the 7 kids had their own table. The kids were well behaved and a nice time
was had by all. Lisa had a fish taco and
a beef taco and I had grilled shrimp. We
ordered a blooming onion for the table.
None of the kids had ever had one, but they devoured this one!
We
heard from Saber Tooth. The made the
crossing from Spanish Wells with 6 other boats and are at Lynyard Cay. Hopefully, we will see them again soon.
Thursday, April 6, 2017. Another nice morning. Wind has gone more to the south and the
humidity is up. It is supposed to be 80
today with clouds later in the day. I made a bunch of calls gathering
information about marinas and boat yards, trying to decide where to leave
Rhiannon for the summer. Our insurance
will now let us stay in Florida for the summer.
It looks like we will be at Ortega Landing Marina in Jacksonville and
then haul out at Sadlers Marine center to have work done. Both are very highly recommended by several
people we know.
Lisa
went to the beach to the pool at the hotel/marina with Baila and then we
stopped and said hello to Wind Dancer.
Baila
came for dinner – on the grill lamb chops and pork chops plus green salad and
pasta salad. Cookies for dessert.
Friday, April 7, 2017. Storms and rain over night. Nice to get some of the accumulated salt
rinsed off Rhiannon. Wind has gone into
the west beginning its normal “clock around” after a front passes. It is cooler today – 70’s, but the skies are
clear. Lisa went to the beach with Dream
Catcher and I am working on this blog.
When we were last in Hopetown, we bought some note cards which have copies of paintings done by a local artist. Lisa met the artist and his wife today. They have a home/studio here that originally belonged to her parents. Hermann and Ann Schadt. He will take one of his paintings that we has digitized, print it on canvas, add paint so it looks original and then add your boat to the picture. Whe have a chart at home that Rhiannon was add onto as well as a painting of the boat done by Jim DeWitt. Lisa commissioned Hermann to do one of his for us. He will have it ready tomorrow if we send him some photos of Rhiannon to work with. We made a stop at the grocery (the Blue Store). When we got back to the boat, it is a beautiful day out and the light is good for photography, so I took a bunch of pictures with the Nikon and then edited them and sent them off to Hermann.
Dinner was aboard Dream Catcher with Bo and Joyce, joining us were Rex and Reba on Moonraker (a trimaran). They know Chris and Margaret, who we traveled with for 3 months last year (they were aboard the trimaran Jaz). Nice dinner and a very pleasent evening.
When we were last in Hopetown, we bought some note cards which have copies of paintings done by a local artist. Lisa met the artist and his wife today. They have a home/studio here that originally belonged to her parents. Hermann and Ann Schadt. He will take one of his paintings that we has digitized, print it on canvas, add paint so it looks original and then add your boat to the picture. Whe have a chart at home that Rhiannon was add onto as well as a painting of the boat done by Jim DeWitt. Lisa commissioned Hermann to do one of his for us. He will have it ready tomorrow if we send him some photos of Rhiannon to work with. We made a stop at the grocery (the Blue Store). When we got back to the boat, it is a beautiful day out and the light is good for photography, so I took a bunch of pictures with the Nikon and then edited them and sent them off to Hermann.
Dinner was aboard Dream Catcher with Bo and Joyce, joining us were Rex and Reba on Moonraker (a trimaran). They know Chris and Margaret, who we traveled with for 3 months last year (they were aboard the trimaran Jaz). Nice dinner and a very pleasent evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment