Parting Shots

 With a bit of a heavy heart we left Hope Town today. It was a rather sudden decision to leave this morning but it all worked out well. Sadly we did not get to say good by to everyone we should have but I am sure they will understand. Normally people will announce their arrival or departure during the morning "Cruiser's Net" on VHF 68. By the way one can listen to this b'cast on the Internet thanks to Outer Island Internet. At Outer Island Internet one can click on the audio services link and follow the next links to hear what is going on. The "net" and the volunteers that make it happen do an excellent job of keeping the inhabitants of the outer islands informed with weather, community and commercial activities.
 Our decision to leave was almost cast, but not until after coffee, breakfast and the net did we decide it was time to go. The largest contributor to the decision was the weather and sea conditions going around Whale Cay. Ultimately our goal today was only about 25 nautical miles away but the path included a stretch in the Atlantic as well as traversing Whale Cay channel. We had several serious storms move through the area including one last night so there was a certain amount of apprehension associated with the path. After all wave height predictions for the Atlantic were high. But -
 The storm wind was out of the South. That, in my humble opinion would knock down any prevailing swell out of the North East and we always have swell from that direction. Subsequently in the morning the wind was due to be out of the West. That would line up well with an out going tide when we arrived at Whale Channel. Given these assumptions, we shoved off and reviewed the openings to the Atlantic at Hope Town, South Man O War, and North Man O War channels as we passed them by along our way to Green Turtle Cay. To our surprise all of the openings to the Atlantic were all relatively calm. Less than 2 feet and very little breaking on the reefs. So we skipped over Guana Cay and Nippers. After all., there are only soooo mannnyyy frozen nippers one can consume in a Winter and we had our fill. We proceeded into Loggerhead Channel after passing Bakers Bay with high hopes of a smooth passage to Green Turtle Cay.
 In reality, it went very well. The seas were out of the NNW and about 4 feet with one or two feet of chop on top. While relatively closely spaced, by putting the throttles forward to the tune of 10 knots the bow lifted up and Freedom punched into it like it was business as usual. Afterwards we did (however) find a few items had shifted in the cabinets when they were opened later on. Spice jars, utensils, all sorts of things unloaded when the doors were opened. Anyway the only uncomfortable portion of the ride occurred when we had to turn to the West to cross over the reef and head into Whale Channel. That put the seas on the beam and we rolled a bit but it didn't last long. In a short while we were back on the Sea of Abaco inside the reef in docile water.
 Cool. We have arrived at the Leeward Yacht Club in Black Sound. For a  26 year old boat Freedom ran well and brought us to the next stop handily. While this marks the start of the trip back to the United States its all good.
 Closing out the season on Elbow Cay, the Hope Town Inn and Marina is coming together. They have opened up the pool, restaurant and bar as well as several rooms and the new docks. In support of that notion we had lunch pool side at HTM and it was quite good. Since they have brought in an award winning chef the food offered is well prepared. Daily specials are interesting and reasonably priced. While the above photo is at Leeward, and they have a great facility there, the HTM facility (at right) is expansive and filling a void the boating community has had in Hope Town for many years. Once all of the dock power comes online and the rooms are completed this is going to be a terrific stop in the Outer Islands of the Abacos.
 Hopefully we get to enjoy all of this again next Fall. We're sad to leave but it's time to go.