Sometimes you're the bug

And sometimes you're the windshield. In this case, we were the bug flying into a fast moving windshield that had the wipers on. When we left Spanish Wells we did so with a good forecast in hand. We both looked it over, and took advantage of some special subscriptions. It was supposed to be calm, no chance for a squall and light winds out of the South and South East. Yah. We got this.
 In reality it was 15-20 gusting 25 out of the South West. It's a shame we didn't run into this until we were well across the bank from Fleeming Channel towards Highbourne Cay. It turned into about 4 hours of snot on the nose. It was certainly better than having it on the beam so I shouldn't complain. But after having a great ride South to Spanish Wells we thought we were going to be back on the shallow water with calm seas and sunshine. I mean, how could a day on the Atlantic in calms seas that are 3 miles deep be an omen for genuine snot on the bank while you are dodging coral heads? Oh well.

  We were both apprehensive about the route across the bank I chose to take since it was a direct line from Fleeming Channel to Highbourne. It was loaded with coral heads and there are all sorts of rumors about how you cannot make it across this bank without crashing. While I suppose that is true for some folks, we only saw two coral heads we had to alter course for. Part of the reason for the confidence I had was based on what we learned from folks at the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club seminar on the Exumas. At this seminar it was said, and abundantly, that you can pick the coral heads out well in advance and take action in a relaxed manner to avoid them. Yet another reason to become a member and we are always glad we have. Good camaraderie and at a very cheap price. But I should have taken a movie of the trawler that came at us on the South side of the bank. It was like he was choosing a parking spot in an empty parking lot. To each his own and when we are on your boat we'll do it your way. 
 When we left Little Harbour after a couple of great nites we set out on the Atlantic and relaxed. It was so calm Deb sat there playing Yahtzee on a small electronic game while I kept the helm. We watched Dolphins hunt for a while and saw hundreds of flying fish take off from the area in front of Freedom and carry on for what must have been 100 yards some times. On occasion a dozen or so would take flight all at once. I wish I could have kept a camera online and focused but they are always a surprise and difficult to photograph. Dolphins are much easier to capture because they tend to travel in a consistent direction for a while and you can almost predict where they will come up for air again as evidenced by my luck with the second photo.

Spanish Wells is waking up. The Spanish Wells Yacht Club is finally getting a healthy dose of cash that will rebuild docks, add more amenities thus encouraging tourism. There is actually a restaurant on the island now! It's amazing how long this is taken given this is a busy community as well as a very good spot to pull into when traveling by boat. Hopefully this island has learned to be cautious with over developing or allowing big money to come in and create huge eyesores that fail.

 But Little Harbour is still a great hang. Especially with all of the great people down there. It seems someone is always willing to host a pot luck dinner or snack session and everyone is willing to stop at Pete's Pub for a fish sandwich and commiserate over a beer.

You never know who is going to drop in for a nosh and if Pete's doesn't work for you Carlton is cooking up some good food on the Asian and BBQ nites at Sea Spray. They bring in the Limbo Man Desmond at Sea Spray. The food is good, the times are great no matter how old you are. It's always fun to watch the kids push their limits and the older folks refuse to give up. Me? I don't go there I leave it to the pros. This man can carry people under the bar his strength is so great. 


 

Time Marches On

 Or how we spent the month of March. Many of the good folks we shared dock space with this Winter have moved on. Some to the South and the Exumas, and others back to the United States. We, having some company were kind enough to stay put instead of Shanghaiing him to the Exumas. In retrospect that would have been a very good choice weather wise because the water was flat calm all the way across the North East Providence Channel to Spanish Wells.

It would have been a serious mistake due to mechanical issues that developed in the forward bathroom. Fortunately they held off until company left.
 Since we were not headed South yet another trip to Little Harbour and Pete's Pub was made and yet again, the food there was terrific. We have yet to find a better fish sandwich anywhere else in the Bahamas. We also made some new friends with home owners there that throw a pot luck dinner on the beach every Monday. That's where the first photo was taken from. Deb made her Grouper Nantua and other folks brought dishes that made for some very good eats at a terrific spot. Not only that we were given directions to a Blue Hole we never would have seen without the help.
 Blue Holes are pools of water that have an underground link to the ocean. In spite of being inland, the water is salt and the fish are indiginous to the ocean and harbours of the area. This blue hole is located along side a road in the Little Harbour area and it is teeming with all sorts of colorful fish. While there was nothing very large, the diversity made it an interesting and worth while hike. Besides on the way back we had a stop at Pete's for an ice cold brew and a sandwich. If you click on the photo you may be able to pick out some of the fish. Without a high end camera with a good lens it's difficult to capture the details. A digital SLR is on my bucket list but with parts for the boat taking priority it will have to wait yet again.
 But back on the calm water as pointed out by the second photo, we were able to take the dink out and around the Bight of Old Robinson, over to Lynyard Cay, up to North Bar Channel and back to Little Harbour. Yes, it was that calm on the Southern Sea of Abaco. Even though the water was 30 feet deep in some spots we could clearly see the bottom as though it was within arm's length.
 Returning to Sea Spray at White Sound Elbow Cay we settled into the "monotony" of lunches at places like Sea Spray which by the way has a terrific BBQ buffet night as well as an Asian Night. Both are reasonably priced and the food is very good. The list of additional establishments we frequented ran a list that included Firefly, Lubber's Landing, On Da Beach and Cracker P's and finally Nippers. I have to admit the beach view from Nippers is one of the best the Bahamas has to offer.

And with that, company had to leave and we were free to pursue our travels South. And the weather turned, the mechanicals started acting up and the delays set in. So we'll put things back together and wait for a decent window South. The Google Earth tracks for the month have been loaded up and are under the blog heading Ships Log GPS data The 2014 Voyage and when clicked will load up Google Earth and display the paths.