Wed, 25-Apr….From Hope Town to Tavern Cay
The morning of Wednesday, 25-Apr
broke with a mostly clear sky, a mild breeze and a mostly dry forecast for the
day. At last! We rode the dinghy into town to tour the
Wyannie Malone Historical Museum, whose namesake is credited with founding the
Hopetown settlement back in the 1780’s.
It is a quaint two story, renovated house packed with artifacts and
memorabilia whose stories walk you through the Hope Town settlement’s
history.
It exists primarily because people like Wyannie couldn’t tolerate – and wanted to escape from – the post Civil War conditions in the Carolinas. We learned that one of the main means of support for these islanders was salvage work – retrieving all sorts of goods from ships that frequently ran aground on the numerous nearby reefs and shoals. We also learned that they were not too thrilled with the erection of that light house, as it led to a significant shrinkage of the salvors’ line of business. Their response was to sabotage the light and build bonfires on some of the reefs to attract ships into the shoals. Fortunately the place was eventually recognized as a great vacation destination and provided them an alternative via a thriving tourism economy.
The Museum Also Chronicles the Islands Boat Building Legacy |
It exists primarily because people like Wyannie couldn’t tolerate – and wanted to escape from – the post Civil War conditions in the Carolinas. We learned that one of the main means of support for these islanders was salvage work – retrieving all sorts of goods from ships that frequently ran aground on the numerous nearby reefs and shoals. We also learned that they were not too thrilled with the erection of that light house, as it led to a significant shrinkage of the salvors’ line of business. Their response was to sabotage the light and build bonfires on some of the reefs to attract ships into the shoals. Fortunately the place was eventually recognized as a great vacation destination and provided them an alternative via a thriving tourism economy.
The View from 'On Da Beach' Restaurant |
After
that we took a long walk to the south end of the island to have lunch at On Da
Beach. It’s yet another Bahamian eatery
that boasts stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and a long sandy beach. Their Mahi sandwich is quite good.
By
then it was time to get back to Ghost Rider
so we could depart on the next high tide.
At 1630 We retrieved the dinghy back to the boat deck, released our
mooring tethers, and carefully snaked our way out of the harbor channel back
into the Sea of Abaco….with just enough water under the keel to keep the boat
from bumping bottom. Despite the
circuitous route we had to take to avoid the shallows, it took us less than two
hours to reach the Tavern Cay / Tiloo Cay anchorage. Waiting for us there were Brad and Lorraine
Carlton aboard their Nordhavn 55, Adventure. We dropped the hook nearby in 10 feet of
water, got a good set, and settled in for the evening viewing a gorgeous
sunset. Brad and Lorraine joined us
aboard Ghost Rider after dinner for
some libations and boat / travel talk, and we had a very enjoyable social
evening together.
N55, Adventure, Anchored Nearby at Tavern Cay |
The
next day, Thursday, 26-Apr brought
more pleasant weather. But Chelle had a
restless night and wasn’t feeling well, so we just chilled out and relaxed on
board all morning. Rick got a few more
chores done, checked weather, and started looking at destination options for
the next few days. By mid-afternoon
Chelle’s morning naps had a restorative effect so we took the dinghy out for a
tour of the waters around Tiloo and Tavern Cays. There are some nice properties and upscale
homes dotting the shorelines, along with Cracker P’s Bar and Grill further
north near Tiloo Cut (which provides a narrow, twisting channel into the open
Atlantic.) The waters were still gin
clear providing great visibility of the grassy and sand bottom in depths that
varied from a couple of feet up to eight feet, with the typically stunning
shades of blue, green and turquoise.
Tooling Around Tavern Key in the Dinghy |
We
enjoyed another peaceful evening and night at anchor, and while Rick got a good
night’s sleep, Chelle did not.
Fri, 27-Apr….From Tavern Cay to Lynyard
Cay
By
Friday morning, 27-Apr, it was
obvious that Chelle still had some kind of stomach bug, likely food-related
based on the symptoms. There were a
couple things she had consumed on our last day in Hope Town that Rick had not,
so that was our best guess, as he felt fine. We could not find an oral thermometer in any of the medical kits, so improvised with a digital meat thermometer....she was running a low grade fever, which we treated with Tylenol. Still, by late morning she was able to soldier on, so we picked up the
anchor and headed further south. Based
on predicted winds we wanted to check out the bay adjacent to the northwest
edge of Little Harbour that promised protection from SSW winds. But when we arrived there a couple hours
later it was pretty obvious the swell from the cut into the Atlantic Ocean just
to the east would make that locale most uncomfortable – and there was no way we
were going to attempt the very shallow channel into Little Harbor’s basin.
Another Nice Sunset at Anchor |
So
we back-tracked a mile across to the other (east) side of the channel to
Lynyard Cay, and we found the protection from the swell to be excellent. Although exposed a bit to the SW winds, it
wasn’t enough to bother a heavy boat like Ghost
Rider. The depths there held steady
very near the shore, so we tucked in pretty close to the shoreline, and found a
sandy patch of bottom where we dropped the big Manson Supreme anchor. It set on the first try, and given the
predicted overnight storms we let out some extra rode for good measure. One of our goals on this leg was to visit Pete’s
Pub in Little Harbour, but the wind and swell between here and there made that
an unattractive jaunt in the dinghy; besides, Chelle needed to rest, so we
spent a quiet evening on the boat, and put Pete’s on our list to try the next
time around.
Sat, 28-Apr….From Lynyard Cay to Sandy
Point
The
predicted front and associated line of TRWs arrived in the wee hours, but nothing
approached the severe level. By the time we awoke the morning of Saturday, 28-Apr, only light showers
remained in the area….and Chelle was feeling better. The forecast for the next few days was
actually – finally – looking pretty good.
Just before 1100 we retrieved the anchor and got underway, pointing Ghost Rider in a southerly
direction. Three miles later we
traversed the cut just north and east of Little Harbour and entered the open
waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Approaching the Southern End of Little Abaco in the Open Atlantic |
Sea
conditions were as expected, just a tad bouncy with three foot swells out of
the east and a two-to-three foot healthy wind chop on top given the 15 knot
southwesterly breeze. The stabilizers
did their job in the confused short-interval seas and Ghost Rider happily punched through, with only an occasional
“bulbous bow bounce”, averaging 7 knots at a loping 1400 RPM on the big Lugger
diesel. It was actually a nice change of
pace to be in open seas and deep water – hardly any traffic with depths measured
in the thousands of feet as both sounders lost sea floor contact.
At
high noon we had mostly clear skies overhead with small puffy cumulous clouds
dissipating in the west, and the remnants of the storm clouds still towering
but far to the east. Outside air
temperature hovered in the upper 70’s with the typically high humidity seen in
the open ocean after a frontal passage. By
mid-afternoon the winds had tapered off a bit, white caps diminished and the
ride smoothed a bit. Then, as we rounded
the southern tip of Great Abaco, the winds and seas picked up again. It was a see-saw day.
The Sandy Point Coastline....Not Much There, and Exposed to All But Easterly Winds |
Late
in the afternoon, around 1700, we rounded the southern end of the big island
and checked out the shallow anchorage on its southwest side, near Cross Harbour
Point, but it was rather exposed and rough.
So we continued on another hour or so to Sandy Point…although it wasn’t
much better. But we were running out of daylight, so we dropped the hook there anyway,
and endured a very bouncy night at that anchorage, generally exposed to the
southwest winds and rollers from the open waters of Providence Channel. The predicted shift of the winds to the north
eventually kicked in overnight which helped a little. It would have been a good time for a
flopper-stopper, but this boat doesn’t have one of those. (See footnotes.)
Sun, 29-Apr….From Sandy Point to Great
Harbour (Berry Islands)
The
morning of Sunday, 29-Apr was a
whole lot calmer than the previous evening with only a fairly gentle roll
coming at Ghost Rider from the
south. Weather looked ideal, with clear
skies, mild temps and almost flat seas.
We retrieved the anchor and were underway by 0945 and steaming southwest
towards Great Harbour in the Berry Islands.
Approaching the Berry Islands....a Popular Stop for Cruise Ships |
It
was a completely uneventful, peaceful and smooth sortie all the way across the
channel; it would be wonderful to be able to bottle and save this kind of
cruising weather. Chelle did most of the
driving from the fly bridge (without stabilizers), while Rick handled the first
engine room check in between naps; that’s a good definition for a smooth
cruising leg. This one was less than 50
nautical miles and by 1400 we were rounding the northwestern point of Little
Stirrup Cay and steering Ghost Rider
down the western shoreline of the Berry Islands, avoiding a couple of large
cruise ships and several parasail boats along the way.
Just
before 1500 we entered the (very) shallow bay that lays just west of the Great Harbor Cay Marina…at low tide. While the tides only vary by a few feet in this area, we decided then and there that we’d try to depart this place on a high tide when that day came. We saw as
little as a half foot underneath the keel before we turned the corner into the
(very) narrow entrance into the marina’s basin. If they were trying to hide or disguise the entry channel to the marina, we have to compliment them on a job well done; you have to idle right up to the rocks before you see where to turn hard to port into what looks like a rock-lined alley.
The Entry to GHC is Well Hidden As Well As Long and Twisting |
Nevertheless
we made it into the protected marina basin without bumping bottom, and tucked Ghost Rider into a fixed pier slip
bow-first so we could keep the starboard boarding door on the same side as the
pier. As it turned out that really
didn’t help much, as the height of the dock’s pier was well above its level….we
had to practice gymnastics getting on and off the boat at this place. But Rick was pleased with it, because it had free fresh water under really good
pressure for boat wash downs – an anomaly in the Bahamas – and Ghost Rider badly needed one of those;
we were as salty as a Bavarian pretzel by this time. (But the free wash down water is loaded with
minerals….you’re basically trading salt for lots of spots; you definitely don’t
want it in your water tanks.)
View of the GHC Marina Basin from our Boat Deck |
Rick
got to work on the wash down while Chelle handled marina check-in. And shortly thereafter we were greeted by
good friends Jerry and Christine Chafton (and their too cute pup, Annie.) They’ve been our “neighbors” at the Legacy
Harbour docks in Fort Myers for some years now aboard their 53 Navigator, Mystic Lady, and have also been cruising
the Bahamas this spring – and we had finally caught up with them. We’d both had the same idea….with high winds
and nasty seas forecast to move in over the next week, this was a good place to
hang out for a while.
We
got the boat and ourselves cleaned up, had a quiet dinner on board, dipped into
a few Goombay Ghosts, and called it a day.
Ghost Rider Sitting Low Tide vs. the Dock at GHC Marina |
The
weather conditions we awoke to on the morning of Monday, 30-Apr, were excellent, with fair skies, mild temps and a
freshening breeze. Since we would have a
whole week here we decided to make this day one for chores. Chelle wanted to clean the interior of the
salty film that inevitably results from ocean crossings with an open boat, as
well as scrub down the dinghy, as it was pretty grimy from weeks of usage. And Rick wanted to knock out several days’
worth of current and forthcoming Wheelhouse maintenance items to allow for
off-the-boat exploring the remainder of the week.
When
all that was completed we enjoyed one of the marina’s weekly evening rituals,
the Pot Luck Dinner at their nearby picnic shelter. There was plenty of food and drink, and we
got to meet many of the other crews, including Betsy and Hank Knoblock who had their
Nordhavn 60, My Harley, here. And we planned some touring activities with
Jerry and Christine as they knew this island very well from previous visits.
We’ll
post another update after we’ve accumulated some touring time on this charming
island.
Footnotes
**
What’s a “flopper-stopper”? Essentially
it is a large folding aluminum plate that is deployed from a boom and secured
with several guy wires; the plate is positioned several feet beneath the water’s
surface, and the plate’s large surface area provides rolling resistance in
surge or wake conditions. It’s a pain to
deploy and retrieve, but it can be quite effective in stabilizing the boat
while at anchor in rolly conditions. You
can find more info and pictures HERE.
Our Latest Tracks Down to the Berry Islands and Great Harbour Cay |
More Pics to Peruse
Packed in at Hope Town Harbour Moorings |
Narrow Streets of Hope Town |
The Bar at Cap'n Jacks, Hope Town |
Another Shot Around Tavern Cay |
View of Cracker P's Bar & Grill From the Bay Side at Tavern Cay |
A Charter Sail Boat Anchored Near Tavern Cay |
We Eventually Got Lots of Company at the Anchorage at Lynyard Cay |
And Eventually the Weather Moved in On Us There |