Trip Report - Day 1 (4/19)

[Charlotte Couple]

Much-anticipated travel day. Flights through West Palm went very smoothly, and we actually arrived in MHH 20 minutes early. Took Joe's cab to Curlytails for a couple Kaliks, and settled into island time.

Did a little shopping (had to pick up a ballcap for my bald head, because I forgot to bring one, and a case of Kalik for the cottage), then back for one more Kalik before heading to the ferry dock to MOW.

Our caretaker met us at the dock, and took us to our very familiar cottage next to the Sail Shop. We unpacked, walked through the settlement, and ordered ribs from the takeaway for dinner, with peas-n-rice and mac-n-cheese (what else?)

Beautiful sunset, followed by an equally beautiful full moon. What better way to start a relaxing Abaco vacation?

Photos:

1. Kaliks at Curlytails
2. First Sunset over Dickie's Cay
3. Full Moon Rising
4. Heron that our caretaker likes to feed at the dock.

[JJ]

Wow, great photos.Thanks!

[Charlotte Couple]

We went to church Sunday morning on MOW, then had lunch and got our 18.5 Albury rental boat from Waterways. We wanted to go to Cracker P's for the Full Moon Party that night, but couldn't arrange a ride home, so we headed up to Gumelemi Cay for the afternoon. We loved the Albury Brothers boat, made right there on MOW. Very smooth ride, and good gas mileage (important at $5.72 per gallon).

This was our first time at Gumelemi, and we enjoyed it. We relaxed on the beach on the southwest side, and met several people from Connectict, who were leaving the next day. Walked across the island, and at the top we found a raised viewing platform that I think the BBC folks built. Beautiful views, but unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. There's another nice beach on the Atlantic side.

We headed back to MOW after a couple hours, and just walked around the docks and the settlement. Went to bed at 9:30, which is remarkable, since we rarely go to bed before 11:30 at home.

[BahamaAngie]

Real nice pictures.

[Charlotte Couple]

On Monday we got some cinnamon rolls from Lola, and after a lazy breakfast on the deck, we took the boat over to Hope Town. Ordered a Key Lime Pie from Vernon, then walked to the beach at Hopetown Harbour Lodge. Storms the week before had left more weeds on the beach than we've ever seen. We walked for awhile, but some rainclouds began threatening, so we moved to the Reef Bar and had a drink.

We picked up our pie and some banana nut bread at 2:00, put them on the boat, and walked back to Captain Jack's for lunch. Coconut-fried grouper is the best! The rain started sprinkling in, and there was some smoke blowing over from the huge brush fires burning on Great Abaco.

After lunch we went back to MOW in a light rain, had a slice of pie, and just relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday we had breakfast, then went to the Sail Shop and the Painted Fish gift shop at MOW Marina. They have changed the interior there, very nice., and have added some artwork for sale. Some very nice stuff is done by a couple named the Albertsons, who live on their sailboat in the harbor. We met them outside the shop that morning.

Decided to go to Great Guana, so we loaded the boat and left at 11:30. Had to dodge floating lumber as we entered the harbor, because they were wrecking the old dock on the Grabbers side. We went to Grabbers, and talked to Jim, the owner, at the bar while we drank frozen Grabbers. He has fixed the place up very nicely, and we spent most of the day there, sunning on the beach, eating Lobster Nachos (delicious), and the dinner special convinced us to stay for dinner.

We did walk around the harbor to the marina and back, stopping by Nippers briefly, but we were back in time to get the Grouper stuffed with Lobster and Crabmeat, three of our favorite things on one plate. My cholesterol level went up just looking at it! It was very good, too. Watched a group of guys playing bocce ball on the poolside court there. Jim is using bocce ball proceeds to send ECC kids to Special Olympics in Nassau.

Finally left as the sun sank lower in the sky, and back to MOW for the night.

Photos:

1. Debby and Jim at Grabbers
2. Lucky Jim
3. Bocce ball
4. View from the marina
5. Sunset approaching
6. Back to the boat

[Rum-atta]

Great trip report. I am really enjoying your lovely pics and nice descriptions of your time in Abacos. thanks!

[BahamaAngie]

Ditto

[Sandalman]

It looks like the weather has been kind to you overall.Where's the guy hiding behind the camera?(that's what I usually do)Great report and pics-keep em' coming!

[Charlotte Couple]

Thanks. I'm usually taking the photos, so I only appear in a few of them. Weather was good the whole trip. Windy (15-20 most days), but mostly sunny and highs 75-80. Very little rain.

Let's see, we're up to Day 5 already...

Wednesday, 4/23

We had a brief rain shower right after breakfast, but it cleared up nicely pretty quickly. We took a walk north on the Queens Highway (basically a cart path, unpaved most of the way) as far as we could go, just enjoying the scenery and beautiful homes along the way. At The Narrows someone built a very nice covered deck for public use. It gives nice views both East and West. There was also a very nice painting of a sailboat someone had done on a piece of driftwood, and had left it displayed on the picnic table near the shelter.

After our walk, we ate lunch at the cottage, then spent the rest of the afternoon on the Atlantic-side beach. We had the beach to ourselves, other than a work crew nearby, building a seawall. We enjoy watching the colors of the water, from deep blue to turquoise, with a line of bright white where the surf breaks over the outer reef.

Midafternoon, two large sailing vessels went by, heading north just outside the reef. The first was a magnificent private sailing yacht, about 140 feet long, flag blue hull, and heeling to port in the wind, under full sail.

Not far behind it, but with no sails flying, was the 170-foot square-rigged topsail schooner Mystic. I love sailing, and when I saw those vessels, I ran back to the cottage to get my camera. Unfortunately, I went barefoot, and blistered several places on my feet on the hot pavement, but I got some nice photos.

I knew the Mystic, because they had announced on the Cruisers Net that they would be coming to MOW, anchoring just off the main harbor entrance that night, and allowing tours on Thursday morning. The other vessel had to anchor just inside the North Man-O-War passage, because their draft is 14 feet. The Mystic is a centerboard boat, so they could negotiate the Sea of Abaco better.

We went back to the cottage that evening, grilled a pork tenderloin for dinner, then read until we went to bed at 9:00

Photos:

1. Abaco dinghy moored along the harbor side of MOW
2. Entry arbor & gate to a MOW home
3. Driftwood painting
4. Wm. H. Albury sailing by
5. Very nice estate on MOW

[Charlotte Couple]

Photos of the two yachts we watched from the beach

[Charlotte Couple]

Day 6 - April 24

After breakfast we took our boat to see the Mystic, which was giving free tours from 9-12 that morning. The ship is less than a year old, and returning from Exumas to her home port of Mystic, CT, to sail the summer season in New England. If you want to be a member of her crew of 10-12, you can do so for $6,900 for a 2-day cruise. Longer cruises are also available, at higher prices, of course.

Beautiful ship, and we enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to go aboard and see it up close.

We headed north to Great Guana, and decided to see what kind of reception we'd get on the beach at Bakers Bay, since it was a bit too choppy for Shell Island or Gumelemi Cay. Bakers was in the lee of the northeast wind, and was as calm as a lake. There were a couple other boats there, and nobody approached us while we were there, except the guy towing the beach-raking apparatus. He was very nice, and said we could use any of the beach.

We spent a couple hours there, and then decided to go to Nippers, arriving there at 2:00. Drank a couple frozen Nippers with lunch, and I had one more before we left. Felt fine on the ride home, and tied the boat up at the dock, but as I walked toward the house, I felt like I was weaving a bit. Those Nippers can really sneak up on you! Debby and I both had good naps that afternoon!

[Charlotte Couple]

Bakers Bay photos

[KNoel]

I'm enjoying your trip report and your beautiful pictures! It's great to know that Baker's Bay is still an enjoyable anchorage--we plan to charter in the Abacos in October, and I hope that things don't change too much between now and then!
Kathrine

[BahamaAngie]

Great pictures. some of your sailboat pictures look like they could be paintings. Is that yellow trampoline thingy in the water at BB?

[Charlotte Couple]

Thanks, Angie. I'm not sure what yellow trampoline thingy you mean. I didn't see anything like that.

I'm going to be away from the computer for a couple days, but will continue the trip report & pics on Wednesday.

[BahamaAngie]

Maybe we weren't at Baker's than. We had pulled up to this beach where there was a woman security guard who said we could only stay by the water line. There was a big round yellow trampoline raft in the water and I belive I saw small cottages back up towards the beach. The water was real shallow and crystal clear and it looked like on the other side was the ocean ocean.

[Charlotte Couple]

That was probably Bakers Bay. They do have a beach on the very northern end of Guana that is set up as an activities beach, with kayaks, outrigger canoes, etc, and there are small cottages they probably use to house prospective buyers. We were back on the western part, on the crescent-shaped beach.

[BahamaAngie]

Oh!

[Charlotte Couple]

Getting ready to post more on a new thread, but thought I'd bump this one up, for those who might have missed it earlier.

To continue this report, click here.

[LarryT]

Really great photos and report!
Gotta love those sailing vessels
Makes me want to go back tomorrow
Larry