"Island
Time" can be defined as two to three times greater than industry
standard time and is otherwise known as slow motion. One's
senses become dulled and a single small activity can easily fill an entire
day. Clocks cease to exist and time is meaningless.
December 2, 2000
Location:
Baker's Bay, Guana Cay (Abaco)
Odometer:
1781 miles
Our boat repairs are finally complete and we say good-bye to Green Turtle
Cay! Baker's Bay is located on Guana Cay and is the sight of a now
defunct cruise ship operation, known as Treasure Island (we were told this
was Disney's failed venture). Numerous ruined buildings still stand and all equipment (stoves, bars, lighting,
generators, etc.) still remain. The beaches around Baker's Bay are
gorgeous with large, orange and yellow starfish every five feet. We
toured this uninhabited side of the island and retired early (is 10 hours of sleep a night
too much?).
December 3, 2000
Location:
Fisher's Bay, Guana Cay (Abaco)
Odometer:
???? miles
Fisher's Bay is located on the Guana Cay settlement. This
settlement is very small but is home to the famous Nipper's Bar and
Grill (customers can be picked up at the dock by the "Nippermobile").
Nipper's sits atop a bluff overlooking the ocean with a reef close by
for snorkeling. We enjoyed a few frozen "Nipper Juices"
and a breathtaking view. We met a nice couple, Louis and Linda, on
the catamaran, Articus, at Nipper's. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and
quiet night at anchor.
December 4-9, 2000
Location:
Marsh Harbour (Abaco)
Odometer:
???? miles
Marsh Harbour is the commercial center of Abaco's widespread settlements,
with roads connecting from Sandy Point to the south to Treasure Cay to the
northwest. This is the first area that could be called a city - with
actual vehicle traffic, not just golf carts passing by!
Marsh Harbour has most every service and amenity one could hope for. There is even a bulk wholesale grocery store
called Solomon's Brothers (mini Price Club). The city is not exactly
pretty or charming - notice the lack of photographs! We took a slip at the
Conch Inn and Marina for two days and did a lot of laundry
(spent $30 on laundry tokens) and washed the boat. We met some
wonderful people at the marina, including Brian and Mary on My Therapy,
Dennis on Summer Wind, and Nicole and Stanley, just to name a few.
We also met up with Louis and Linda on Articus and spent some time
cruising on their cat and getting into trouble at the Jib Room's happy
hour ($7 covers all drinks from 5-7pm). We hope to see Louis and Linda
again in the Exumas. There are many good restaurants in Marsh Harbour,
including Mangoes, Sapodilly's, and Flipper's, but we still eat most of our
meals onboard. We bought some fresh conch and I have learned how to cook
cracked conch and conch chowder - delicious! We attended the Marsh Harbour Christmas
bazaar and enjoyed ourselves immensely! The bazaar offered handmade
crafts, music and Bahamian food stands serving conch salad, cracked conch
and crawfish (lobster) salad. I have never heard "Silent
Night" played with a reggae beat until now and have vowed to find a
Reggae/Caribbean holiday CD! You all are in for a treat next
Christmas!
December 10, 2000
Location:
Hopetown, Elbow Cay (Abaco)
Odometer:
???? miles
We decided to head over to Hope Town and to the reef at Sandy Cay
today. The cruise to Sandy Cay was calm and we caught two spanish
mackeral (no pictures this time!). Everything was going well until
we backed over our dinghy line and caught the line in the prop (doh!). We
threw the anchor and Chris jumped in with partial snorkel gear on.
He then decided to remove his rings before working on the prop and dropped
his wedding ring in 10 feet of water. We frantically searched
the sand bottom for the next hour but could not find the ring.
Depressed, we cruised to Hope Town that evening and took a mooring ball in the
harbor. Hope Town is small and quaint with a few shops and restaurants.
I prefer Hope Town to Marsh Harbour but Hope Town is considered an
"out island" and water, groceries, etc. are more expensive
there. We came upon the adorable Lizard Lodge in someone's garden in
Hope Town. Notice how Mr. Curlytail has his own basketball net and
has already decorated for the holidays! Curlytail lizards are native
to the Bahamas and you really have to watch where you step!
December 11-12, 2000
Location:
Marsh Harbour (Abaco)
Odometer:
???? miles
We decided to return to Marsh Harbour today but not before renting scuba
gear (Chris had dreams he was hunting for the ring all night long).
We rented some equipment from Froggies Out Island Adventures and set out
for Sandy Cay. We marked the spot with our GPS so knew (sort of)
where the ring was lost. Chris spent an hour on the bottom sifting
sand through his fingers with no luck. I guess we will be making a
trip to Smyth's when we return - and when we have the money to buy another
ring! We arrived into Marsh Harbour that evening just in time for the
annual Christmas Parade of Boats and fireworks display. It was
wonderful! Approximately 20 boats decorated with holiday lights
paraded around the anchorage with Christmas music (remember the reggae
beat) playing in the background. It was quite a sight and the
fireworks display was actually quite impressive. We were anchored
close to the barge (not too close Mom) that was setting off the fireworks
so the view was spectacular! It was wonderful to hear all the local
children lining the shores "oooh" and "aaah" when the
fireworks were going off. It seemed all of Marsh Harbour came out to
see the parade and festivities. I still can't believe that Christmas
is just around the corner! Here in the islands palm trees are
decorated with holiday lights and everyone is running around in shorts and
bathing suits - very strange. Believe it or not, I miss the cold
weather a bit (I don't think Chris feels the same!) and will die if
Virginia has a white Christmas. I have been waiting years for that
to happen! The next day we spent tuning up the dinghy outboard
engine. It has been running rough due to dirty fuel and we spent
some time filtering gasoline and changing internal filters. We also
had lunch at Mangoes restaurant - sometimes you just have to have a
burger!! I can't
recall anything else we did that day - Island Time is taking its toll!!
December 13, 2000
Location:
White Sound (Abaco)
Odometer:
???? miles
We took a short cruise to the White Sound area which is about 3 miles from
Hope Town. We fished a bit and caught three spanish mackeral, one which is
now in our freezer. We then went to the Abaco Inn for lunch.
The Inn suffered severe damage from hurricane Floyd but today little
evidence of the destruction can be found. We ordered crawfish
(lobster) salad and a conch burger and the food was very good. This
is where Rod and Wendy (Chris' folks) will be staying next week. We
are anchored tonight in White Sound and the wind is really
kicking! Believe it or not, Island Bob, I have not checked the
anchor during the night for months!!
