December 14 - 16, 2000
Location:
Abacos, Bahamas
Odometer:
????
We spent these days preparing for the arrival of Chris' folks, Rodney and
Wendy Gay from Woodland California. We took a slip and washed the
boat, gathered a few provisions (essentials for a "Banana Cow"
and Pina Colada) and filled the water tanks. We also managed to
enjoy a few sunny hours at Tahiti Beach and Chris went hunting for
coconuts. We bought a machete in anticipation of gathering coconuts
and cracked them open on the sundeck. The meat of a fresh coconut is
delicious and tastes much like an almond. I baked some coconut bread
that evening and it turned out wonderfully!
December 17 - 24, 2000
Location:
Abacos, Bahamas
Odometer:
???? miles
We traveled to Hope Town on Elbow Cay and met Rod and Wendy at the Post
Office dock. They had been delayed due to flight cancellations so
did not arrive until early evening. They reserved a pretty villa at
the Abaco Inn in Elbow Cay. The Abaco Inn
sits atop a hill and has a gourmet restaurant, the best on Abaco.
Rod and Wendy treated us to wonderful dinners every night and we dined
like royalty on lobster tail and steak! During their stay we
snorkeled at Mermaid Reef and Fowl Cay Preserve and both sites were
amazing! Mermaid Reef is a shallow reef close to the mainland of
Abaco. It is a very popular snorkeling area and the fish swarm
waiting to be fed. We took a can of cheese whiz with us and large
fish of all types (parrot, yellowtail snapper, triggerfish, grouper)
surrounded us consuming the cheese - a truly wonderful experience!
We also saw our first Loggerhead turtle scooting along the bottom at
Mermaid Reef. Fowl Cay Preserve is in the ocean and is part of the
Great Barrier Reef of Abaco, second only in size to the Great Barrier Reef
in Australia. We took the dinghy to a mooring ball, tied up and were
immediately greeted by a huge barracuda! The reefs are in 15 feet of
water and run from the ocean floor to the surface. Never have we
seen such beautiful underwater scenery, except on National Geographic
specials on television! At every depth along the reef reside
different species of marine life. We saw immense parrot fish almost
three feet in length feeding on the bottom and several sea turtles.
Aside from the overly friendly barracuda which remained under our dinghy,
the snorkeling adventure was magical! We took Rod and Wendy to Hope
Town and did some shopping and cruised around Abaco in Lady Laura.
Later in the week a cold front hit Abaco bringing chilly weather and high
winds. We spent the remainder of the week playing board games and
enjoying the company! Rod and Wendy left for Virginia to visit the
Gays on December 24th. Thanks Rod and Wendy for the wonderful
dinners, gifts and company!!
December 25, 2000 - January 1, 2001
Location:
Abacos, Bahamas
Odometer:
1993 miles
Christmas Eve was spent on the boat in Hope Town in 30+ knot winds,
gusting near 50 knots! The cold front had arrived with a
vengeance. Christmas day we left Hope Town and cruised to Marsh
Harbour to attend the Christmas pot-luck dinner at the Marsh Harbour
Marina. I made macaroni and cheese from scratch (not Kraft!) and
coconut bread and we attended the pot-luck dinner. There were 92
cruisers in attendance and we met some very nice people that day.
Christmas dinner was good, but did not compare to Mom's or
Jo's! I was very home sick and have vowed never to be away from home
at Christmas again!! After Christmas we rented a scooter and drove
to Treasure Cay, about 25 miles away. Treasure Cay is known for its
gorgeous beach and we enjoyed lunch at the Banyan Beach Club. It
took us days to recover from the hard seat on that scooter! We moved
the boat to Mangoes Marina on December 29th, Chris' 34th birthday!
We had a delicious dinner of stuffed grouper at Mangoes that evening to
celebrate Chris' birthday. In anticipation of our trip south we have
spent time provisioning, working on the boat, doing laundry and waiting
for calm seas. We spent New Years Eve at the Jib Room at Marsh
Harbour Marina. We dined on surf and turf and danced the night
away! Fireworks exploded at midnight and a good time was had by
all! We plan to head to Little Harbor on January 2 and on to Spanish
Wells as soon the weather cooperates!
