Back in the North Abaco area

One of the advantages of hanging out in remote anchorages is the quiet and isolation with only a few boats around.  The major disadvantage is that it is harder to get an Internet connection.  Even with a data plan with our Bahamian phone there is often not a good enough signal.  The data plan was running low so I had to ration what I used it for until it finally ran out before my month was up; therefore we were out of communication for a bit.

The last entry had us arriving in Hope Town again.  If the weather is going to turn nasty there is no better protected harbor in the Abacos.  The front came through over the weekend and the temperature dropped into the upper 60’s to low 70’s and cool enough at night to require an extra blanket but the problem is with the winds.   Cori has wanted to try fishing this trip but has not had much luck, she caught nothing crossing the gulf stream, caught a fish and a half (see earlier posts) crossing “The Whale” when moving to the southern Abacos.  On Tuesday we had been invited to go fishing with Lee and Cheryl on Live Wire.  We were out early, went through Tilloo Cut into the Atlantic and began trolling for big fish.  The first strike was a Mahi but it got off before it could be landed.  The next two strikes were successful and two nice sized Mahi were in the cooler.  The next was a big barracuda that was released since they are not good to eat.  It had teeth about a half inch long.   After moving into deeper water Cori brought in a real nice Wahoo.  After that they stopped biting and we headed in to clean the fish and the boat.  Lee and Cheryl took some of the meat but gave the majority to us.  We had a great dinner of fresh fish with them that night.  It was the perfect end to a great day.  We have been eating fish since and the freezer is still full.  Photos were posted to Facebook and will be uploaded to this blogs photo collection if I have a fast enough connection.  I forgot to mention the whale sighting.  Lee said it was a small pilot whale but it looked big enough to me.  Our first whale sighting.

Wednesday was going to be our last day in Hope Town since we had rented the mooring for a week.  We made the walk to Papa Nastys for barbecue but they were out of everything we wanted except chicken.  It was still excellent.  By the time we were ready to leave the pulled pork was ready so we bought a quart to go.  We got two more meals with that.  I am going to miss Papa Nastys. 

Thursday we dropped the mooring in the morning at high tide to make the run to Marsh Harbour.  We needed to stock up on a few items, purchase more data for the phone and pick up our mail.  Cori’s Dad had packaged our mail and sent it to an address of a fishing shop that we had made friends with.  He was a customer of the company that Cori worked for so there was a bit in common.  Anyway, he offered to let us have our mail sent to him.  It took almost a month for it to arrive and cost $45 to ship it.  This was our first and only mail we have received.  Cori did a couple of loads of laundry, I did a few boat maintenance items and we were ready to get out of Marsh Harbour the next morning.

We left Marsh Harbour in the morning and sailed up to Fish Cays to check out the beach for shells.  There is only one small beach and there are no shells.  Now we know that for future reference.   We continued up to Spoils Cay since we knew that the shelling is great there.  After several hours on shore we made our way to Fishers Bay and dropped the hook for the night.

Saturday was the day we had planned to make the trip around the Whale.  It can be an easy calm passage or the swell of the ocean coming though the opening can be bad enough to make it dangerous to be in the area.  We were checking the weather for several days and expected an easy passage.  The swells were only 2-4 foot so it turned out easy, so easy that we continued out a bit and turned down to make a run along the island at the 50 foot depth line and tried fishing.  Cori had three lines out but with no luck as we spent a couple of hours motoring down and then back to the channel.  Instead of making a run to Green Turtle Cay like everyone else we stopped off at No Name Cay again.  As usual we were the only boat there on Saturday night and two others joined us off at a distance Sunday night.  Cori was able to go ashore on No Name and to Gilliam Bay to look for shells.  Sunday we dinghied into the big pond on the island and explored some of the small mangrove creeks watching the fish in the clear water.  We also saw several turtles and a ray while motoring around.   In the afternoon Cori took the dinghy back to Gilliam Bay to look for sand dollars.

Monday we pulled anchor and had a nice relaxing sail to Green Turtle Cay.  Instead of going into one of the sounds to anchor with everyone else we went up to the end of the island and dropped anchor in Coco Bay.  Not as quiet as were at No Name but quieter than in White or Black Sound anchored with all of the others.  There are a lot of boats in the area since a lot of people are transiting the area starting their way back to the US or Canada (lots of Canadians down here).  We were able to go ashore and take the short walk to the marina where the others were and checked on their plans for the week.

Tuesday we headed out early for a trip to Allans-Pensacola Cay.  It was a five hour trip but it was a downwind run so we had a great day of sailing.  We went to shore but there were no shells worth picking on any of the beaches until we found the trail across to the ocean side.  There Cori found more shells and sea glass.  In the morning we took the dinghy up further into the anchorage to see what we could find.  The cruising guides show some abandoned docks further up.  They also mention “the signing tree” and ruins of a US missile tracking station.   From the dock area, which was just the old poles still stuck in the sand, we found the trail to the ocean side and found the “signing tree”.  Cruisers have been hanging signs and anything else they can find on several trees to mark their being there.  Cori being the one that plans ahead brought a permanent marker and we put our boat name on a hard hat that we found washed up and hung that on the tree to mark our arrival.  Since Cori had left her shoes back where we entered the beach and we eventually ended up on sharp rocks she solved the problem by finding a left and right mismatched flip flops.  They are her new beach shoes.  There is a lot of debris washed up on the ocean side of the islands and flip flops are not uncommon.  I found a large concrete slab in the trees that I believe to be where the missile tracking antenna was.  Following the path back to the dinghy we found the remains of one of the buildings, actually just the foundation.  After going back to the boat for lunch Cori went back to the first beach we had gone to and searched for more shells and sea glass.

Today, Thursday, we pulled anchor early and started back to Green Turtle Cay with a couple of stops.  This being against the wind we motored to Powell Cay and dropped anchor.  On our way here we met up with Temptation and Victoria Gay as they started their way back home.  They plan on crossing to Florida on Saturday.  We will have to do the same but we plan on waiting a couple of weeks and to see more of this area.  Cori is ashore looking for shells; we have been here before so she knew what area she wanted to look in.  There is a tall telephone tower about two miles away on another island so I have a good phone connection so I am able to get emails and get on the Internet so I will be able to post this.

And that is what has been happening in our world.