A tour of Elbow Cay

Yesterday we rented  a golf cart to go tour Elbow Cay.  $50 for 24 hours gets you a 4 seat gas powered cart that might do 15mph if you're lucky.  The roads here aren't good for much more that that!

First stop the hardware store, known, strangely, as Imports Unlimited.  The store had everything you could imagine in a very small space.  I picked up a gallon of Muriatic Acid which is invaluable on board to dissolve any unwanted solids in pipes etc., without dissolving the pipes etc.

Yesterday the winds were easterly so the Atlantic side was brisk, relatively speaking, and the Abaco side was smooth and warm.

Debby flagged down a gold cart driver and asked him to take the camera.

Here is Tahiti Beach at the very southern tip of Elbow Cay on the Abaco side

Next was Firefly for lunch and cocktails.

Firefly has its own brand of dogs.  Friendly muts.

We toured around many streets and came across the Madigan's Octagon house. Sorry, no picture.  Some very interesting properties on Elbow.  We also dropped into the grocery store followed by the Liquor store for some provisions.

Earlier the day before I visited Monica for a hair cut.  Here's Jo's before and after pictures. 

You can see the difference can't you?

Today we will have a shot at dinghying to Cracker P's on Lubbers Quarters.  Hopefully the wind and waves will allow!

Update:  No go.  Went to the Lodge for lunch instead.

The Day Before Saving Grace left....

In going through my phone photos I realised I had some from the day before the Grace Team departed.  We went out for drinks and supper. First to the Abaco Inn and then we watched the sun set from the water and then we went to Captain Jack's.

But first, the 'Grace Team had gone to Cracker P's for lunch and then came back to pick us up around 4pm. Jo and I do not know what happened there but spirits were good on the Grace Team.

At her request we stopped by the Lighthouse marina so Brandy could pick up a beer and we set off for the Abaco Inn.

At the Abaco Inn we set up at the bar...

The girls of legal age set about a few Rum Punches and took roadies and Grace on a beach walk

As sunset approached we headed out for Hope Town for supper but stopped en route to watch the sun set. It was another spectacular one in paradise.

I forgot to mention that more Rum Punch roadies were obtained before we left the Abaco Inn.

The sun rose this morning and then it set and there it was: gone.

 I won't go in to what happened at Captain Jack's but it was another of those days when someone suggested she and I have Tequila shooters.  And we had a few.  Guess who "she" was?

It was a wonderfully fitting end to our second trip with the Saving Grace Team.  Love you all!!

Bigger Storm action

The sprinkle and thunder we got early yesterday morning were nothing compared to the winds we got last night as a cold front came through.  We think Debby bought it with her.

The wind steadily picked up during the day but got quite rowdy last night.  So much so I was up chatting with our neighbour on the sail boat next door at 3:15am while we were checking our lines and the motion of the boat.  The wind was an easterly and topped a steady 35 mph.  I don't know what the gusts were.  It was high tide so our lines were longest and the boat was moving to the extremes in all directions.  Eventually I was satisfied that we were not going to hit anything so I went back to bed.

It was breezy and much cooler today with little humidity.  We took the shuttle over to the grocery store for some provisions and had lunch at Captain Jack's while we were there.

Later Debby tried to get a tan by the pool and eventually gave up.  We retired to the boat and looked forward to warmer sunnier weather!

A little Storm action

I posted this on Facebook earlier but I thought I would put it here as well.  The forecast has been for thunderstorms starting Monday afternoon through Tuesday.  But before we rose this morning a good thunderstorm came through.  When I got up it was still lightning.  After it passed through the sky changed to a beautiful sun rise.

It has been threatening to storm all day but, so far, nothing.  Jo and I took the dinghy around the harbour for a cruise.  We have a 105' Hargrave (white on right) and an 80' Pershing (grey on left) in here at the moment.

Dream Weaver looks kind of piddling by comparison but it's home to us...

Debby arrives tomorrow with the forecast for quite bad seas locally.  But she will have taken her Gravol!  We will meet her at the ferry dock here in Hope Town.  I will let you know what colour her cheeks are.

Barefoot Man

We had been recommended to go to Nippers on Great Guana Cay by many people.  It turns out that Barefoot Man, a singer from Grand Cayman, was making his twice-yearly appearance there so we booked an excursion through Froggie's on one of their dive boats.

With a pick-up en route at Man O'War Cay we saw our acquaintances from Riviera Beach.  "Kim Jo IV" was going to buddy boat with us to West End Bahamas but had some repairs to make.  

Once at Great Guana Cay we quickly located a bar for lunch.  This is Grabber's - more about it later.

Then we set out for Nippers.  It's a short walk across the harbour and over the dunes.  The Cay is beautiful

Barefoot Man wasn't due to start until 1pm and it was already very busy when we arrived a little before 12:30.

People everywhere, all ages, shapes and sizes; the only common element was beach casual wear with the occasional hardly-anything wear.

Thankfully there was still room at the bar. So, armed with a couple of Rum Punches we wandered around.  The great man was going to perform here on this tiny "stage".

The views were spectacular.  The beach runs all along the Cay and swimming/snorkeling is apparently excellent 

We found a shady spot to wait and drink our RPs.

Here we had a great view over the twin pools.  Note the abundance of hardly-anything wear.

We found the pool rules to be pretty standard but you don't often see Rule 5!

By 1:30 the place was packed and folks were still arriving.

Then the man arrived and started playing. And he was good.

I would like to hear him in less cramped quarters some time.

He had a three piece backing group.

But it was too hectic and cramped for us.  So we got a couple of RP roadies and walked back to town.  We gravitated to Grabber's and tried a couple of their home grown cocktails called, wait for it...a Grabber!  And these too, were good.  Very good.  We had another thanks to the Scottish gentleman below.

Billy was a great guy.  The picture doesn't do him justice.  We bought him a vodka and soda.  We also made friends with Gabby the bar tender.  Who wouldn't?  So I had another Grabber and life was good!

Regrettably we had to leave so we bought a couple of Grabber roadies and, well, you get the idea.  Seems like everyone came equipped for the voyage with a roadie.

The crew relaxed en route for Hope Town

As did the passengers.

And so ended a great outing to Great Guana Cay.  After a quick dip in our pool we retired for the night.

Hope Town Inn and Marina

I showed you pictures of the other marina at which we had planned to stay in Marsh Harbour but I haven't shown you the place in which we have now elected to stay.

Starting at our assigned slip, which we will likely move from to get a longer finger, this view looks across to the offices and facilities building.  The waterway is used by the marina shuttle which runs all day to ferry residents across to Hope Town village.  The marina itself is across the bay and is effectively isolated on a peninsula which makes it very secure.

The view above looks to Starboard from Dream Weaver and shows the bar, residences and pool area.  Below, a little further to the right, you can see the Hope Town lighthouse and new residences being built and almost finished.

Looking back along our finger, Hope Town is in the background across a bay crowded with boats on moorings.

The pool is not heated and very refreshing on a hot Abaco day.  That's Jo chatting to Cheryl from Live Wire, a boat that passed us en route down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway last November.

Me taking a rest from my strenuous photographic exercises after a quick dip in the pool.

The pool has a swim-up bar area.

The resort has numerous features where you can look out over the harbour or surrounding areas.  It is dotted with cottages and rooms that can be rented on a short or long term basis.

Every part of the resort is new and clean.  The service is excellent and Hope Town has most things we need from day-to-day.  Marsh Harbour is a 20 minute ferry ride for $27 round trip for the other things not available here.

This is why we elected to stay here.