Snug in Little Harbor

Picture of Hope Town Light House.



We hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We spent a quiet day together on the boat listening to Christmas music and calling family. For Christmas dinner I fixed ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and Key Lime Pie. Key Lime Pie is not traditional Christmas fare, but it is Wayne's favorite.

Friday the 26th was Boxing Day, which is a holiday celebrated here in the Bahamas. We decided it was time to move to another anchorage. We needed to take the trash to the dumpster in Marsh Harbor before we left, so Wayne put the kayak in the water and kayaked to shore. After a day on the boat he appreciated the exercise he got from kayaking ashore. We raised the anchor and headed to Hope Town, which is about 8 miles away. One of the Boxing Day Events is the first Abaco Yacht Club sailboat race of the new season. Any and all are welcome to join in the event. For part of our trip to Hope Town we paralleled the race course. We could see the boats that were taking the race seriously because they were healed over and giving it their all. Others were just enjoying being out sailing. We counted over 30 boats participating in the event.

We anchored outside the entrance to Hope Town and dinghied in to explore town. We walked all over Hope Town and took pictures along the way. We are trying to take more pictures this trip. Other entertainment was watching the race boats get stuck in the shallow channel at low tide as they returned to Hopetown. The weather for the next few days looked good so we decided that on Saturday we would go to Lynyard Cay.

On Saturday morning while I was making yogurt Wayne took the dinghy into Hope Town to get gas for the dinghy. After he got back we put the dingy and motor up and were prepared to get the engine started when Wayne noticed that the dinghy on Mary Kathryn, the boat next to us, had broken loose. I tried to hail them on the VHF radio but they did not respond. Wayne was thinking fast and put the kayak in the water and paddled out to the dinghy which was floating out into the Sea of Abaco. I was still trying to hale Mary Kathryn. When he got to the dinghy there was no rope for him to use to pull it back. I was yelling at Mary Kathryn to try and get their attention. Wayne paddled to Mary Kathryn and got the key to the dinghy and then paddled back out. He had trouble starting the engine but was finally able to get the dinghy engine started. He drove the dinghy and towed his kayak back. Gail, Bob, and Patti on Mary Kathryn were very grateful for Wayne's rescue of their dinghy and gave him a nice bottle of wine as a thank you.

After putting the kayak away we made the 13 mile trip to Lynyard Cay. Lynyard Cay has a few houses scattered on it, but we could not tell if any had people in them. We took a cruiser path over to the beach and picked up miniature shells and sea glass. Sea Glass is broken glass that has been tossed and turned in the ocean and on the beaches, this smoothes out the edges. It is used to make jewelry and in Marsh Harbor I saw a print of a water color that had been covered in sea glass. For now I am enjoying finding the sea glass and putting it in a jar and will try to figure out how to be creative with it later.

Sunday we took out both kayaks and kayaked to the north end of Lynyard Cay. There was a pretty beach so we beached the kayaks and walked around. We followed a newly graded road for quite a while. We found out later that they are going to make a resort and marina at that end of the island. Mary Kathryn had also come south and had anchored near us while we were kayaking, so we stopped to talk to them. After lunch we kayaked to the beach just in front of our anchorage and walked the beach and around the shoreline of that end of the island. We felt like we needed to change the name of our boat because we were anchored with Pamela Jo, Mary Katherine and Shirley Mae! Luckily Pearl, Kachou and Merlin later joined us.

Monday we made the long journey of 2 miles, over to Little Harbor. We had heard so much about Little Harbor but had never been here. Little Harbor lives up to its name, it is very small. There are maybe 25 mooring balls, a dock for the restaurant/bar/gallery and a few private docks and not much room for anything else. We got a ball and went ashore to check it out. We paid for our mooring ball, which is $15 a day or 4 days for $45, we decided on 4 days. We walked through the gallery where they sell bronze castings by the late Randolph Johnston and his son Pete as well as paintings by other artists. The castings are made in their foundry here. Randolph started an artist’s colony here in 1952. He wrote a book to tell of his adventures called an “Artist on his Island, A Study in Self-Reliance”. We then walked up to the lighthouse. There is a ruin of the old care takers house and a modern solar powered light that now serves as the “light house” to warn of the rocky shore. We also walked a portion of the beach.

Tuesday we kayaked to the mangrove pond that is used as a hurricane hole for local boats. We also kayaked to the cave where the Johnston’s lived while building their house. They were made of heartier stuff than I am because I am not sure I could have lived there. It was fun watching a small sea plane land using the entrance to the harbor as a runway, then go to shore and anchor at the restaurant. After lunch we walked the beach in the other direction all the way to point. When we got back to Pete’s Pub, which is Little Harbor’s bar/restaurant, Bob and Patti from Mary Kathryn were there. They offered to buy us a drink. We enjoyed talking to them as we enjoyed our drinks.

Today Wayne did his first end to end splice. It has been on his “to do list” for quite some time. So we now have a brand new roller furling line for our stay sail. He did a great job! We will spend a quiet New Year’s Eve on the boat since “cruisers midnight” is around 9:00, we will bring in the New Year tomorrow morning with a nice cup of coffee.

Wishing everyone a VERY Happy and Safe New Year!