Old Friends and New in Marsh Harbor

Another pretty sunset, Wayne took this picture while we were visiting sv Temptation in Marsh Harbor, Abaco. That is Born to Cruise on the right

We are not sure where all of our time goes, the days just seem to slip by. We have been in Marsh Harbor since the 8th and here it is the 17th already. Marsh Harbor is a well protected harbor from all winds and the stores are easily accessible. Our plan now is to head out of Marsh Harbor tomorrow to explore another island, depending on the weather, of course.

We have been enjoying spending time with friends new and old. We have enjoyed sundowners with Karen and Earl on Temptation from another marina on the Neuse River at home, Jim and Linda on Winsome (who we met on our last trip to the Bahamas), and Christine and Peter on Mytyfyne (a British couple from Raleigh who we just met). Diana, Gerald and their cute little dog, Beatrice on Whiskers (a catamaran) had us over for a wonderful Lamb Curry, which is a favorite in Durban, South Africa where they are from. Whiskers is on their second world circumnavigation.

We have once again proven that the cruising community is not very big. We dinghied over to Marsh Harbor Marina, where there is a dinghy dock in front of the Jibroom. The guy standing on the dock said, I see your dinghy is from North Carolina, he said we keep our boat in NC. Wayne asked him where and he said Northwest Creek Marina! That is where we also keep Born to Cruise. We met John and Jerrie on Trinity and also Dave on Avignon. They each had temporary space at Northwest Creek and have just found out that they are no longer on the waiting list because they have been assigned slips, so they are our new neighbors. So a short trip to shore turned into several hours of getting to know each other since we had never met in NC. Dave was having a problem with his ICOM 802 SSB/Ham radio that Wayne knew how to resolve and we spent some time aboard Avignon fixing it. We look forward to spending more time with Trinity and Avignon both here in the Bahamas and at Northwest Creek.

There were two days that we had what Troy at Dive Guana calls "greasy flat" water, meaning it is REALLY calm and flat. We took the kayaks out on both days over to Mermaid Reef outside the harbor. It is a protected reef that is about a mile and a half from where we are anchored. We could sit in the kayaks and watch the colorful fish on the reef. It was really neat. We tried taking some underwater pictures while sitting on the kayak and found that we wiggle too much on the kayaks to get a clear shot.

Merlins Marine specializes in Ray Marine products. They are the only Ray Marine dealer in the Bahamas and they are here in Marsh Harbor. Our autopilot is an Autohelm which is now owned by Ray Marine. They think our first course of action is to have the linear drive rebuilt, which is what is being done now. Hopefully that will resolve our problem, if not Merlins will work with us to analyze it from there. The manual steering works great, but Otto the autopilot makes it easier.

My mother and sister have made flight reservations and will be flying into Marsh Harbor on February 15th to visit for a week. Between now and then we will be exploring the Abacos.

The cold front that is freezing all of you in the US has also come to the Bahamas. Our normal highs of 78+ have dropped to the mid 60's! Wayne is actually wearing a shirt on the boat and the locals are wearing coats. Hope it warms up for all of you soon.

Northwest Creek Reunion at Hope Town

Friends from our home port at Northwest Creek Marina having lunch at Captain Jack's in Hope Town, Abaco

Beth from Grateful Attitudes (Dave was in Michigan getting dental work done), Bill and Margaret from Margarita, John and Madeleine from Chanceux, Brian and Sonia from Flash II, Jill from Born to Cruise and Wayne took the picture

New Years Day we walked around Little Harbor and once again went to the light house to look at the sea state. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Pete's Pub that night of garlic ginger tuna on a big salad along with the house specialty drink known as a "Blaster".

Friday the 2nd we headed for Hope Town. As we pulled into the habor we were hailed over the VHF by Flash II. The gang was having lunch at Captain Jack's and we should come over. It was fun to see everyone again.

Hope Town has mooring balls in the harbor. This is our first time staying on a mooring ball in this harbor. Several different people own the mooring balls, we are on a ball owned by Rudy. Rudy was born in Hope Town and is quite a character.

We are still in Hope Town. We have walked the beaches, kayaked, climbed to the top of the light house, and walked more beaches and all of the streets around town. In between the fun we have washed some clothes and done a few small boat projects. The days go by so quickly.

Our evenings have been spent with our friends from Northwest Creek. Cruisers get together for what they call 'sundowners'. You gather on someones boat around 4;30 , bringing your own beverage and a snack to share. You enjoy each others company, watch the sun go down, blow the conch horn and by 7:00 or 8:00 head back home to your own boat. Last night we all called Northwest Creek Marina and enjoyed talking to Dawn and Di. One night we had Beth over for dinner and tonight we are having sundowners/game night on Born to Cruise. We are enjoying this time together before everyone heads off in their own direction.

We have some sad news, our daughter-in-law Jenny had a miscarrage. We are thankful that she is ok and she and Steve are making plans for the future.