We sailed from Manjack Cay to Foxtown and anchored for the night. Foxtown is on the south side of Great Abaco and is about half way to Great Sale Cay where we planned to stage for crossing back the the US. We had never been there before but a couple people had mentioned it to us as an interesting stop and an easy place to top off with diesel for the crossing.
It is a pretty little town but not really much there. We bought fuel for the boat and stopped in the restaurant for lunch then walked from one end of town to the other all in about a half hour. Like most of the small settlements we’ve visited, the people were really friendly. We passed a bunch of kids that had just gotten off the school bus and they all said hello and waved and smiled.
Conch divers (like the waterman on the Chesapeake)
Town from the water as we came in by dinghy.
A house built out over the water.
A local waterman’s work boat.
The local church. One of the nicest buildings in town!
The fuel station is actually on the road a little ways front he dock. Landing at the fuel dock.
Tiny little dinghy dock. Had to climb up to the landing.
The momma dog wasn’t interested in us at all but her puppy was curious but not brave enough to come to me.
Daniel Parker was the gas station attendant. He is 78 years old and was listening to a Christian radio station. He pointed out into the anchorage and said…that you? We had a great conversation with him about his “50-some” grandkids!
He quieted the sea with His power
We left Treasure Cay and sailed through Whale cut passage to the northern part of the Abaco’s to Manjack Cay. When we went south, the Whale was pretty benign (as the HF weather guy says). This time, not so much. But it’s a short passage so the 4-6′ swell and wind-driven whitecaps were short-lived as we sailed into the northern part of the Abacos and ducked behind Green Turtle Cay. Since we spent some time at Green Turtle on the way south, we went passed it to go to Manjack Cay.
It is really so beautiful here. We anchored off the west side of Manjack Cay in 12 feet of crystal clear water. The next day we took the dinghy in to the beach on the sound side of the island and hiked over to the ocean side and back. After we got back to the boat, we put on our snorkeling gear and scrubbed the bottom of the boat in preparation for our west-bound crossing of the Gulf Stream. Every little bit helps!
A very cloudy sun rise but still beautiful.
A sign at the dinghy beach landing where boaters can take their dogs to walk them.
There were signs along the way all the way across the island pointing out the path to the ocean side.
Hiking over to the ocean side of the island.
Turquoise water!!
At the beach.
Beautiful day at Manjack Beach.
Old props all over a tree we hiked past to the beach.
The view of the anchorage from the island.
He quieted the sea with His power
We were so excited that our friends, Jill and Butler Newman, came to the Bahamas to see us!! We had an amazing time with them!! Here are some of the highlights.
Learning to blow the conch horn.
Learning to blow the conch horn.
Watching the sea turtles from the boat.
It does make a pretty good office. Greg and Butler are coauthors of a Business book that will be available in July.
Jill and Butler walking to the beach.
Walking to the beach.
Walking on the beach at Treasure Cay.
Lunch at Coco’s.
Walked on the beach again.
Butler and Jill swimming in the turquoise water of the Sea of Abaco!
Greg and Lyn swimming in the turquoise water too.
Enjoyed a Bahamian Beach bonfire and BBQ with Jill and Butler.
BBQ on the beach.
Bonfire on the beach.
Great time!!
While waiting for Jill and Butler’s taxi we ran into Tim and Sue off of Whaleback from our home marina in Maryland.
Thanks for coming Jill and Butler, we really enjoyed your visit!!
He quieted the sea with His power
More pictures of our adventures in the Bahamas.
Underway with George (auto-helm) driving!!
A day of training by the Bahamian Defense Force.
Calm clear water with 10 kts of wind. We could see the bottom in 15 feet deep water as we sailed along. Incredible!!
Greg had to go in to set our anchor because there was such thick sea grass in this area. Pretty water here!!
Skyping with the birthday girl and her sister!!
A Treasure Cay elementary school art show ready for the next day. Lots of really cool looking stuff! Very talented kids and teachers.
Turtles made of sand dollars and shells at the art show.
A sea glass seahorse at the art show.
Bike ride around Treasure Cay.
We saw this bird on our bike ride.
Canadians that can’t live without their motor cycle!! It would be interesting to watch them put it on and off.
The dinghy landing on Great Guana Cay.
Wing night at Orchid Bay Restaurant with Dave and Chris off of Felix the Cat at Great Guana Cay.
Out for a dinghy ride.
Out for a dinghy ride.
He quieted the sea with His power
We sailed down and anchored off of Lynyard Cay and took our dinghy into Little Harbour, at the southernmost end of the Sea of Abaco. We decided not to take Paperbird in because we needed every bit of high tide to get in the channel. It is 4 feet at low tide and only 6 at high tide so it would be close. We just decided to go in by dinghy and spend the afternoon.
The dinghy dock in Little Harbour.
Walking through the little town to the art gallery.
Had lunch at pete’s Pub. An outdoor sand floor little restaurant.
Walked over to the ocean side of Little Harbour.
Little Harbour was founded by Randolph Johnston, a sculptor, in the mid-50’s. When they first settled in the harbor, the family lived in a cave for about 5 years. The cave is still there but it’s not one we would like to live in. Not very deep and a little low.
The caves the family lived in when they first moved to the island in the 1950’s.
More of the caves. Lot’s of stalactites and stalagmites.
Johnston’s sculpting work has been continued by his son Pete who also runs Pete’s Pub. The bronze pieces are beautiful!
And, of course, more projects.
Splicing a new anchor snubber.
He quieted the sea with His power
We left Marsh Harbour along with Joe and Yvonne on Modaki and sailed down to Tavern Cay and Tilloo Cay and did some exploring. Here are some photos from our journey down to Tilloo.
Trying to catch a fish while sailing. We haven’t caught any fish yet!! We bought some grouper to make fish tacos.
Sailing beside Joe and Yvonne on Modaki.
Modaki sailing beside us.
Beautiful day in the Bahamas!!!
We had Joe and Yvonne over for dinner one night at Tavern Cay and at sunset Greg & Joe blew their conch horns to herald the end of another beautiful day in the Bahamas.
A big charter boat, Barcelona Explorer, with 6 state rooms that we saw down off of Lubbers Quarters. Look up www.BarcelonaExplorer.com
Anchored along a beautiful beach on the sound side of Tilloo Cay.
Walking at Tahiti Beach on the south end of Elbow Cay.
There are a lot of red star fish in the shallow waters around the Bahamas.
Heading back to the dinghy at Tahiti beach.
Stopped for a Coke at Cracker P’s a restaurant across from Tahiti beach on Lubbers Quarters. This is the view from their deck.
When we were leaving Cracker P’s this little 4 year old wanted to help push the dinghy back out into the water. He was so sweet….made us miss our grandkids!!
This is me (Lyn) swimming around the boat anchored at Tavern Cay.
This is a picture of Paperbird sent from Modaki.
This is Paperbird too. Thanks for the pictures Joe and Yvonne.
He quieted the sea with His power
This is a saying that you hear often down here. So no matter what we are doing we say this to each other. It is really beautiful here! The water and the weather (well, the weather most of the time). Here are some pictures that tell a little of what we have been doing here.
Working on his conch horn.
Phil, thought you’d appreciate this one. We took all the electronics down to work on the antenna for the radio. We still can’t hear the cruising net very well. It’s going to take a trip to the top of the mast.
A very still, foggy morning in the anchorage and someone is taking their dog to land.
Bahamian Defense Forse.
I finally made Greg some homemade chocolate chip cookies!
Walking to the laundry mat.
Lunch with Joe and Susan off of Windswept from Canada.
Bike ride to see more of Marsh Harbour.
Hike with Joe and Yvonne at low tide looking for sea glass and sea shells. They are from Owen Sound, Canada on Modaki.
Buying conch salad from George in Marsh Harbour.
The laundry mat in Marsh Harbour.
Lots of curly tail lizards in the Bahamas.
Feeding the fish. It’s fun how they swarm to you for the diluted oat meal in a little squirt bottle.
The snorkeling is so amazing in the Bahamas!
We rode with Dave and Chris off of Felix the Cat, in their tender out to help tow Modaki into Marsh Harbour when their starter burned out.
We even participated in the St Patrick’s Day parade in Marsh Harbour. It was 300 feet long and had a water (or green beer) stop at the half way point.
He quieted the sea with His power
Happy Birthday to our beautiful granddaughter Becca!! Seven years old today!!
We love you and miss you!! Hope you have a fun day!
Nana and Gramps
Hey, Noah, check out these pirate ships and pirates that we have seen along the way. They aren’t real pirates, of course. But there are a lot of people like you that really like to dress up and play pirate. Every time we see one we think of you and how much you love pirate stuff! Pirates really like BIG boats!! Well, at least all the ones we have seen are huge!
Plus we thought you’d like this really big fishing boat!! Can you find the guy with the red shorts on? Show this one to dad….he will love it too!! Yes, that’s an apartment building behind the boat!! It was down in Fl….not in the Bahamas.
Love and Miss you,
Nana and Gramps
We stopped at Mermaid Reef this week and snorkeled. It was so amazing! The fish are used to people bringing food with them and even though we didn’t have anything they swarmed to us thinking we did. It was like swimming in a big aquarium!! The fish thought my camera was food so when I held it up they swam right up to it.
He quieted the sea with His power
