A Dark and Stormy is a great drink. I could use several tonight. But all we have is a dark and stormy night, with the first major cold front of the season blowing through the Abacos right now. After a fairly mild day, the winds picked up around 5pm, and by 6 we had winds 30kts with gusts up to 45, lightening every five seconds (mostly cloud to cloud, so little thunder) and very heavy rain which even blew small waterfalls down through the Dorade vents in the heavy gusts. On the satellite "radar" view we're able to see that the rains are almost over, but the winds are forecast to be above 25kts all night. So I figured what the heck, why not upload our latest batch of photos, since we have a decent wifi connection, and share them with you. And view the video I took this evening with the lightening.
We pulled into Man 'O War Cay on Tuesday and were so impressed with the marina facilities here we decided not to go on to Green Turtle Cay as originally planned. Man 'O War is a small cay which is at the far NE corner of the Bamahas. It is about 5 water miles from Marsh Harbour, the main town on Great Abaco, and Hope Town, the small village with the distinctive white and red striped light house. We have gone for some great walks! North of town, on the Queen's Highway (every island has one), we had to be careful that we didn't run into a golf cart. It goes from cement to dirt and is only wide enough for a golf cart, and typical of most islands, is the only street that runs the whole length of the island. We came upon a narrow part of the island where you could see both Abaco Sound and the Atlantic. It was a calm day, and absolutely beautiful. There are some pics from that walk.
This island is very religious, they will allow you to bring your wine to dinner and will provide glasses, but don't sell any liquor anywhere. We saw several people coming in on the ferry for the holidays with cases of wine. Many of the people on the island are descendants of the loyalists who 'escaped' the US in the 1760's. If your name isn't Albury or Sweeting, then you're a newcomer. Like most of the Bahamas, it seems everyone is everyone's cousin. The permanent population here is about 300 people.
We'll leave Mystique on a mooring here and fly back to Florida on Tuesday to spend Christmas with my Mom and Dad in Bradenton. We've had a relaxing time in decent weather (until tonight) and met some interesting fellow cruisers and several locals. One, Hartley Albury, has lived on the island all his life and still makes the most beautifully hand-crafted wooden boats - a craft he learned from his dad and grandfather. One of his stunning brand new boats was on the ways today with flags flying from the mast and is due to be launched tomorrow morning. Should be great fun.
Jan and I are delighted with our cruise this fall. After some initial frustration with 'mechanical opportunities' Mystique has been running in very good condition with all systems functioning well. That has been a huge relief and allowed us to spend a lot of time relaxing, going ashore and meeting new friends. Also, the weather has been refreshingly cooperative with clear days, mild winds behind us and highs in the low-mid 80's. The water temperature is still around 80 so swimming and snorkeling have been enjoyable.
We plan to return to Mystique in April and cruise again for a couple of months. But we haven't decided whether to stay in these interesting and beautiful Bahamian cruising grounds (it's hard to imagine anyplace better) or return to the East Coast and head north. We'd like to spend time between the Chesapeake and Maine some day. Either way, we'd love to have some crew visits, so let us know when you can join us!
Posts
1 comment:
Merry Christmas down there! GREAT pics!
Post a Comment