WEDDING FUN

 We travelled to Abacos to attend a wedding of some awesome friends of ours from the Maritime provinces in Canada. They have a boat and just fell in love with the Abacos. There are six couples on boats and the other 60 guests arrived by plane and ferries to Green Turtle Cay. This is a week of celebrations galore as we party it up. We have met up with old friends and have met new ones. 

The locals here have probably not seen a wedding with music like this. They joined in on the fun. These Eastcoasters have endless amount of energy.

The locals came with their music, young and old! This was a major highlight!

Rays and turtles are here in Green Turtle Cay! We can get up close and personal with them.  It helps if you have some food for them.

I have a post titled Time Line 2024. Check that out too.

ELEUTHERA EXTRA

 I have extra photos that I want to put here. I captured some nice ones of Spanish Wells just after sunrise.

We started at daybreak to cross to the Abacos. Beautiful sunrise.

We had a lunch out with our friend Neil (his wife was not able to join us). This was our beautiful view. Paul ate a Wahoo burger, he says it was the best he ever had!

This is the Glass Window Bridge. This is not my photo. 

It is an amazing sight to see. The ocean on one side and the Sound on the other. The ocean in this photo is calm, it was absolutely not when we visited. 

Goodbye Eleuthera and now a big hello to the Abacos. 

LOVELY ELEUTHERA

 This island is the friendliest island! The people are so happy and thankful you are visiting this place. There is so much to see and little time for us. We will be back!

The Queen's Baths is an amazing sight on the ocean side. The ocean was giving an amazing show, better than fireworks!

Near the Queen's Baths is a famous sight called The Glass Window. This is a man made bridge that is very narrow and salty! The waves on the ocean side can splash right up there on the bridge. It was a sight to see!

The ocean smell was misty, salty and the sounds of the waves outstanding. 

We stopped at a cute restaurant/bar for a beer and wine. The wait time for food was too long so we will be back next year.

The walls of Daddy Joe's restaurant 

We pulled anchor and had to arrive at slack tide to go through Current Cut to get to Spanish Wells area. This is a cute town and we bought some produce in a very large grocery store. It is Easter so there are many tourists here with their families. This town is known for all their golf carts driving on thr other side of the road. We had a delightful lunch out yesterday and Paul said it was the best ever, a wahoo fish burger. 

The night sky was absolutely amazing.

 We leave for the Abacos tomorrow. It will be a little rough but mostly a big swell. It will be a long day. We will have a fishing lure out to catch something large!

ANCHORS ARE IMPORTANT

A huge storm which included 65mph winds was here in the Bahamas! Every boat was anchored safely or in a marina for days. This system was huge. So much rain! We arrived in Hachete Bay, Eleuthera days before the storm system arrived. We are new to this area so we wanted to make sure we anchored in a good spot as this anchorage is small but very protected. That being said it became full the day before the storms arrived. Some boats anchor too close to others.

Anchors are not all treated equally! Boats had a hard time getting hooked in this bay. Some anchored right in the deep channel so Island Link Ferry had to zig zag all around these boats to get to the Government Dock. There was a lot of honking and the Captain of ferry saying use your common sense mon! Our VHF radio once on in case we hear that someone is in need of assistance.

There were boats dragging and tangling up with another's anchor line etc. This was happening in the daytime thank goodness. Paul went in the dinghy to help the largest boat here for first storm. When a second storm came this boat pulled anchor and just ran his engines.  

Our anchor is a Mantas and is huuuge. Every boat swings different and every boater has different lengths of chain out. 

I have a post titled Time Line 2024. I keep this updated and post other photos and videos. 

ELEUTHERA, BAHAMAS

 We have spent years exploring the various islands and cays of the Exumas and we loved every minute.  Eleuthera is one long, large island. This is more developed with multiple towns, shops and roads etc. The blues of these waters are a different shade and just beautiful.  We are exploring here before we journey to the Abacos. 

Eleuthera is Greek for Freedom.  English explorers/Adventurers settled here to have freedom to practice their faiths. There are many churches here in Eleuthera.  We are anchored at Governor's Harbour and one of the oldest buildings on the island is St. Patrick's  Anglican Church. The building started in 1848! It is still a place of worship here.

We see amazing homes here, many Airbnb along these beautiful shorelines. The locals are very friendly and welcoming. We had a lunch out at a local favourite The Buccaneers, Paul was a hungry man!

The Buccaneer Burger! Mmmm.

We love the scenic dinghy rides we take.

LAST DAYS IN EXUMAS

 We have had a fantastic time in Exumas however, we will head to Eleuthera. Below are the last photos of us at Pipe Creek area and Exuma Land and Sea Park. We hiked up Boo Boo Hill to capture some beautiful views at low tide. 

Yes. ..there is a catamaran on the sandbar. He made a beeline for his mooring ball without realizing there is a darker water channel. He was there for a couple of hours until tide came back in.

I am continuing posting this blog on my phone. The screen is small but I am managing. I do update the post titled Time Line 2024. 

We have arrived in Eleuthera, our first visit! The future post will be from here. We are excited to see and anchor in new places. 

P

STANIEL CAY YACHT CLUB

 Staniel Cay is a special island in the Exuma chain. It has shops, fuel, beautiful beaches, anchorages, rentals and a hub called Staniel Cay Yacht Club. This island is where we shop for produce, fuel if we need any, lunch out and see the nurse sharks feeding off of fish scraps. This is our eleventh time here so we have seen the many renovations, staff changes and the locals taking advantage of a nearby tourist attraction of the many pigs on the beach that come swimming out to a boat for scraps. The pigs are well fed and watered by locals by the way.

Many tourists come with service badges to add to the board here at the yacht club. 

Nurse sharks come to the marina when they here some major chopping on the fish cleaning station table. This is the time not to have your toes in the water.  These are not bull sharks. Nurse sharks are usually harmless.

 

We are pulling anchor again tomorrow and heading to other beautiful anchorages. Ssshh, secret. 

We plan to cross to Eleuthera, which is another island before he travel to the Abacos. New places, New adventures,  new beaches, new towns.