Time to Go

Our last few days in Lucaya passed by uneventfully. Pam did laundry and tried to donate a load of clothes to the local dryer raiders without success. They were too honest for her since the clothes were still there when she returned! I went fishing but not like you think. I used a bucket and a net. One of our port hole screens fell into the water and it became my mission to retrieve it so I borrowed a dip net from Donnie and used Pam's viewing bucket to search the bottom for the elusive screen.

It's down there somewhere!

My recovery mission was a success with the screen being as good as new once the saltwater was rinsed off.

We watched a few large yachts come and go and relied on Donnie (the mayor of Legacy Harbour and now Port Lucaya) to get the scoop on each one. One of them called Big Zip dwarfed all the others. When it arrived it was followed by a smaller (92') yacht also called Big Zip. They had been chartered by some corporation. I'm sure it was all business oriented since each boat had only men on it other than some female crew members.

Big Zip leaving before sunrise to take advantage of the high tide. This was the only time I could get a picture of the whole boat.

Of course docktails continued.

On our last night in Lucaya we got cleaned up and went to Luciano's for dinner.

Don't we take a good picture! Well, at least Pam does. (flower courtesy of Tom of M/V Long Aweighted)

We were joined by Donnie & Marilyn. Donnie from M/V Long Aweighted. And Urmas & Bunny. The food was great and Pam had Bananas Foster for desert.

Making Bananas Foster.

All too soon it was Thursday morning. Time for us to head to the Abacos. One last check of the weather showed winds 10-15kts out of the SE and 3' seas until we start onto the Little Bahama Bank.

Our send off committee. Marilyn & Chloe, Urmas, and Donnie. It's been fun!

The forecast was pretty accurate with winds from the SE and seas of a steady 3' with 4 & 5's thrown in until we reached Indian Cay Rock & Light where we turned onto the Little Bahama Bank.

Indian Cay Rock & Light. That's as good as it gets in the Bahamas for navigational markers!

The bottom came up to greet us quickly as we made the turn and the seas subsided to less than 2'. The next 5 miles required my undivided attention because of the shallowness and narrowness of the route. The route I had set on the GPS took us right through without a hitch with the shallowest spot being 6'6" for depth. I must admit it's a bit unnerving when you can see the bottom. We proceeded on past the Indian Cay Channel in depths that ran around 10' to 15' all the way to Great Sale Cay where we anchored for the night.

Along the way we came across these white streaks which make you think you're heading into shallow water. These are called fish muds and are quite common along the Little Bahama Bank. The most common theory as to the cause of these is schools of bottom feeding fish stirring up the sand.

The anchorage was a little bumpy causing Pam and myself to sleep in what we call our Bahama Bunk which is the pull out sofa in our salon.
The next day we continued on into the Sea of Abaco and anchored at Crab Cay. A nice anchorage but again a bit lumpy during the night.

Pam relaxing at our Crab Cay anchorage.

Saturday we pulled anchor and headed towards Green Turtle Cay and the Leeward Yacht Club (http://www.leewardyachtclub.com/) to spend a few nights and meet up with our "looping" friends Bru & Sandy from M/V Coconuts who have spent the past few months here.

It has to be a friendly place if they have a sign!

Leeward Y C from across Black Sound.

Bru & Sandy were on the dock to greet us when we pulled into our slip and once settled in we set off to explore the town of New Plymouth and find a lunch spot. Walking through town it became apparent just how long our hosts have been here. Everyone greeted them by name as we passed by. One little entrepreneur offered to take our picture, so we let him.

Reunited Loopers.

Our photographer who made himself a buck!

I  was quickly informed not to walk around like a Tourist with my camera in full view!

We had a good lunch at this spot. Hey Bru! Are you looking at Pam's butt?

On our walk back we stopped to buy some fresh conch salad and watch how they remove the conch from the shell.

He uses the small hatchet to crack a hole in the shell and then inserts a knife to cut the muscle that holds the meat inside the shell. A quick process if you know what you're doing.

Sandy was brave enough to pose for this picture along with one of the locals. Pam didn't want to touch it. Go figure!
By Saturday evening the winds had picked up into the 20's and by Sunday morning into the 30's with rain moving in. When the rain comes it comes heavy and fast so you need to keep an eye to the sky at all times. Fortunately it usually moves through quickly so you can resume whatever you were doing once it passes.

Looking out the salon doors of Tourist watching it rain. Not the weather advertised in the brochures!

The high winds caused a few boats to drag their anchors in White Sound a mile or so north of us. Most of us in the slips doubled up our lines and listened to the wind howl. The boat next to us clocked the wind at 48 kts Sunday afternoon and I heard reports of gusts as high as 60. I'm glad we're not at anchor!

We plan on staying here until Wednesday when if the weather cooperates we'll head down to Marsh Harbor to meet my son Ryan who flies in on Thursday.