26 46.81 'N:77 20.20'W
It was nice to be re-united with our friends Greg and Glenda from Ti Amo! Also nice to have some canine time with Chewy.
We spent two days at lovely Hopetown. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse which provided spectacular 360 degree views. Hopetown is a very picturesque spot with lots of vacation properties, most with beautiful gardens surrounding them. The water beyond is an almost indescribable teal blue color. Golf carts were the most popular form of transportation but we opted for running shoes instead.
The inner harbour was full of sailboats on mooring balls. There was no room to anchor inside and rumour had it that it was next to impossible to get a mooring ball. We anchored outside the harbour with several other boats. During the daylight hours it could be quite busy with wakes from boat traffic going in and out of the harbour but things quieted down nicely at night. We did track down Bob and Jean White who we knew from Collins Bay. They were just wrapping up their winter at Hopetown and while we spoke to them on the radio we just couldn't make it work for an onshore for a visit.
On Mar 31 we headed to Archer Cay with Ti Amo. We explored the shoreline by dinghy looking for sea turtles. Paul and I did do some snorkelling. This day was the final day for lobster season and Paul managed to bag 1 lobster.
The next morning we headed over to Man-o-War Cay to attend the boat builder's festival and dedication of a new monument commemorating 200 years of boat building on the island. It was a very hot day with no breeze on shore so we were happy to return to the boat and go back to Archer Cay for the night. Ti Amo decided to stay at Man-o-war and we would meet them in a day or two at Marsh Harbour.
We spent the next day swimming, snorkelling and touring the mangroves with Mambo, Bruce and Colleen. We had not seen these guys this year at all and were very happy to see them and catch up on their news. It was a great day with beautiful sunshine and very warm temperatures.
April 3 we headed for Marsh Harbour to Chris's dock. This was the first dock we had tied up to since December 7, 2016 when we stopped for fuel at Vero Beach!!! We stayed only 1 night at the dock before moving the boat out to the anchorage. We spent a busy couple of days in the harbour as we started our preparations for the push north. Not so busy though that we didn't have time for dinghy float and happy hour with Mambo at Snappas.
On April 5th we had good weather to make the trip around the whale. Ti Amo surprised us by saying they were going to join us for this trip! They had to be back in Marsh Harbour in another week or so but were looking for a change of scenery.
We had a nice easy passage around the whale and arrived at the White Sound anchorage to find it very crowded as boats were looking for shelter for yet another front that was scheduled to arrive the next night. As we listened to the weather forecasts and spoke with other boats it became clear that once the front passed there was going to be an opportunity to make the crossing to the US. We got busy preparing some foods for our passage. Paul cranked up the pressure cooker to make some beans as well as Jambalaya. I baked some bread and prepared some veggies ahead.
With those jobs done it was time to have some fun. We rented a golf cart with Greg and Glenda and spent the day touring Green Turtle Cay. We did manage to turn it into a little pub crawl in our quest to find the best rum punch. We located Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar on one of the backstreets and declared her Goombay Smash to be the winner of the day. We were joined by the crew on Dagny and Soulstice there. We made another stop at the Leeward Yacht Club where we sampled some Leaning Lizards under seriously windy conditions. You had to hold on to your drink or it would blow over. We wound the day up with a pizza at Ballyhoos before returning the golf cart and making our way back to the boats just before the wind piped up and the thunder storms arrived.
April 7 we had Greg and Glenda over to 2 Outrageous for some lobster etoufee and enjoyed one final dinner together before saying farewell to our friends. We wish they were coming north with us but certain we will see them again on a future trip. True to her word Glenda presented Paul with a bag of homemade oatmeal cookies that he reluctantly shared with me.