Watts Up Now

We left West End for a second time on Monday. The weather was better and the water rough enough, but not so bad that we had to turn back. With no auto pilot, I had dreaded the steering. We swapped off steering, and it wasn't so bad. Fortunately, neither of us was seasick. We had several showers, but, again, not really bad, bad. Could have been worse. We tried anchoring outside the marina, but it was too crowded and there was a big cable underground, etc. So, we came on in to the dock, ate our dinner, had a glass of wine, and went to bed.
Never been so glad to be back in the USA!

We spent a lot of the day walking around town and exploring. On shore it was hot as Hades. I had so looked forward to seeing the little settlement, but onshore was so hot! We had a bite of lunch and headed back to the boat. On the way we stopped at Vert ______'s model building studio and ran in to non other and Joe Albury from Man of War. The models were amazing - big, huge ones.
Then we moved on a short ways and anchored near the Coconut Tree Beach, but never saw the coconut tree. Some guy on a Canadian boat was yelling something to me as we anchored. We finially decided that he was greeting us in French! Oh, well, my French is so old and rusty....

We moved on from Hopetown to Man of War Cay. We looked up Joe Albury, of the boatbuilder Alburys. He did have several half-models finished. Jim selected one, a really nice one, to take home. I, on the other hand, found more beautiful fabric - Androsian, the real thing. It was expensive, but so pretty and nice colors, too. The ladies I bought it from were Albury connected and did really nice seamstress work, too. One of the machines was an old treddle model that the guy who owned Wright's sewing notions got for her years ago. He had a cabin on Man - of - War and some of his kin still do and still come there to vacation. I had not thought about Wright's sewing stuff in years.

We made a trek back to Marsh Harbor to look at a boat, but that didn't work out. We were disappointed, but maybe later we can catch up to it. The boat was just before going back out on charter. So, we headed back to Man of War. Something about that area intrigues me - I think the people.
Old time, lived there forever descendants of Loyalists.

Yesterday, Saturday, we moved on to Fowl Cay. Barb had said how beautiful it was. It was, too! We snorkeled some, saw bunches of fish and reef, but didn't get to do as much as we wanted as the weather and water got kind of rough.

So, we came on to Great Guana Cay and moored out in the harbor. Jim is excited because today, Sunday, Nippers has a pig barbecue. Barb and Tom have also highly recommended it. It is bright, clean, and on the beach. What else could one hope for except good food! We will see shortly after our snorkel trip.

We tried snorkeling off the beach down from Nipper's, one of Barb's favorite bars. The water was so rough, we couldn't see much. Of course, Jim could manage it better than I could.
Anyway, we then made the scene at the world famous Nipper's! It truly is a fun Bahamaian bar with a pig roast on Sundays. The pig roast was excellent - not American BBQ, but really good to us! Then we stayed and listened to the music and watched the crowd - one of us got carried away and danced, too. It was a delightful day, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Back at the boat, we let go of our mooring and headed for Green Turtle Cay. I even got "Doug" to wave, but that's another story.

We made another last minute run to Maxwell's, a wonderful grocery store. I still can hardly believe how much produce they have, and most of it is good. A little after lunch time, we headed for Hopetown. Nice sailing, nice crossing. Not a long trip - an hour or so. I steered most of the way. I finally feel comfortable enough that I can relax some with the wheel in hand. I truly am beginning to under stand the how and why of the wind.

We had a nice dinner and then walked the streets here in Hopetown. It is just as quaint and pretty as I remember it from last year. Can't wait till morning to explore it further.

A boat friend, Rose from Fort Pierce and her husband Tom and I found the Marsh Har bor fabric shop! It did not have Androsian fabric, but it did have lots and lots of Bahamas prints. They were so colorful and beautiful. We probably spent 2 or more hours picking out what we wanted. I bought, I think, four pieces, and I want to go back. Jim was getting ready to leave for Hopetown, but that just didn't happen today. We did ride around a bunch late in the day in the dinghy. That is always so much fun - just to see the other boats. We looked over the Sunsail and Morrings charters. Nice day.