April 29th... Hope Town to Marsh Harbor, Abacos

Jim stopped over on his way to the dumpster and took our trash this morning. We didn't have much, but trash is one of those problems here with temps in the mid 80's every day. Most organic stuff can go overboard if we're not in a harbor and we quite often have trash burnings on shore when we're in the sticks. But it's always an issue.

We are heading back to Marsh Harbor today but can't leave until we have enough water to get through the entrance. High tide is at 12:24 today and I think we are ok within an hour either side of that time so pulled out at around 11:30.

It was still windy, but down a few knots today to about 18-20, so we had a very comfortable sail above 6 knots all the way with only our jib. We found a place to anchor without much trouble next to "Spartina", who we've gotten to know in the last few weeks.

We had some leftovers for lunch and wasted some time with weaving and crosswords. At about 3 we went ashore to make a grocery run. We were low on a few things and really wanted conch salad for dinner.

Most of our purchases were vegetables and fruit. They looked good today and hadn't been picked over nearly as much as we're used to here. We walked back and couldn't help thinking that the sun here is way hotter than in Michigan. On the water there is always a breeze and we're in the shade so we don't notice it, but when we're in town, with no breeze or shade....wow, it hurts.

We had about 6 inches under our keel at low tide ... I was watching as I chopped vegetables and conch for dinner. The process is much like making fresh salsa except that there is no vinegar or oil, just fruit juice. I used the juice of one lemon, 4 limes and 3 oranges. We bought some scotch bonnets so I added about a half of one along with a little hot sauce that has a great taste but isn't too hot.

After letting it sit for an hour... we had a wonderful meal.

There were still a few episodes "Gary the Explorer", which were our evening entertainment. We've decided that they are targeting middle school students but could easily be used earlier or later if necessary. Bahamians in general have a history of just tossing trash out the window... the roads on Long Island are wall to wall beer bottles and soda cans. In the villages, there is junk most everywhere. Anyway Gary goes a little heavy saving the Bahamas from the Bahamians by trying to teach kids just why it's going to be a big problem.