5/18/14, Sunday couldn't stand sitting on a dock any more so we tried to leave the Marina at 9:00 but no one came to open it until 11:00 so we got a late start to Great Guana, 7.5 miles away. Attempted to anchor in Guana Cay Harbour but not enough room and the anchor dragged so we went around the corner to Fishers Bay.

Took the dinghy ashore and went to the famous pig roast at Nippers on the beach at Great Guana. The roast pig was good but served buffet style, no big fire on the beach. The place was jammed and bouncing. Very cute things bouncing up and down. We ran into Jeremy Hurst, an Aussie ship engineer on vacation on his sailboat with four friends. We had met him in Green Turtle a few times and some of the times his crew was sober enough to remember us.

Needless to say the crowd at Nippers was not of our age so after a couple of hours of headbanging music we retreated to our boats. There we quite a few boats and most had been at Nippers enjoying a few or many. I put out an extra light just to make sure the late party folks saw Serenity. As usual the wind howled all night but the anchor held and the anchor alarm never went off so I slept OK.

5/19/14 Got up and motor-sailed 7.5 miles to Man O War Cay. It was founded in the 1770's by Loyalists during the revolution. The group that came here was very religious and the island still is. No bars, no alcohol, and about 8 churches. The folks are hard working and known for their boat building. The Albury family has made boats for centuries and they still make boats here. They also opened a factory in Florida making Albury fishing boats.

We walked the town and enjoyed the well kept houses and friendly people. Our tour lasted too long to get lunch so we went back to our respective boats and will go ashore for dinner. Haven't heard if our friends Skip and Carol got their boat running properly. I emailed them what we were doing and thought they might show up at some point. Just called them on the radio and no response.

5/20/14 Got up and took a tour of Man O War Harbour before we departed. The boat we towed from Green Turtle is still there and looked even better, the same for the dinghy. The Owl's Nest dock house was still there but it wasn't opened so not in use. Then off to Hopetown on Elbow Cay a short trip and we were on a mooring before noon. We followed an inter-island tanker into the harbor at Hopetown which made things a bite exciting when it suddenly turned around in front of us while we were still in the narrowest part of the channel. Luckily these sailboats can turn in their own length and we did.

I messed around on the boat while Terry and Jeanette did the kerosene powered lighthouse and found some acquaintances from Florida. Went ashore later and got a green pepper to make Conch Chowder. Wish I had had two conch instead of just one. Nice veggie chowder with some chewy stuff in it. Think we will rent bikes tomorrow (I'll use my little folding bike) and tour the southern part of the island. Hopetown is so nice and has a very busy harbor for a resort spot.

5/21/14 A beautiful Wednesday with slightly calmer winds and mostly clear skies. With a high of 79 with a low of 75, you can tell you are on an island.

We got on bikes and did a tour of the island. Started in Hopetown and went south to Whitesound which tends to be a marina for large, fast fishing boats. The whole island seems to be rental cottages and homes. Some of the largest also have rental signs on them. Past Whitesound are more homes up a private road. It was quite a ride up and down the hills until we reached Tahiti Beach. It is a lovely spit of land with coconut palms that make it look like the South Seas.

Went wading, no shells or conch found, took a rest and back on the bikes and back past Whitesound to Papa Nasty's. It is a trailer that they sell very good pulled pork sandwiches from. It was cute and seemed clean with two nice ladies running the place. Then Papa showed up and he looked nasty. You wouldn't want him handling your food. Finished lunch and rode back to Hopetown.

Then we decided to keep on going and we did the northern side of the island which is just houses on an undeveloped road. Since the island is rock, they just grind out a road and let it get covered with a layer of sand to smooth it a bit. In some places where that doesn't work, they put in concrete paving until they can go back to rock and sand. My little folding bike doesn't do well in sand or on rough surfaces so it was a rough ride. The only good thing is that it has 3-speeds which helped on the hill. Terry and Jeanette had the big, heavy beach cruiser bikes so they had problems on the hills but no so much in the sand or potholes.

So in one day we did the island end to end for 9.5 miles, had a great lunch and came back to the boats to collapse. Still haven't heard from our friends Skip and Carol.

5/22/14 Beautiful Day again in Hopetown. Went ashore looking for fabric to make pillows for our recovered sofa at home. Thought some island prints would be nice. Didn't find any but had an ice cream cone.

We went snorkeling in real shallow water near the entrance to Hopetown Harbour. I was suprised I did as well as I did. I didn't do any diving, just on the surface. Saw some rays, lots of fishes, and some coral. Then we took a dinghy ride around the harbor entrance and back creeks. Saw shark, rays, barracuda, lots of fish, and lots of turtles from 1 to 2 ft across.

Finally heard from Skip and Carol, they are in Marsh Harbor and we will probably meet them at Lynard Cay tomorrow. Got to run, going to Aquila for spaghetti dinner.

5/23/14 Friday we headed south in light southerly winds to a reef off Sandy Cay where we met up with Skip and Carol and went snorkeling. Well sort of. There was a strong current so I didn't do too much away from the boat. Swim up current and drift back to the boat. Saw a lot of colorful fish, many pretty coral fans, and 3 eagle rays. Wow are they majestic as they glide along. One barracuda hung around astern the dinghy for a while just watching what we were doing.

After snorkeling we headed south to the south end of Lynyard Cay, opposite Little Harbor. Tomorrow we will go there to the foundry and
Pete's pub.

5/24/14 Motored into Little Harbour, home of the Johnston bronze foundry and Pete's Pub. In 2007 when we were last here, Pete's was a small bar with a sand floor and a bite of food. Now it is the same bar but with four times the seating room and a lot of good food for lunch. I had the spicy mahi sandwich and it was excellent. Went snorkeling on a little reef just outside Little Harbour and same a lot of pretty coral and small fish.

Tomorrow Terry and Jeanette on Aquila and Serenity will do something we haven't done before and that is sail around the southwest end of Great Abaco Island and then along the south side of Grand Bahama island to Lucaya/Freeport. It is a 150 mile trip with only two settlements. We will pass Castaway Cay (Disney's cruise ship landing) but not much else. It will be different than going back where we have been before. However, we will be out of touch until Wednesday. So no updates til then.