We left Eleuthera's Royal Island on Tuesday 5/6 and after clearing Egg Island, headed North to the Abacos. We had a nice motor sail. We could have sailed all the way but that would have put us in our anchorage after dark so we motor sailed. We would have liked to have gone to Little Harbour but it is too shallow for us to get in. Another boat we know bumped bottom trying to go in and it was at high tide. We elected to anchor at Lynard Cay for the night. The next day we had a short trip up to Tilloo Cay where we anchored and went in to dine and drink at Cracker P's. We also managed to stock up on rum while here. On our way back to the boat, our dinghy engine decided to shut down. Ed managed to get it restarted only to have it shut down again after going about 100 feet. This repeated several times until we finally reached our boat. Ed diagnosed the problem as a bad valve on the gasoline tank. The check valve wasn't venting properly and the engine was being starved of fuel. Of course we have spare parts so Ed put the spare valve on and we haven't had any problems since (although we haven't done much dinghy riding since either).
The islands around Marsh Harbour are fairly close together although you can't usually sail straight to the island because of sand banks and shallow areas but they are all about a 2 to 3 hour sail at most. After Tilloo, we went to Man-O-War Cay. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this island does not sell alcohol anywhere, not even in the restaurants. The island is very quaint with narrow paved streets barely wide enough for a golf cart and the houses are charming little cottages that are well groomed. We bought a few groceries and souvenirs before going back to the boat to get our dinner drinks. Then we back to dinner at Dock and Dine.
After Man-O-War, we went to Great Guana Cay and anchored in Fisher's Bay near Grabbers restaurant and bar. We beached the dinghy at Grabber's and walked up to Nippers which sits on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and eastern beaches. This is a very cool place and the Nipper drinks are my favorite (a rum slush). Too bad we weren't here on Sunday when we could have been at their pig roast. That would no doubt have been fun. Nipper's and Grabber's both have swimming pools for their patrons to use although we didn't swim at either one.
We arrived at HarbourView Marina in Marsh Harbour on Saturday 5/10 with a weather forecast that predicted nasty weather by Tuesday. We thought it would be good to be in the marina before the weather got bad. Today is Friday and the weather that was suppose to hit on Tuesday is here today. It is raining outside and rained most of last night. Ed managed to get 2 coats of varnish on our teak eyebrow and hopes to get 1-2 more coats on before we leave. We will probably head out on Sunday or Monday and go to Green Turtle Cay then to Great Sale Cay which will be our casting off point to head back to Florida.
If the rain stops today, we may take the ferry to Hope Town or take a ferry or taxi to Treasure Cay. Hope Town has a working lighthouse that you can arrange to get a tour and be there when they light it. Treasure Cay has some of the prettiest beaches in the whole world. I just hope the rain doesn't keep us indoors all day.