The Abacos and Beyond

Hello Once Again

 

Lynyard Cay



Beach Combing Lynyard Cay



Tuesday 15^th December.  Marks new crew member, Sally, arrived yesterday.  We have done the laundry and stocked up at the supermarket.  Our phone has been topped up so we can down load weather reports and keep in contact with the family, and, for Alec - the news of the world, so we are ready to leave Marsh Harbour.  It has been nice to have a break, but we are ready to move on.  We up anchor and head for the fuel dock as that is our last job.  By mid-day we are sailing out of the harbour in light winds of 10kts.  It is warm and sunny with a temperature of 28 deg.c.  By 1600 we have sailed 23nm in a southerly direction and dropped anchor mid-way down Lynyard Cay on its western shore.  There are private homes here, but one can go ashore and walk to the Atlantic coast.  The following day we explore the area in our tenders and go ashore and walk to the Atlantic coast side and do some beach combing.  Mark catches crayfish, so we are invited to his boat for dinner – yummy.  Next day we up anchor and motor the 2nm down to Little Harbour.  This is the southernmost  point where one stays inside the reef and cays before heading out through the cut and into the Atlantic to continue heading down Great Abaco Island.

Southern Abacos - Bahamas

Hello Again

 

Tender Dock, Marsh Harbour

Atlantic Side Elbow Cay

I finished our last posting with us arriving into Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island.  We are now in the area known as the Southern Abacos.  This is a nice easy harbour to enter, with plenty of room to anchor, and one is protected in all directions if the wind should be blowing strongly.  Also it is GREAT fishing in here.  We have not seen any one else fishing from the back of their boats, but the locals assure us that it is quite safe to eat fish from this harbour. So, we have our lines out each evening.  I have caught four mutton snapper, my biggest being 30 inches in length and weighing 10lbs. (see photo of Alec holding it)  The next was only slightly smaller, then a couple of lovely fat smaller ones.  Mark has also caught three which have been a good size.  I gave my second one to the local conch man who gave us a lovely conch salad.  Good trade.

Mutton Snapper

 

Christmas Festival

Marsh Harbour is the third largest town in the Bahamas with a population of around 6,000 residents.  The town has most of what one needs, apart from boating spares which the boys have been looking for.  Our starboard instrument panel has died on us, but at least we can still start the engine.  The trouble is, now that the boat is coming up for ten years old, (yes we have been going that long now, and how time has flown by, and, what an Adventure we are having) new models of these panels are out and we think it will be quite difficult to find a replacement.  Why do companies do this – discontinue an item that works well ?  Anyway, Alec is on-line doing some research as to where he may find one.  A job every Captain/Engineer has to do in some port somewhere.  At least it will not stop us from continuing on.