Junkanoo and Fair

Hi again,

This week there were two events that were “must see” or at least an excuse to go party and see all our friends – another Junkanoo in Marsh Harbor and the annual Hope Town Fire and Rescue Fair. The junkanoo in Marsh Harbour had been talked about for weeks – a big event in which different islands send their best Junkanoo teams ( for lack of a better word) – Junkanoo is sort of a national sport. All of the islands have groups that dress up and parade and dance down the streets playing drums, cowbells, whistles, horns, etc. We had been to a great one in Green Turtle as we told you about when we first arrived in the Abacos.

Well the day was rainy preceding the evening Junkanoo, and it looked doubtful for a while. The parade was due to start at 6:30 PM, but at 5 it was raining buckets. Then magically the front moved through, it stopped raining, and everyone came out of their boats and took their dinghy to a crowded dock. The clearing sky after the storm

The Junkanoo was a major deal, with all kinds of Bahamian officials giving long-winded speeches. Unfortunately, the parade was also slow, with the little kids going first and then slowly the more senior groups getting going.
Evening Junkanoo in Marsh Harbour
The associated activities – food, toys, people watching were fun, but by about 9PM we decided to retire to our favorite pub with some friends and had some drinks with Brown Tip playing rake and scrape. By the time we got back to our boats around 10:30, the Junkanoo was finally sounding like it was really kicking in. In fact it went until 2 AM, and we heard that it was pretty good at the end, with a group from Nassau blowing the crowd away. As per normal in the Bahamas, timing and scheduling mean nothing here. Next year, we will eat first and then go later.

We left the next day for Hope Town where the local Fire and Rescue Squad was holding its annual fund raiser. This time we decided to anchor outside so we could swim off the boat, since it was pretty hot. That was really nice. The fair was small but neat with lots of things up for auction. The only Pirate we ran into down here
At auction in Hope Town
We ran into most of our friends there and telling them that we were leaving soon, we spent several nights aboard boats saying our good-byes. We spent an hour or so at our favorite bar overlooking the ocean, Hope Town Lodge, and said good bye to the bartender, Gary. Ronnie's favorite frog on the steps to Hope Town Lodge

As we were pulling up our anchor the next day we were visited by 2 dolphins who literally wanted to check us out and play, because they hung around the boat for 10 minutes. It turns out they are the 2 local dolphins who live in the Hope Town waters – one’s name is “Rocky” – other one not sure. But it was a great visit as they looked us in the eye and rolled over as they went under the boat several times. A nice way to say good bye to our favorite place down here.

We are back for our last night in Marsh Harbour, where we got gas ( $5.50/gallon), but it has been the only fill-up we have had in 2 months of sailing down here. We also connected with one of our friends who has the same plan as us to go back via Green Turtle and then cross the Gulf Stream when the conditions are good. This time next week we might be crossing back to Florida. It is tough to leave a place as beautiful as this, having met a lot of really nice people who have a slightly different view on things, like us. We are definitely planning on coming back next year.

See you next week

Arnie and Ronnie

Rebecca and Abbie visit

Hi Folks,

Publishing our blog a little late this week, because we have had our daughter, Rebecca and our niece, Abbie with us enjoying this great place for just over a week. Unfortunately, the weather went downhill in the early part of their visit, but it came back in the end and they went home this AM relaxed and tanned.

We had gotten back to Hope Town last I wrote, but I neglected to tell everyone about the fabulous Key Lime pie made by Vernon, the local grocer and baker. He also serves as minister for a lot of the weddings that happen in Hope Town. It turns out that this is a wedding destination place, because it’s so beautiful. Plus he could make a living on key lime pies alone, if he chose to. The Required Trip to the Top of the Hope Town Lighthouse

We walked around, key lime pie in hand, had lunch overlooking the water at Captain Jack’s, and then went back to sleep and read through the rain and wind that were kicking in. Wednesday morning we awoke to a torrential wind-driven (clocked at 49 knots) rain, but instead of hiding, Abbie was the first to jump outside in a bathing suit to take a shower in our cockpit. We all joined in, to the somewhat astonished looks of other cruisers, moored all around us, but it was a definite highlight.

Then magically the weather improved so much that in the afternoon, we went to the Hope town Lodge on the beach and went swimming in the ocean and lounged at their pool. It got even nicer the next day, so we repeated the same scenario and went snorkeling on a reef off the beach. Visibility wasn’t up to its normal standards because of the recent storm, but it was Abbie’s first time snorkeling and the fish were smiling.

The next day we sailed up to Man O’War Cay and met up with some friends that we had not seen in a while. It was hot, so we took our dinghies out to a sand bar that was about 2 feet deep and set up a bar at the sand bar. Neat.

Saturday was the 22nd annual Man O’War flea market and fair. All of the cruisers were there. A big event with local stuff for sale. Ronnie bought a palm frond bonnet to keep on the boat, Arnie bought a big machete to open coconuts ( having struggled with a hammer and screwdriver the previous night to do that). The best thing was the bbq chicken along with beans and rice and mac and cheese, Bahamian style ( like a pudding cake). Enough food to last us 3 days of leftovers. Hermit Crab Races at Man O'War Fair

After the fair, we sailed back to Marsh Harbour – it was a Saturday night at Snappas, the local friendly pub with Brown Tip, the maniacal DJ. Loud and fun with dancing and rum. Abbie and Becca finished the evening in the heated marina pool where we were staying, dancing to music from Snappas.

Sunday was beautiful and the plan was to snorkel at Mermaid reef. We spent the entire afternoon there doing just that, with the biggest, friendliest fish we have seen down here. A local was telling us that a guy whose house overlooks the reef will shoot anyone he sees trying to catch or spear a fish there. That’s why the fish are so friendly – all they know is that people feed them. That evening we skyped a conference call with our son Ben and Dennis, Abbie’s dad who had just been down here recently, and had a great time chatting. Skyping, for the uninitiated is a computer to computer (or phone) way of calling. If everyone joins, skyping each other is free, otherwise it’s 2 cents per minute to call someone – not bad. A whole lot better than our satphone, which has been really disappointing. We can never get on, because of lack of satellites. We just heard that there is a class action suit starting claiming consumer fraud against Globalstar. For those of you considering buying one, I would have to recommend against it. Abbie and Ronnie Blowing a Conch Horn Duet at Sunset


As I said in the beginning, the girls left early this morning, and we had a great time with them visiting. We already miss them. Ronnie and I cleaned up the boat a bit, got needed food and propane ( for our refrigerator) and are now pondering, with all our friends coming to visit us in the winter, whether we will need a bigger boat!

Talk with you next week.

Arnie and Ronnie

Marsh Harbour week

Hi Folks,

Another beautiful week in the Abacos, although the weather has changed as of last night – we are going to have 3 cold fronts moving through this week, bringing some rain and wind. We can’t complain – it’s been perfect here for 2 weeks. Unfortunately the weather changed just as Rebecca and Abbie arrived to visit, but we are hoping to get some diving in anyway. Both of them are just happy to be in a warm relatively dry place. First night was at Snappas for an abbreviated introduction to Brown Tip and rake and scrape music. Then off to an early bedtime.

Aside from meeting more people – got invited to dinner by a couple who is living aboard a 60 foot ketch – big old fashioned boat with lots of space and amenities. Spent some time at a slip, where we met even more people – ran into a trivia contest and bbq – all people who have been here before and keep on coming back.

Another evening was spent on a “how to make a conch horn” arts and crafts demo. We all brought conchs and some brought dremel tools and other implements of destruction, just so at sunset we can blow our conch horns – a Bahamian tradition. Neat.

On the subject of conch, the local delicacy here is conch salad – fresh conch diced along with peppers, tomatoes, onions, lime and orange juice along with a special secret hot sauce. George, the local conch salad king has been doing this at dockside for as long as people can remember and of course he won’t tell you where his conch beds are or what’s in his secret hot sauce, but he’s a nice guy and fun to chat with.

While we were waiting for a conch salad to be made and talking with George, a waterspout appeared. A big one. Not so rare here, but I had never actually seen one before. Here is a good picture of it about a mile away.

Another night there was a jam session with musicians getting together to play ( for the first time) with an actual audience. Well the music was a bit lame due to the crowd wanting a sing-a-long, but Arnie had fun playing drums on a garbage can and then playing some guitar, too. We vowed to get together and play again without the audience.

Finally the four of us were walking through Hope town again, having sailed here on Monday to show the our visiting girls this pretty little place before the weather really got windy, and we came across a curly tail lizard. They are small and quick and
unique to these islands we think.

See you next week!
Arnie and Ronnie

Dennis' visit

Hi again,

We just finished a busier than normal week, spent showing Dennis, Ronnie’s brother, our favorite sights around the Sea of Abaco. Busy, but a lot of fun, including celebrating my birthday with multiple parties. We found Dennis waiting for us at a bar called Snappas, a friendly place by the harbor. His flight actually took off early (Bahamas Air), because everyone was aboard 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time!


Ronnie and I had had a relatively busy morning, refilling propane tanks, and doing laundry. But we slowed down for a bit, then brought Dennis’s gear aboard. The anchor light had been acting up, so I climbed the mast and removed the light. After somewhat major surgery on the deck, and allowing the epoxy to cure, it was successfully replaced with all parts working the next day. Dennis took pictures of our normal daily activities like launching the outboard onto the dinghy with our lifting davit and unfolding our folding bikes.


Then we took off for Great Guana Cay for some snorkeling and a pot luck party amongst the cruisers the following night. The water is really clear and littered with starfish as we approach the island.
Guana was again beautiful and the snorkeling was great. There is a bar called Nippers on the ocean side where you can go snorkeling off the beach. Great birthday!



Then it was off to the other side of the island where the pot luck party proved a success. About 150 cruisers and “Dirt People” as the house dwellers are called got together and all brought food for everyone to share. Grabbers, another beach bar on the bay side supplied the drinks and atmosphere. After eating, someone brought out instruments, and I played drums for a couple of hours – good times.


Then it was on to Hope Town, our growing favorite spot – beautiful little cottages everywhere, with a beautiful beach and a nice little harbor. If there is a place that anyone wants to go rent a cottage in the Bahamas for a week or month, this is the place. We climbed the lighthouse and got one of Vernon’s (baker) world famous key lime pies. Dennis was made several offers for it on the way back to the boat.

The last full day, Friday, of Dennis’ visit, we headed back to Marsh Harbour to go snorkeling at Mermaid reef, the local small reef with incredibly well-fed and therefore friendly fish, We broke out the bikes and rode around for a bit and ended up at another party of friends we had met back in Green Turtle Cay. It turns out one of their birthdays is only 2 days different from mine, so we had a combined birthday bash. Right after that we ran into Brown Tip and crew with a Rake and Scrape performance at the local pub. Loud and intense.

We are now recovering from the week, listening to Brown Tip with rake and scrape (scraping the teeth of a saw with a butterknife) again playing at Snappas across the water until late. Next weekend, Rebecca and Abbie, our daughter and niece are coming down for 10 days – it’s going to be great.

See you next week,

Arnie and Ronnie