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