Hope Town - The Mayberry of the Abacos

The red and white stripes of the Hope Town Lighthouse came into view. It is a beautiful classic lighthouse that you want photos of from all angles. At idle speed we move into the harbor and instantly know we are going to love Hope Town. The harbor is lined on one side with pastel colored homes that are just too cute! There is no anchoring in Hope Town. Mooring balls only, so Tom is out on the bow with a boat hook. My job is to put Laughter's bow at the ball, Toms is to grab the line hooked to the ball and tie it to the bow cleat. There are always people watching because mooring ball catching can be quite a show. No show here, we caught it on the first try and were tied. The nice thing about being tied to a mooring ball is that you sleep soundly! No worries about anchor dragging in the middle of the night, so let the wind blow!!  The actual town is situated on this end of the island and the only vehicles of any type allowed are utility vehicles. Even golf carts are taboo. The streets are lined with pastel colored homes with white picket fences around them. Everyone speaks to each other as they pass, something we have lost in the states! There is one police car and one officer, they don't need anymore than that! If you look like you have a question or a need, someone stops to ask if you need help. We spent four days in Mayberry, I mean Hope Town. After settling in on the mooring ball we just walked around town and went in the four shops they have. The morning of our second day I went to the ocean side beach with a couple of other gals to hunt for sea glass. We did find some and had a good walk down the beach.  That afternoon we went to lunch at Harbor view lodge with Harvey and Nancy and the folks on Galatia. On the third day Tom and I climbed the light house and enjoyed the beautiful view. We also visited the pasty lady who sets up a booth once a week at the dinghy dock. We really enjoyed her Guava bars. Our fourth day in Hope Town was a Sunday and the grand opening of a new marina and resort. Stone McEwen was playing. We were excited about hearing him again.  Twelve of us enjoyed the buffet and music on the pool deck of the marina/resort. Our last day in Hope Town Tom and I rented a golf cart so we could see the other end of the Cay.  We had a ball!  I stopped and visited a primary school.  We bought lunch at a little joint we saw along side the road on the other side of the island.  We enjoyed a drink at a beautiful resort/marina called Firefly then stopped along the ocean side to watch some surfers. Firefly is owned by Firefly vodka company so all of their specialty drinks are made with Fire Fly. Mmmmm. We also stopped to climb a sand dune and hunt for sea glass and surprised a couple of boaters we know who were anchored out at Tahiti beach. Why were they surprised? Because we were all anchored out together at Tahiti five days ago. You should have seen their faces when we walked up to them on the beach! I did all the driving on the cart and lets just say, when we go to England in the fall it would be best if I did not rent a car!  Tom asked a couple of times "Are you trying to kill us" your on the wrong side of the road but I was literally on the right side, donya see.

                                    Your view of the ocean from the deck of Harbor View Lodge

                                                    Tootled around the Cay on a golf cart

                   The pool and deck at Harbor View Lodge which is also open to the public

                                                    One of the cool rental homes

                    Hope Town Lighthouse one of the last hand fired lights. We watched the keeper pull back
                   the curtains and fire up the lamp. It was amazing

                                 A view of the glass reflective mirrors in the light of the lighthouse

                                A view of Hope Town from the top of the lighthouse - 101 steps up

                                   A view of the Sea of Abaco from the top of the lighthouse

                                             See Tom walking down the steps of the lighthouse?

Another cute Hope Town Home

                          Visiting with Stone McEwen during a break. He was playing at the
                          Grand Opening of the new resort and Marina in Hope Town

This cute little house for curly tail lizards is the front yard of one of the houses

Notice the little lizard house just to the left inside the yard

The swimming pool with bar at the new resort/marina. Stone McEwen is playing in the gazebo in the background

                                                    No other explanation needed

                                                        Hope Town Primary School

Fire fly marina and cottages

                                           Another view of Firefly - tiki bar and restaurant

Flowers like this are growing throughout downtown Hope Town

                                                                 Sunset at Hope Town

To Close For Comfort or "OMG" Theres a boat on our butt!

Tom and I were asleep when I heard a clanging noise and Peanut barked. I shushed her but about a minute later she barked several times more. Tom woke and said she must be dreaming. I disagreed, Peanut doesn't bark without reason. It was barely light out and I leaned up and looked out the port hole on my side of the bed. I then yelled "Holy Shit" the guy behind us is pushing off our boat with a boat hook!. Tom looked out his window and yelled we'll be right out.  It was a rental catamaran that had anchored uncomfortably close to the front of our boat the day before. We were not happy about it but what can ya do?  Overnight the winds died and the water was now flat as a pancake. The boats had changed direction and his boat was now directly behind us. He was standing on the front pushing our dinghy( which is tethered behind us) off his boat. I rolled up the plastics on the back door and said good morning. Sorry to wake you was his reply. Ya think?  Tom went out on the bow and pulled up about 30 feet of our anchor line. We then asked the gentleman to back up towards a large spot between two boats behind him. He backed up alright, straight back toward another sailboat! Now awake and still uncomfortable with the situation we sat up on the fly bridge with a cup of coffee and watched the sun rise.  About an hour later the sailboat decided he was to close to the other sailboat behind him so he moved forward... you guessed it right next to us again. What is he thinkin? He was so close I could tell that the game two young people were playing on their deck was chess! We knew that at least two sailboats were leaving the harbor this morning so we just waited. When they left we pulled anchor and moved far away from the rental!  Later, while walking near  the beach a gentleman approached Tom and said " I hope you don't wake up tomorrow morning and have to yell "Holy Shit" there's a boat on our butt. Guess he heard me! They laughed and we figured out the problem. We had 75 foot of anchor rode out. He only had 30 foot.  There in lies the difficulty with anchoring to close to your neighbor. You never know how much rode they have out compared to you and you could end of in a situation that is "To Close For Comfort"!!

Tahitti Beach

April 11-13
Tahiti Beach is located at the very end of Elbow Cay.  It is a popular spot among the boaters, when it is calm and when there is an east wind. There are also a few vacation rentals nearby which adds quite a few people coming to the beach by foot. Between the small rental boats, the families walking to the beach and the larger boats anchored out Tahiti was a great people watching beach. We enjoyed watching the kids build sand castles and run up and down in the shallow waters at low tide. Low tide made a great swimming hole for the little bitty kiddy's. Although it was great fun to watch the little ones play it did cause a little homesickness for the grandkids. While Tom and Peanut relaxed on the beach I waded in the water looking for treasures. When the tide is out you can walk out into the Sea of Abaco for quite a ways but after a while the sandy bottom becomes grass mixed with rock. Wearing water shoes allowed me to go out into the grassy area which was much less picked over by visitors. I found a few sea biscuits and a hand full of sea glass. I was pretty excited about how far out I was from shore and how close I was able to get to the cut through to the ocean until I saw a large ray then a large fin out of the water that was attached to something I wasn't sure I wanted to see. So I picked up the pace and moved towards shore. Our second day at Tahiti we rode the dinghy across to Lubbers Cay. There are two establishments that are well known and we of course did not want to miss seeing them. Lubbers Landing and Cracker P's. After checking out Cracker P's Tom settled in on one of their chase lounges on the beach and napped while I checked out Lubbers Landing and walked through a path leading to the other side of the island.  The following morning the weather report was not positive. The winds were going to pick up and a possible thunderstorm come through so we moved down Elbow Cay to Hope Town and took a mooring ball in the harbor. Sorry that a couple of the photos are blury. My camera has started to act up a little.

                           One side of Tahiti Beach. This side is very shallow especially at low tide

                                           The cut to the ocean is in the background

                                                 Laughter anchored at Tahiti Beach

                                                              Sunset at Tahiti Beach

                                                  A blury photo of Tahiti at low tide

                                           A blury photo f Tom and our chairs on the beach

                                            The rentals and anchorage area at Tahiti

                                                         Cracker P's bar

                                                                   Cracker P's deck

                                           The nature path to the other side of Lubbers Cay

                                                              Lubbers Landing

Inside Lubbers Landing

                                          Walkway to the cottages of Lubbers Landing

Back to Lynyard Cay

We woke up to sunshine and calmer waters so back to Lynyard Cay we went to finish our exploring. Quite a few, 16 to be exact, boats were also going to take advantage of the weather and explore the area. We were able to anchor very near the spot we had before.  Once anchor we took the dinghy to the beach at the far end of the island. It really wasn't much of a beach and we ended up climbing the rock formations at the end of the island. Tom looked through the junk that had washed up on the rocks, rope, wood, plastic, etc.,  and I looked for unusal shells and sea glass. It was fascinating to see how the water had carved holes, indentations and inlets in the rock and because it was low tide I was able to get a close look at some sea urchins living in holes in the rocks. An hour later we headed for the dinghy carrying a large boat cushion, a bouy, and various other pieces of junk. One mans trash another mans treasure?  We motored down a little ways to the next beach. Now this was my kind of beach! My bucket quickly filled with unusual and beautiful shells and quite a few pieces of sea glass. The rising tide was our signal that it was time to give up the hunt and return to the boat. It was a fun day!  The next morning we took a different path to the ocean side of the island. The area had a number of jagged rocky ledges with sections of sand behind them. I found sea glass stuck in holes in the rocks and buried in the sand around some large singular rocks. After lunch we headed across to another island to explore the beach there. It was a totally different. Instead of rocks the background for this beach was a forest of long needled pine trees.  After dinner I decided to put out a fishing pole with a piece of fish on the hook.  About 10:30 the reel screamed and Peanut began barking. I ran to the pole ( as fast as you can run on a boat!) and started reeling. Once I realized I had a fish I also realized I had a problem. Tom was asleep and Peanut, although excited, was not going to help get him in the boat. I had nothing to loose so once I had him beside the boat I flipped him in the air and onto the bow pad! He bounced off and landed in the walkway. I couldn't believe he didn't fall of the hook while in the air! While Peanut was busy trying to bite the fish I woke Tom up to help me figure out what to do with him. It's a good thing Peanut was watching over the fish for me because when Tom picked him up he was already off the hook! Tom cleaned him,(only fair since I caught him don't you think?!)  We enjoyed a dinner of snapper the next nite.

                                            A rocky cliff with a huge piece of net stuck on it

                                                 A ledge on the ocean side of Lynyard Cay

Winds require a move to another anchorage - April 3rd

Although Tom and I weren't done exploring at Lynyard Cay, the winds and possible thunderstorms forced us to move from Lynyard to Buckeroon Bay, a more protected area. We had a mini parade that included Salty Dog, Tan Dam and us.  It wasn't far but because you have to maneuver around several shallows it took about an hour to reach our destination.  Once anchored  we all met on shore for a happy hour. It was a small beach that was covered in sea grass.  The winds did arrive overnight making sleeping a bit bouncy. The winds remained brisk throughout the day. This made climbing in and out of the dinghy a bit of a challenge and a wet ride to shore. Tom and I spent the morning exploring the shoreline to the point. A conch hunter had left quite a few empty shells on a rock ledge so I thankfully choose one to add to my collection.  About 4:00 the winds died down. Tan Dam decided to head over to Tahiti beach. Tom and I stayed another night then headed back to Lynyard to finish exploring the island.

                                                   Jim and Barb headed back to their boat after happy hour

                                                Jim(on left) and Jeff talking boat stuff

                                                Laughter at anchor in Buckeroon Bay

                                                             Sunset at Buckeroon

Day 3 at Lynyard

This morning the four of us dinked to shore and headed over the hill to the ocean. We walked over the rocks and around the point to a beach. Here we were again on a quest for sea glass. Tom used his basket to drag the surf. He was very successful at finding sand fleas and I think had just as much fun collecting them in his bucket. I found a spot in the surf that had quite a few pieces, most of them green. Our guess is that green is most plentiful because most bottles of beer are green. Jeff walked across the rocky area to the corner and found a float and a great little bucket he could use to collect treasures. Then it was back to our respective boats to pick up snorkling gear. Our next adventure was a snorkling trip over to Sandy Cay. The area around the Cay is a preserve which means no fishing and look but don't touch. It was quite a hall to the reef and the water was pretty rough. We bounced all the way there. Because the water was rough Tom chose to stay in the dinghy, which was a good decision. Although I love snorkling today was not fun. Between the current and the waves it was really hard to stay in control of where you were in relation to the reef. I did enjoy seeing the beautiful fans a large ray and a school of beautiful bright blue fish. A busy day on the water.

                                           View of the ocean from the top of the hill

Tom and Jeff hunting for treasures

                                                                   Don't I look cute :(

                                             following Jeff. Cindy, Barb and Jim to snorkal

Day Two at Lynyard

This morning we picked up another couple in our dinghy and crossed over to Little Harbor about a mile by dinghy. We didn't take Laughter in Little Harbor because we would have to go in and out on high tide and didn't want to deal with that. The sea was a little choppy so Tom had his hands full trying to keep us all dry on the trip over. Little Harbor is the home of Pete's Pub. Next to Pete's is a museum and foundry. Randolf and Margot Johnston founded an art colony in Little Harbor in the 50,s. Randolf was an internationally known artist renowned for his lost wax casting in Bronze. Their son Pete now runs Pete's Pub and Gallery and makes life size marine bronzes and jewelry inspired by local motifs. We toured the museum/gift shop and then met another couple at the pub. The four of us hiked to a hidden beach area to hunt for Sea Glass. As Cindy put it we hit the mother load of sea glass. We were all happy with our new treasures. Sea glass is really nothing more than pieces of bottle that have rolled around in the surf for years. The sand and water has smoothed their edges and polished the glass. Jewelry made from sea glass is found in many of the gift shops and it's not cheap! The rarest find is a deep deep blue or purple. After a day of digging in the stones and hunting through the surf we returned to Pete's for a cold drink and dinner. As Tom says "another beautiful day in Paradise.
                                          

                                                                           Pete's Pub

                                                       T-shirts over the bar at Pete's