We transited the Abacos over the next several days with the goal of reaching the southern Bahamas for winter months. Marsh Harbor in Great Abaco was fun to revisit, check out the town and get some pastries, a Batelco SIM card for internet, replenish some fresh groceries and even score some mung beans (for sprouts) at a new Asian market.
Although you now can get just about anything in the newly modernized (to us) Maxwell’s market, we are certainly in sticker shock after passing up the $6.49 pineapples and $10.42 raisins, settling for cabbage and plantains.
We didn’t pass up the lunch at Curly Tails overlooking the harbor, splurging ($50) on conch & cold Kaliks!
All of a sudden, Tropical Storm Kate formed nearby and threatened to pass right over us, so we moved into a dock at Mangos marina for the night so we could center-tie at a nice T-head dock and ride out the storm. It turned out to be a non-event, thankfully, as she skirted east of us and all we got were a few squalls.
It was no surprise that we had mutual friends with our Canadian neighbors at the dock on Copper Penny. Here we also met Barry on Beach Cruiser, who until now we’ve only “met” on-line. It’s a small cruising community for sure.
The next day we headed to Lynyard Cay to stage for an exit of the Abacos. It was great sailing weather as we zig-zagged through sandy shallows with the clear waters reflecting Reach’s new sailing suite.
We had the place all to ourselves There are relatively few cruising boats out here this time of year, plus a few charter boats.
Taking a dinghy ride over to Little Harbor, we were bummed, but again not surprised that Pete’s Pub was closed.
Still, it was great to visit this peaceful place and see a few of Pete’s bronze sculptures of wildlife scenes.
Returning to Lynyard Cay, I took the dinghy into the beach to follow the marked path to the ocean-side for a walk.
This has always been a great sea glass beach and a bag of smooth, colorful glass was easy to collect.
The sun angles are so low with these early sunsets at around 5:30 PM, casting long shadows. We’re already back to our routine of cruisers’ midnight at 9 PM… if we can stay awake that long!!
