Final thoughts on a great trip

I arrived home in Gainesville last night about 8:30pm.  On the ride home I kept thinking about everything that has happened over the past two weeks.  Even though I have done many Gulfstream crossings and spent a LOT of time cruising the Abacos during the seven year period that Mirage had a charter fleet based out of Marsh Harbour, I had not been back there in almost ten years.  So even thought I knew WHERE to go, I really didn't have a great idea of WHAT to expect.

First of all, I am amazed by how well the entire Great Harbour group "gelled".  I mean, even though we all have the love Great Harbours and cruising in common, this was a group of 13 folks with very diverse backgrounds - and most of us only knew each other peripherally or through the GHTA.

If you have been following this blog, you know that every boat crew had a challenge or two thrown its way.  But the entire group rallied around when necessary and we never had to leave anyone to figure things out for themselves.  Additionally, everyone endured weather delays, difficult docking conditions, and mechanical problems with good humor and grace.  I do not think there was a cross word between any of the participants.  Everyone seemed to truly enjoy everyone else's company and sharing the joy of cruising the islands.  I could not have hand-picked a better bunch of folks to share this adventure with.

However, I especially want to thank Jan & Dennis Taylor for allowing me to live aboard their gorgeous GH47, Mother Ocean, for the past two weeks.  They were the consummate hosts and were always gracious, fun to be with, and generous to a fault.  I owe you guys.  Big time.

As far as the itinerary went, I think I hit that one pretty well.  Other than a few long days to get there and to come back, most of our day cruises were short and easy.  I mentioned early on to the crews that it was a very marina- and restaurant- intensive itinerary.  This was because I wanted everyone to get a sample of what was available at each island we visited.  My guess is that each of these crews now have the confidence to come back on their own - spend more time, and truly experience the REST of the Abacos.  I mean, we never even touched on the many coves and anchorages that are available to explore.  On top of that, we didn't have time to linger and enjoy any fishing, snorkeling, or beach combing.

In September of 2019, most of the Abacos were basically leveled by Hurricane Dorian.  The always resilient Abaconians immediately began digging out of the rubble in order to lure back the American tourists whose dollars would fund the recovery.  A few short months later they were dealt the blow of a worldwide pandemic which pretty much wiped out tourism for two years.

Understandably, recovery in some areas has been slow.  I mean, construction and progress is always a bit more "laid-back" in the islands, but places like Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay are still reeling as they attempt to get back on their feet.  The only thing that will speed that reconstruction is tourism.  From that standpoint, it makes me proud that our little group was able to spend a few weeks enjoying the Abacos and, most importantly, pumping a bit of money into the local economy.

Every single Abaconian we came in contact with, from marina staff, to waiters, to customs agents were gracious, cheerful, and genuinely happy to have us there. I was lucky enough to reconnect with several old friends and I am anxious to go back again.  I am sure the rest of the group feels the same way.

So, to Dennis & Jan aboard Mother Ocean, Bill & Betsy on Pipe Dream II, Cedric & Julie on The Office II, Lee & Karen aboard At Last, Mark & Cathy on Midnight Blue, and Drew & Joe on Chutay (the "Bro Boat"), I want to offer my heartfelt thanks.  You guys were a blast.  Let's do it again soon.  

ISLAND ERIC

Back to Florida

Everyone rose early to get a dawn start on the crossing back to Florida.  Mother Ocean, At Last, and The Office II were all headed almost directly across the Gulfstream to the original departure point at Palm Beach, while Pipe Dream and Chutay were taking the much longer route back north to Ft. Pierce inlet to try to save almost a full day of travel on their way back to home port in Jacksonville.

The forecast called for 10-15-knot winds out of the west-southwest with seas around 2'.  We left the breakwaters at Old Bahama Bay marina into somewhat sloppy 2-3' seas on the bow - with at least 15 knots of wind.  Oh well, at least it wasn't on the beam - like the crossing over!

Over the next couple hours, the two northbound boats got farther and farther away from us as they eventually went out of sight.  It felt a little odd to be such a small group after traveling together as a group of five for the past two weeks, but it actually wasn't too bad a ride.  There was a lot of chatter on the "Great Harbour Group Channel" (14), but that slowly dwindled as we continued east.

A little more than halfway across, the winds died and the seas went almost flat calm.  It was a beautiful ride and a fitting end to a wonderful trip.  Of course, we got the obligatory massive rain shower to wash all the salt off the boats about five miles from the inlet, but otherwise we had sunshine and fair seas for the remainder of the trip.

Just before 3pm the three Great Harbours cruised into Lake Worth inlet and, as suddenly as it began, the great 2022 Great Harbour Owners' Cruise to the Bahamas was over.  Mother Ocean headed into Sailfish Marina to dock for a few days while Dennis and Jan take care of some business obligations. The Office II continued north a few miles to a berth at Old Port Cove Marina and At Last...  Hey Lee and Karen, where did you head to this evening?  Lol.  We were so busy getting Mother Ocean tucked into a very difficult slip at Sailfish (lots of wind and current), that I never bothered to ask!

On my drive home to Gainesville I spoke to the Chutay crew.  Seems they and Pipe Dream entered Ft. Pierce inlet about 5:30pm during a blinding thunderstorm with lightning striking all around them!  They survived the onslaught and headed to Ft. Pierce Municipal Marina for the night, celebrating their successful crossing with a nice dinner at Cobb Landing.

So, tomorrow I will post the final blog entry with a few personal thoughts about the trip, the group, and the Abacos in particular.  It's been a whirlwind two weeks, but were back!

The Chain Gang

 

                                            Bill and his pile of anchor chain

Remember on the last post when I talked about the lovely 5-knot breezes at our anchorage yesterday evening?  Well, about the time everyone went to bed, those same breezes ratcheted up to over 20-knots.  Not only was this unforeseen, but it could not have been worse for our snug little anchorage.  The wind and waves were coming right into the mouth of the harbour, making for a real bucking horse ride on all the boats!  That extra three-hour ride to Mangrove Cay yesterday was looking like it definitely might have been the right decision after all.

I was up every 45 minutes or so checking to make sure that I could see all four anchor lights and that they were roughly in the same position as before.  Eventually, dawn came and all boats were still exactly where anchored!  So at 6AM, I rallied the troops to get up, get the anchors up, and start heading west to the Indian Cay channel and Old Bahama Bay Resort on West End, Grand Bahama.

                                                    Chutay!

At Last had their anchor up first, quickly followed by The Office II and Chutay. Bill, aboard Pipe Dream II, radioed that  his windlass seemed to have died and they could not retrieve their chain and ginormous 110-pound anchor, "Big Ben".

After several suggestions, it seemed that the windlass was indeed dead, so Dennis and I lowered his dinghy off the boat deck in the wind and waves and lit off towards Pipe Dream to try to help.  After determining for sure that the windlass was a goner, the three of us started heaving the chain up like an old-time tug-of-war while Betsy did her best to keep Pipe Dream pointed into the wind.

We eventually brought Big Ben home into his anchor chute, locked everything down, and headed back to Mother Ocean to re-stow the dinghy and get our own anchor up.

                                                    At Last!

The rest of the day was spent playing catch up to the 37' fleet and marveling over just how nice the day had become.  We all passed safely through the narrow break in the reef at Indian Cay Channel and docked the boats side-by-side in beautiful Old Bahama Bay Marina.

We spent the afternoon getting all the boats checked out of the country at the customs office, rinsing off salt, and having coldies at the pool tiki bar.

The big going away dinner tonight was a lovely affair at the resort restaurant where we all ate and drank our fill, while everyone had to listen to me wax on about how much fun it was introducing new folks to the Abacos.

I couldn't be happier or prouder of the way everyone bonded as a group this trip, coming together when someone had a problem, and just really genuinely being a fun and entertaining group!  I know that EVERYONE will be back someday - maybe even introducing more new folks to the beauty of the cruising paradise that is the Abacos.

Tomorrow morning, we all head back to Florida at dawn.  I will try to write another entry tomorrow to describe the crossing and talk a bit more about this great group that I was honored to be part of.

Beautiful ride north

Today we began the trek back to Florida in earnest.  Leaving out of beautiful Orchid Bay Marina at 7AM, we started our 10-hour cruise back to our anchorage at Great Sale Cay.

We went around the much-feared Whale Cay passage with zero drama. There were easy five-foot rollers coming in from seaward, but our hardy Great Harbours barely felt them.  We passed No Name Cay - site of our day with the swimming pigs, Green Turtle Cay, and other points north as we finally passed by our official Bahamian point of entry at Spanish Cay around eleven o'clock.

The initially blustery day evolved into a perfect, sunny, 5-knot-breeze day as we headed into the harbour on the southeast side of Great Sale Cay at a little before 5pm.  Now, there was some talk about continuing west for three more hours and anchoring on the east side of Mangrove Cay, but everyone was really tired and voted to anchor at Great Sale rather than slog on until 8.

Problem is, the anchorage we were holed up in is completely open to southwest and south winds - and we had 5-8-knot southwest winds!  Still, it was completely flat and comfy and the winds were not forecast to increase tonight.  So Joe went swimming off the back of Chutay and others (us) had drinks on the flybridge.  Everyone retired early after over ten hours on the water.  It was a perfect day and evening...

Pride goeth before the fall

                            Nipper's was closed, but the view is still spectacular

The Great Harbour fleet lit out of Boat Harbour this morning with cloudy skies and 10-knot winds from the southwest.  Due to Mother Ocean being the windward vessel in the docking line, we elected to let The Office, Chutay, At Last and Pipe Dream leave first, using Mother Ocean as a windblock.  All went well, and Mother Ocean was the last out of the marina.  We have been towing her dinghy all around the Abacos, so that I could use it to jet in to the harbours ahead of the fleet and make certain the docking situation was accommodating to our somewhat unusual vessels.

As we left the harbour, Dennis throttled back so that I could bring the dinghy up close to Mother Ocean and hop onto her swim platform.  Jan tied the line to the aft cleat on Mother Ocean and looked up in time to see a somewhat sour expression on my face.  She asked what was wrong, and I said, "I don't like the way you tied that cleat hitch."  So I untied it and did my own cleat hitch with only a single "locking" half-hitch at the end, saying, "THIS is a proper hitch and will NEVER come undone."

You see where this is heading, right?  About twenty minutes later, Dennis got a call from the dockmaster at Boat Harbour, telling him that one of our fleet had lost their dinghy and it was floating outside the breakwater.  Dennis was about to ask the group which idiot let their dinghy get away, when he realized that I was that idiot.  Yep, the dinghy untied my perfect hitch and floated off in the first minute or two after we throttled up to speed.

A half hour later - after many apologies and some VERY good-natured ribbing from Jan (I deserved much worse), we had the dinghy re-secured and we were back on our way towards Great Guana Cay.  Dennis turned on his aft camera so that we could keep an eye on that slippery little dinghy during the rest of trip.

                                                    Grabbers!

We were the last ones in to the docks at Orchid Bay Marina in Settlement Harbour, Great Guana Cay, and the winds out of the southwest had piped up well over 20 knots.  Fortunately everyone got into their slips okay, so we decided to hike on up to Nipper's Beach Bar for some refreshments.  After scaling the sandy hill, we were not pleased to find out that Nipper's is closed on Tuesdays!  Oh well, we took a few pics of the gorgeous beach and wandered back down the hill, hoping to find a better situation at Grabbers on Fisher's Bay.

Grabbers was indeed hopping and we had a great lunch washed down with several of the very strong "Guana Grabbers" rum punches.  It was a fairly relaxing afternoon as some hung at Grabbers, while others went back to the boats to do chores or nap.

                            The view over my computer as I type this blog

As I finish this blog post, I am hearing chatter on the radio about dinner - which I think most of us are just going to have aboard tonight.  But there is also talk of walking back to Grabbers for a little bit after dinner.  After all, this is one of our last nights in the Abacos and we need to make the most of it.  Tomorrow morning, we will be heading back to our anchorage at Great Sale Cay.  It will be a pretty long day and from there, Thursday's cruise will take us all the way to Old Bahama Bay Resort at the west end of Grand Bahama island.  There we will do our farewell dinner as, weather-permitting, Friday morning we all head back across the Gulfstream to the good old USA.  So I will sign off for now and head back to get some dinner - and check to make sure the dinghy is still tied to Mother Ocean!

Mahsh Hahbah - devastated

                            GH47s in Little Harbour

The intrepid Great Harbournauts dropped their moorings and left beautiful Little Harbour around noon yesterday.  The morning was spent enjoyably with a tour of the gallery and gift shop - and soaking a bit in Little Harbour's cool, blue waters.  We left LH in bright sunshine and mild winds, with some threatening clouds up ahead.

It was a lovely cruise for the first 30 minutes or so until we caught up to those dark clouds.  Winds remained light as we were all treated to 45 minutes of nice freshwater boat washing.  Around 2pm we were approaching the breakwater at Marsh Harbour's Abaco Beach Resort (aka Boat Harbour).  That is pretty much EXACTLY when winds increased to 20+ knots - which made for some pretty sporty docking, but everyone managed to get in safely, breathing a big sigh of relief!

                            Great Harbours at Boat Harbour

After getting settled, I offered to lead a group into Marsh Harbour proper - to see if we could find a place for a cold beer.  On the way, I was astounded and much saddened by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.  Most of Marsh still looks like a war zone, with houses and businesses that I used to know, blasted apart by the 200-mph winds and 13' tidal surge.  It looks like a different town with all the large trees gone.  It is especially sad after seeing all the excellent rebuilding taking place in Hope Town and Green Turtle Cay

                                        War Zone Marsh Harbour

We finally sat down at the very colorful "Colors Restaurant" on the harbour and drank a toast to the way Marsh Harbour used to be - and in hopes that it will someday be again.  Joe ordered a tropical conch salad from "Fatty's Conch Shack" right next store. Said it was delicious - but never offered to share it with me...

                                    Swimming at the marina

At 7pm, we all trouped up to "The Terrace at Marinaville" outdoor restaurant at the marina.  Food was delicious and the rain held off long enough for everyone to finish their dinner (I had pizza - YUM.)  Afterwards, we went to bed convinced that the winds would die and the weather would improve for tomorrow's trip to the "party island" - Great Guana Cay.

                                        The sun TRYING to come out!

Epilogue:  This morning, I visited a bit with my old friend Dane Stratton, a many generations native Abaconian.  He told me the horrific story and aftermath of being there during the absolute devastation of Hurricane Dorian.  His family's thriving fish market and freezing company was completely destroyed and the stories of what he and his family went through brought tears to my eyes.  No one will ever understand what these people went through in September, 2019.  The death toll in Marsh Harbour alone will never be known as most of the Haitian immigrants were undocumented.  In 2012, I made Dane and his family a 3' tall copper and bronze sculpture of the Hope Town Lighthouse.  It was one of their treasured possessions and oddly enough survived the wrath of the storm mostly intact - only to completely disappear sometime during clean up.  I went to Dane's parents house this morning and it will be an honor for me to make another lighthouse sculpture (this time incorporated into a corner table) for the Stratton clan.

                                 After the storm, but before it disappeared forever

Surprise! Little Harbour!

                                            Sunset over Little Harbour

Well, after the antics of last evening and the continuing rain and high winds as we went to sleep, I was fairly certain that we were going to be staying put in Hope Town for still another day and night to wait out this bad weather.  Even the local weather was predicting a rainy day with 20-25-knot winds.

So imagine our surprise waking up to bright sunshine and 10-15 knot winds from the west.  We immediately decided that we were heading south to Little Harbour - as per my original itinerary.  You see, Little Harbour is home to the Johnston Family and their art gallery, bronze foundry, and the famous Pete's Pub.  It is just about as idyllic a place as exists anywhere.  It would have been a crime to miss it this trip.  So, come noon, we all filed out of Hope Town harbour and pointed our bows south.  Well, that is, MOST of us filed out.  Joe and Drew were finishing up replacing the impeller on Chutay's generator - since we would be on moorings in Little Harbour and would need to run generators for air conditioning!

                                    Mother Ocean leaving Hope Town docks

So our little convey throttled back to about 5.5 knots and cruised slowly south.  Once Chutay was ready to go, Joe and Drew only had a few miles to make up to catch the fleet.  The weather on the two-and-a-half-hour cruise was spectacular and everyone was in excellent spirits.  I dinghied ahead into the harbour and helped each boat pick up their mooring as they entered the harbour in order.  Due to issues with Chutay's dinghy motor (do you sense a trend here?), we decided to go ahead and stick Chutay at the Little Harbour dock instead of a mooring.  That way, they could simply walk to the Pub.  No 50-amp power on the dock, so they still had to run their genset, but still better for them than a mooring.

                                Chutay steams into Little Harbour

Eventually, we all dinghied in to the beach and went to the Pub to listen to James Malone on the guitar and have some of Pete's signature Blasters (crazy rum drinks.)  As dinner time rolled around we moved from our picnic tables in the sand up to a larger table on the deck and enjoyed a delicious meal of ginger tuna, or cracked pepper wahoo, or lemon-pepper mahi, or even burgers.  A great time was had by all and then everyone made their way back to their boats.  It has been a long couple days getting through this storm and we are all very tired.

The plan for tomorrow is to hang around Little Harbour in the morning, go in to see the gallery and gift shop, wade in the water, and then head north in early afternoon.  We have a short two-hour cruise up to Abaco Beach Resort on the south side of Marsh Harbour's peninsula.  But more on that tomorrow.  Tonight, Mrs. Kraft's little boy is tired and ready for bed.  So I'll sign off with a few more pics from today.

                                Drew is happy to be in Little Harbour!