Bahams April and May 2007

April 11th - we head north and out into the Atlantic (our first time in a big ocean) and toward the Abaco Islands up north above the Bahamas. The weather was deteriorating, so we headed in behind some barrier islands at a place called Frozen Cay on the Atlantic side of the Bahamas; the water was still 84 degrees despite the name of the place! While Chris was diving to check our anchor was secure and find some conch (big shellfish) for dinner, he came across some old WW2 disarmed sea mines; very heavy cast iron, circular and with large holes where the detonator spikes had been removed.
We spent a couple of days here enjoying the snorkeling while the weather did its thing in the Atlantic. The weather was forecast to improve, but only for a day or two so we made a long day run north to a great all-weather protected anchorage called Little Harbor, a place made famous by a couple who did total loss life-sized bronze casting of different sea creatures; Both have passed away now, but his gallery is still maintained by their son.
We were safely anchored by sundown and visited the only other place ashore called Pete's Pub; a great beach bar, no walls, sand floor and stiff drinks plus a burger to die for. Weather kept us in Little Harbor for a couple of days, then we headed north again to Marsh Harbor, Treasure Cay and ultimately Green Turtle Bay to pick up Chris’ friends from Australia; Diz and his lady Sue. They spent a couple of days in Green Turtle bay getting over the "other side of the planet" airplane ride and then joined us on Lucky Star. Together we sailed further north and spent some great days sailing around the Abaco's, mainly in the area of Manjack Cay, caught more fish, captured some conch and generally had a pretty fine time; the depleted wine cellar is testament to the fun we had together. Diz & Sue were to leave us in the Abaco's at Treasure Cay, but we decided to change flight plans and sail south to the Exuma's so they could see more of these beautiful islands; just a couple of hundred miles south. On the way down we re-visited Marsh Harbor to pick up some spares for the water maker and some more wine.

Sailing south took us back out into the Atlantic and water over 3 miles deep, but the weather was great so we fished and motor sailed our way to Eleuthera Island. On the way across, Diz caught the biggest fish of his life, so he was pretty pleased with himself. We had only just landed and cleaned that Mahi Mahi when the second reel came to life as a big (40 to 50 lbs) bull Mahi Mahi decided to see if he could tow us out in the Atlantic. We would have let him go, but unfortunately he had swallowed the lure so deep, there was no chance to free him; we now have Mahi Mahi out the ying yang, but it is great fish to eat and Margit has been doing wonderful things with; even Jackie Dog likes it!

Diz & Sue have flown out now and life aboard Lucky Star is returning to normal; the laundry is all done, cupboards re-stocked (including the wine) and we are planning our next journey through the Exuma Banks towards Georgetown.
While waiting out the effects of a tropical storm off the US east coast, we met two couples in their eighties who had us over for drinks and told us about their first circumnavigation in their sailboat which they began at age 70; one couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary mid way across the Atlantic having sailed from Africa. The stories they told were very funny and heartwarming; pretty bloody good for seventy year olds’. They have now sold their sailboat after 23 years aboard and bought a motor boat so they can continue to visit the Bahamas each year.
Now we are further south and off the beaten path a little, fresh local mangoes and bananas are relatively cheap and delicious, so we are off to the market to replenish our fruit stocks and visit the old museum in Spanish Wells for some local history. Life is good…

May 18th and we are waiting again for a better weather window. We are about ten miles north of Georgetown on the Great Exuma island and had very heavy squalls for the last five days, so much rain and wind – our Lucky Star is getting a bath twice a day and our plants look a little sad while they slowly drown. Jackie doesn’t like the rain and thunder very much, so we have a lot of quite time on the boat – but we don’t seem to have much time for anything – what’s going on here?

The marina we are in is very pretty – owned and operated by Four Seasons. They have free laundry (which is absolutely unheard of!) with the greatest washing machines; internet access so we can use our Skype phone (and it works great!); a shuttle service to a grocery store and a liquor store (just in case we run out of wine again) – so again, life is good!