Wednesday 2/1/2017

Good Morning February!

It’s a somewhat partly cloudy day but Charlie headed to shore and joined Rick for breakfast at the local bakery.  I had a quiet, relaxing morning on the aft deck.  My favorite MSU Blueberry Cobbler Coffee coupled with my quiet time was the perfect start to the month. And a much needed respite from the get-up-and-go mornings we’ve had lately (on land and sea).

Headed to shore for breakfast...

But the relaxation was short-lived, upon Charlie’s return to the boat…he announced we were “checked out” and heading to Marsh Harbour with Moni Jean!  Uhhh…ok.  An hour later we were underway, saying good-bye to our boating friends of yesterday via radio.  Never a dull moment!

Pit stop at Archer Cay/Water Cay

It was a short travel day (17 miles), calm seas, light wind and the clouds parted to brighten the day.  Rick on Moni Jean suggested we stop at Water Cay (our chart listed it as Archer Cay) to explore.  YAY!!!  We dropped anchor, then the dinghy and motored to shore.  From the water every beach looks the same but once you put your feet on the ground…amazing!!!

The one thing we (Moni and I) noticed right away…no sea shells! But plenty of tent/camping spots cleared, paths cut and random abandon buildings.  I almost expected to see Gilligan…or Jeff Probst! LOL!!  I wish I knew the history behind the attempt to develop the island…we’ve been told to expect this type kind of surprise.  Historically, the US military have used the island positions to establish certain lines of defense.

Back to the boat for a quick lunch and we were underway again to Marsh Harbour – smack dab in the center of Great Abaco.  When we pulled into Marsh Harbour, there were marinas, mooring fields, anchorages, and ferry boats…much more traffic than we typically saw.  But we dropped anchor in a safe place between a couple sailboats and Moni Jean did the same.  Before long Moni Jean was at our swim platform offering a “car pool” ride to shore in their dinghy.

It was Monica’s birthday and we were looking forward to a nice meal and a little sight-seeing.  A few stops later we were comfortably seated at Wally’s!  What a great fine dining experience…probably the best meal we’ve had since the start of our trip (aside from my own culinary galley skills)!!  A great birthday celebration with some fantastic friends!

Back to the boat (after dark) and a relaxing night’s sleep!

God’s speed everyone…

(ed. note:  for whatever reason I've lost connectivity to attach pictures during the composition of this post.  Will try to post more later. My apologies...)