The Bluff House Beach Hotel Green Turtle Cay

May 23, 2009 - Escape from the Bahamas Ahhhh, it's like getting two guard dogs drunk so they'll lie down and let you sneak out! That's what it has felt like trying to find a window to cross back to the US. Actually, we're still trying to get out of this marina! Finally, a passage window seems to have surfaced, the guard dogs are going to sleep and we're going to slip off the Bank and get to the Gulf Stream on Tuesday for ...

Well, we've homesteaded! We've been in GTC for 10 days and counting. Not that we're complaining. What started out as high winds - 15-20 kts turned into a massive rain storm - same stuff Central Florida is getting. This week the winds have been up in the high 20's with gusts in the mid-30's with pounding rain. Each night we think, tomorrow we'll be able to move on, and then we look at the weather predictions and it just ...

Every morning we wake up to the roosters crowing. That doesn't mean we "get up", but all around you can hear the crowing of the roosters. Since the boat is facing north, we're getting all the breezes across our stern and down into the saloon and galley which is quite different from when we're at anchor. I've taken up residency in the saloon on the "pit" where I have virtually a queen size bed and all the breezes around me coming down the hatch and through ...

May 15, 2009 - GTC Weather is going to set in on us with winds in the high 20's and thunderstorms, so it looks like we'll be New Plymouthians for a while. Oh well.....Given the forecasts through next week, we don't see us getting a window to return until the following week at the earliest. Want those seas to lay down for us before crossing. Soooooo, today we headed down to the Ferry Dock to contribute to ...

May 13, 2009 - No Name Cay to Green Turtle Cay N26 45.611 W77 19.496 Off to Green Turtle Cay. Dave is becoming obsessive about the charging systems on the boat - fussing around the meters with his handy yellow box with the red and black wires attached. Winds are not in the 20+ kt category so charging is somewhat minimal. So, we decided to take a slip at Blacksound Marina for $1/ft plus ...

We left Harbour View Marina, Marsh Harbour at 0815 knowing we had a long day ahead. The Whale report on the Cruisers Net on VHF did not sound promising (Dave suggesting that the vendors wanted boats to stay in the Abacos for all the Sunday action!) but we were a couple of hours away and had a tide change coming so as before we planned to go and see if we liked what we saw. Coming from the south it is not possible to see the narrow ...

We felt quite sad to be leaving Hope Town on the 6th. We waited until 2 hrs before high tide before we dropped the mooring ball and made our way out of the well marked channel and turned left along the shore and then right,once we were behind the lighthouse, toward Marsh Harbour. We let the headsail go and had a nice sail in about 15-20 knts of course it was on the nose but we were in no hurry and were content to tack our way toward our destination ...

We spent three nights on a mooring at Hope Town. The weather improved and we had a a lovely time exploring the town. The beach on the Atlantic side is very dramatic with what looks like some good snorkeling close to the beach. We shivered as we passed some youngsters entering the water as the wind was still blowing quite hard. There were some nice sheltered sun traps under the dunes though. We really enjoyed our time here and would be reluctant to leave. We will return though.

We weighed anchor just after 0830 as the anchorage was no longer sheltered with building wind and sea from the south. We were followed by Sea Mist and made our way to White Sound on Elbow Cay. Dave's reading of the charts and guides had convinced him the passage from the south was the best. Ros thought the passage from the north was best. After looking at the charts a second time there was a consensus on the passage from the north being the best. We ...

... the Sea of Abaco and the ocean beaches of Elbow Cay. The "Flamingo Villas" are two pink rental villas with six individual balconies and every bedroom overlooking the harbour. The Hope Town School is an historic site built in 1893. The original red and white one room building has "stood firm on its foundation despite major hurricanes in 1927, 1935, 1965 and 1999. The rooms are now air conditioned, however the carved wooden corners built by loyalist shipbuilders are still very ...