Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Hope Town - 2017

Apr 16 thru Apr 18

--Blogpost written by Bob



Over the last couple days, we found a lone palm tree along the ocean beach just south of the Hope Town Lodge--it was a perfect photography subject.  I worked at various viewpoints and waited for clouds to pass over to try to get the perfect photograph.  The final result is the following image:


A lone palm tree stands on the ocean beach south of 
Hope Town Harbor Lodge on Elbow Cay.

On Easter Sunday, April 16, the wind was still quite strong but clocked around to the east.  Moisture-laden clouds blew over us, occasionally threatening rain, but it never rained.

In the afternoon, we decided to take a dinghy excursion to the southern point of Elbow Cay, a place called Tahiti Beach.  It took us a little under an hour to get there, the wind caused us to go so slow.  This was the longest trip we ever made with our rigid hull inflatable dinghy--it was probably 2-1/2 miles each way.  The trip was worth every second!


Tahiti Beach is the southernmost point on Elbow Cay. 
This view is looking toward the east.

This is a cove just north of Tahiti Beach.

This photo of the sand bar at Tahiti Beach was taken at low tide.


We walked on the sand bar and then on the beach toward the ocean.  The water was very warm--about 72 degrees F.  On the way back the wind was a little more in our face and the trip was pretty wet.

We ended the day buy having pizza for dinner at the Hope Town Inn & Marina.

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An easterly 10 knot wind and a bright sun in an almost cloudless sky greeted us as we awoke on Monday, April 17.  The temperature is in the low 70's (actually 73 degrees according to the Cruiser's Net)--it is very pleasant!   As a cruiser, most of our days are spent outdoors--this is why weather is so important and almost every one of my blogposts start out with the daily weather conditions.


This sailboat is Abaco Rage--it was constructed on Man-O-War Cay
in 1980 as a Class A racing sloop.  The sailboat is 28 feet long
and has a beam of 10' 4".  The mast is 65 feet high and
the boom is 38 feet long--it has a huge mainsail.
It is shown here on its mooring
in Hope Town's harbor.


Today is a holiday (Easter Monday) here in the Abacos and many businesses are closed or are on reduced hours.  Restaurants are, of course, open as usual.  We are doing laundry today and having lunch at Hope Town Inn & Marina.



In this case, doing laundry in paradise cost $22 for 2 loads of
laundry, washed and dried.  Though costly, the facilities
and environment around Hope Town
Inn & Marina are wonderful!


Our mooring for the entire time in Hope Town was
very close to the center of the village.


A very pretty day sailor is tied to the dock along 
Nigh Creek, just off the southeast from 
Hope Town 's harbor.

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Tuesday, April 18, is our last full day in Hope Town--we will be leaving tomorrow afternoon on a rising tide.  Again, it is a beautiful day!


Most of the pilings used for docks in Hope Town are painted
white on the upper 2 or 3 feet or so.  Some of
the decks are painted as well.


This morning we worked on a general plan once we leave Marsh Harbour for the last time.  (From here we are going back to Marsh Harbour to provision and then onto Great Guana Cay.  From Great Guana Cay we will return to Marsh Harbour for the last time this season.)  The importance of this general plan is so that we can work around the availability of water, fuel, groceries, and trash disposal since most of the remaining places we will be visiting in the Abacos are pretty remote.  (We're getting spoiled by trash pickup from our boat on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays here in Hope Town!)

The remaining Bahamian islands on our list to visit are the following:
No Name Cay
Allan's-Pensacola Cay
Moraine Cay
Stranger's Cay
Double Breasted Cays

Most of these remaining islands will provide a lot of snorkeling and fishing experiences for us.  After Walker's Cay we will be heading back to the U.S., entering the U.S. at Ft Pierce, FL.  Vero Beach, where we will probably be spending a week getting re-acclimatized, lies a few hours north on the ICW from Ft. Pierce.

Here in Hope Town a lot of cruising boats are beginning to leave for the season.  There are at least a dozen mooring buoys that are now vacant.  I understand that during the summer, a lot of Florida boaters arrive (mostly in power boats).



This image taken from Marine Traffic this morning shows
all the boats with AIS transmitters heading
back toward the U.S.


Tomorrow we head back to Marsh Harbour to provision before heading to Great Guana Cay.  Stay tuned for more of our Abacos adventure...


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