Eleuthera to the Abacos

Over the past week we’ve made the jump from Eleuthera to the Abacos enjoying the company of fellow cruisers on the same route.

Tuesday evening we staged in Royal Island Harbour to make the 55 mile jump north to the Abacos. While there we enjoyed a feast hosted by Cindy and Michael of “Fishhead” and were joined by Sherry and Wayne from “Wine Down”. A full roasted chicken dinner with a multitude of sides filled the cockpit with hunger-inducing aromas.

“Guiding Light” also happened to be staging in Royal Island for a trip to Nassau. Delighted and surprised to see Shane and his guest Micheal, we stopped by after dinner to catch up on all their adventures since we last saw “GL” at Rum Cay.

Wednesday we had a long and somewhat uneventful motor sail toward the Abacos. That is until we were about a half mile from the Little Harbour cut entrance into the Abacos. We saw a rainstorm on the way and prepared the boat but were welcomed with a 40 knot squall. Within 15 minutes the wind escalated from a mere 10 knots SW to a raging 40 knots N. Since the wind was simply too powerful on our nose to make headway in, we turned the boat around and ran downwind until it passed over us. About 15 minutes later, we turned back around, raised the sails and continued on our way. As Captain Ron says, “It’s just a little squall. They come on you fast and leave you fast.”

The following day we anchored off of Tilloo Cay and had “Fishhead” aboard for a spaghetti dinner. As it was Michael’s birthday, Cindy baked a celebratory banana cream pie for us all to enjoy. Thanks for having your birthday dinner aboard Kaleo, Michael!

From Tilloo, we sailed into the “big city” of Marsh Harbour, the hub of the Abacos. We were able to get laundry done and more importantly, met up with “White Pepper” whom we met at boat church back in George Town. We also bumped into “Mango Groove”, a really lovely and fun cruising family we met in GT.

On Saturday morning we did chores with “White Pepper” by walking to the bakery for fresh coconut bread, to the bank for the ATM, and to the grocery store. A grocery store is an understatement after months of cruising the lightly-stocked markets of the Exumas. With a parking lot the size of Costco and the actual need for a shopping cart, Maxwell’s is the equivalent to a full-sized Publix or Kroger. We bought fresh fruit and veggies, organic pasta, chips, salsa, cereal and even a watermelon. The only very minor downside was that Matt had to tote the watermelon in our backpack back to the boat.

Later Saturday afternoon, we set out to check out the 1st Annual “T’ings Bahamian Craft Show”. With cold Kaliks and crispy conch fritters in hand we browsed tents filled with a variety of artisan crafts such as sea glass jewelry, local paintings, Androsia fabric purses, and mirrors framed in shells. I found a really fun bright orange Androsia catch-all bag that was perfect for helping relieve Matt’s pockets of our camera and water bottle.

Amidst the live Bahamian music, ten contestants from “Miss Teen Abaco” paraded through the show introducing themselves along with the islands they represent and then modeled some of the local wares for sale.

Later, “White Pepper” joined us for watermelon aboard and then we all headed into Snappa’s for happy hour. As the evening settled in, “Fishhead” joined us at Snappa’s for dinner and we relished mouthwatering grilled Mahi-Mahi with caesar salad and baked potato.

On Sunday we wrapped up our time in Marsh Harbour by watching a LifeChurch.tv service and then motor sailed over to the beautiful Hope Town to kick off our anniversary week!

N 26° 32.84 / W 77° 03.37