s/v Kaleo

Thursday, May 26th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

After a brisk and beautiful sail from Treasure Cay, we weaved into White Sound, a protected lagoon on Green Turtle Cay, to make it our home for a few days.

Birthday wheels to tour the island

Shortly after dropping the hook, we spotted “Three Penny Opera,” whom we met in the Jumentos. They had just sailed in from Cuba (they’re Canadian) and we dinghied over to hear about their experience. Soon thereafter “Honu Lele” joined us in the anchorage and met up on “Three Penny Opera”, making for great conversation as the sun set.

After dinner, we and “Honu Lele” headed into the Yacht Club Pub at Green Turtle Cay Resort and Marina to check out the local Rake ‘n’ Scrape band. This was an old world yacht club in the truest sense of the word – rich paneled walls, overstuffed ornate furniture, burgess and flags from every corner of the world. And every inch of the walls (and most of the ceiling) were covered with dollar bills (both Bahamian and American), each signed by yachtsmen leaving their mark along their travels. We, of course, decorated our own Bahamian bills and pinned them next to “Honu Lele’s.” The evening ended dancing to Green Turtle Cay’s own, Gully Roosters Band under the buttonwood tree on the deck at The Club.

Decorating our dollar bills to hang in the Yacht Club Pub

Neighboring bills in the Green Turtle Yacht Club Pub

Thursday was the captain’s birthday and we had a full day of celebrating ahead.

The morning started off with unwrapping a few gifts and cards that had been hidden throughout the boat from the admiral and her family. The celebrating continued with a visit from Owen and Ana bearing a shell necklace, bracelet, bookmarks and pirate treasure maps they had made for Matt.

Birthday morning treasures for the captain

Birthday treasures from our little friends, Owen & Ana aboard “Honu Lele”

Ashore we all jumped on our golf cart rental and set out to see the island. The first stop was scouting a pristine Atlantic beach then it was off to explore the historic New Plymouth Settlement. As the only town on Green Turtle Cay, New Plymouth was one of the first islands settled in the Bahamas by Loyalists from the United States who wanted to remain loyal to the British crown during the American Revolution.

New Plymouth Settlement on Green Turtle Cay

In this quiet, 18th century village by the sea, we browsed quaint shops, passed by Ye Olde Jail and enjoyed an air-conditioned lunch at a Harvey’s Island Grill.

Checking out Ye Olde Jail

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos

Before carting out of New Plymouth the captain requested that we stop into Vert’s Model Ship Shoppe to see the handcrafted models made by a Green Turtle Cay legend. Vert Lowe, a master ship modeler who has family roots that run deep on the island, hand builds ships modeled after sailing craft of old. His masterpieces reside on the mantles of kings, executives, and world leaders. Though Matt mentioned it would be a great birthday gift, the prices that reflect the time needed to create these works of art helped us decide to hold off, at least until the next time we pass through.

Master ship modeler Vert Lowe’s model ship shoppe behind his home

Listening to the grand stories from Master ship modeler Vert Lowe

Admiring the craftsmanship

Rumbling down the skinny winding road, we turned off toward a beach that looked far too inviting to pass by. For the next few hours, we hunted for beach treasures, swam, snorkeled and enjoyed the cool ocean in the heat of the afternoon.

Trail to Gillam Bay Beach

Gillam Bay Beach

Water-soaked and sun-kissed, we migrated from the ocean to Lizard Bar and Grill at the Leeward Yacht Club & Marina. With great snacks, drinks and a freshwater pool it wasn’t hard to spend the rest of the day there. This is a hidden gem for anyone voyaging through Green Turtle! Matt played Marco Polo and “Treasure Hunt” (tossing Bahamian coins throughout the pool for them to find) with the kids, we all talked boats, Texas, and life while lounging our way through the captain’s big day. After we could swim no more, everyone piled back on the golf cart for a leisurely ride back to the Green Turtle Club where we had left our dinghies.

Birthday celebrating at the Leeward Yacht Club & Marina

After showers, we stopped by “Honu Lele” to visit and say “see you soon” as we were heading out early the next morning to stage for our crossing back to the states. As we dinghied back to the boat Matt reflected that he was so blessed to have celebrated his birthday island-style, and that it would be pretty hard to top it next year.

N 26° 46.70 / W 77° 20.21

Category: Abacos, Bahamas, Boat Life, Cruising, Friends, Green Turtle One Comment

Treasure Cay

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

We sailed into the protected yacht basin of Treasure Cay, Abaco on Sunday afternoon and dropped the hook in calm emerald waters as turtles peeked above the water to check out their new neighbors.

Sailing from Great Guana to Treasure Cay

Monday morning we sauntering around the small resort-style village, stopping into a very well-stocked grocery store and small bakery before heading for the beach.

Treasure Cay Marina

From the deck of Coco’s Beach Bar we stepped down onto a seemingly endless crescent beach that is unrivaled in the Abacos and easily one of the top five beaches we’ve seen on this trip. Powdery white sand beckoned us down to azure waters that stretched into the horizon. There we drifted along the shoreline in conversation and discovery of tiny sand dollars dotting the tide line.

Playing on the beach

After playing at the beach, we returned to Coco’s for lunch and met back up with some fellow Kemah cruisers aboard “Stray Cat” who recommended frosty mango daiquiris to compliment our cracked conch and grouper sandwich.

Just after a mid-day siesta, our favorite cruising family from Austin joined us at the beach and the boys spent the rest of the afternoon digging a sand fort while the gals floated in the ocean.

Lounging under a Tiki Hut overlooking The Sea of Abaco

A dip in the marina’s freshwater pool, long land showers and a glass of wine over sunset wrapped up our evening.

Tuesday we woke up with a healthy to-do list and a full day of plans. Before we could head to Coco’s traditional Tuesday night beach bonfire and BBQ, we needed to knock out some boat chores to start preparing for our crossing back to the states. We topped off fuel and water, though making water should hardly count as a chore since installing the Cruise RO watermaker. While the CruiseRO made a quick 75 gallons of water, Matt refueled the boat and jerry jugs, then cleaned the bottom.

For our non-boating friends, “cleaning the bottom” means donning snorkel gear and grabbing a 4″ wide plastic paint scraper to remove all the fuzzy marine life that grows on the underwater part of the hull. After two and half hours of methodically scraping every inch, Matt had cleansed “Kaleo” of her slimy beard. With the fresh “shave”, she should glide through the water a little faster and look better while at it.

After chores were wrapped up it was off to “Honu Lele” for appetizers before heading into the beach BBQ. Though the landscape was a bit different, the BBQ style was straight out of Texas. Oil drum barrels cut in half hosted bellies full of charcoal briquets that roasted ribs, jerk chicken and pork, steaks, burgers and hot dogs. After overindulging on the medley of meats and sides and sipping a few mango daiquiris, it was time for the live music.

“Kaleo” and “Honu Lele” at Coco’s Beach Bar & Grill

Matt dancin’ it up in a game of adult musical chairs

To bring the dance floor to life the DJ and singer launched a game of adult musical chairs. Games set to some local live music? Matt was immediately front and center. With the crowd rolling at the antics, Matt was the third to last person standing before he was outpaced by a local for the chair he was eyeing. Other than a break to watch the bonfire be lit, we all danced to a varied playlist of favorites from Rake ‘n’ Scrape to “YMCA” to “New York, New York.” We lived the night up, finally laughing and dancing our full bellies back to our boats to get some rest.

Ms. Florance making breakfast in her cafe

Wednesday morning we were out and about early to enjoy Ms. Florance’s must-have warm cinnamon rolls before setting sail for Green Turtle Cay. We’re slowly savoring our last week in the Abacos as each new destination brings us closer to our crossing back to the states. What a ride!

Category: Abacos, Bahamas, Boat Life, Cruising, Friends, Treasure Cay 4 Comments

Great Guana Cay

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 / Christie & Matt

Since Thursday we’ve been enjoying the beaches of Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.

Poolside at Nipper’s

With Kaleo secured in Fisher’s Bay, it was a short walk into the settlement. Located at the center of the Abacos Islands, Great Guana Cay features miles of pristine white beaches and is home to the legendary Nipper’s Beach Bar and Restaurant, perched on a forty-foot sand dune, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Nipper’s overlooking the Atlantic

Nipper’s is a cruising crossroad with visitors from around the world stopping in for the view, pools, lively conversation and frosty signature drinks. Another draw to Nipper’s is its close proximity, just a few stair steps away to the world’s 3rd largest Barrier reef that can be reached by swimming right off the shore.

Matt doin’ a little island farming on the way to Nipper’s

Enjoying a signature Nipper

Friday, we headed to Nipper’s to make a day of the beach, pool, and restaurant. Surprisingly uncrowded, we had our pick of a “dune front” table overlooking the Atlantic where we spent lunchtime enjoying grilled Mahi ceasar salad, a chicken Waldorf Salad wrap, signature Nippers and visiting with fellow cruisers. We spent the heat of the afternoon swimming in the ocean before heading back up to lounge poolside.

Swimming in the Atlantic at Great Guana Cay

Enjoying the Abacos

While at the pool, we met a family vacationing on the island that we would soon learn we have a lot in common with. Their daughter and son-in-law (our age) live in Dallas, not far from where our townhouse was in Lakewood. Christie also went to the University of Texas at the same time as their son-in-law AND their son is a copywriter at an ad agency in North Carolina with a guy Matt used to work closely with at The Richards Group. Small world.

And to add to the camaraderie, our friends from “Honu Lele” walked up the path to the pools at about the same time. With so many great people hanging around, we tabled our plans to sail to Treasure Cay that day and stayed another night in Great Guana to continue the fun well into the evening.

“Honu Lele” dancing the night away

We returned to the beach on Saturday afternoon to meet up with Honu Lele and to snorkel the Great Abaco Barrier Reef. An easy swim out brings you atop a well-developed reef system that starts less than fifty feet from shore, and rises from a depth of about forty feet to within inches of the surface.

Diving the world’s 3rd largest Barrier reef

Tossing the football with “Honu Lele”

Amidst swimming, snorkeling and sunning we made plans for a taco dinner aboard “Honu Lele”. On the way back to our boats in Fisher’s Bay, we all stopped into Grabbers, the other beach bar and grill on the island, for snack time appetizers and a dip into their pool before returning to “Kaleo” to cook up our contributions for the Mexican Fiesta dinner.

Aboard “Honu Lele”, we dined on ground turkey and pulled chicken tacos and sipped Mojitos in the cool breeze. After a radiant sunset, the kids brought out glowsticks to light up the night and Sheri baked delicious chocolate chip cookies. We laughed over the light show performance in the cockpit and indulged in the warm cookie treats.

Our neighborhood from the porch of the dinghy dock

Sunday we watched an excellent Lifechurch.tv message titled, “I Quit Living in Fear” and lazily prepped the boat to head for Treasure Cay. After sailing off the anchor, we drifted by and briefly visited with our friends aboard “Fishhead” who had just arrived to explore Great Guana. We waved good-bye to them with plans of our courses crossing again in Green Turtle in a few days and to “Honu Lele” with plans to meet back up in “Treasure Cay” the next day.

N 26° 39.99 / W 77° 07.10

Category: Abacos, Bahamas, Cruising, Friends, Great Guana Cay, Sailing One Comment

Peaceful Man-O-War

Thursday, May 19th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

We’ve been livin’ it up marina-style over the past couple of days on Man-O-War Cay.

Dock & Dine Restaurant at Man-O-War Marina

Man-O-War Marina was offering a special dockage rate of two nights for the price of one, a deal that fit it perfectly into our anniversary week celebration. Deep water with easy access into the slips, beautiful freshwater pool overlooking the marina, clean spacious shower facilities, well-kept laundry room, on-site Dock & Dine Restaurant … done deal. Bonus: Within minutes of securing our docklines, a young cruising family hailing from Austin, Texas that we briefly met in Marsh Harbour, pulled into the slip next to us.

Texan neighbors in the Abacos

With plans to meet up later, we set off to explore this quiet, picturesque settlement. Home to Abaco’s finest boat builders, and to the famous Albury’s Sail Shop tote bags, Man-O-War (named after the bird) retains strong influences of its Puritan past. Full of hardworking, Christ-centered residents, the streets and homes are immaculate and the island is “dry” (though we were allowed to bring our own dinner wine to the restaurant).

Hand-built Albury sailing skiff

Albury’s Sail Shop and Studio

Yes He is!

We spent the afternoon winding our way through golf-cart-sized streets, stopping into local shops and boat yards, over the hill of the island and past a baseball field with the best view of a peaceful Atlantic-side beach. After the tour of the town and a stroll on the beach, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in and around the marina pool.

Lounging poolside at the marina

Freshwater swimming

Tuesday evening we hung out with our new friends aboard “Honu Lele“. Their cruise began out of Kemah not long after ours, so we enjoyed laughs over shared situations and favorite stops along the way. We shared many treasures between our boats. From us, sea beans and an empty bottle for the kids to create a message in a bottle. From them, freshly caught Blackfin tuna sushi for dinner. It was incredible! Thanks Scott.

The next morning, we met two missionaries who were on the island for a conference hosted at New Life Bible Church. They invited us to come by for lunch and meet the other missionaries who were in for the conference. We had plans to drop off Fellowship Church Elevate Kids materials at the church anyhow so our visit worked out perfectly. We were able to share several sets with not only the church in Man-O-War, but with the far reaching hands of the missionaries who were attending the conference.

Later that afternoon, we hung out at the pool and then took advantage of long showers before having dinner at Dock & Dine with the crew from “Honu Lele”.

Dinner with “Honu Lele” at Dock & Dine

Dinner turned into a gathering aboard Kaleo where we visited and gave the kids sailing books we had on board for just such an occasion.

Thursday we awoke to a dreary sky but the morning was brightened by gifts from the kids on Honu Lele. Their daughter made Christie an anklet with a seashell and beads and both kids shared a couple of their pristine white sand dollars for our collection.

Thanks for the stylin’ shell anklet, Anna!

Just before lunch we untied the docklines and headed for our next island destination of Great Guana Cay. Shortly after leaving and right after unfurling the jib, it started pouring rain and we had a short but soggy motor sail over to Great Guana. The weather cleared as we picked up a mooring and we set off to explore this new-to-us cay.

N 26° 35.70 / W 77° 00.34

Category: Abacos, Bahamas, Boat Life, Cruising, Great Guana Cay, Man-O-War Leave a Comment

Hope Town Harbour

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

We spent the beginning of this week celebrating our second anniversary in the quaint village of Hope Town on the beautiful island of Elbow Cay,a boomerang-shaped barrier to the mainland of Abaco in the Bahamas.

Kaleo resting in Hope Town Harbour

With Kaleo secured on a mooring ball in Hope Town Harbour, we dinghied over to the lighthouse dock and climbed 101 spiraling stairs up to the top. After crouching through the Alice In Wonderland-sized doorway leading out the observation deck, we were greeted by a breathtaking, 360° view of the deep blue Atlantic ocean, the turquoise and green Sea of Abaco and the lush cays dotting its surface.

Elbow Reef Lighthouse

Probably the most recognizable landmark in Abaco, the Elbow Reef Lighthouse was built in 1862 and is one of only two manually-operated kerosene-fueled lighthouses left in the world. Towering at about 120 feet tall, its light can be seen from 23 nautical miles away. And every two hours each night the lighthouse keeper must climb to the top to hand crank the weight and pulley systems that maintains a sequence of five white flashes every 15 seconds. Click here to take your own video tour up through the lighthouse courtesy of a fellow Hope Town visitor.

Towering at 120 feet tall, its light can be seen from 23 nautical miles away.

Looking out over Hope Town Harbour from inside the Elbow Reef Lighthouse.

Crossing out of the lighthouse chamber onto the outer observation deck.

Enjoying the view of Hope Town Harbour from the top of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse.

After taking in the gorgeous views, we returned to our dinghy and putted over to the town side of the harbor. There, we strolled the narrow, flower-lined streets past brightly decorated cottages and into small (air-conditioned) gift shops. Naturally, after spotting the ice cream shop, we stopped for a cone of “Carmelicious” and to take refuge from the heat of the day.

Hope Town Harbour Lodge overlooking the Atlantic

Overlooking the Atlantic from the patio of Hope Town Harbour Lodge.

Later that evening, we dinghied to the waterfront deck of Harbour’s Edge Restaurant and chose a cozy table overlooking Kaleo resting in the harbour with the lighthouse stately standing in the skyline behind.

Harbour’s Edge Restaurant

We treated ourselves to a dinner of lobster and BBQ ribs with a variety of classic Bahamian sides and then ventured over to another recommended restaurant’s deck, Capt’n Jack’s, for an after-dinner drink and a decadent piece of silk chocolate pie.

Under the light of a radiant full moon, we motored back to Kaleo with gratitude for such an adventurous year of marriage and excitement for what the next year will bring.

N 26° 32.22 / W 76° 57.55

Category: Abacos, Bahamas, Boat Life, Cruising One Comment

Eleuthera to the Abacos

Sunday, May 15th, 2011 / Christie & Matt

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

Dinner aboard “Fishhead”

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.”

Entering Little Harbour in a 40 knot squall

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.

The giant Maxwell’s grocery store

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.

Hanging with some mermaids

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.

1st Annual “T’ings Bahamian Craft Show” in Abaco Town

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.

“Miss Teen Abaco” contestants

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.

Entering Hope Town, Abaco

Kicking back during our first Hope Town sunset

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!