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But these plants stumped us (not that that’s difficult to do). Any guesses?

The charted depths in the narrow entrance channel to Hope Town Harbour are very shallow, too much so for us. Not wanting to miss it, we figured we would anchor out and take the dink safely in to visit this renown harbour on Elbow Cay. But here’s the power of the cruising community, shared “tribal” knowledge. Friends who were in there assured us we could do it if we came in on the rising, almost high tide and take it slowly. Careful. Careful. Breaths held, fingers crossed, we went for it. Whew. Plenty of depth in the mooring field in the harbour. Good buddy Dave met us in his dinghy to help us get her hooked up. The harbour is fairly crowded with boats but provides protection from the winds, as you’d expect. Although there are a few closures due to Covid-19, we look forward to exploring the outdoor parts of Hope Town, the “jewel of the Abacos,” while waiting for a northerly to pass. Oh and one might ask why “harbour”, well, once again just honoring the country we are visiting.

And…here we are, safely moored near the light that has served as a beacon since 1863, one of the last kerosene-fueled lighthouses in the world still in operation. Its weights are still hand-wound. Can’t wait to dinghy over and climb the 101 steps to the top! It’s exercise, Todd, exercise!

With the New Year’s holiday over, we took a taxi into town at Marsh Harbour Tuesday morning, in order to look into an additional data plan. Now we are covered by both BTC and Aliv, which means we don’t need to be in a marina and should be good to go. So, go, we did – left the marina in our wake to get back on the hook, this time, Man O War Cay. Aaah. Solitude again. The anchorage was a bit breezy and rolly but nothing SaltyMare couldn’t take in stride. That is one of the reasons the Bahamas are so alluring to cruisers, a seemingly endless supply of little islands. In the Abacos, several are inhabited and have the neatest little communities. The Albury family has been building boats on Man O War for about 70 years, first wood and now fiberglass. About 15 years ago, they expanded to Riveria Beach in Florida. It’s a cool story. https://www.alburybrothers.com/

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The next day we walked into town on Man O War and then hit the beach for some in-the-water fun with John and Madeleine from Chanceux and Eddie and Jennifer from Kaikos, who were kind enough to let us try their inflatable standup paddle boards. We both did great! Until we didn’t. Splash! No way to hide that gracefully.

That night there were five or six boats anchored nearby.

You cannot talk about spending time in Marsh Harbour/Abaco without mentioning Hurricane Dorian that literally sat on Abaco for a couple of days in 2019 and devastated the island. Most of the Bahamas got whacked, but Abaco and the surrounding area really took the brunt. Two years later, many businesses are still closed, others without phone service, and there is plenty of evidence of the storm’s destruction, but the resilient Bahamian people are rebuilding!

Memorial Park

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Rebuilding

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We traveled from No Name Cay to Abaco Beach Resort and Marina. This marina is on Great Abaco Island and is kinda on the opposite side of an isthmus from the actual Marsh Harbour. Todd figured with a bit of blow coming, no real great anchorages around, and that Susie hasn’t seen Marsh Harbour, let’s duck in and put SaltyMare in a slip for a night or two. The Mare is becoming a diva with these “spa” days. Secured her stern in, in the wind, way to go Todd! This morning we went on walkabout over to Marsh Harbour (the town) to check out a grocery store, Maxwell’s. Since it is a holiday [New Year’s day observed], almost nothing else is open. Maxwell’s is huge, like a Kroger, but eye-opening.

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Some photos for the plant people