Our Travels

Some of you might be old enough to remember the commercial with O. J. Simpson racing through the airport, jumping over things to make his flight. Well, this wasn’t like that. Sure, we were anxious, made worse by a change in wind direction Sunday night that made things even more sporty in Red Bay. We stuck it out for most of the morning to (hopefully) allow time for some of the boats anchored in Marsh Harbour to (hopefully) move out. At 1100, we donned our life jackets against the sway and bobble, then weighed anchor and crossed our fingers (and toes for good measure).

We saw plenty of encouraging boat traffic in the distance and on AIS, but you can’t really see into the harbor until you round the corner in the channel. After a short two-hour cruise and with all eyes intently focused on Marsh Harbour, we rounded the bend, and yeah! We think there’s room!

Now, if we can just find a spot with enough depth. A bit of slow cruising through shallow spots, wiggling through the anchored boats, and suddenly, there! Drop the hook! We are in the harbor with 1.6 ft below the keel at low tide.

SaltyMare has safe haven for Susie’s trip! Whew. And our fantastic friends on Finish Grade are right beside us. High fives all around! Heck, we even broke out a shot of something; sorry, don’t remember what.

Okay, admittedly, we are on the edge of kind of the informal part of a channel. It’ll be fine, Honey…

To top it off, Lynn pinged us with an invitation to dinner aboard Finish Grade so we wouldn’t have to worry about cooking and could focus on last minute details, a kind gesture that almost brought a tear to our eyes. Knowing that Tuesday morning would involve Susie packing and fussing over the last things she wants Todd to remember (along with a sweet list of Honey Do’s), we dined with Terry & Lynn and celebrated the sun setting over Marsh Harbour.

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Susie was up before sunrise. During coffee time, Todd asked if she packed long pants. Deer in the headlights look – umm… pants?? A quick check of the weather in Virginia lead to removing a muumuu or two from the suitcase to make room for said pants. Done. Great. What about a jacket? sigh (She adamantly drew a line against packing socks.)

During coffee/tea time we noticed the anchorage continued to empty out, especially those to the south of us. Quick conference and both boats moved within the anchorage. Both boats feel better about not being near (or IN, yes we were kinda IN) the channel.

With that handled, we headed to shore shortly before noon for the taxi pick-up to get her to the little airport for the 1405 flight.

Short ride to the airport, and officially we can call the mission complete! Thanks for the ride, Rosie!

See you later LoveBug, give your Mom a healing hug for me! I miss you already! mmmwwwwaaaa! ❤️😘

As we mentioned, after the failed attempt to find room in Marsh Harbour Thursday, we traveled not quite 10 miles further west to anchor in Red Bay. We sat tight for the afternoon to give the disappointed first mate time to wrap her head around the fact that we did not make it into the safe haven of Marsh Harbour. (Okay, so not yet, but we plan to try again Monday or Tuesday morning.)

One afternoon was enough sulking for the SaltyMare “Choose Joy” first mate. Wind research showed we were in a good spot for the coming blow, so we spent Friday and Saturday exploring the surrounding area. First up, we noticed a small ferry come and go, and lo and behold, we located the Red Bay Ferry Dock just a short distance away in case Susie would need a taxi from there to the airport. Plan J, I believe. But a decent back-up plan, nevertheless. Although, no one would be aboard to help Todd move the “big ol’ Mare.” Insurmountable? nah.

Let’s go beach combing! Oh, and let’s bring the snorkel stuff because, well, it’s hot!

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We’ve found that you just never know – some spots are good for finding sea glass, some for locating conch shells, others for picking up pretty urchins or sand dollars. Our first stop Friday was good for …

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Galley supplies, notwithstanding, Friday’s prize for the most unusual find goes to Todd, who found a desiccated Smooth Trunkfish.

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The girls weren’t impressed with the combing, so how about some snorkel time? Yeah! Let’s check out the area around one of the little islets. That’s right, it’s a word, look it up!

Where there is water, Jacques (Todd) usually finds stuff. We all had a good time cruising around this little islet and seeing the marvels underwater.

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It was so much fun, we decided to go back out after lunch. Another islet/rock, more pretty photos!

Once again we were amazed at the variety of stuff found around just a rock, err islet. Here are more slides for those interested in the pretty fish.

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Saturday, we explored in the morning, hoping to find more treasures, but we only had those beaches closest to the anchorage to explore and knew a couple of sailboats with dogs had been all over them. No joy, even had to run back to the big boats to close windows with the impending weather moving in. So, it wasn’t long before we headed back to the big girls to tuck the dinghies up in the late afternoon in preparation for the blow.

Sunday during the wind, think…

No, no, it wasn’t quite that bad. We are big heavy boats, but 33.7 knot winds and rain did make for a sporty anchorage. No leaving the boat, so we worked on chores, laundry for packing, etc. We’re guessing chores were being done on Finish Grade, also. Todd was thinking that if this was summer an “event” like this gets named and the weather folks would have the whole country worried.

It kind of blew itself out during the day but the sunset was still pretty!

When you’re anchored near the southernmost point in the Abaco sound, it’s almost a requirement that you dinghy over to Little Harbour, a great hurricane hole where a quaint community was founded in the 1950’s by Randolph Johnston. Johnston was a sculptor, who with his family, basically “founded” this area around the then still-working Old Lighthouse. Today, the foundry is run by Randolph’s son Pete, and Pete’s Pub is a tourist spot (that was closed due to Covid when we visited the harbor last year).

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After checking out the gallery and grounds, we headed for the trail to the Old Lighthouse ruins that overlook the North Atlantic and mark the cut into the Sea of Abaco.

That’s when the trouble started. Susie’s camera went on the fritz. OH NO! Not the camera! Yep, the camera.

The shutter began partially opening/closing, and the screen became striped like an old tube TV when it dies, then went totally black.

Calm down, Honey. This is 2023. We have options, like the same thing everyone else uses, a cellphone. UGH. Or a friend with a camera and phone (thank you, Lynn). With Lynn stepping in to help document our adventure and Todd promising to take a look at the camera when we got home, the group moved on to find the ruins.

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In a couple of places, a machete might have come in handy, but it was a fairly short hike, just 15-minutes or so.

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The view from the lighthouse ruins is wonderful.

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From the top, there’s a small path down to the cliff’s edge, where you can feel the sea spray as the waves crash into the little bay below. A cooling, spritzy shower on a warm day!

Using the cellphone (did someone say, “UGH?”), Todd took a panoramic view of the rest of the group and the ruins. On the right day with the right seas and tides, there is a “musical” blowhole called the “Dragon,” that roars and snorts, and blows out spray! The dragon was congested this day. Ha!

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Having seen the ruins, it was time for the fairly short trek back.

This time, our little hike ended at Pete’s Pub, a classic eatery/bar with a couple of notable twists. First, you look at a posted menu and order at the bar, no real servers. Second, and we thought this was handy and ingenious, there was an insulated cooler with plenty of help-yourself COLD fresh water! We enjoyed the lunch and the water.

No, there are no shots of Pete’s Pub or the group having lunch. UGH. About that camera, Honey…

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Knowing Purrfect would be striking out in a different direction Tuesday morning, Chris & Allison joined us and Terry & Lynn from Finish Grade aboard SaltyMare for dinner. We had a good time exchanging stories and stayed up beyond our normal cruiser bedtimes. There’s no group photo, of course, because… well, you know. UGH (camera withdrawal)

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With a week to get to the nearby Marsh Harbour (our destination for Susie to catch her May 2 flight and Todd to hopefully await her return in the safety of the harbor), we stopped at Tilloo Cay for some exploring.

Among some tree roots on the shore, Susie found an interesting egg case, later identified as most likely that of a Queen Conch. (Thanks, Shel!)

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After stretching our legs, we slowly dinghied through Tilloo Pond, a smallish indent into the island, where we spotted plenty of turtles enjoying the grass and trees. Thinking it might be fun to snorkel with the turtles, we geared up and jumped in. The turtles easily evaded us, but being in the water was fun, nonetheless. Always is.

Seen in the above video, there were these odd looking “things” scattered along the bottom. Todd got close enough to one to see it was a jellyfish, but why are they pulsing (swimming?) against the bottom? A little time with the interwebs and voila! Cassiopea – the upside-down jellyfish!

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After a break for lunch, we went looking for another spot for some snorkeling, opting for an interesting rocky ledge where Lynn thought she spied a Lionfish through her “lookie bucket.” So, in we went.

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Then, thunder. Aww, man, time to get out of the water.

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Mission Control, we have a problem.

This is the time of year when many cruisers have either already left the Bahamas or are in the process of heading back to the states. Since the weather had been fairly mild, we hoped many would be gone, leaving room for us to secure a deep enough spot in the somewhat shallow Marsh Harbour. With Susie seriously wanting that spot secured before her departure and for the duration of her trip to Virginia, we cut the explorations off and headed to Marsh on Thursday the 27th.

With prayers said, fingers crossed, and great optimism, we “serpentine-d” our way up to Marsh, passed a seemingly out-of-place turret on the way, and as we came around the point into the harbor…. Oh my…. A LOT of boats. We slowly wiggled (if you can call moving this 60-foot boat “wiggling”) our way through a ridiculous number of anchored boats. In the end, there was no room at the inn.

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So, Mission complete? Not quite. Sure, we have completed the 290+ nautical miles. But….. with strong southern winds (20-30knots) forecasted, we decided to continue “north” to tuck into Red Bay about 8 nm beyond our objective.

No worries, we still have a few days, the strong winds should be exhausted, and we will try Marsh Harbour (the pink star) again on Monday the 1st!

We completed our final passage within the Bahamas to arrive back in the Abacos at Lynyard Cay late Saturday afternoon. Upon approach to the unusually crowded anchorage, we were hailed by friends on Purrfect, who heard “SaltyMare” on the VHF. Chris & Allison! We hadn’t seen them since Georgetown in March 2022 and had wondered when our paths would cross again. They kindly invited us to join them for fresh mahi – Chris hooked five of ’em on their crossing! Overachiever. 😉

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Splash! Let’s go see what we can see.

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And it was pretty!

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This colorful…

We rode the currents with a graceful school of adult Blue Tangs and Surgeon Fish – they hang out together! (video below).

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After snorkeling Sandy Cay, we all headed over to explore the nearby Pelican Cays Land & Sea Park.

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After a break for lunch, we introduced ourselves to John & Lorelei, anchored nearby on Siren’s Song, another Selene 53. It is always fun to meet fellow owners and see other Selenes moving about in exotic places. John & Lorelei decided to join us for some beachcombing, bringing our party to eight.

We checked a couple of areas and then headed to the southern beach on Lynyard Cay with Susie promising Lynn she’d find sea glass (maybe even a sea bean, but definitely sea glass).

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With a wave to the other husbands who decided to wait at the comfy onshore “Cruisers’ Lounge,” Todd took the ladies to a longer beach around the corner to look for sea glass and the elusive sea bean. (No, Lynn, we are not Snipe Hunting. I promise.)

We wandered along the calm side, picking up treasures until we followed our ears to a little path that crosses to the rougher, iron shore on the ocean. This is where Lynn found… (drumroll, please) …say it ain’t so!

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We returned home with our tiny treasures, rinsed gear, showered and prepared to tuck in for the night. As the sun set, we couldn’t help but reflect on the true treasure from the seaside. Friendships!

And for the last time Lynn, Todd did not “plant” a sea bean for you. At least he says he didn’t….

Most of our cruising is in open water, so on the days where we need to cut through a narrow gap between islands, careful timing and a bit more diligence is needed. Thursday was one of those days, as we moved north from Alabaster Bay back through Current Cut to return to our “friend” Meeks Patch in the top part of Eleuthera. This was a 4-hour, 33 nautical mile run. Besides being slowed by a not very friendly underpowered sailboat who crept through the cut at less than 4 knots, it went well.

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With hopes of making the big crossing to Abaco Saturday or Sunday, we did some provisioning – groceries, gasoline for the dinghies, even moseyed over to the St. Georges Power Station and took on some diesel for the big girls.

Friday morning, we decided to stretch our legs and check out The Bluff, the northernmost settlement on Eleuthera proper.

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The northernmost town on the island of Eleuthera doesn’t get many cruisers but is a productive area. We saw all kinds of folks working, mowing lawns, clearing a lot, even a couple of guys building a concrete block house/building.

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Given the recent rains, the landscape was lush, with everything coming into bloom, including a gigantic mango tree loaded with small mangoes!

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We discovered last year that the one thing we really miss while cruising isn’t cheeseburgers (sorry, Jimmy). It’s ice cream. It’s just too impractical to try to get it to the boat. There’s an ice cream shop in New Bight on Cat Island, but they’d sold out over the Easter holiday. There’s an ice cream shop in Spanish Wells, very near the grocery store where we just provisioned, but it is only open after 7pm, which seems a bit goofy. Most cruisers are back on their boats before dark and asleep by 0900. (That might be a slight exaggeration but not by much.)

At any rate, imagine our delight when we stumbled on an ice cream shop while wandering around in The Bluff. Yippee Skippy! Nobody get in the way. We’re going in! We get to the door, and… it’s locked. The Open sign taunts us, but the place is closed up tight. Oh no-o-o. Thinking perhaps it was just too early, we decided to find lunch and try again afterwards.

We asked a young man out working on a water line where we might be able to get a bite, and he recommended “Island Style,” owned by Fortune, just up the block. Lucky us. Turns out we were indeed lucky. Edward, who goes by the nickname Fortune, was just opening up. The ribs and fixin’s were outstanding and the most reasonably priced meal we’ve had in the Bahamas. We chatted with Fortune and a couple of locals during lunch, and all said the owner of the ice cream shop had most likely run to the shopping center for something and should return soon.

After lunch we went back to the ice cream shop with an anticipatory skip in our step to find… there was still no one there. We knocked. We shaded our eyes to peer in the windows like children. (Please, please, can we have some ice cream.) A man across the street told us, “She’s probably gone to the shopping center to get something; she should be back soon.” Ugh.

Disappointed we began making our way back to the dinghy. Along the way, we passed a colorful hair salon. Hey, a haircut would be almost as good as ice cream. Almost. Susie decided she’d go for it. The sign said Open. Guess what? Locked. No one there. (Perhaps she was at the shopping center with the owner of the ice cream shop.) Island time… all this was basically around noon….

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Time to untie the Lil Filly (dinghy) and dash back home.

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Mission Update

Weather. Yeah, always a consideration. Saturday/Sunday the window was open, but really only cracked a bit. One of those moments where “living on a boat” and “having a schedule” don’t mix very well. Unfortunately, looking out a week the weather “window” would be closed. So early (0800) Saturday morning we left Meeks Patch, swooped through Egg Island cut out to the North Atlantic for the crossing to the Abacos. Ocean passages mean “throw a line out – possible fresh catch for dinner!” Alas, to no avail, too much sargassum lent to reeling in the bait, clearing the “grass” from it, repeat. Ocean fish don’t eat grass.

Several days ago, our autopilot “died,” so we’ve been hand driving since the bottom of Cat Island. Not bad on a two- to three-hour hop; darn tedious on this 60 nm, 8-hour slog. This crossing was a chore.

But we completed the passage without incident! (Or fish.) Important, because this was the fateful leg last year where the ‘Mare was wounded. (“Wounded, you say?” We lost the engine! The brand new 2022 model is doing great.)

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So, with that last crossing behind us and 264 nautical miles completed, with a little more than a week to go til Susie’s flight, we can take the foot off the pedal. The last 20-30 miles will be easy peasy. Long post…. long way.

Look how close we are to that star!