More Hope Town

I dropped BJ off at the beach and came back to the boat to do some work, since the Outer Islands Internet (oii) network was back up. As I was about to go rescue her from the impending rain, our friends on VOILA came and docked next to use at the Hope Town Marina. I told them of VHF that it was an OK marina as long as they did not need showers or the bathrooms. They don't care, because they are fairly self-contained in their 43' Aft Cabin.

Mike and Karen had asked if I could give them a ride in my dinghy, since that is the only way to get out of this side of the harbor. While I was waiting, the rain clouds opened up and it started pouring. I told them I had to go pick up BJ because she was stuck on the beach. They did not want to go in the rain anyways. As soon as I got 100 feet off the dock, it really started to rain. I ran over to the public docks, jumped off and started to run over to the beach, when my flip flops fell off. They don't stay on if they are wet. So I picked up my sandals, and held them as I ran to the beach in my bare feet. As I passed Captain Jacks, I heard my name being called out through and open window. I stopped and saw BJ and our friends David and Michelle from RIPPLE. This was the only place she knew so she ducked in there when it started raining. The rain was continuing, so the only thing we could do is try the local concoction: The Hammer Jack. It tasted like most of the other local drinks but it was pretty good.

When the rain stopped, I ran across to the marina again to pick up Mike and Karen. We had a mini reunion at Captain Jacks and had lunch together. During lunch Mike told us that following his check-in at the marina, the dockmaster asked him to follow. They went around a building into some wooded area. Once they were in between two buildings, he took a key and unlocked a door and said "I heard someone tell you that our showers are not that good, so I just thought you should see that they are pretty nice." We all laughed, and I added that he probably did not show you the functionality, or the lack thereof. After lunch we went our different ways as I was hosting dinner this night, and RIPPLE was supposed to bring the appetizers.

Dinner was awesome. The VIOLA folks retired early, because they are going to leave tomorrow since the weather will be nice. We decided to skip Harbor Island and stay until Saturday so we did not! At 11:15 my dock neighbor got upset and knocked on the boat for us to turn it down since it was already midnight. (Sound familiar?) I did not tell him that his clock was wrong, but we did take the party down below and shut off the sub-woofer. There were no more complaints after that. We had a great time and made plans to enter the RIPPLE in the regatta that was taking place on Wednesday.

Hope Town -- The Highs and Lows

It was quite windy on Monday morning, and it looked as though the winds were going to be steady. Since we were in an outside slip, we figured we would rather rock all day in Hope Town, where the harbor is more protected. I stopped by Rich and Carol's boat and helped them fix their WiFi antenna before we left. We called our friends from RIPPLE, but there was not answer, so we sailed on.



It was a lumpy ride, but as we got in behind the light house it was very smooth. As we were looking for a marina, we ran right past RIPPLE. They apparently got up earlier than we did since they only do about 5 knots. We were trying to go to the Sea Spray marina, but found out it is in the White Sound to the south, not in the Hope Town Harbor, so we opted to stay in the Hope Town Marina.


This marina is not very nice at all. The cruising guides are obviously out of date, as there is no longer a restaurant, nor other nice facilities. The showers are not very nice, and there is water pressure only in the women’s side, so that is where I showered. With only 2 boats in the marina, it wasn't a big risk. The marina however provides a service for those that fell behind in their reading and placed a September 2005, as well as a May 2006 Vogue Magazine in the women's shower. An experienced I would have missed entirely had the men's showers worked properly.


We walked over to the lighthouse and climbed the 101 steps to be 89 feet above sea level. We had some great panoramic views of the islands. This light house is still active, and it burns kerosene fuel to illuminate the sky through a perfectly balanced rotating lantern. The lenses are 4 inch thick diamond shaped glass pieces stacked along a horizontal plane. The glass is fixed and surrounds the light house.

We made arrangements to meet David and Michelle tomorrow, and had lunch at Capt. Jacks. We both had awesome grouper sandwiches. For dinner we ate at the Harbor Edge restaurant. It was excellent. I had the Hog Fish Snapper and BJ had the Lobster paradise (another recipe I am going to steal). We started it with some chowder and seafood bruscetta that was out of this world. the prices were very reasonable for the Bahamas. We retired to the boat for a quiet evening after that.

The other pictures here on the bottom are taken from the light house looking different directions. I added the Man Of War Cay and Marsh Harbor lables over their respective land masses.

Nippers Reunion -- Pics Added

Saturday night was steak night at the Jib Room. The ribs were good last Wednesday so we thought we would try again. We only had one plate, because the amount of food served there is massive. The NY strip was grilled to perfection. Probably the best steak in the Abacos, except for mine of course! We ended up at Snappa's again since that Bahamian boy band was back over there. They were just as good as the night before.

On Sunday we decided to go back to Nipper's for the pig roast. We did not get to eat any last week. We convinced our new friends from VIOLA to come over as well. We got to the dock to a Green Turtle Cay Welcoming committee. It was Vern, her husband our friend Darren (remember the birthday party on GTC?) and a few others. They had pulled up on the dock and saw our boat and were excited to see us. The TRUE BLUE guys had gone home for a week, so we missed them. We walked up the hill to nippers once again. When we arrived we were greeted by the Nipper's staff immediately, and we was some more old friends from GTC, David and Michelle and their dog Mojo from RIPPLE. RIPPLE is a sailing vessel and David and BJ got their final dive certifications from Brendal's together.

Their were many other folks that we had made friends with before like Betty who is sailing on BAD BETTY and her dog Igi (sp?). At sundown there was the main event: Leg wrestling. Mike from VIOLA had been preparing for days, but in the end it was the reining champion; BJ who took the match. Mike, trying to save face had a second match with his wife Karen, but at best I would call it a draw. Mike, you need to keep the regiment up for next yer!

Once the games were over, we said our good-byes to EZ the bartender again, and head for the dock for a small dock party. On the way to the boats we were stopped by our old friends from last week, Rich and Carol. They are from NJ and are building a house here on Guana Cay. He gave me a couple of pounds of freshly caught Yellowfin Tuna. I graciously accepted, and promptly set up the BBQ on SWEET CAROLINE. I cut it into loin cuts and peppered the outside, then lightly grilled them We did not have soy sauce, so Karen came up with a sweet mango Tai sauce, which I infused some wasabi and drizzled over the cross-cut seared tuna bites. All of which around a watercress salad center. The fish was excellent. We danced around until the late hour of about 9:00PM where everybody was happy and tired, so we ended the party and went to our respective boats for the night. The plan tomorrow is to go to Hope town. We convinced RIPPLE and VIOLA to join us down there.