Sea of Abaco, Southern Part

From Royal Island White Pepper headed north for Great Abaco Island. The wind was strong, about 18 or 19 knots from the ENE, as predicted, but maybe a bit more than anticipated. With a reefed main and jib she just rocketed through the 5 foot swells. The crew had less fun. Jan and I had to change off steering about every 30 minutes because the wave action was so vigorous and too much for the autopilot. The wind moderated to about 12 to 15 at noon, again as predicted. The autopilot kicked in, and we had a lovely afternoon sail to Little Harbor. White Pepper made the 50 n. miles in about 7 and ½ hours—quite good for an overloaded old boat. We anchored in the Bight of Old Robinson next to Little Harbor about 100 yards from where we had anchored 3 years earlier.

Little Harbor has not changed a bit in 3 years. The foundry is still cranking out professor Robertson's fine sculptures and Pete's Pub is still serving good food and drink. We spent a lovely afternoon with new friends Dr. Chris Vonderheide and Nicola from catamaran, Atlas-T! and old friends from Izzy-R.

The next day we motored slowly to an anchorage in the lee of Lubber's Quarters and then spent the next day, Cinco de Mayo, waiting out a stiff norther. It was too windy to even get in the Habenero to go ashore. Lubber's Quarters has been advertising heavily lately, and we wanted to see what all the buzz was about. I was miffed to have to spend a whole day on winter weather in May. Global warming where are you when we need you. On the 6^th we motored slowly to Hope Town on Elbow Cay. The “inside” passage from Lubber's Quarters past Tilloo Cut to Hope Town is quite shallow. However, using the high tide at 11 am we made it in fine shape and picked up a mooring ball in Hope Town by 1 pm.

Hope Town is too cute for words. With the light house it is the quintessential Bahamian tourist town. Please see our post from 3 years ago for pictures and more description. What made this visit special was a chance to see Hope Town from the inside. As I have written before in this blog the best part of cruising is getting to know the natives. A chance encounter and invitation to Izzy-R allowed us to attend a cocktail party at one of the harbor side homes. Jeff told me, “Karl, you owe me for this one.” And he was right. Our host, Glenn, owned a home (and dock) on the hill overlooking the harbor and facing the light house. The reader may protest that this encounter was not the “real” Bahamas. However, it is the “real” Hope Town with its very high priced real estate and over the top life style. As the sun was setting and the light house light flashing twice every 20 seconds I thought of the quote in “The Great Gatsby”--'the rich are very different from you and me.' Anyway we had a lovely and gracious evening. The picture is one of Jan's favorites. It was taken by Izzy-R as we were coming over to visit for happy hour.