We were so sad to see Daniel leave. We had such a great visit with him. Poor guy had major delays and didn’t get into PIT until after 11:00pm. He left our boat at 6:30am.

Mike and I stayed another day in Hopetown. We went to the lighthouse and climbed to the top. The views were stunning.

We walked around the lovely town and to the Atlantic side.

Then hopped in the dinghy for a sunset cruise.

The next morning, we took off for Green Turtle Cay and went through the very storied Whale cut, an island around which you have to go into the Atlantic and come back into the Sea of Abaco. It is reputed to be a bit “nasty” at times. We picked the correct weather window and had a beautiful and calm trip. We arrived at Donny’s Marina that afternoon and were greeted by about 8 people to help with the lines and greet us. Donny is a local whose family has been on the island for generations. He is a colorful guy with a very casual, small marina for a killer price of $50 a day to include the very meager electricity. The other boaters at Donny’s were great, and the marina is only a 10 minute walk into historic New Plymouth, a really charming town. Mike baked 8 loaves of banana bread–distributed one each to the cruising boats– and was in everyone’s favor…as is usually the case.

Our first day, we took a left instead of right and down some dirt roads where we were told there was a beautiful beach. Then, we followed the signs.

Came upon Gilliam Bay which was absolutely stunning, and empty.

Walked the other direction into town where we saw a sign for Pineapples indicating it was 5 minute walk. About 20 minutes and 5 dirt roads later, we reached a closer sign. Super bitchin little resort/bar/restaurant/marina.

Had a couple run drinks and blackened snapper bites that were delicious (and I’m not a fish fan).

We stayed at Donny’s for 3 nights as we were waiting out a storm. The system was a pretty good one and we were treated to a lengthy lightning storm that night. The next day, we had some beautiful, albeit windy, weather.

Donny’s was old school Bahamas. His home is adjacent to the marina. His “lawn” was so green!

New Plymouth is home to the Blue Bee Bar, the place where the Goombay Smash was invented by Ms. Emily. The Goombay Smash is a delicious rum and fruit juice drink. Being the history buffs we are, we had to partake. We met up here with Kent and Heather of Heartbeat. The drink was damn good!

New Plymouth was settled by “Loyalists” (people loyal to the British Crown, vs Patriots, during and after the American Revolutionary War). New Plymouth was picturesque, historic, a wonderful walking town, and had 3 little grocery stores! We could have stayed a long time here. We will be back!

We departed Donny’s Marina during a small craft advisory for a short, 2 hour run to Powel Cay. Rolly trip, but the end game was well worth it. Probably our favorite anchorage in the Abacos that boasts a stunning beach.

We had a stingray alongside of us for about 20 minutes. He/she was so cool.

After two nights at Powell, we took off for Crab Cay as the winds were going to clock around to the south. Rendezvoused with Heartbeat, Hemisphere and Moxie. Right after we anchored, everyone yelled at us to come see a large hammerhead shark. We hopped in the dinghy in pursuit. He/she was pretty damn big.

Kent and Heather let us use their SUPs. After our paddle, Penny decided to join me.

The water did not suck here either.

Coconut palms abound in Crab Cay. Mike rendezvoused with Heather and the crew from Hemisphere on shore & used a long branch to knock 6 or 8 of the ripe “nuts” down. Heather attacked the coconuts with a machete & each of us had our own fresh drinks. Yum! (sorry no photo of that).

The next day, we took off for Foxtown which is supposed to have the best conch on the island. Went to Da Valley bar and restaurant. Mike said the conch was really good, but maybe not “quite” as good as that on the rum barge at Tahiti Beach. This anchorage was interesting with rock formations all around us.

Had a somewhat rolly night at anchorage. The next morning, a squall passed us by and washed the boat.

That day, we had a pretty salty ride to Great Sale Cay. We spent hours culling over the weather, wind and seas and were crossing our fingers that the wind and seas would clock north of West late afternoon. The winds started out of the south, clocked to SW, then W, then NW, then North and were supposed to blow in the low 20’s that night. Tough to find an anchorage with that forecast. Thankfully, the winds did clock north of West around 5:00 and we had a great night at anchor.

Winds were pretty stiff the next day, so we pretty much hung out on the boat. We did a short, wet dinghy ride to the mangroves, but the tide was not in our favor.

Next morning we departed Great Sale for West End, about a 7 hour sail. Wind was pretty brisk, and the seas were not flat, but both were mostly astern which made for a good ride. We planned to spend 2 nights at West End so that I would have a day to do laundry prior to crossing to the States. It had been a couple weeks. West End had just re-opened and was pretty dead when we got in. Had a casual dinner at the pool bar and called it a night.

Heartbeat, Hemisphere and Moxie came in Friday. We all planned to cross Saturday. Did a ton of laundry and a small provision. Then, went to the beach to get my last views of the Bahamas for the year. Sad to leave.

The crews of Heartbeat, Hemisphere, Moxy and FF had a lovely dinner at the nice restaurant at the resort which had just reopened Friday. At 6:30 the next morning, we dropped the lines for our crossing to Ft. Pierce, FL, an 88 mile trip.

About a third of the way across, while watching the 807′ crude oil tanker China Dawn on AIS, we noticed a large squall moving north to south on our radar screen. Within a few minutes we were enveloped in the squall & had lots of wind in a real short time. Forever Friday received a free freshwater wash…love it! The tanker was moving at a snail-like 1 knot, essentially letting the Gulf Stream move him northward while waiting for favorable tides. We aimed at his stern, allowing for a 1/4 mile or so distance between us. Shortly after the below video was taken, with the tanker only 1/2 to 3/4 mile away, it simply disappeared! No worries with radar and AIS assisting us, but man was there a lot of water coming down!

The ~9 hour crossing was beautiful with mostly beam and quartering seas and light winds. We got into Ft. Pierce on a Max Ebb and had a crappy entrance with the lovely Florida boaters waking us along the way. We meandered through some neighborhoods and dropped the hook at Faber Cove. Had our anchor watch beers. Opened a bottle of champagne and toasted our arrival back into the US.

Now making our way north. Sorry for the super lengthy blog. Next one will be short!

Cheers! M&M