A Week of Anchoring around the Sea of Abaco. April 24-30

Wow, what a great week we had aboard!  The winds subsided and the anchoring was just great all week.  Sunday we left Marsh Harbor and anchored at Fisher's bay near the famous Grabber's and Nipper's bar/restaurants.  We met up with DeVere and Carole (Job Site) Scott and Brigitte (Putz'n Around) and
Tom and Vicki (Grand Baron) and went to Nippers for some people watching (it is their famous Sunday pig roast buffet and the place is packed!) and then on to Grabber's for a bite to eat and the sunset view.

 

 

There were 25+ boats in the anchorage that night, but really plenty of swing room and light winds so no issue.  The "dinghy armada" returning from Grabbers.

Julie and I stayed another night (only 4 or 5 boats on Monday) and walked a portion of Great Guana Cay, just exploring a bit.  Lots of homes for sale, some really nice places, some closed businesses, a really nice well stocked grocery store, a nice restaurant at the Orchid Bay Marina (more on that later).  It was however still too rough (at least for us) to snorkel the Nipper's reef area so we'll save that for another visit.
On Tues we moved over to Water Cay and had a great beach day.  Three beaches to walk and no one around. 

It was a great day to read, relax and walk before a nice meal aboard and another great sunset and cool breeze all night for good sleeping aboard.  The sunrise the next morning.

On Wed we moved to Man-O War Cay and rented a golf cart to explore the island.  Went to Bahama Waves and got a haircut for the first time in almost 7 weeks!  It is owned and operated by a third generation Man-O-War resident.  This cay is "dry" although they allow you to BYOB.  We had lunch (no BYOB) at the Hibiscus Café...good food.
Here is the local physical education class in the afternoon.  The teachers were running swimming races/lessons from the dinghy dock.

In the evening we took a nice walk around the island and saw some of the simple life being played out.  There was a small boy and his father walking and the boy was pulling a toy truck and later we saw him with a pull toy boat in the water.  Such a simple example of the life on this cay.

On Thursday we went Bakers Bay.  Walked the beach, dinghyed to a small cay, Gumelemi, and snorkeled and enjoyed the beach there. 

 We were the only boat in the anchorage.

 Coming ashore for a nice beach walk

 

The sunset from our beach walk......



 The sunset on the way back to the boat after our walk.

 

 

At around 9 PM they had a huge fireworks display!  Not sure what the occasion was but they were nice!

The sunrise the next morning and a starfish from the boat in 7-8 feet of water.

 

Friday we went to Orchid Bay marina with the plan to use the internet to finish our Grand Rapids tax return and to go to the Sunsetter Restaurant for a great dinner and sunset.

 

First, we walked over to Nippers and snorkeled the reef there....very nice.  No one else at the beach at 11:30 in the morning.

Came back and the internet was not working except at the office.  Sand flies were attacking Julie at the pool, no good internet, the sand flies would be thick at the restaurant too.....so we settled up with the marina for a "day slip" and moved back to Bakers Bay where a breeze would keep the sand flies at bay...no pun intended.   The plan worked and we had a nice night at anchor again.  It is such a nice beach to walk.  Fortunately the Bahamas have the "high tide" laws so the beaches are public up to high tide.  It is only the very elite who can afford a home in this private community, that is for sure.
http://bakersbayclub.com/
Saturday we again spent the day at Water Cay, again all alone there.  What a great spot.

In the afternoon we went on to Treasure Cay to meet up with Job Site and Grand Baron.
The marina from the pool.

A very nice 3+ mile beach with powdery white sand.....



The view from our slip at night.



 

Had a nice dinner at the restaurant there...although the special prime rib dinner was all sold out.  Our native Bahamian waitress was really good and humorous as many of the food items on the menu were not available and she was good at joking about it.   We had some good laughs!
The internet is good here....best we have had in the Bahamas.  So that is why we did blogging, talked with our children on Hangouts or Facebook and even streamed an Apple TV movie last night. 
We will travel on to Green Turtle Cay and then start watching weather for a crossing window back to Florida.

April statistics:
Miles travelled:  277 /Trip to Date: 3413
Travel days:   17 / 73
Engine hours: 47 / 391
Locks:   0/35
Bridges opened:   0 /14
Days on hook or free wall:   12/30
Gallons of diesel:  299  / 2593
We will be back to the Bahamas next year!!!!  Truly priceless!