Visitors from Washington (state). A Great Week Aboard! April 16-23

Well our final "confirmed" visitors for the winter season arrived in Marsh Harbour as planned.  Julie's cousin Denise and husband Dave arrived from the Gig Harbor WA area. 
Our travels with Denise and Dave after their arrival in Marsh Harbor were as follows:Day trip via auto with a guide south on Great Abaco, Hope Town, Tilloo Cay, Little Harbor and Lynyard Cay.  Here is a map of the area.

We had planned to take them to Nipper's Sunday buffet on Great Guana Cay, but the winds didn't really make that a favorable plan.  And Monday's winds were forecasted to be high as well so we arranged a land tour with a local resident.  He drove us south on Great Abaco and we stopped to see parrots, tour some homeowners gardens, stopped at a blue hole, the beach at crossing Rocks and Sandy Point and generally learned a lot about the area's history from Reggie our guide.  He was born in Nassau and moved to the Marsh Harbour area in the late 60's so he was a wealth of knowledge.  He pointed out all the "newer" pine forests as they original pines were logged for pulp.  He showed us and explained some of the development on the island, both failed and progressing fairly well.  All in all a very interesting day.

 

The parrots.

 Blue hole

 Crossing Rocks beach

After returning from the trip early afternoon, we cast off lines and motored over to Hope Town Inn and Marina.  We had planned to grab a mooring ball but they were all taken so we got a slip instead.  We took a hike up to the lighthouse and climbed to the top. 

We also took the shuttle across to the Hope Town settlement and had a little tour and ice cream before coming back to the boat for the night.  And of course, we had to have the obligatory key lime pie....meringue topped!...from Vernon's Grocery Bakery.

We also took a nice walk on the beach the next morning and had breakfast at the Reef.

On Tuesday, we cast off for Tilloo Cay and anchored out near a snorkeling spot.  But it was again too windy to go to the really good spots. So a little swimming was in order.

But we took a great dinghy ride to the south end of the cay and saw all the real estate along the shore....from very modest to very elaborate.  Preparing for the ride...the master at work

In fact we thought we should check this one out...it was for sale.

 Dock needs a little work....

On the dinghy ride that evening Dave thinks he see's "Jennifer's place"

 

 A little video clip:

 

 

Wed morning we pulled anchor and went south to Little Harbour and got the last mooring ball available at the time.  We had to go in early (before 9 AM)  to take advantage of high tide as at low tide the channel into the harbour is only 3-1/2 feet.  Dave and Denise leading the way.

This was Julie and my first mooring can for the trip....well for our boating life for that matter!  Denise and Dave take moorings all the time in WA so they were great coaches!! 

Our first mooring can!

 

It was again very windy and so it was nice to have the mooring ball and the protected harbour.  The famous Pete's Pub is in Little Harbour so after we took a hike out to the lighthouse ruins, we stopped for lunch.  Good food and a very interesting cliental in the pub.

 

Denise and Dave swam back to the boat....

Pete also has a bronze foundry and gallery on site for all his artwork.  Very cool (and expensive) stuff. 
On Thursday we moved to Lynyard Cay.  It was a great anchorage with a cool beach and even a little shelling.  Denise found a nice sand dollar at low tide.  Thanks for leaving it for our collection Denise!We all spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach...sun, shade, shelling, a nice little walk...what was not to like here!?  The cousins:

 

Friday night Cracker P's on Lubbers Quarters was having their full moon party complete with a buffet, T-shirts for sale etc....so we pulled anchor and went up to Tilloo Cay to the Tavern Cay anchorage (this was not too far north of where we anchored on Tuesday) and Dave and Denise found some good coral heads to snorkel and saw a lot of fish, a turtle and a sting ray.  They waited patiently all week for some snorkeling as the winds were so strong all the really good snorkeling sites were not possible.  So we are glad we finally found some decent snorkeling!
Heading out to snorkel





 

Never tire of these.....

 



 



We had some great meals aboard this week.  Here Dave is preparing some spiny lobster tails we had purchased in Bimini and kept in the freezer for such a special occasion.

 

It was again windy and we took the dinghy over to Cracker P's around 6 PM for their full moon party...yes we now have the t-shirts too. 

 

We met Tom and Vicki (Grand Baron), Scott and Brigitte (Putz'n Around), DeVere and Carole (Job Site) and Clark and Evelyn (Sea Moss) also joined us.  So it was a bit of a Looper reunion as well!

The food and drinks were very good and we headed back to the boat around 10 PM.  The wind had picked up and shifted more southerly so we were headed directly into the wind and waves... so it was a super wet ride the mile back to the boat...we were all salt water soaked.  At least it was warm!

We stowed the dinghy and hit the hay so we could get an early start back to Marsh Harbour so Denise and Dave could catch their flight home.  All went well all week in spite of the high winds.  Denise and Dave were so much fun to have aboard!  We miss you guys already!  We hope to see you in Washington this summer!

 

We stayed Sat night at Harbor View Marina and washed the boat, did laundry, re-provisioned at the grocery store and will head out on Sunday for Great Guana Cay.  We then plan to do Man-O-War Cay, then Treasure Cay before we start heading back to Florida mid May.
More later....thanks for following us!