Where Are We?

Believe it or not this picture was taken after crossing the Gulf Stream and about 5 miles away from the Ft Pierce, Florida Inlet...The crossing 150 miles, starting at Crab Cay in the Abacos and crossing to Ft pierce...26 hours later. The nite was extremely dark due to a totally overcast sky...and a moon that went down at about 2 in the morning. On the other side the bioluminessence (little animals in the water that glow in the dark waters)was so bright...We had one boat with us within 2 miles and then about 7 miles away. We saw cruise ships...you could literally see them coming for 15 miles and then after they pass you they look like a small island...their power usage must be amazing...All in all very uneventful..As the pic dipslays how calm it was for us towards the end....The Water Gods were smiling upon us...

Great Birthday!!!

It started our nice, slow and relaxing and we ended up dancing up a storm....We spent the day at Grabbers...a beach bar on the island of Great guana. After lunch they supply lounge chairs set up on the beach...NICE!!! Then about 4:30 we went over to Nippers for a the b-day cocktail...We spent about an hour in their hammock pool chairs...see pic. Then back over to Grabbers for the band Brown Tip...3 great musicians that play traditional and non-traditional Bahamian music...using a drum, saw and other instruments. Great singers and talented dancers...They sang Happy Birthday to me...What fun! See pic of band..My hubby made my b-day a ton of fun...

A Walkabout In Hopetown

I had the great opportunity to discover Hopetown's non-commercial part of the island. The homes are gorgeous(starting price $1 million at least) but the scenery is amazing from every vantage point. I have added a few pics to give you a sense of what it is about...The roads are sand, the vehicle to get around the island is a golf cart or walking as in my case...There is 2 small grocery stores ..my favorite is Sweetings, owned by Vernon Sweeting. He is a quiet man that has filled his store with the basics and some of the luxuries like brie cheese or his homemade(by him) pies, breads and cakes. The store has lots of small pieces of paper taped throughout the shelves with anecdotes and sayings....We had a special nite with rack of lamb that is best marinated with rosemary. I asked him where we could buy some rosemary and he replied that the house down the block has a wonderful, healthy plant...just snip some. Good deal! As you could imagine there is lots of quirky things on an island such as Hopetown...

Back In Hopetown

Cruising is a funny life sometimes...You are in new places all the time. When you return to a familiar place it is actually a very good feeling. Hopetown is one of those places that is fun to come back to. It has an amazing lighthouse..still working, a great community and a very protected harbour with mooring balls. All good!
We have been walking a lot, reading, a little food shopping, lots of internet...a some planning on what our next move will be. We met Linda, a single handed sailor...who loves sailing and her husband hates sailing...usually the other way around. She has a beautiful Island Packet..with her cat/crew named Paddy...We have also met back up with a great couple from Annapolis/Canada that we first met in March 2009 in Bimini. They are entertainers that have a mentalist show...I'll get back to you on that....A bit windy here...waiting for the right weather to move on...See pics of Hopetown...