Saturday, December 28

We said adios to our friends in Hopetown and sailed around the Tilloo Bank to anchor at the north end of Tilloo Cay; a good anchorage for the northeast winds.  We ran the water maker for about 2 hours to fill the one tank that was empty.  After that we just relaxed and enjoyed the sun.

On Sunday we moved a little further south to Armstrong Cay, one of our favorite anchorages in the Abacos.  Armstrong Cay only provides protection from south and west winds which generally only occur as a cold front moves through so we enjoy any opportunity to come here.  The area has some of the largest lobster we’ve ever found, several blue holes to explore, an area we call turtle city since we often see dozens of turtles there and a couple of swim throughs where you just let the current carry you past coral heads and an abundance of underwater life.  We’ll only be able to stay here 2 nights before we need to move to Lynyard Cay and prepare for the crossing to Eleuthera.  Sunday night we were able to listen to the 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks to win the Western Conference of the NFC.  I’ll be looking forward to at least being able to listen to the playoff games even though we’re not able to see them.  Go 49ers.

After anchoring, we snorkeled the nearby rocky outcroppings and got a couple lobster for dinner.  We mainly wanted to get into the water since we had been in Hopetown for longer than expected.  After the snorkel we took Sasi ashore to see what remained of an abandoned, partially destroyed home that sits on a beautiful hilltop overlooking the Sea of Abaco.  We expected that Hurricane Dorian would have completed the destruction but were surprised to see it looking essentially the same as the last time we visited, two years ago.  At one time it must have been a lovely home.  Sasi, as usual, walked with us and enjoyed exploring.  We keep her on a leash so she doesn’t run into the brush after the curly tails she likes to chase.  

Monday and Tuesday morning the winds calmed down a little and the areas we like to explore were well protected.  We got eight lobster on Monday and another 6 on Tuesday.  Our Tuesday hunting was for the benefit of Second Sojourn who have guests aboard and haven’t had the opportunity to do much hunting.

Another Successful Day Hunting

Tuesday afternoon, New Years Eve, we moved to Lynyard Cay.  Second Sojourn invited us to go with them to Pete’s Pub for dinner and entertainment.  We also had an invitation to attend a bonfire on the beach with the other cruisers planning to head south to Eleuthera in the morning.  We chose the bonfire.  Six boats were represented; as is usually the case at a get-together like this, one of the boats brought a piece of flotsam for everyone to sign their names and hang on a tree to commemorate the event.  Even though it was New Years Eve, the party broke up early since everyone was getting up between 4am and 6am to leave for Eleuthera.

The trip to Eleuthera is only about 55 miles, 8 to 10 hours for most sailboats, and crosses a portion of the ocean called the NorthEast Providence Channel.  This channel separating the Abacos from Either is over 10,000 feet deep in portions.  When the wind is blowing hard, as it had been for the last week or so, waves can easily get over 12 feet high.  Most cruisers, including us, will wait for the winds to calm down, allowing the seas to calm down, and cross when the waves are 3-4 feet high.  We left at 6:30am, had a smooth crossing, and reached our anchorage at Royal Island around 4pm.  Second Sojourn, had arrived around 2pm and were already snorkeling looking for lobster.  After their snorkel, they stopped by the boat and introduced their guests.  We gave them 5 lobster that we had caught for them at Armstrong Cay.  Thursday, they left for Spanish Wells and other visiting points around Eleuthera.

On Friday we were taking a scenic ride in the dinghy when a seaplane landed in the harbor.  Seeing a seaplane is always an interesting experience .  This one taxied to a location 2 boats away from us, dropped an anchor and waited to pick up guests from the Royal Island resort.  Construction on Royal Island for a huge resort complex was started in early 2008.  The principal developers were Roger Stauback and Jack Nicholas.  Construction was put on hold soon after it started however due to the economic downturn in 2008.  One resort did get put into place; a one week stay for 10+ guests in 5 beachfront bungalows costs about $93,000.  The seaplane picked up 4 gentlemen and took off, spraying us with mist as it started its run into the air.  We assume that the remainder of the families on the island, the kids and wives, were journeying back home via commercial flights from Eleuthera airport.

Friday is normally “Pizza Friday” where we make and bake several pizzas and try to have guests to enjoy the cuisine.  Second Sojourn had left but Janice B, with Gregg and Vickie aboard, came into the anchorage that afternoon and joined us.  Kathi does a great job putting together the ingredients for the pizzas after I’ve made the crusts.  This night she prepared Lobster Thai, Mexican, Sausage-Pepperoni, and Chicken-Garlic pizzas.  As usual, they were delicious.

Monster Fish

Saturday and Sunday the winds picked up again so we limited our snorkeling, but went fishing one morning using fishing poles and conch for bait.  On my first cast I caught a nice pan-sized fish and we thought we would be catching the heck out of them.  We caught a few fish but they were all small; Kathi’s took top prize.  After a couple of hours we decided to head back to the boat and released the one keeper that we had.  We, along with Dale on  svMokocat were invited over to Janice B on Sunday for a movie/documentary called “Red Dot on the Ocean,” a film about Matt Rutherford who at 30 years old became the first person to sail alone, nonstop around North and South America.  The journey took him through the Arctic’s northwest passage and around Cape Horn, one of the stormiest places on earth.  After 309 days he completed the journey and it seems his 27 foot sailboat was being held together by duct-tape and prayers.  A very good movie which we’d highly recommend.

Pirate Anne Boney

Monday the winds grew calm again allowing Janice B and Mokocat to head further south and us to go to Spanish Wells for some re-provisioning and to find someone to rebuild our alternator.  The alternator story goes back 4 years when we replaced the voltage regulator in the boat and started having alternators go bad about every 6 months.  No one has seemed to be able to properly diagnose the problem.  We thought we had it solved this year but another alternator decided to quit.  With the history we’ve had with the alternator, I like to keep a spare aboard in case we need it.  Fortunately we found an alternator repair shop and Jason was able to complete the repair that same day.  The problem with this alternator was different from the problems with the previous alternators so maybe we’re making progress.

While in Spanish Wells, we ran into the famous lady pirate Anne Boney and I got a picture with her.  The winds will be picking up again to about 40 knots over the next couple of days so after we finish picking up a few additional items in town we will head back to the anchorage at Royal Island to await calmer weather and continue our voyage south.