April 18, 2022 - Traveling Down the Abaco Out Islands

Nico and I have been enjoying traveling down the out islands off the eastern shore of Great Abaco Island. It's known as one of the great cruising areas of the Bahamas because the many out islands offer protection from the swells and winds of the Atlantic.

 After Cave Cay we were able to take advantage of a less common west wind to sail north to Double Breasted Cay, a favorite from the last trip. Unfortunately, it was not a protected anchorage with the west wind so we anchored at Grand Cay, just north. Grand Cay was the site of the Big Daddy Fishing Tournament that we so enjoyed last time. Since it wasn’t tournament time, Easter weekend or homecoming things were quiet but we were able to buy rum and check out the damage from Hurricane Dorian. With a fresh supply of rum we were able to invite the crew of Surprise (the 57-foot wooden ketch boat that has been anchoring near us since the Berry Islands) over - but the party was cut short by a short but powerful squall. One boat dragged but luckily, the catamaran next to us who anchored too close and refused to move when Nico pointed this out, stayed put.

Nico in the liquor store at Grand Cay. It was closed but a nice lady got the keys, called the owner to find out what the prices were and then sold two bottles of local rum to us.

We enjoyed the next day at Double Breasted, even though we did not catch fish like last time. Got three conch though. The wind was now from the north so we had a rollicking sail south towards Marsh Harbour.

Not a soul was around.

I love the sand bars around the aptly named Sandy Cay.

We found we had a stowaway.

We spent the night in Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay and explored the settlement of New Plymouth.

Many houses had a fresh coat of paint after the hurricane.

New Plymouth

Some of the damage

Next stop was Manjack where we enjoyed the mangroves.

So many turtles! For the first time we heard complaints from the natives that the turtles are eating up all the turtle grass. Their natural predator, the shark, hasn't rebounded as quickly so there is a turtle boom going on now that they are protected.

We found the wreck of a trimaran that was there on our last visit. I was worried because we did not see the lone pig that we found last time. I hope nothing happened to him during the storm!

New mangroves are recolonizing where there was damage from the storm.

We sailed past Man O’War and Hopetown and anchored off Tiloo Cay where we once again fished and snorkeled and viewed the damage. It's hard not to focus on the effect of Dorian in this area. We talked to one man who spent the hurricane hunkered down in the cellar of his family's older home that had lasted the hurricane of 1932. It was a wooden structure, held together by strong pegs - and it survived. He said the wind, perhaps the tornadoes, really did sound like a train was coming. He also said the difference was that in other storms the wind came, and quickly passed over. This went on for two horrible days. He never wants to go through something like that again. Our taxi driver in Marsh Harbour later said that she cried and prayed for two days.

The wind has been brisk and from the east. I wanted to snorkel at the coral gardens south of Marsh Harbour but it was too rough. We continued to The Bight of Old Robinson which we explored about 35 years ago with Nico’s sister and her husband Joe. We anchored outside Little Harbour in the swell that was coming in from the Atlantic Ocean through the cut and took the dinghy into the mangroves. We found several blue holes, which are really creepy because they are so deep and you feel you will be sucked down to the ocean. We didn’t find the crashed airplane that we saw last time (possible drug runner?) or the amazing coral garden but we saw SO MANY TURTLES! We pounded our way back to the boat against the wind and swells. Just before dinner, the tide was high and we slipped into Little Harbour  - over the four-foot spot at low tide - and picked up a mooring.

Little Harbour is delightful! It has a great beachside pub/restaurant, an artist’s studio and a few homes. We had an extensive tour of the foundry and learned all about the lost wax process they use to make bronze statues of sea life and memorials.

Pete's Pub, operated by the grandson of the artist.

The main street

The always welcome lending library.

One of the sculptures. After our tour, I had a huge appreciation for the amount of time it takes to create a bronze sculpture this size.

It is the lost wax process.  It starts with a soft sculpture made with wax. Then a mold is made. This is  Rava who has been here producing bronzes since the 1980s. He came on his boat, got a job with Randolf Johnston, and has mostly remained for all these years. He said that Randolf initially turned him down for the job but noticed when he left that he could scull a boat and he called him back. Nico liked that story since he used to scull the old peapod around Edgartown Harbor.

The wax sculpture.

The wax is then dipped repeatedly in silica - about 14 layers of sand that gets progressively coarser with each dipping.

The foundry where they melt the bronze. It is a dangerous business. There is hot wax and molten metal. If any water gets into the hot metal there could be an explosion. There was a huge hole in the steel beam overhead from a drop of water that exploded in the molten metal.  Rava was luckily bending over and it missed his head. 

One of the newer artists, learning the process from the masters.

This has a really good summary of the process: http://www.johnstonartfoundry.com/

The Atlantic side of the harbor.

It has a wild, windswept feel. You can hear the breakers while in the calm harbor.

An abandoned lighthouse.

We have seen several old Bahamian buildings with a small, separate cookhouse.

This is the cistern for the lighthouse. This part of the island has no wells so they rely on rainwater. There are no powerlines either so they now have solar panels for the small community.

This little yellow-throated warbler was relying on the water too as he migrates up north.

We are waiting out a series of thunderstorms in this protected spot before we make our way north to Marsh Harbour. I take a COVID test and then fly out in three days. Nico will remain (does anyone want to join him for ten days cruising the Abaco Islands?) and his cousin Marta will join him at the end of the month to help take the boat north. 

Update: I'm posting this from the Nassau airport, feeling very much alone after three months in very close proximity to Nico. We made quite a team and it's a real tribute to his planning, sailing, and navigational skills that the trip went so smoothly.