Monday, March 19, 2012

Hopetown Elbow Cay Abacos

The Hopetown Lighthouse viewed from our boat
Hopetown, on Elbow Cay, is considered by many cruisers to be the Nantucket of Abaco, in reference to the wonderful New England island just south of Cape Cod, MA. Sailing here from Great Guana Cay, once again on a beam reach in east winds, we decided to drop anchor off the island and spend the night. The local yacht club was having their last Sunday small boat race for the season. We ended up being anchored directly at the start line and the race committee set their line and racecourse just off our beam.

The weather mark viewed from our anchored location


So, we enjoyed an afternoon of dinghy racing and then we picked up anchor and moved closer to shore for the night. The stars were incredible as there is very little light here at night. Within the constellation of Orion, we saw many stars that we never see at home.

The next day, we baked some homemade bread and went for an AM swim and snorkel around the boat before moving into the harbor to secure a mooring ball.  We were lucky to get the last one!

We may spend a week here....who knows...for now, we have lots to discover here at Hopetown on Elbow Cay, Abaco.



Here are the photos of the day....

Look at the water clarity. That is 10 feet and you can see the anchor chain on the sandy bottom.
A beautiful cat boat crosses our bow as a race boat beats to the weather mark
The start of the second race of three for the day
The Flamingo House at the entrance into Hopetown
The Hopetown Lighthouse viewed from our porthole on anchor
The reef and beach off Hopetown on the ocean side...beautiful
Hopetown architecture against the blue skies

We have only spent one day here in Hopetown, and we plan to stay several days here. One of my goals will be to focus on architecture as this is another one of my passions, so look for a photo essay on this soon. For now, it is back to town to walk and explore the island....golf carts, bikes and walking are the chosen mode of transportation to explore the island.

2 comments:

GregK said...

Just Beautiful guys!

Roger Family Sailing Adventures said...

Great job capturing the color and vibrance of that beautiful spot!