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

GOOGLE MAP OF THIS LOCATION

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.

Great Guana Abacos

Great Guana Island and Nippers, and Grabbers Beach Bars

We arrived here at Fisher's Bay after another wonderful day sail over from Marsh Harbor. This Sea of Abaco is so well protected and with Marsh Harbor as a base, one can easily explore all the beautiful islands surrounding this protected sea.

Our mission for going to Great Guana was to take in the beautiful beaches and to also attend the Barefoot Man Concert at Nippers Beach Bar. Barefoot Man is one of the most popular musicians in the Abacos, yet he is from Grand Cayman Island. He has written over 2,000 songs and has recorded 500 songs. His CDs and music is available for download everywhere and sold all over the Islands.

Barefoot Man and his band at Nippers, March 16, 2012

Nippers Beach Bar is THE place on Great Guana, although GRABBERS Beach Bar, which we are anchored off of, is just as popular. Nippers is built up high on a sand dune with a staircase of many steps down to the beach.

The beach is one of the most beautiful in the Abacos and just off the beach is a spectacular coral reef that you can snorkel out to and explore.

Island Packets at anchor, we are the gold flag to the right center

The day before the concert, we arrived and dropped anchor in Fisher's Bay and then walked the beach over to Nippers to pre-test the "Nipper's Juice" which we have been well warned about. The bartender said, drink no more than 3 and then walk the beach or else you will not know what you are doing!

As evident at the concert, most of us did not take to this warning and we all were under the influence of the NIPPER JUICE! Overall, it was a great time with our Island Packet Fleet. We had the best table in the house, thanks to SP Catspaw team for securing it at 1000am! The concert started at 1pm and lasted til 5pm with everyone dancing and having a great time.


Here are a few photos of the day...(note: these are the G rated photos!!!!)

Barefoot Man signing his autograph

Cheeseburgers and Kalik Beers overlooking Nippers

Barefoot Man takes the stage...i.e. Wood Deck next to the pool...

The crowd under control viewed from our upper deck table

Third Floor Deck was filled also and they were dancing on the tables....look out below!

The view looking out to the beach with table dancers and all..

The beautiful beach off Nippers on Great Guana Island 

Your foot sinks into the soft powdery sand

Hayden and Radeen at Nippers working the Nipper's Juice...

Local famous island girl to the left, Nipper Juice Girl to the right
"Jean Jean the Dancing Queen" is the lady to the left, she danced more than anyone!
I have no idea who the yellow bikini girl is....and Radeen took the photo!

The Nipper Juice Glass and a Kalik beer....da drinks of choice for the dance floor

GOOGLE MAP OF THIS LOCATION

Today's mission, snorkeling the reef, walking the beach, and taking in another famous Island Musician performing at 1-5 at Grabber's Beach bar. Then tonight is another concert at Nippers with the Barefoot Man...not sure we can take much more....this is killing us! :-)

Sailing for Marsh Harbor

The trip from Green Turtle Cay, south to Whale Cay Channel and into the ocean and then back into the Sea of Abaco was a great trip today because Whale Cay passage was calm. After days of high ocean swells and strong winds, the whale was passable and many boats were traveling north and south to their destinations.

We ran south heading for Marsh Harbor and had a fantastic sail from the Whale into the ship channel and down the Sea of Abaco and into the Harbor entrance. Winds once again were on the beam, and we had a beautiful easy day of sailing. We have only run the engine a total of 9 hours since leaving Miami. This is incredible, as we have sailed every leg from Miami to Marsh Harbor, and most of it has been on a beam reach.

The Abacos have beautiful water, great islands, protected seas, and many destinations within a short day trip. "IT is BETTER in the Bahamas......

Here are a few sailing photos for today...

There it is....WHALE CAY....with calm breakers on the ocean side

The narrow opening in the reef, and Whale Cay to the SE....we are OUT

Set sail and beam reach for Marsh Harbor, what a great day to go sailing

Beam Reaching for Marsh Harbor, Abacos, Bahamas

IP420 Flatlander, one of our buddy boats under on boom at anchor

SP Catspaw, our leader at anchor with the sunset, Marsh Harbor

I am beginning to see why some many people sail down to the Bahamas for the winter. It is spectacular and the sailing is good, the water is so blue, and it is "Island Life" at its best. We just bumped into Bob and Nancy, friends from Rock Hall, our home port, and this is their 10th winter in Marsh Harbor. We are beginning to see why.....time for us to spend a few days, a week or more in this area...Our only schedule is...BAREFOOT MAN CONCERT Friday, March 16 and 17 at Nippers, the next Island over.

Green Turtle Cay

SP Catspaw and our IP Fleet on the docks at Green Turtle

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas is in White Sound on the NE side of the harbor. This makes it a fantastic place to ride out a NE blow of 30+ knots. The other special aspect is that dockage fees are reduced by every dollar you spend in the pub and dining room, so you can party away your dock fees ....well....sorta! See details here

So, with the winds blowing 30 knots for 3+ days, we docked at Green Turtle Club and had an Island Packet Rendezvous with 6 IPs and 12 owners. We played dominoes, rode golf carts all over the island, walked the beaches, explored the town, and enjoyed the clubhouse, pub and dining room. Live it up we did, because we usually do not take a dock and we rarely take a dock for 3 or 4 days, but at the Turtle, it is difficult to leave...why should you?

Here are some great photos from Green Turtle Club...

A view from inside the club looking out to the docks at sunset

The Green Turtle Clubhouse, very comfortable

The reason why we stayed...the WHALE KEY Passage was closed due to swells and high winds
This is looking out to sea from Green Turtle, so way can you move south through the Whale.

The ladies of the fleet enjoy their own room

The men take over the pub room

Tom and Carie of IP37 Dragon's Toy

Larry and Phyllis of IP40 Lark

Bobbi and Carey of SP Catspaw

Kathy and Alan of IP420 Flatlander

Radeen and Hayden of IP35 Island Spirit

Patricia and Eric of IP460 Cutter Loose

Drinking KALIK BEER and playing Mexican Train....ahhh

Hanging out on the beach at the Green Turtle Club....this is 200 yards from our boat

The "Girls" at the pub before dinner...what fun it is to spend time at Green Turtle

There it is...an Island Packet Mini-Vous at the docks of Green Turtle Club
This is the view of our flags when walking out of the dining room.

GOOGLE MAP of this Location

So, it has been a dream stay, once again, and have really enjoyed the location. If you ever sail into the Abacos, you need to make Green Turtle Cay and White Sand Bay to the north a MUST STOP destination. This is nearly as well run as the Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands and that is saying a lot about this location.....

West End to Spanish Cay Bahamas

Great Beam Winds sailing for Great Sale Cay

After arriving West End and clearing into the Bahamas for our first time, we all enjoyed the pool and dinner at the Tiki Hut. From West End, we sailed 55 miles out to Great Sale Cay with a fleet of six Island Packets.

Dropping the anchor in 10 feet of water, we easily watched the 44 lb Bruce dig into the sandy bottom as we laid out 100 feet of 5/16" chain. Sunset that night was so special and the clouds after sunset were even more beautiful.

One of our buddy boats, 420 Flatlander, yes from Kansas
sails for Spanish Cay past Island Spirit

The next day we raised anchor at 0700 and set a reefed main sail at the north end of Great Sale Cay for a 35 mile sail on a close reach for Spanish Cay Marina. The winds were building as we were outrunning a well known frontal system predicted to arrive soon. This front we have been watching since Miami and we planned to take shelter at the docks on Spanish Cay. Now with winds 20-25 and 60 degrees off the starboard bow, we sailed at hull speed all day long.

Four Island Packets docked at Spanish Cay
Two more are out of this picture to the left

We arrived Spanish Cay at 1430 and with 25 knots of cross winds and 2 foot seas, docking was a bit of a challenge for all members of the fleet. But with fantastic dock hands and help from Spanish Cay Marina, we all were secured and docked by 1530. Spanish Cay Marina has a very friendly staff and a fantastic chef who knows how to make the best conch dinners. Anita, the facility manager, made us all fee so welcome and we nearly had the entire facility to our fleet.

Exploring our first Bahamas Beach on Spanish Cay

We stayed at Spanish Cay Marina Sat and Sun and, with the frontal system through and the winds now down to 20 knots, we plan to move into the Abacos farther and take up base at Green Turtle Cay. The current weather system is blowing hard from the NE and then N and then E with winds forecasted to be 25-30 and even 35 knots! With weather like this, we have all decided to take slips at Green Turtle Club Marina. This is very unusual because most of us always anchor out, but then again the weather is usually 10-15 knots here in March.

Beam Reaching in 10-15 across the Little Bahama Bank

Overall, this trip into the Abacos has been a dream trip because we have sailed beam winds of 20-25 knots every leg from Miami!

Today, we will sail beam winds south into the Green Turtle Cay....this is unreal....lucky us....and we appreciate every second....







More Photos of this leg into the Abacos.

The fleet enjoys a sunset anchored off Great Sale Cay

Our first Bahamas Sunset from anchor, Great Sale Cay

The clouds illuminated after sunset over our bow.
Notice the SW winds

SunRISE over our buddy boat 37 Dragon's Toy from California!

Empty beaches, empty chairs...beautiful sand...beautiful day

Radeen walks the pink sand beach at Spanish Cay
The sun is at noon and hats and shade are a must have

Yes...the Bahamas are really special and we have only seen TWO islands so far. We can's wait to discover more as we plan to spend two months here exploring only the Abacos. A dream come true....Thank you for following us.