Cruisin' Abaco

The blog says this posted on Feb 5th. Tried to correct it many times with no luck. The true posting of this blog is Friday, February 8th, 2013. :)

Tahiti Beach

Hey everybody! Sorry no blog for a few days...our Internet has been a little sketchy while cruising around Abaco. I LOVE our set up this year with the iPad & Betelco (the Bahamas phone company)...$30/month for unlimited Internet....however, sometimes there just isn't enough juice to do a blog. Downloading pictures requires a strong signal. Anyway...we've had a lovely few days just hanging out near Hopetown, Bahamas.

 

Perfect. Those of you who follow our blog might remember a similar picture from last year but I just couldn't resist...

We anchored at Tahiti Beach for a couple of days & then moved closer to Hopetown. We have never actually brought the mother ship into Hopetown. It's very crowded, you have to take a mooring ball (which costs money) and it's very shallow. It's just easier for us to anchor outside & take a dinghy ride in. Even with our crappy dinghy motor. Yes, it's still giving us trouble. As long as we go extremely slow (like idle), it's fine. We have a Tohatsu motor & that's like a dirty word around these parts we've discovered. Nobody sells, works on, or will even talk about fixing a Tohatsu. We've learned from friends & Scott researching the Internet that Mercury & Tohatsu motor parts are completely interchangeable. There is a Mercury dealer here in Marsh Harbor but they basically told Scott last week "Tohatsu...sucks to be you. Can't help ya". The good news is that Scott got a new impeller today & we're crossing our fingers that once he puts that in, the motor will run better. Of coarse, Scott's never changed out an impeller before but I have every confidence that he will do a fine job. He's smart like that. :) Grrr...It's always something when you live on a boat!

Sunrise this morning outside of Hopetown

For some unknown reason, Scott & I woke up at (as our friend Dan likes to say) at the ass crack of dawn, and discovered that the wind had shifted more than we anticipated & we were a little more close to shore than we prefer so...anchors up @ 0645 and headed back to Marsh Harbor. We had a beautiful sail this morning. Engine off...sailing with the sun rise. We had planned on returning today anyway...the weather is going to be pretty unfavorable for a few days & Marsh Harbor is a good anchorage to wait out weather. The holding is good & there is pretty much protection from all directions. It's also a great place to work on some of our chores before our family comes to visit. Want to get motivated to get your boat in tip top shape? Invite people to come visit! All the little "projects" you've learned to live with or without, all of a sudden become a priority. We are so super excited to have our family come & want Malaika to be as comfortable as she can be for them. That said...we've got some chores to do! And we'll be working on those things in between island hopping. As soon as the weather permits we're sailing to Treasure Cay. One of my all time favs.

Love & Miss everyone. Hope all is well at home. XXXOO enjoy some more pics for now...

Holy Hermit Crab! We met this guy at Tahiti Beach. Biggest we've ever seen. I should've put something there for scale but if it helps...that's Jib's paw print to the left of the crab.

 

Up, Up, & Away to the top of the Hopetown Lighthouse

 

Looking at Malaika from the top of the lighthouse

 

The view from Malaika

Love Michelle, Scott & Jib

 

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