Into A New Year

What an eventful and challenging year 2013 has been! We're looking forward to 2014 and part of the celebration is the Junkanoo competition in White Sound. Time to dance to the beat, but first the goat skins have to be stretched and dried.

 

 When the parade began, the kids and adults performed amazingly, all wearing those awesome elaborate costumes...which had to come to Elbow Cay on the ferry and then be assembled!

Tonight at midnight there will be fireworks over Hope Town Harbour followed by a Junkanoo rush-out through the streets of the settlement. What a way to say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014!

Happy New Year!

Ingenuity

One of our yearly traditions here in Hope Town is the holiday golf cart parade. It is amazing what owners come up with to decorate their carts.

 These were the best this year:

The decorating contest winner... "Bahamian Bobsled Team": 

 

Everyone in the family got involved in this one:

 

 Candy Land:

 

 The Cart's Meow

I wonder what next year's contest will bring? Perhaps a Harbour Rat entry? All we need is a cart because the Rats are already ingenious!

Boxing Day 2013

As usual, New Horizon was the committee boat for the traditional HTSC Boxing Day race held yesterday.

We were so lucky that it was absolutely gorgeous out and after weeks of mainly warm and windy weather, race day only had light breezes. Dave and Amy even went swimming off the back of the boat.

I've said this many times, but it doesn't get better than this...especially the day after Christmas!

Christmas Wishes

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through our boat, not a breath of wind could be found, were we really afloat?

The flags all hung limp in the flybridge above, this is the weather that we crave and we surely do love.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a thunderstorm to the north as a cold front came near.

We no longer worry about wind since we are tied to the dock, and the waves barely hit us so we don’t even rock.

Marina life can be fun as we can walk, kayak and swim, and go into the hot tub ‘til the sunlight goes dim.

The past months have been challenging so we deserve some good cheer, we’re just so glad that we are still able to be here.

We’ll leave high places to Santa so Dave doesn’t take flight, but we still want to wish “Happy Christmas to all and to all good night!”

 

Caroler and Carolee

This year's caroling through Hope Town was a huge event with somewhere near 100 people attending. It was a perfect evening with barely a cloud in the sky.

Usually we are invited to go to our friends Janet and Philip's house Cozy Villa to watch as the carolers stop to sing a yuletide greeting (in return, Janet & Philip hand out their own greeting). I had a bit of an urge to join the procession through the settlement.

I don't think I had gone caroling since I was in high school and missed singing the timeless carols! Needless to say back then it was a bit colder than here in Abaco where I wore my shorts.

We stopped at several different houses along the route, including this one that has the most impressive decorations on all of the island.

When we arrived at Cozy Villa, it was fun to watch the carolees (including Dave) sing along with the carolers. Now I know what we look like when we are guests there on this special night. When Philip and Janet handed out their libations, I  left the carolers and joined Dave and the carolee party on their front porch.

What a great way to celebrate the holiday season and appropriately my name!

Hit Of The Party

Tonight was our yearly turn to help host the stand-up party at the sailing club. It takes almost all day to make appetizers for about 50-60 people. I'm always looking for new recipes to try each year. This time I saw the funniest appetizer and it could be made with ingredients that I could find here in the Bahamas. Even Dave wanted to help with this one recipe and we opened up the penguin factory this morning.

Along with two other couples that also made awesome appetizers, the food looked delicious and was devoured by the members and guests. Whitey, the first person to see all the food was really wowed by the spread we put on.

 

However the hit of the party were the penguins and they had rave reviews. Mark from Spirit was really curious as to how we made them.

 

They were so popular that it was announced at the meeting part of the night that Dave made them, to which much applause was given. What a great holiday idea, sure to be a hit at any party!

Inside and Out

Dave has been working in the lighthouse workshop the past few days. He has been organizing and and making fence pickets. It sounds like an easy job, but when the right size wood stock isn't available, it becomes more involved. It's a good thing that we, and several other boaters, carry lots of tools on board.

I did a bit of exploring and cleaning up inside and out and it is so interesting to see all the spare parts that the lighthouse needs.

 Spare parts are essential when running the last kerosene and hand wound lighthouse in the Bahamas. 

This intricate piece looks more like a still to me.

Outside, I found this gorgeous blanket of morning glories.

We really do enjoy seeing and helping out at this historical lighthouse!

Paradise Found?

First of all, I apologize to all those who are shoveling snow, because you may not want to see what is in this post...

It's pretty hard to pick out, but New Horizon is at the dock in the background of this photo, beyond the pool area.

This property used to be separate from Hope Town Marina, but when the owners bought the resort next door that used to be called Hope Town Hideaways, they tastefully joined the two places together. The landscaping certainly is gorgeous and tropical. Bananas anyone?

This is the meeting area where yoga class is held.

 

 The dinghy and kayak beach that leads out into the harbor is so convenient.

As we explore the area we keep finding more great reasons for being here. We didn't know we would like it this much.  It has surprised us how easily and quickly we have settled in. What a good decision we made to become 'dock potatoes'!

Eye To The Sky

Back when we arrived In Green Turtle Cay, we were sitting on Ganesha enjoying the evening when I spotted a strange white light traveling overhead, leaving a trail behind it. We were in a quandary as to what it was, since it certainly didn't look like a jet. Finally Dave remembered that while we were in Daytona, we had been waiting for a rocket launch that kept being postponed. This must have been it and what good fortune to look up just in time to distinctively see it. A few minutes later I saw one of stages turn red as it fell into the ocean in the distance.

These are photos that our friend Amy took of the Space X, Saturn V rocket launch as it passed over Hope Town.....

 As mariners we always keep our "eye to the sky" and this time I'm glad I was. What an impressive sight!

The Comeback Kid

Before:

 During:

After:

Although exhausted and sore afterward, Dave popped right out of the water on two skis. He could even hang on with just his right hand.

 What an exhilarating outing and quite the ultimate accomplishment in his recovery!