Change of Address

We've moved! We are now living on a mooring in the main harbor of Man-O-War Cay for the next month.
It is about 5 miles north of Hope Town, so we can take our little skiff and go back whenever we are needed and the weather allows. All our committments and chores are under control, so we thought we would go on 'vacation', and that's exactly what it feels like.

All the out islands have a different character to them, and Man-O-War (MOW) is the is the exact opposite of Elbow Cay where Hope Town is located. Hope Town (HT), which is appropriately nicknamed 'Hollywood', is known for its nightlife, booze and loud music, whereas MOW is a dry island and there are no bars. The residents are very religious and there are three churches on this small industrious island. We have to adjust our sleeping habits now, since in HT we couldn't get to sleep until very late (or use earplugs) with the loud music blaring over the harbor. Now, come sunset, there is silence, but at daybreak this boatbuilding capital of the Abacos comes alive.

I will blog more later about our stay and experiences in MOW, but I did write a post last year about a walking tour of MOW, and to see it, click here.

Happy New Year 2011

Another year has come and gone, but we had a great night to say good bye to 2010 and celebrate the arrival of 2011. It started last evening with a fun and interesting cocktail party with some of the sailing club members at the gorgeous beach house rented by our new friends Syd, Helen, Doug and Sue. The views are spectacular from this round house named Wynne Rae, and you can see it on this link by clicking here.

At midnight there were fireworks over the harbor, but it took some time to get them all shot off due to technical difficulties. They were still quite impressive, especially the ones that spray out from the shore. It was like having a grand finale for 10 minutes at a time, with intermissions in between.

Following the fireworks there was supposed to be a Junkanoo parade through the settlement and there were even festive route signs throughout the streets. I was just too tired to go over to join the crowds and lively music, but Dave wanted to be a part of the scene, as did our 81 year old cruising friend Diane. The two of them went to shore to walk and dance with the ornately costumed musicians and drummers. Hundreds of people waited, and waited, and waited, but no one showed up!

By the time Dave got back to the boat I was fast asleep with my earplugs in for noise. What a surprise to hear about the Junkanoo this morning, and as we were talking about it and wondering what happened, a famous book came to mind...'How The Grinch Stole Christmas.' We had a great laugh saying if Dr. Suess called them the Who's in Who-ville, that makes them the Ho's in Hope Town! Immediately Dave put his overactive brain to work and came up with this great poem, which was read on our informative Cruisers Net this morning:

The Grinch Steals Junkanoo

The Whos down in Whoville
Had this happen to them
The Grinch stole their Christmas
like it hadn’t of been.

Now the Ho’s down in Hope Town
Were in the same plight
No one knows how it happened
Was it the day or the night?

They’d come near and far
To our magical land
To celebrate New Year’s
With their toes in the sand.

Our Junkanoo parade
It just wasn’t to be
Yet the Ho’s were all ready
And dressed to a ‘T’.

I saw the last ferry
Leave the post office dock
Inside was the Grinch
It was past one o’clock.

New Year’s Eve came and went
The weather was great
For the Ho’s down in Hope Town
Junkanoo would just wait.


Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Race Day

We finally had a perfect day to run the postponed Boxing Day Regatta. Eight cruising sailboats turned out for the race and the milder conditions were a welcome treat.

For the past few years, New Horizon and its crew have been both the race committee boat and the committee itself for this race, also known as the H. Bowen White Trophy Regatta. We were all ready to get to the the dock to pick up the race equipment and the rest of the committee members, and thankfully started early. We tried to start the main engines only to find their starting battery was totally dead. Oops, maybe we should go out of the harbor more often?! Luckily Dave could jump them from the house batteries and we were up and running (today while I split my time volunteering at the library and museum, Dave was off island looking to see what batteries are available).

Out in the Sea of Abaco, we set up a triangular race course. As you can see, Paul is using a high tech wind instrument to determine exactly where the course should be placed. LOL In the background, Dave is helping Ann put up Dave's custom made adjustable flag pole to start the race flag sequence.
Then Ray and Don picked up one of the race markers in the mark set boat.


The start was very close and all types of mono-hull and multi-hull boats participated.

The winner ended up being a late entry boat that was towing its dinghy! That made them true hard-core cruising boat racers. They sailed very well and caught up to the other boats very quickly.
Everyone had a fun time both in the race and at the awards stand-up. There were several new entries to the fleet, so it was great to meet these enthusiastic sailors.

Good Deed

During our cold spell, Dave and I found a great project to work on. Previously we had received permission to clean and organize the workshop of the local Wyannie Malone Historical Museum. This area had become a catch all, with wood and things (many broken) piled up until you could barely open the door. We saw the potential that it had, but when we first started out we just didn't know where to even begin. I think that's mainly where the problem initiated and why no one else tackled the clean up. I didn't take pictures at the onset, but did as soon as we could actually walk into the room.

Before (sort of):



During (all this wood was inside before I took the pictures above):



After:





Now the workshop is fully functional again, for whatever projects need completed for this historical museum, which is manned by volunteers and funded by donations. This was a perfect way to stay warm and be productive by helping the local community.

Chillin' Out

Brrrrr! Last night was the coldest night we have ever spent on board New Horizon. With the 35 m.p.h. winds blowing for two days, we just couldn't keep the boat and ourselves warm.

Then we woke up to this strange sight....
Just kidding about the ice, although I was that cold! The picture above is actually our friends' sailboat in Norfolk, Virginia. Here are a couple more.


After seeing that and the blizzard pictures that people having been sending us from New York and New Jersey, things aren't so bad here after all.

Boxing Day 2010

I hope you all had a great Christmas Day. This is the placid scene that I woke up to at sunrise yesterday. It reminds me of a song that we used to sing as kids called "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." Instead the lyrics I was singing were, "all I want for Christmas is a calm, warm day." Santa delivered!

What a perfect start to a busy but fun day.

Today however, the weather did an 'about face' and it has been blowing 25-35 m.p.h. with several showers during the passing of our latest cold front. The rain was quite welcome though, since it gave the boat a nice rinse off.

This, the day after Christmas, is Boxing Day in both The Bahamas and England. It is a Hope Town Sailing Club tradition to have a cruising sailboat race on this holiday. During the past few years New Horizon has been the race committee boat, and this works out well since we are also on the race committee itself. Unfortunately today the wind gods did not cooperate, so we had to postpone the race for a few days. Now we see that the prediction is for flat calm wind on the day we rescheduled the race for. Too much wind or not enough wind? It's just the way the fickle winter weather is in the Bahamas.

We're just glad we are not on a sailboat right now, and not just because of the race. The masts on the sailboats give them a bit more windage and especially the lighter boats are really leaning over and whipping around on their moorings in our heavy winds. We even feel a bit dizzy with the boat moving around so much, almost like a slight case of vertigo. It does make me feel better to look at the Christmas morning picture though, knowing that the rough conditions are temporary. In fact the picture is now my computer's desktop background as a reminder of how calm the harbor can be.

Click here for more info on Boxing Day and last year's race.

Christmas 2010

Christmas is definitely here. The harbor is full now and looks quite a bit different than in the last post.

Earlier, carols were playing on one of the charter boats. As I write this, the church chimes also started playing carols. Several of us have lights twinkling from our rails and rigging, and many of the houses in Hope Town are brightly decorated. Of course in the center of it all is the famous lighthouse that we helped decorate! We Harbour Rats were actually featured in an article in the Abaconian. Click here and scroll to page 12 of Section A of the December 15th Issue.

Christmas Day we are looking forward to attending three different festive parties on the island. The only things we are missing (besides snow of course!) are our family and friends from the U.S.

So, wherever you are and whatever you do, we hope you have a very merry Christmas! Enjoy!!!!