Slow down, You Move Too Fast…

Our trip here in the Abacos hits a bit differently this time around. We’re taking things a bit slower, hanging out with friends a bit longer, and just not trying to rush through this experience. We’ve been not trying to push to see all the places and do all the things, like we did last year. Our goal is to hit all of our favorite spots and linger there to soak up every moment. We’re still going to maximize our time here in the Abacos and stay for our full 90 day cruising permit before pushing back up the east coast toward the Chesapeake Bay before hurricane season. We’ve been making an effort to be off of our computers and to live more in the moment so, we haven’t posted in a while. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to for the last few weeks.

Green Turtle: Green Turtle Cay continues to hold our hearts as one of our favorite places to visit. We were worried that it would be different than the way we had remembered it. This was the place where we spent the most time and where we entertained our friend Jarrod when he came for a visit. It was also the place where we sat out more than a few storms and where we staged our exit back to the US. We were pleasantly surprised to see that most things haven’t changed while we were gone. Our favorite haunts were still there. We had happy hour rum drinks at Pineapple Bar/Grill and at the Tranquil Turtle Beach Bar. We had dinner and made new friends at Sundowners and had a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner at the Green Turtle Club. And of course we had to have breakfast at the Plymouth Rock Liquor & Cafe! We split our time between the Anchorage at New Plymouth Settlement and the Bluff House Marina as we waited on our replacement water maker impellers to show up. Once we got a notification that they had arrived in Marsh Harbor at the regional DHL office, we waited on our weather window to get around The Whale and took off.

Marsh Harbour: This year, we made a spirited but successful sail around The Whale to get to the Southern Abaco Islands. Last year, we spent a good amount of time in Marsh Harbour waiting our storms at a marina. We didn’t really want to have that experience this year, so we opted to anchor out in the harbour for just a few nights to retrieve our package from DHL and get a few groceries while we were on the Great Abaco Island. Of course we couldn’t go to Marsh Harbor without a trip to Colors, Snappas, and the Jib Room for libations, good food and some lively conversation.

Man-O-War: With weather coming in and us being in an exposed portion of the Marsh Harbour anchorage, we moved to the mooring field at Man-O-War Cay. It’s said to be a hurricane hole as it’s protected on all sides by houses and mangroves. The thing is that we aren’t the only one who knows about this great little hiding spot and we will actually go twice this year to hide from cold fronts. We have to go into the harbor at high tide, so we are always nervous about getting a spot. The Man-O-War Village Marina is up and running again so now that’s another option of you fail at getting a mooring ball. It’s a gorgeous community with a well stocked grocery and hardware store but it doesn’t sell alcohol, so be prepared if you’re weathering out storms here. 🤪 The Dock N’Dine Restaurant will at least let you bring your own beverages to have with your meal.

Hope Town / Tahiti Beach: Other than Green Turtle Cay, Elbow Cay is one of our favorite stops. Though the island is only 5 miles long, it consists of a number of tasty restaurants/bars, beautiful beaches and a choice of marinas, anchorages or even mooring balls to choose from. We enjoy having breakfast at the Abaco Inn and any meal at Capt’n Jacks, Hope Town Inn or On Da Beach. This year, we were even able to enjoy a lovely mix of “Chinese, Indian, Thai and Japanese cuisines” at the new Krave Restaurant. Of course you don’t want to miss having a juicy burger at the Thirsty Cuda on Tahiti Beach. If you’ve got some time in Hope Town, Capt’n Jacks also has bingo, trivia and karaoke nights and On Da Beach is known for it’s live music. We love Hope Town Inn & Marina, though it’s a bit pricy, for has clean laundry and shower facilities that you can use for a fee even if you aren’t one of their guests. We also met up with S/V Sirius, who graciously gave us their only spare watermaker impeller, to repay them with one of the ones that we had delivered to Marsh Harbour. They were very grateful as they were heading further south toward the Eleuthera Islands. We rode out one cold front with 360° wind shifts on anchor at the Aunt Pat’s Anchorage just north of Tahiti Beach and it was a bit too rolly with a north wind for our taste. But we held fast in the 35kt gusts and Justin even got to help a neighbor after their anchor drug. Through connections we’d made with S/V Misty who we crossed the Gulf Stream with after leaving Fort Pierce, FL, we scored a much coveted mooring ball inside Hope Town Harbor where we’ve now ridden out a couple of cold fronts. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the cold fronts will slow down in frequency and ferocity so that we can go back out to anchor so we can enjoy a slower pace on the water.

We’ve also been awake to watch a few SpaceX Starlink launches and the ill-fated Starliner launch in early March.

Currently, we’re sitting outside of the Hope Town Harbour with our water maker and generator running before we head back onto our mooring ball for another cold front and 360° blow. Once the wind and waves calm we’re going to head further south to Little Harbour and meet up with some friends. We’re almost 2/3 of the way through our trip and as we don’t really want it to end, we’re looking forward to what’s next.

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

– The 59t Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy) by Paul Simon