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We left Green Turtle Cay on Easter Sunday with a plan to be anchored at Great Sale Cay on Monday afternoon before the next front arrived with strong northeast winds. It was a light drizzle all day, but we were well protected in our enclosure. We spent Sunday night at Allan-Pensacola Cay and continued on at first light Monday morning. Monday was cloudy, but a mostly dry day, and we were in our anchorage well before the winds began to build. Some boats were already there, and more arrived after that, so by nightfall, there were about 20 boats at this unpopulated cay. It was dead calm at dinner time, but shortly after dark, the winds built quickly to a sustained 25 knots, gusting to 35 knots. Two boats dragged anchor, one of which hit the anchor chain from a boat downwind. That boat let its anchor and chain go, averting potential disaster. It was a very bouncy night, but we managed well and held firm. It remained quite windy all day Tuesday, finally settling down on Wednesday. With calmer conditions on Wednesday, they were able to retrieve the anchor and chain that had been let go. A gale in the Atlantic northwest of us had generated a very large northeast swell. Throughout Wednesday, additional boats arrived to stage for the crossing. By the time we left on Wednesday night, we counted at least 45. Three of us decided to leave on Wednesday, the rest were waiting one more day for the swell to diminish somewhat. Tarwathie left at about 4pm. Wind Chaser and Ariel left together at 9pm as we had planned. We sailed about ½ mile off and parallel with Wind Chaser throughout the night. It was comforting to see their running lights in an otherwise empty Little Bahama Bank. We could still see the lights from our anchorage a few miles out. It looked like a small village had settled on Great Sale Cay. We cleared the bank at about 6:30am, and then we each set our separate course, each setting up the best conditions for each particular boat. The swell was still quite substantial, but with a 10-second interval, very manageable. We steered a constant heading of 274 degrees, which is almost due west. We counted on the current to carry us 20 miles to the north. Our plan worked perfectly with only a minor correction at the end. Our arrival time could not have been worse. We faced a 2 ½ knot ebb current at the Fort Pierce inlet, which was met with the remainder of the northeast swell and pretty good northeast winds. The water in the inlet was boiling, but luckily, it was only a short stretch. After getting the anchor down, we called Customs and Immigration to clear in with our Local Boater Option card. We were cleared very quickly. Wind Chaser arrived at Fort Pierce about one hour behind us. They continued on to Vero Beach, which is about another 15 miles north on the ICW. They did not have the Local Boater Option cards, so they were directed to appear in person at either Fort Pierce and Cape Canaveral. They rented a car to return to Fort Pierce and clear in at the airport. The next day, we proceeded to Cocoa. On Saturday, before leaving Cocoa, we made a trip to the grocery store. We then were quickly on our way to Titusville, where we did laundry as soon as we arrived. Sunday, we were on our way for the home stretch after topping off the diesel fuel. It was a nice weekend day, so the waterway was packed with local boaters. We arrived at Daytona at 4:30, having battled winds on the nose all afternoon. The whole point of this fast-paced return was to meet up with our son Daniel, his wife Lesli, and their three-year-old son Thomas. They are vacationing in the area this coming week. We made arrangements to meet Daniel, Lesli, and Thomas for dinner. As we were getting ready to head in, we saw Wind Chaser going by. We hailed them on the radio, and they had just spotted us and were making a U-turn to come into our anchorage. Today, Monday, we are just trying to catch our breath. Daniel and family are at Disney World. Wind Chaser stayed here today waiting on the wind to ease or change direction. We are looking forward to a great week with Daniel and Lesli and a chance to work on spoiling Thomas.

Lowe Art Gallery

The highlight of this visit to Green Turtle Cay was the Alton R Lowe Art Gallery. The art gallery is in a house he had built above Black Sound. It is a wonderful home with beautifully landscaped grounds. Alton is an extremely accomplished artist, and his works are well out of our range. What made this visit so memorable was spending close to an hour talking with him. Alton grew up on Green Turtle Cay and began his art studies at the age of six. He eventually studied art in New York. He is well-engaged and connected to the political and cultural life of the Bahamas. His home is built on a hillside, and behind and to the side of the house is an outdoor stage. They bring in plays and concerts from Miami and can seat 700 on the lawns around the stage.

New Friend

We found a new friend sleeping under our boat. He seems content and has no immediate plans to move.

Waiting On Weather

It seems we are in for an extended wait for acceptable weather. The forecast had looked good for this coming weekend, but now it has deteriorated. The seas in the Gulf Stream are running very high, so we will wait it out at Green Turtle Cay. There are really no good, all-around protected anchorages after leaving here. There is West End, but that is a marina that could get expensive if caught there for several days. We met Brian and Jan on Wind Chaser. They are from Lorain, Ohio, which is an area we know well from when we lived in the area. They have a condominium on the Black River in a complex we have toured by dinghy with friends. They also retired last summer. We have compared our plans, and they match up well, so we will cross the Gulf Stream together. Meanwhile, we are enjoying their company here at Green Turtle Cay. They have a son in the Navy stationed at Fernandina Beach, Florida, and we are destined for Daytona Beach. They plan to leave the boat there and fly to Atlanta to visit their daughter and babysit their grandchildren. We both would very much like to reach our destinations by the end of March.

Departing

Ted and Alice treated us and Jock's Lodge to dinner for our last night as a group. Also with us was Alice's friend Diane, who had just arrived from Philadelphia to spend a week with them. We went to a small restaurant frequented by locals. The place was packed, and we were the only cruisers there. Our meals were all very good, and most all of us had sides of 'peas and rice' and 'baked macaroni and cheese', both of which are staples here and which we all enjoy. After dinner, we went out for 'Rake and Scrape'. On our first visit to Marsh Harbor, I met Browntips and learned he has a 'Rake and Scrape' band, so it has been a priority to see what this was all about. The rake and scrape sound comes from running a knife blade over the teeth of a bent carpenter's saw. The audience is free to jump in and play with the band. Linda was the first to give it a try, and she was quite good. She soon moved on to dancing (and learning some new moves) with one of the band members while I picked up the maracas and joined the band for a few songs. Believe it or not, but Linda and I provided most of the audience participation. Our camera batteries failed, so we cannot share. I guess we were ready for fun during our last night out with the gang for a while. The next morning, we said our goodbyes again. We miss our good friends and look forward to seeing them back in Annapolis if not sooner. After leaving Marsh Harbor, we made another attempt to see Man-O-War. We entered on high tide and checked both mooring fields, but gave up frustrated as they were either marked private, reserved, or not to be trusted. We anchored behind Garden Cay until the wind settled and then went back to our old anchorage at the north end. The next day, we rowed in and walked to town. It is so amazing how each cay is so individualistic. This cay is very residential, with just golf cart paths and very few shops.  They do not really support tourism, so it is very quiet. We spent another night at our anchorage and then returned through the Whale Passage to Green Turtle Cay. They rate the passages on a scale of 1 - 5 for conditions, with 5 being the best. Our trip this time was a flat 5, which is as good as it gets, while our first time through was a doable 3. We are watching the weather in the safe harbor at Green Turtle Cay, and when we get the next window, we will cross back to Florida.

Pete's Pub

We have been waiting for some time for a few days of settled weather to go to Little Harbor, which would be our furthest point south. The area between Elbow Cay and Little Harbor has several large openings to the Atlantic, so the swell makes it into the Sea of Abaco, and there is usually a strong surge around Little Harbor. We left Hopetown on a high tide, which was needed to exit the harbor. We arrived at Little Harbor about four hours later, but could not enter the protected harbor since high tide is needed to enter there as well. We anchored outside the harbor, but the wind was from the south and the surge from the east, so the boat had a tremendous roll.

Pete's Pub

We decided we did not want to wait a few more hours for high tide in those conditions, so we backtracked to Black Point Cat, the most protected area we could find to anchor. We anchored for the night, and then the next day returned to Little Harbor, again anchoring out but taking the dinghies into the harbor area. The main and only attraction in Little Harbor is Pete's Pub and Gallery. Pete Johnston is a Bronze Sculptor and the son of the late Professor and Sculptor Randolph Johnston, who founded this unique art foundry in this remote and beautiful area. After touring the gallery, we sought out the foundry, and they were so nice to give us a tour and fully explain the 'Lost Wax' process for creating bronze sculpture. After our foundry tour, we then stopped at Pete's Pub, which has a limited lunch menu that changes daily. The food was excellent and the atmosphere great, with sand at our feet. Quite a few spring breakers were there, so it was a fun time. While there, we met Ed and Dee off Sea Fox 10 and friends of Jock's Lodge. They had just arrived, coming north from the Exumas. We had to cut our visit short, however, to allow time to snorkel at Sandy Cay. This is reported to be the best snorkeling in the Abacos. We anchored behind the cay, and I picked up Alice and Jan, and the three of us went snorkeling. We tied the dinghy to a mooring used by the commercial dive boats. While we could only stay about 1/2 hour, it was fantastic. There was wonderful coral, and many species of fish. The surge was strong, and the incoming tide was a problem. We had just decided to leave when I spotted two very large barracuda directly below me. This hastened our return to the dinghy and exit from the water. We wish we had more time, but we had to get back to the anchorage and the following day back to Marsh Harbor in advance of the next strong cold front.

Treasure Cay

We spent a few days at Treasure Cay before returning to Hopetown. Treasure Cay had been recommended to us by several cruisers. It is quite different. The inner harbor, which is irregular in shape, is surrounded by a sea wall and lined with condominiums and houses, all with dock space. It looks very much like some areas we saw in Florida along the ICW. The key feature of Treasure Cay is the resort and marina, which has an unbelievably beautiful beach. We paid a modest fee to anchor, but it included use of the resort facilities. We found the prices here to be about the best we have seen.

Treasure Cay

Hopetown

Ariel on Mooring

Back in Hopetown, the lighthouse is always prominent. This is sunrise on the sea outside of Hopetown and Ariel on a mooring in the harbor.