Voyages of the Stray Cat: February 2008

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Looking out for friends

We miss all of you who are not fortunate enough to be sharing this adventure in Abaco and look forward to seeing you again.

After the boys left, we returned to Hope Town for the fair and then headed to Snake Cay for fishing.
It seems that at every turn, Bev makes new friends who put up with me. In these photos, we are on Beach Cruising belonging to Barry and Brenda. We first met them on the Chesapeake. They are an absolutely charming couple who have built a circle of equally charming and interesting friends

After spending a day at Snake Cay and getting skunked at fishing, we headed to Little Harbour, at the foot of the Sea of Abaco.

The son of the original settlers (Pete) now owns Pete’s Pub. This is an absolutely charming bar with no walls and a sand floor. Pete’s parents were internationally famous for lost wax castings of marine and other life.

The harbour is extremely well protected and the beaches are picturesque. There are also some really great dive sites nearby, one of which is a park. Both are full of fish and interesting coral.

In typical fashion, Bev chatted up another couple in the bar. It did not take long until they invited us for dinner. I turns out that their name is House and the name of their cat is “House Cat”. Apparently they often pick up strays so it was appropriate that they picked up us, the crew of the Stray Cat. They used to own 4 or 5 Thai restaurants but are down to one. Anyway, dinner was Thai and it was excellent!!!

It pays to be married to a charmer!

The Visit – Part 3 – the bars

When the boys first arrived, we took them to a bar called Snappa’s. It featured a “musician” called Browntip. He plays the saw and sings along to canned music. I found it intriguing for about 5 minutes but the beat never changed and neither did the tone.

Bev and the boys, however, almost closed the place, so I guess it is a matter of taste.

Of course, everyone enjoys Nipper’s – especially after snorkeling in the waves.

We also did the pot luck dinner at Grabbers.

Finally, before they left, we had lunch at the Jib Room. The meals were excellent and the portions were humongous. Johnny’s club sandwich had to have been about 4 inches thick. Bev and I could have easily split any of the meals and not have been able to finish. It is highly recommended, but bring a friend.

Finally, we had hoped to take in a Junkaroo. The kids in the photo above were probably about 8 years old. This is a cultural phenomena where various groups compete in a parade with elabourate costumes and intricate dance steps. The participants start very young and continue on well into adulthood. Unfortunately, the "Parade" was one and a half hours late in getting started and there were gaps of about 15 minutes between groups while they got themselves organized. The party and parade started at about 8:00 PM and went on well into the "wee" hours. Unfortunately, neither Bev nor I had the stamina to persevere.

Our loss I guess.

The Visit – Part B - Sea

After Treasure, we absolutely had to take the guys to Guana and to Nipper’s Bar. They also tried snorkeling both at the bar and in the bay where we were anchored.

We tried to take some good underwater photos. These are a very poor representation of what we saw but may give you at least some idea.

Bev's Boys Visit – Part A - Land

Bev’s boys, John and Tim came to visit us for a week.

I think they enjoyed it. I certainly know I did. They are both easygoing and extremely helpful. These are important ingredients for living in close quarters.

While they were here, we visited Hope Town again and then sailed to Treasure Cay.

We would not all easily fit into our rubber dingy so often the two boys would ride in the Walker Bay under tow. There is no truth to the rumour that we made them ride back there because they had gas.

Treasure is supposed to have one of the top 10 beaches in the world. While that may have been true 10 years ago, the shore line is a bit too built up for my tastes.

You even have to pay to anchor at Treasure. In exchange, however, you get full access to the resort. Also, water is a deal: $7.00 for unlimited amounts for 24 hours. We took 90 gallons.

This also gave us an opportunity to meet up again with old friends around the pool. The boys seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

Life is Good!!!

We have visited Hope Town several times now. Also, now that our camera has magically rejuvenated itself, we can now show photos. Those beside and below are taken from the famous light house and show the views of the harbour.