Winding down winter in the Abacos

Wednesday we went shopping in the biggest and best grocery store we've seen in the Bahamas.  Except for the prices the store is comparable to a Publix or Krogers back home.  We also shuttled 45 gallons of water to the boat - sure am glad we didn't have to row!  We also visited with friends from several boats, including Bluejacket.  Donna and Jerry (Bluejacket) are friends of Mary and Dave from Daytona.  We first met them in Miami and just caught up with them again.

Thursday the wind started to pick up and more boats started coming into Marsh Harbor.  When the second boat anchored within 25 yards of us we decided it was time to leave.  We had a nice sail back towards the south end of Abaco.  Sue wanted to visit Little Harbor which we had passed on our way to the Mercury dealer.  There is a foundry there (decorative sculpture) and some caves.  Friday we took the dinghy into Little Harbor.  We saw the sculpture gallery but the foundry didn't appear to be open.  We saw the caves from the dighy but didn't bother to go ashore to see them.

Later in the afternoon we sailed back towards Marsh Harbor.  As we were approaching the spot where we were going to anchor we noticed another boat showing a lot of bottom.  It turns out they had anchored at high tide and them went off snorkeling.  When they were gone the tide went out leaving their boat aground.  High tide was just before midnight, and in the morning they were safely anchored in deeper water.

We have a couple more settlements near by - Hope Town and Man O War Cay - that we plan to visit before heading north through the rest of the Abacos.  It looks like we'll be heading back cross the Gulf Stream from the northern end of the Abacos.  We missed seeing the Berry Islands and probably won't see them because it means too much of a back track.  We might end up back in the States a week or so earlier than we planned but I've already checked and it's almost warm enough in Georgia!