Our trip is done, the adventure is finished.  We fly out today via Cherokee Aviation, with Ziggy in a kennel riding with us in the passenger cabin.

We had the boat hauled out at the Marsh Harbor Boatyard in the Abacos this morning.

She is getting pressure washed and bottom painted.  We will keep her there with hurricane straps on the hard until we come back.

Maybe in the summer?  Maybe not until winter.

Leaving the boat here and flying over is quicker and also cheaper than storing it in the States.

We both are somewhat sad about leaving our boat home for the last four and a half months.  She has gotten us everywhere we wanted to go.  She has weathered bumps, squalls and rough seas.

She got us all the way to the bottom of the Bahamas, Georgetown, and all the way back up to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos.  She’s sailed the Atlantic, the Bahamas Bank, the Exuma Sound and the Sea of Abaco.

She gave us the most stunning coral and azure sea views as we traversed these waters, sights only seen from a boat.

Her shallow draft got us into 3 foot waters; her anchor never slipped.

The gremlins we encountered early on settled down once we got to the Bahamas, and the engines, batteries and navigation worked in concert to carry us along.

We will miss the boat and the people we have met.  Ziggy will miss all the attention she gets.

Toucan will sit in her cradle on Cat Alley with sister catamarans in the boatyard, with a view of the Sea of Abaco.

She will wait for us to come back. And go back in the water, where a sailboat belongs.

 

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Over the months we have heard many boaters on the radio and exchanged cards with many others.  Boat names often offer interesting insights into the owners’ outlook on life and cruising in particular.

One thing we’ve learned is the shorter and easier to spell, the better.  That’s because you have to hail the bridge tenders and marinas with your boat name.  We’ve heard others have to spell their name several times.

So I’m glad we’re Toucan, a simple name and I like birds.   In hailing the marinas we always say “Toucan, like the bird.”   Not to be confused with Two Can.

Here are some of the boats we’ve come across.

• Renegade
• Kooky dance 
• Tango
• Soleil
• Harmonium
• Serena
• Mekhaya
• Onward 
• Noel’s delight (parrot on board)
• Cookie Monster
• Caper (Phyllis is from Wilmington)
• Suncast
• Windward
• No agenda
• Wireless ( he invented the transponder for airplanes)
• Buoys tuition
• Kindred spirit
• Providence
• Bee Haven
• Dragonfly (cat made from a kit)
• Salty Turtle
• Mighty Fine
• Feral cat (a fellow pdq)
• No Rehearsal (big Catana from New Zealand)
• Morningstar ( big diving sailboat)

Some friends we’ve made along the way who we hope to meet up with again:

Outsider- Paul and Brenda sailed with us from Bimini to Chub Cay

Deja Vu – Dan and his Cuban wife, who he smuggled in illegally 20 years ago. Then paid off the gatekeeper at Sandals to get in.  A shifty character!

Wisp ‘o Wind – joy and Ivan in Georgetown.  He fixed our dinghy motor, she organized outings and volleyball.

Tumbleweed – Matt and his girlfriend on the trimaran in Georgetown.  We saw them again in Highbourne Cay.  They had gotten engaged and were selling their boat to buy a 42′ cat in Tahiti.

Boat name?  Hannah and Roger, the young couple with no particular schedule in mind, who dinghied ashore via a 16′ sailboat with their dog.

Bucket List – Joe from Arkansas talked us into staying at the marina in Staniel with a northwest wind.

In Concert – Dave and Lisa from Washington NC.  He plays the flute and guitar, and entertained us at Compass Cay.

Sweet Freedom – Bill and Maureen from Vermont.  We saw them at Black Point, Georgetown and Marsh Harbor, great fun people.

Wings – Kathleen we met at Black Point.  She wasn’t in her boat but was renting a cottage for a month.  A friend of Bill and Maureen’s from Vermont.

Meander – Stu and Julie from New Jersey. He saved Ziggy when she fell off the dock at Staniel Cay, coaxing her onto his swim platform.  Then we saw them at Marsh Harbor a month later.

Slainte – Melanie and John from Georgia, our neighbors in Marsh Harbor. She’s the social director for our dock, organizing water aerobics, dominoes, bocce tournaments and daily 5:00 happy hours.

Pegasus – Charlie and Marty, lawyers from DC.  At Marsh Harbor he is the undisputed king of conch blowing at sunset. 

Cruisers are all a pretty happy, laid back bunch of folks.  What’s not to love about boating around in these islands?

I will miss the life.









It’s the cay we landed on three years ago when we helped Hal bring his boat to the Abacos.  The destination was supposed to be Marsh Harbor but alas the boat gremlins intervened and broke the drive shaft.

With no motor, Ed and Hal sailed 10 hours to the nearest boatyard at Green Turtle Cay.   Then the ferry there towed us in.

We spent about 10 days there and came to regard GTC as our home in the Abacos.

So we rented a car and made our way back there yesterday to check on our cay.  It was about a 30 mile trip, mostly  desolate roadway north.

We walked around and revisited places we remembered from the past.

Macintosh was the breakfast place. The Wrecking Tree was our lunch spot.  It was the same tree where centuries ago they brought the salvage from wrecked boats to sell.

We visited the Albert Lowe Museum and the Memorial Gardens, both commemorating the history of the Abacos and the Loyalist settlers who came here in the late 1700’s.

They left after the Revolutionary War, many of them persecuted by the Patriots, leaving behind their farms and businesses to try to build a new life in the islands.

It was not a hospitable agricultural environment; cotton wouldn’t grow well here.  So they developed shipbuilding and wrecking enterprises.  

Many had brought slaves with them but over time with the lack of agricultural work, the need for slaves diminished.  They were allowed to develop other skills and eventually buy their freedom.

Emancipated before the slaves in the United States, the Bahamians built their trade with the new country.  Wrecking, turtling and exporting pineapples and salt were among the most lucrative endeavors.

The ties with the British remain visible today.  They speak somewhat formal English to others but an almost unrecognizable version (at least to our ears) to each other.

They drive on the left side of the road which can be a challenge when the steering wheel is on the right.

Fish, lobster and conch are staples.  And sides of macaroni and cheese, peas and rice, coleslaw.

They call the native white Bahamians “conchy Joe.”  We have met a few along the way.

We enjoyed our visit back to Green Turtle, brought back good memories.  Since then we have seen much more of the Bahamas, but GTC will always have a special place in our hearts.





We walked to the Jib Room across the harbor from our marina for the Wednesday night rib buffet.

It was about a 20 minute walk around as dusk settled in.  The Sea of Abaco looked fairly calm, the palms swayed in the breeze.

As we approached the restaurant the dark night got lit up.  Crowds were hanging out at the outdoor picnic tables, drinking and waiting for the buffet to start.

We met up with Charlie and Marty, friends from the marina.  Then the buffet began.

OMG ribs to die for, potato salad, slaw, baked beans and a roll.  Ed and I shared ribs and it was plenty.  Zigster got her fill of rib bones too.

Then the party began!  One guy playing the saw and Mr Limbo doing his thing.  

Not only did he clear 2 feet, he did it again with the pole on fire!  It was blazin awesome.

We bummed a dinghy ride with Charlie back to the boat.  What was ac20 minute walk took just 5 minutes by boat.

A great Bahamian evening!















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We got a crate for Ziggy at the ferry office and caught a ride to Hopetown on Monday.  She was a little freaked by the ferry sounds but she made out okay.

Hopetown has the famous candy stripe lighthouse and a village of pastel colored houses on narrow alleys.  The bougainvillea were red, yellow and purple ablaze.

We caught a golf cart ride for the two miles to Firefly’s resort and restaurant.  Lunch there was really nice, with amazing views of the Sea of Abaco.

Next day we hung out with Jenny and Richard at their Abaco Beach Resort.  Beautiful white beaches, nice bar and restaurant.  

We all went paddle boarding!  Ziggy swam out and got on the paddle board with me.  Jenny and Richard did well their first time out, though Jenny’s autopilot kept taking her toward the rocks.

We enjoyed an evening of grilling and trivia games with our dock mates.  The entry fee was one (unopened) beer per person.  So the winning team would get 20+ beers.  

Some  of the questions were a bit obtuse.  Did you know there are 1.3 million people in the US armed services today?

Our team won second place but we were only given 2 beers as our prize. I think the losing team got more.  What’s up with that?

Oh and Ziggy now has a chain leash.  I don’t think she can chew through that one.











Ed’s sister and brother in law arrived Friday afternoon.  We picked them up in our rental car, the last one available on the island, what had to be a 1980s era Buick Lacrosse.  The B and the U were missing on the nameplate outside so I guess we were really driving an Ick.

We’re stylin’.

Saturday we took the hot rod down to Pete’s Pub and Gallery at Little Harbor.

It’s a small anchorage we had passed on our way up to Marsh Harbor with a working foundry and beachside restaurant.  

Randolph Johnston, a noted sculptor from New England, sailed into the harbor with his family in the ’50s and set up shop here.  His son Pete continued the work and founded Pete’s Pub.

Now grandson Greg continues the tradition. 

We enjoyed burgers and the infamous Liquid Blasters (why walk when you can crawl?) at the pub.  A local drunk with a few missing teeth entertained us cracking conch and falling backwards in his boat.

The foundry was closed.  This was bad news for Jenny, who had her heart set on seeing the artist’s studio.  

But Jenny was not to be deterred.  We watched Jenny sweet talk the grandson Greg for at least 10 minutes, asking for a foundry tour.  Richard remarked, with a knowing smile, “Jenny gets what she wants.  He will let her in.”

We saw Greg shake his head no three times.  Then the tide turned.

He would let her in.

It was a little wait but Jenny got in and we were all happy she got the tour.

Back at the dock we enjoyed drinks with the happy hour crowd.  And heard Charlie and Melanie blow the conchs at sunset.

On Sunday we planned to take the ferry over to Nippers at Guana Cay.

As we boarded, the ferry captain said the dog can’t go, she’s not in a crate.

What?  We had no idea.

So I jumped off the boat with Ziggy and jogged back to the dock in hopes of finding someone to watch the dog for a few hours.

Charlie!  Our neighbor on the dock who always petted Ziggy was at the pool.

Poor guy.  He was my target.

He rather reluctantly agreed to keep her for me.  And take her to the Bocce tournament they planned for the afternoon.

So we got to Nippers after all and enjoyed the pig roast and bikini girls dirty dancing to Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

Nippers rum drinks galore.

A quick visit to Grappas for our final hurrah and back on the ferry for the ride home.

We got back to the dock and found our puppy at Snappas, hanging out with her babysitters from the dock.

Apparently she had chewed through her line once again.  It turns out Charlie had passed her around, like a drunk coed, to other neighbors on the dock.  So they had all taken turns watching the dawg.

Now I owe at least 4 people a fifth of gin. Expensive sitters.







We made it to Marsh Harbor Wednesday about noon after 29 hours on the water.  We went through heavy fog in the early evening and some choppy seas as we approached the southernmost Abaco islands.  

When the moon went down it was a pitch black night.

We each did one hour at the wheel, staring at the compass to maintain almost a pure due north heading.

We couldn’t use the auto helm due to the chop so we hand steered all through the night.

No sleep for the weary.

We realized we would reach the Little Harbor cut too early, before dawn, so we continued up to the North Bar Channel into the Sea of Abaco.

Daybreak was a welcome sight.  

As we went into the channel, we rode some major swells, probably at least 6 foot seas.

I went down to make coffee and toast but as we turned into the channel the waves starting hitting us broadside.

I hung on in the galley and managed to put together a meager breakfast despite the rocking.

We decided to head on to Marsh Harbor so we could be there for Ed’s sister and brother-in-law’s arrival.  Jenny and Richard were arriving Friday and we thought there might be a lot of wind Thursday.

So we made our way around the long point of Marsh Harbor and claimed our slip at Harborview Marina.

Exhausted but thrilled to be here.

Ziggy had patiently waited 29 hours to get on land to do her business.  She leapt onto the dock and I helped her find a bathroom spot.  She lost no time in taking care of business.

We knew we were in the right spot when Melanie, the lady on the trawler beside us, greeted us.

“Welcome!  Join us at 5pm for happy hour on the dock and I’ll introduce you to everyone here.”

We had found the party dock in the Abacos!  Apparently Ed has a nose for those.  Just like tiki bars.  He sniffs them out.

After lunch at Snappas we collapsed on the boat for an hour nap.  Showered and revived, we joined the group at 5.

And saw John Barbie from Southport!  On his yacht The Office.  He had arrived shortly after us.

And we met up with Bill and Maureen from Vermont for dinner the next evening.  We met them in Black Point and saw them in Georgetown as well.

Two highlights from yesterday.  I finally found a doctor who got me antibiotics for my ear infection.  And at the happy hour on the dock the boat across from us dropped several beer and wine bottles into the water as they were unloading their groceries.

They worked diligently with a fishing net for about 30 minutes to retrieve those items.

We all cheered when they succeeded!  

You don’t let alcohol go to waste in these waters.





















We left Highbourne Cay at the crack of dawn for what would be a 24 hour sail up to the Abacos chain.

The seas were calm and we had very little wind so we just put up the main sail and motored for a couple hours.

We entered an area of treacherous coral reefs, identifiable as black areas in the clear aquamarine waters. Since the tide was rising, though, we had enough water under us so they wouldn’t pose a hazard.

After an hour or so navigating around the coral, we ran into a big blanket of fog that got heavier as we moved north. We could only see a couple hundred feet around us so we put on the running lights despite it being only 11:00 am.

As we approached Fleeming Cut, where you pass Eleuthera and enter the open seas, the fog lifted and all was well again.

We had 64 miles to go, it was 2pm. Figuring we needed to slow down so we wouldn’t get to Little Harbor before daybreak, Ed turned off one motor and cut our speed.

We can tell by the GPS what time our ETA is, based on our speed, so we will sail tonight or slow the motors to keep our arrival around 6 am.

A counterintuitive strategy since we usually want more speed! But the right one.

Now it’s almost 5 pm, just 13 more hours to go. We will do one-hour shifts at the helm and take naps. If the seas remain calm we hope to use Auto-Annie, our trusty autopilot, to steer the boat some of the time.

She’s so good that she lulls you into false confidence. Hope I don’t fall asleep at the wheel.

We have been here in the Exuma chain now for 60 days. Staniel Cay, Compass Cay, Black Point, Warderick Wells, Cambridge Cay, Hawksbill Cay, Emerald Bay, Georgetown and Highbourne Cay. We started and ended our visit here at Highbourne, coming from Nassau two months ago.

We have seen the most beautiful waters, hiked the coral-ridden trails among mangroves and palms, fed the sharks and the pigs, made friends with the locals, shared stories with the cruisers, rationed water, washed clothes and dishes in the sea, sailed in less than 3 feet of water, caught mooring balls to tie up and anchored 4 times in one day.

We have witnessed gusty squalls that blew through in 15 minutes and topped off our water tanks. We have learned how much water we use per day, fuel per hour, solar watts and wind amps per day. We have learned how to manage our waste system and our inverter/charger.

Our batteries worked great, our motors purred and our sails lifted us.

One of our favorite sights here is the amazing sunset at dusk, when the fireball literally drops into the sea. Another favorite is arriving at the next island and its special beach, watching Ziggy race down its expanse with the joyful abandon of a wild creature. And Ziggy swam out to the paddleboard and got on it with me!

There have been many memories. 99% wonderful.

We are headed for a 24 hour overnight sail to the Abacos tomorrow. We are looking forward to new places.

But the Exumas will always hold a magical place in our souls. I hope we come back.

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We left Staniel Cay Tuesday morning and headed up to look for anchorage or a mooring ball in the Exuma Land and Sea Park area.

We settled on Hawksbill Cay, known for its Osprey nesting areas. After a couple of tries we grabbed the mooring ball and tied up.

We made dinner and had a couple drinks to help us relax for what we thought might be a roly poly night.

As the tide went out the waves settled down and a shoal to the west of us helped break the swell too.

We ended up sleeping pretty well.

Next morning we left at daybreak for the 3+ hour trip to Highbourne Cay. We were able to sail part of the way and made pretty good time.

Actually we made too good time because we got there before 10 am and the marina says our slip wasn’t available yet. We had reserved one but the guy in it didn’t have to leave until 11 am.

We knew the bad-ass west winds were going to start that afternoon so we were anxious to get in. But there was no room at the inn.

As the tide was going out the waves were picking up, so we agreed our only option was to throw out the hook somewhere close by and wait.

We went into the basin nearby and dropped it fairly close to a beach and a yellow sailboat.

Shortly thereafter they came up in their dinghy. Ed starts explaining we won’t be there long, we were waiting on them to free up our slip.

I guess after having the Scottish guy in Georgetown yell at us for being too close we were gun shy.

But these French Canadians were all smiles and happy go lucky.

“Oh no worry there’s plenty of room for everybody,” they said in broken English.

Shirts off, happy to be out of Canada!
We’ve met more Canadian than American cruisers, I think Canada is empty right now.

We finally got our slip and had a peaceful sleep as the winds got over 30 knots.

We were last here at Christmas, when we came over here from Nassau, excited to be in the Exumas. It’s much cooler now but still a wonderful island.

I love Highbourne Cay.