Hopetown Abaco until Saturday

Looks like the weather will finally begin to break on Saturday.  Art Flynn was out early to talk with the Dockmaster, Paul.  He beat me out there!!  We had to make sure we were okay to stay in the slips until the break in the weather.  Last night was very interesting.  I mentioned Gale strength wind was forecast, and we weren't disappointed.  The anamometer on the top of the mast indicated 44.6 kts out of the southwest.  We had doubled up on the dock lines, so we were glad we did that.  We were pretty stretched out.  Art and I attached a line between our boats, for two reasons:  1) to help keep them off the docks, and 2) to help stabilize both boats in the BLOW!!  The forecast today is 100% chance of rain with 15-25kts of wind.  We will stay here!

To give you an indication of the type of weather, while we were making the transit from Great Guana to Man 'O War the other day, we got a call from Art on Channel 17 about the below waterspout.  It was a first for me.  I had never seen one. 

Let's backtrack while I am interested in writing (LOL-Oh yeah!), let's get back to Man 'O War Cay for a few minutes.  The Cay was very popular for boat building.  We had a wonderful conversation and tour with Hartley Albury, of his boat building shed.  This guy has been building these sailing skiffs for 37 years. 

I have to say, I was so engrossed in his explanations and techniques that I neglected to take other pics.  I was so disappointed as I was looking through my pics.  What a most interesting conversation.  He has two boats going simultaneously, the other in another building. 

Renne' spent a bit of time talking to Hartley's brother, Jeff, who owns and runs the local grocery store.  He had many anecdotes about the family line back to the loyalists of the 13 colonies who abandoned all they had to move to the Bahamas during the Revolutionary War.  Brenda Flynn, also is interested in all of the Roberts in the Abacos, as she is a Roberts and part of that family line disappeared about that time.  She is hoping to find a link here.

We also see many Albury 23 Runabouts all over the Abacos:

These are built here in Man 'O War also, and I really enjoyed watching these guys.  I would love to spend a few days learning from both of these shops.  Renne's sensitivity to chemicals made it impossible for her to stay around, so I had to catch up with her a few minutes later.

We found the local homes to be fascinating, and each Cay has a very distinct atmosphere and style.

We thought you might like to see the sunset from Man 'O War Cay.  Renne' was taking pictures and missed, again, the green flash that happened.  One of these days, she will just watch the sunset and not worry about some of the other things happening!  LOL!

Hopetown Abaco is a very quaint and very well maintained community!   This place is packed right now with boats in marinas and on mooring balls, due to foul weather over these past few days.

The real difference are the houses here.  Although many of them are lease houses for visitors, the variety of colors and splendid care these houses receive makes this the most intriguing of all the Cays we have seen to date.

And lastly, I have long been an enthusiast of the HMS Bounty and Captain William Bligh.  I have actually been at the helm of the BOUNTY used in the Mel Gibson movie while sailing Sidney Harbor under almost full sail.  I have been aboard the BOUNTY used in the Clark Gable movie when she was in St. Petersburg, Fl, and I have been to the brownstone home of Adm William Bligh in London, England.  Yesterday, I had the thrill of actually seeing one of the breadfruit trees brought back by Bligh on his second trip to Tahiti aboard the HMS Providence in 1793.  That completes the sides of the square of events for me.  What a thrill for an early American/English Naval history fan .

So, we will see if the forecast comes true today.  We are making water so we will have full tanks before we leave.  I need to get some diesel aboard also.  So make plans to meet us this afternoon for Sundowners.  We will save some snacks for you.  CYA then!!

JonNe'