Marsh Harbour

Marsh Harbour 6.25 

Clean up, catch up, stock up day in the Abacos “city”. We started our morning at the Conch House Marina slip. Offloaded trash, enlisted the kids for a full (and first official of this trip) boat cleaning top to bottom. The water here costs 20 cents/ gallon which is worth it for this. We’re making water with our reverse osmosis desalinator all the time away from shore but you don’t make it in harbors since you can’t be sure what pipes or drains or pollution may be in there. Quinn wielded the hard bristled deck brush, Gherty the soft brush for the topsides and teak, and Che gladly controlled the chamois for all glass, ports and varnished wood. The neighbors were impressed, the dockhands gave nods of approval. Everything was sudsy and moving along with military precision…..then Quinn got tired, started yelling and began fishing. Che decided we weren’t rinsing his work quickly enough and got himself all in a tizzy. Gherty got in the dinghy and washed the transom without so much as an observation of an inequity telling me how glad she was to see Madame Geneva in top shape.

So… Kelly and I finished up.

We took a hike and enjoyed a very nice beach club with the children’s first sitting at the bar in the pool experience. A few kids around and some water toys kept them cool and busy while Kelly and I made sure the club knew how to make proper daiquiris. Turns out they did.

Back to the boat to fill the 25 gallons of jerry cans of diesel on deck, top off all fuel tanks and motor out to our shortest passage to date. Roughly 500 yards to the anchorage. Dropped the hook and got the kids busy reading. Kelly, now an expert dinghy driver, dinghied to the far side of the harbor with a backpack full of grocery sacks, walked the mile up the road to the supermarket (a real one, likely the last for a long while) and stocked up! After a couple hours we saw her putting back across the harbor with the loot. Loaded in provisions, cranked up the reggae and cooked a big steak and salad dinner on the transom while the sunset. Family dinner in true style. A windless night at anchor equals good rest, no worries. 

I awoke this morning to a glassy pond of a harbor, listened to the cruisers net on channel 68 and even introduced our boat to the net when prompted for the first time. We headed out of Marsh Harbour at 9 and started making more water. Anchored behind Matt Lowe’s Cay, a private island, awaiting high tide to enter Hopetown Harbour. A fun kayak excursion to the beach and snorkel while the watermaker chugs along.  We’ll explore Hopetown and its candy striped lighthouse today then south tomorrow to Little Harbour for a night then back offshore to our next Bahamian Island group the Exumas!!!! We’re told the water doesn’t get really clear till you get there. I can only imagine. Seems impossible but we’ll see soon enough and report back.

Stay tuned and much love!