Oliver Sails South: April 2014

Cay is pronounced "key", just for your knowledge.

Sorry so slow, but wifi has been sketchy and the Internet is a crap shoot. I will update February as much as I can. There will be lots of pictures.

We left Green Turtle Jan 26, a mild day because we had to do the "whale" . It is a cut out to the Atlantic Ocean for a few miles because the Sea of Abaco is too shallow. We had a day with gentle 3-4 foot swells and calm winds. Perfect! We anchored for the night at Great Guana Cay. This Cay is known for it's Sunday pig roast at Nippers. We just missed it, but met many people stumbling back to the ferries and their boats. Nippers is dog friendly and has a beautiful view. We dinghy Oliver to a beach by another restaurant called Grabber's. They have a wicked rum punch. New friends from Coyote anchored right behind us.

wreck by Loggerhead pass

Restaurant we dinghy to on Great Guana Cay

The path to Nipper's

Nipper's

The beach on the Atlantic side of Great Guana

Oliver loves the waves. He goes in head first!

We then moved on to Sea Spray Resort and Marina a month plus a few days. We found out from friends they had a monthly special, less than a mooring ball in town and places to walk the dog. It was lovely. We had access to a beach on the Atlantic Ocean. There is a lot of coral, but for tidal pools and watching surfers it is great. Oliver likes sandier beaches, so we dinghy to a beach called Tahiti Beach in the Sea of Abaco for him at least twice a week. It is pretty shallow so he can wade or swim when the tide goes up. We also dinghy to the public docks in Hopetown or White Sound to shop. You could walk to the Abaco Inn or another beach on the Sea of Abaco or The Food Store.

Sea Spray is a very welcoming place. They have a pool, a beach, I mentioned and walks to smaller beaches, around neighborhoods and an outside restaurant and bar that let's you bring your dog. We try to leave Oliver at home on the boat, but others always have their pets with them. Oliver's favorite place after the morning walk is on the veranda in the shade. They have rocking Adirondack chairs, so we spend an hour there every morning. All the workers pay attention to him and love how he is "chillin". We have met new friends, some who fish and gave us wahoo and mahi mahi, others with dogs for Oliver to meet and those to share a cocktail or meal. It was a pleasant month. We especially loved a restaurant called "On Da Beach" and the Abaco Inn.

Since we were to stay put a while, Mary, my sister came down for a week. Her week was cut short a
day due to another lovely Polar Vortex in Michigan, but the weather was great the whole time she was here. Sunny and high 70"s. We rented a golf cart so we could zip around the island faster and see everything. We did different meals out, beach runs by foot and in the dinghy, museum visit and numerous runs in to Hopetown. The time flew by.

Hopetown is the only city on the island. It is fun to visit , which we did one or two times a week for groceries. I learned to be quite the savvy shopper. Vernon's would score us some produce and bread, Harborview for some supplies and water then the Food Store for cereal, chips and even milkbones twice. I felt like I won the marathon when I actually found the freshest produce and a good price on some items. who knew shopping would be a competitive sport! We also checked out some tourist stores, maybe 3 or 4, the coffeehouse, the liquor store, the ice cream shop, for our intellect the museum and Capn Jack's for lunch.
.

Our dock at Sea Spray. Nautical Dreamer is in one piece!

Oliver with his friend FIN getting in our picture.

Chillin

Tahiti Beach

Walking to the Sea Spray beach on the Atlantic

Rough day, so Oliver stays on a leash.

or you could pick him up in Europe

Oliver's veranda as they now call it.

Yes, we are walking to another beach.

Tahiti Beach.

Mary, my sister enjoying the sanbar

Oliver and I wading around looking for starfish.

Still looking

OK, people are good!

Oliver on the docks looking for fish.

Hopetown Harbor

Hopetown Harbor moorings.

You park your golf cart here, not allowed on streets in Hopetown..

Lighthouse. Quite a controversy building this. The locals did not want it so they could have boats wrecked on a reef and then salvaged. They lost that fight in the 1800s and it is photographed all the time.