Hope Town

After spending a few windy, rolly nights at Lynyard Cay, we decided to move a little further north to Tilloo Cay – just above the large shallow area called Tilloo flats.  We were able to anchor close to shore and we thought we were out of the surge–NOT.  As soon as the tide rose enough, the surge pushed beyond the reefs and rolled us good!  Time to move on!

On Monday we traveled a short distance to Hope Town and arrived safely at high tide.  The wind was still blowing up to 20 knots and we could still feel it in the snug harbor but there’s no rolling–yay!  Hope Town harbor is filled with moorings and boats are packed pretty close together.  The town itself is the most picturesque in the Bahamas.  Narrow streets (only golf carts and bikes allowed!) are lined with colorful houses, most of which are vacation rentals.  You can walk along the Atlantic beach on the other side of the narrow island.  We found a wonderful coffee shop and had our first cappucino/latte in 4 months! 

We had dinner one night at Harbour’s Edge.  The food was very good and reasonably priced for the Bahamas.  The view can’t be beat!  Today (Wednesday), Angie and I rented bikes and rode to the southern tip of Elbow Cay.  We saw many large homes with million dollar views.  Tahiti beach is at the end of the island.  Walking out on a sand spit, I could see both the Atlantic and the Sea of Abaco.

Skip listened to weather this morning and it looks like the next few days will provide good conditions for us to leave the Bahamas.  Mike and Angie were originally going to stay until May 13th but decided on a different plan and will travel back with us.  We’ll head back to Orchid Bay tomorrow to get fuel and water.  From there, we’ll go through Whale Cay and anchor off Manjack Cay.  Next, we’ll head to Great Sale and from there, to West End.  This is the same route we used when we came to the Bahamas.  From West End, we plan to cross to Ft. Pierce, Florida which is further north than Lake Worth.  If all goes well, we should be back in the US by early next week.   I’m looking forward to it!!