Saturday, February 21, 2015 to Sunday, March 1, 2015

We’ve spent 12 days enjoying ourselves in Hope Town, so we decide to move on to visit a few other places before we head north. Before we leave we attend one more of the Song Writer’s Festival events — this time at Firefly, our favourite restaurant in the Abacos. It’s sad to leave our friends behind, but hopefully we will see them again next year — if not before. From Hope Town we head south to Sea Spray Marina. It is only a short distance away on the same island as Hope Town, Elbow Cay. The depths leaving Hope Town and travelling down to Sea Spray can be challenging though, so the captain plans his timing for high tide and keeps and close eye.

At Sea Spray, its lovely and quiet and we enjoy some downtime. We sit by the pool and go for a walk on the beach. The weather is looking up — warm and sunny. It feels like we are finally in the Bahamas! What a crazy year for weather — cool and windy all the time.

The next day when we leave Sea Spray, it is a gorgeous, calm day. We motor to Marsh Harbour where we plan to visit our friends Sharon and Pete (Emerald Lady) and Carolyn and Peter (Summer Tilt). Unfortunately, the Marsh Harbour Marina where we usually like to stay only has space for us for one night, so we have to move again the next morning over to the Conch Inn. It is a bit closer to town though, so nicer for getting groceries and supplies anyway.

After two days in Marsh Harbour, we move to Great Guana Cay and stay at the Orchid Bay Marina. Orchid Bay is much more vibrant than the last time we were here two years ago. It has new management, the restaurant is open and things are clean and back in business. This will be our launching point for doing the Whale Cay ocean passage to Green Turtle Cay where we keep the boat in storage. The next day is supposed to be calm, but there is a chance of thunderstorms, so we decide to play it by ear and decide when we get up.

In the morning, there is very little wind and the clouds seem to be far enough away that we can make the two-hour voyage. After we are through the passage and in the cut, we see the storm clouds moving in fast. Randy puts the hammer down and we speed into White Sound on Green Turtle Cay — well, speeding as much as we can speed anyway. When we arrive at the Green Turtle Club Marina, the clouds seem to dissipate just as we are docking. Safe, sound and dry.

Now at the lovely Green Turtle Club, we are enjoying the nice weather and keeping busy with our many chores that we have to do before putting Silver Maple into storage — sanding and staining wood, waxing the deck and cockpit, polishing stainless steel. She gets hauled out of the water on Friday, March 6th and we fly back to Canada on Tuesday, March 10th. Hard to believe we are wrapping things up for the year already! Just a few days after we arrive home in the great white north, we fly out of Toronto to Tahiti for a cruise. When we planned the cruise, it seemed like a good idea, but having to wrap things up early here is a bit sad. Regardless, the cruise should be great. One of those bucket list places we want to see. Some pampering will be very nice too!