Heading Home

Thanks again to Kelly Dildy!  He spent a few days with Randy in the Abacos and then made the long trip back to North Carolina!  After being gone for so long, Pat opted to fly home. The trip was wonderful but it was great to be back in Atlantic Beach!

Young Friends

May 1 - 7, 2016

What a way to end this trip!  A year ago, Brooke and Will Cash asked Randy if he would captain a catamaran for a trip to the British Virgin Islands with four of their friends from Boston.  We both went and had a great time with these young people.  When they heard of our Bahamas trip this year, they planned a vacation to meet up with us in the Abacos. This time they rented a house and took day trips on Slack Tide. The group included Brooke,Will, Amy, Joe, Liz, Ben, Betsy and Paul.  They are all smart, attractive and genuinely nice people who we are fortunate to call our friends.  Their house was on Guana Cay in the Abacos so we were able to share many of our favorite spots with them.

Exuma Carolina Style

March 16 - 27, 2016

Where to start?!?!?

We had a fantastic week with great friends from home and it was so nice to see familiar faces! We were glad to see Bill, Marianne, Meredith and Michael Berry along with Meredith S (Michael's girlfriend) and Craig (Meredith's boyfriend). They were staying at the Sandals Resort just a short walk from the marina. Two days later, Jim and Cindy Cash arrived!  There were 10 of us for a cruise on Slack Tide to a nearby island for lunch at Chat N Chill. It was a rough ride but the best choice of weather days when we would all be together so we held on and took the trip.There were lots of sting rays in the water that would swim right up to you in shallow water.

We didn't get to use Slack Tide as much as we had hoped because of the wind but had great times every day on land. Jim and Cindy rented a small cottage nearby. The house is owned by two Bahamian brothers and Barry was at their service 24 hours a day.  He made the week special for all of us!  He drove us all over the island and loaned us his car for entire days. He took the Cashes and Marianne, Meredith and Craig on his boat one day to see the swimming pigs, iguanas, and diving for conch. He even prepared fresh conch salad right on the boat. The interesting thing about their trip was when I say boat - it is a 18 foot skiff that has seen better days and is in no way even remotely Coast Guard approved!  I wish I had a picture of the Berry girls leaving the dock!! But they had a great day and returned to the dock happy tourists and with stories to tell!

While the 10 of us were together, we celebrated a special occasion, Bill's retirement from American Tire Distributors, with dinner at Sandals.  It was a great night and we are looking forward to many good times in Atlantic Beach and day trips on Slack Tide now that Bill and Marianne are free of the corporate world. 

It's wasn't all play and no work. Near the end of the week, Barry got a new boat and we spent part of the day helping him clean it. He had a problem with his bilge pump and Captain Hondo felt sorry for him and gave him our spare. It would cost him 3 times as much to get one there and Barry was very appreciative!

Easter Sunday in Exuma was a special meaningful service. In some ways it was traditional and similar to what we are accustomed to at home but definitely with a Bahamian flair. 

Jim, Cindy, Randy and I did quite a bit of exploring. It's hard to say which is the most gorgeous beach because there are so many but a top choice would have to be Tropic of Cancer beach. We loved it so much we borrowed Barry's car and made the 45 mile trip twice along the narrow bumpy roads. Jim was our official driver and got much better as the week went along with driving on the left and dodging potholes!  

Treasure Cay

April 25 - 27, 2016

Treasure Cay's famous crescent beach. Reported to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

Captain Tom from a neighboring sailing vessel entertaining us with some salty sailing songs!  One of our favorites was "Small boats on big oceans and dreams you can't drown"!  Randy's theme song!

Typical island drinks!

Bingo - a Monday night tradition at Tipsy Seagull. Winner of the first game!

Guana- Where It All Started

April 23 - 25, 2016

Nearly 10 years ago a friend told Randy about a place called Guana Cay in the Abacos, Bahamas. Without knowing much about it, we booked a house and took a vacation with Scott, Jessica and Brad. The house we stayed in was very rustic but we fell in love with the island and it's been our favorite place since then.

Coconut trees are abundant on Guana Cay. 

Relaxing in a hammock is part of our daily ritual while on Guana. 

Grady loves the shade under the hammock. 

Somebody's been digging in the sand!

Orchid Bay Marina. 

Sunset at Orchid Bay.  

Marsh Harbour & Hopetown

April 16 - 22, 2016

We spent several days at the marina in Marsh Harbour to get supplies since there's a large grocery store and marine supply business. The highlight of the visit was snorkeling at Mermaids Reef. 

From there we traveled to Hopetown and spent a few days at the wonderful Hopetown Inn & Marina.  We rented a golf cart and found much more to Hopetown than we had seen before. It's a quaint little town with colorful houses, beautiful flowers and beaches. It's best known for the red and white striped lighthouse. On the first day there we met Tim, Lee and Lady Tracy from Rhode Island. They were another of those friends we've met while cruising that we wish lived closer to North Carolina. 

No water bowl? No problem!  Grady drank his water from a coconut shell!

Atlantic side of Hopetown. 

We call this "Lonely Coconut". 

Our new Rhode Island friends, Tom and Lee. 

Grady and Lady aboard Tom and Lee's 56' sport fishing boat. 

Sunset at Firefly's on Elbow Cay. 

Lush gardens at the Hopetown Lodge. 

Orchids at Hopetown Lodge. 

Hopetown Lodge gardens.

Hopetown gardens.

Memorial monument.

Nighttime at Firefly's

Famous candy-striped lighthouse in Hopetown.