Saturday May 28,2011 Man O' War Cay and Green Turtle

Hello everyone and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
We hope the sun is out at home for all of you getting your first glimpse of summer!  We are back in Green Turtle Cay taking advantage of free docking for a few nights.  Great special here that they will give you credit in their restaurant and pub equal to your docking fee so that makes the docking free in our eyes!

We went grocery shopping yesterday and the best stores here for that are in New Plymouth so Patrick drove me in the dinghy across the island from White Sound to Black Sound so we could be at the grocery stores when the mail boat arrived with fresh produce for everyone!  He makes a wonderful taxi driver, don't you think?

After we made our purchases and ate as many grapes and apples as we could get our hands on, we went to visit a small shop where a local man named Vertrum Lowe builds model ships.  He is a very famous Bahamian who has a prosperous yet humble business building model sail boats and replicas of the old sponging ships used in the Bahamas when the sponge industry was a boom.  We admired his work for quite a while and he was very kind to let us take some photos.

We might have to go back and buy something for our home since we were so impressed with his work.

Earlier in the week, we left Hopetown and the beautiful marina called Hopetown Hideaways, and went to Man O' War Cay for a night.  It is a beautiful place where the local businesses are mostly boat building and repair as well as a sail shop that sews handmade bags of all shapes and sizes.  The women there work from 7 am until 4pm making bags.  Emily was drawn to this place like a fly to the flame!  We had a lot of fun shopping and talking with them about their business.

The other excitement in Man-O-War was the sea life.  We were visited by turtles, dolphins and rays (oh my!)  Emily told me after she saw the dolphin swimming around the dock that it was "the best day of her life"!  So glad she didn't move in with the Pearsons and Feathers as she planned!!

We are off to Powell Cay today to meet some friends and anchor for a couple of days.  We will be back

after the Holiday weekend. 

Love to all,

The Welsh Family

Hopetown Harbor, Elbow Cay and a day at Sandy Cay

Hello everyone!

It is Monday May 23rd.  We had an amazing weekend.  We left Marsh Town on Friday and headed out to Elbow Cay.  We took a mooring in Hopetown Harbor and began looking for sea turtles because we were told it was a great place to see them.  We did not have any luck the first day and Emily was very disappointed!  We woke up on Saturday morning (Patrick's birthday!) and began our day of exploring.  We started with the Elbow Reef lighthouse and ambled up the 101 steps to sweeping views of the harbor, the Atlantic Ocean and the Sea of Abaco.

Notice our boat on the left side of this photo!

After the lighthouse we went into town and explored a wonderful place called the Hopetown Harbor Lodge where the kids swam while Jay and I planned the day.  One of the wonderful things about the resorts on the islands is the beaches are public and you can access them through the resorts.  If you have lunch or a drink, you can use the pool as well.  We think this is a wonderful thing!

We left Hopetown Harbor sooner than expected because friends we have met from Florida, aboard the "Morgan", called us on our radio to tell us they were anchored in a beautiful spot on Tilloo bank so after ice cream and lunch, we left the harbor and headed out to Tilloo.  Luckily, there were many turtles in the harbor and we spotted them on the way back to the boat and while we were preparing too leave.  Emily reported 7 turtles near the boat!  Yeah!!

We anchored in Tilloo with our friends the Cole's and everyone took a turn Wakeboarding!  We kayaked and saw some amazing starfish and rays.  Other friends the Ruddimans, from British Columbia were in the area aboard "Mango Groove" - the catamaran they have been living on since October.  We had a get together for Patrick's birthday and all the kids enjoyed watching a movie!

On Sunday, we headed to a spot called Sandy Cay, not far from Tilloo bank to snorkel.  It was absolutely amazing!  We anchored where it was deep enough for the boat and then took the dinghy into the more shallow reef area.  I used my underwater camera for some pictures and it's obvious that I need some practice with it!  I was able to capture the color of the coral pretty well and a puffer fish that followed us around!!

Puffer fish among the choral

Emily practicing her snorkel/scuba dives

Hannah's version of flying!

Patrick scoping out the fish

After the snorkeling, we all went to Tahiti Beach for some rest and relaxation where our friend Christina from British Columbia taught everyone how to open coconuts!  Unfortunately, they were all rotten but it did not ruin the fun - or the education.  We picked two more from the beach to open today.

It was a very busy and wonderful weekend which we ended by cooking on the beach with everyone and sharing what we all had aboard our boats.  The grownups and kids all sat together and shared stories about our homes and our families and friends.  It felt like we had all known each other for years instead of just a few days.  I guess the common thread of exploring and boating (and sleeping in sandy sheets!) can bring people together like that.  We continue to be so thankful to be here.

Love to all, 

The Welsh Family

Happy Thursday May 19, 2011

Hello everyone!
We left Green Turtle Cay and had an amazing trip through Whale Cay Cut on Sunday May 15th.  We arrived safely and happily on Great Guana Cay in time for the best body surfing we have had in a long time!  The water was sparkling green and clear as can be.  The kids did not want to leave and we stayed well beyond dinner but it didn't matter!  We were able to see Nipper's - a place that our friends the Koeppes just love and we left while the scene was still PG!  Very fun restaurant and beach hangout!

We celebrated Jay's birthday on Monday and played his favorite game - wiffle ball on the beach after our morning of school work.  The kids are doing so well with their home-school assignments.  We think they want to finish everything we brought for them as fast as they can so they won't have to worry about it anymore!  Jay and I are really impressed with how serious they take their school work and how they are all helping each other with their different assignments.   Back to wiffle ball on the beach....

The water seems almost see through!  I took so many pictures of everyone in the waves - it was amazing.  We had the beach to ourselves which was hard to believe as well.  The swimming was wonderful but the snorkeling was just okay.  We have found that when the beach is sandy and crystal clear, you don't get the best of snorkeling.

On Tuesday, we left Great Guana Cay and Orchid Bay Marina.  The water was like a pond.  Calm and clear.  We were able to see straight down to the bottom even when we were underway.  The boating was so amazing that we went past Marsh Harbor - our destination and visited another cay called Man-O-War  Cay.  We came into Marsh Harbor where we have been for three nights.  This is the busiest part of the Abacos and we have been able to go to the grocery store and replenish some of our supplies.  We also snorkeled in one of the best reefs so far on the trip.  It's called Mermaid Reef and the fish and brain coral they live around were stunning!  We saw a large ray and a small baby ray during the snorkel too but we did not have our camera with us so no pictures of that right now.  Sorry!  We met another family cruising from Florida and we were able to spend some time with another family who has been home schooling and cruising.  They had great advice for other places to go and reefs to visit.  They also taught us that fish love canned corn and peas and they were feeding the fish while we snorkeled!  It was amazing.  

This morning we met a family from British Columbia who have been cruising on their catamaran for almost a year!  They generate their own power using both solar panels and a small windmill on the boat. They can make their own water and are extremely self sufficient.  They don't like to be in a marina but they needed to do laundry and go to the store so we were lucky to spend some time with them.  They are in Hopetown now which is where we are headed tomorrow so we look forward to meeting up with them again.

Hope everyone is well.  Thanks for reading and posting comments.  We look forward to hearing from everyone!  

Much Love,

The Welsh Family

Saturday May 14, 2011

Hello everyone!
We are docked at the Green Turtle Club and Marina on Green Turtle Cay.  We have been here since Wednesday and feeling very much at home.  We had a great day yesterday exploring this beautiful island.  We rented a golf cart and the kids all had a turn driving.  We won't talk about who hit a tree - you can just guess about that one.  After spending some time wandering around the town of New Plymouth and trying to force some education about the British Loyalists who came here after the Revolution to everyone, we ended up at the town docks where a couple of wonderful locals gave us a conch lesson we will never forget!  Uncle Lionel and Aunt Joanie were making fresh conch salad and conch fritters.  Patrick was able to pull the conch right out of it's shell and watch as Uncle Lionel pointed out the anatomy of this very strange shell dweller!  We found out that the conch and the shell grow together and once the conch dies, the shell dies.

Later in the day we found a great beach for swimming and did some body surfing in the beautiful water. It was just an amazing time, we were the only ones on this beautiful beach and we had no time constraints. When hunger crept in we left to get back to the marina.  We were surprised that it was nearly seven o'clock and we had been exploring for 6 hours!

We will be moving on tomorrow to our next destination, Great Guana Cay. 

More soon!!

xo

The Welsh Family

A Successful Crossing!

Happy Monday!
Yesterday, Mother's Day, at 7:15 am we left Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach and headed east!  A mere three hours later, we arrived in West End, Grand Bahamas at the Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina!  We were greeted by a fabulous local named Lucille who later gave us the most wonderful home made bread - (a rival to Beth Feather's) !  We tied up and began to explore paradise!

Let me back up and add that we never dreamed the crossing of the Gulf Stream would be as smooth as it was but it was one of those lucky days where the ocean looked like a pond!  Sailors would have been very upset - (sorry Pearsons!) we were thrilled!  Patrick had a ball driving the boat and felt very proud to have been such a big help.  We have wasted no time - the children are practicing their snorkeling techniques and can't believe what they have seen already from the beach of this fabulous resort.  We could easily spend a lot more time here - and just might on the way home.  Later today we will be leaving for "the next adventure" - as Jay's mom called it, Great Sale Cay where we will anchor and "rough it" a bit.

Thanks for all the good wishes as we made the journey across yesterday. More soon....Gail

Saturday May 7, 2011

We are ready to go!  The boat is packed and it feels like we have enough food and drink for a family of 12!  The weather is improving daily so hopefully we will be crossing to West End tomorrow morning.  Everyone is excited and a bit anxious.  Jay's parents are here and have been a tremendous help with so many things!  The only casualty so far is one broken pinky toe - Paper bags don't hold wine bottles as well as they used to!  A little tape and I will be fine.  Stay tuned,,,,,,