Making the Most of Our Last Week in the Bahamas

Avid readers will remember that setting deadlines is strongly discouraged in the sailing world, we’ve made that mistake before. Unfortunately, deadlines are sometimes unavoidable. Our latest deadline was May 1, the day we needed to start work on Mackinac Island. Over the winter, we had been offered our same jobs at the park and we jumped at the chance to work on our favorite island again. 

Once Paul and Nellie left on March 7, we officially switched our mind set into passage preparation. Although it is early in most cruisers’ Bahamas season to start heading back, we knew a few others who were starting to look for a weather window too. Let the hemming and hawing begin! 

A weather window started shaping up for March 13 – 15. We watched it evolve each day, thinking through different strategies for getting the furthest north possible while avoiding as much discomfort as possible. Some people in the mooring field thought it looked good, others thought there was a better window forming March 20-23. Was it worth waiting for? After much review, we decided to prepare for this earlier window.

Before we could leave Hope Town, there were still a few things we wanted to do. First, Lucas wanted to help Larry and Ginny replace their transmission. SV Misty’s transmission unexpectedly died earlier in the week. Getting boat parts is tricky in the Bahamas, you have to source the part, often from Florida and then ship it or fly it over. There are customs and import fees associated with every part. We knew another boat in Hope Town that had been waiting three weeks for an engine part to get released from customs in Nassau. Ginny and Larry worked some amazing magic and somehow ordered a new transmission and had it delivered to Marsh Harbor within one week. Their transmission arrived the day that Paul and Nellie left. Lucas and Larry spent the afternoon discussing a plan for swapping it out while Misty stayed in the water. Ginny and I prepared emotionally for an unexpected boat project that may spiral (like they often do). 

The next day was transmission day. I dropped Lucas off in the morning. After a few hours, I picked Ginny up and we went for a walk at the lighthouse. We returned a few hours later, fully prepared for Misty to be a mess and the frustrated boys to be covered in grease. We found the exact opposite…they were done. The project had gone better than planned and the new transmission worked great. Excuse me, what? I didn’t know that was possible for any boat project. Amazed at their success, we celebrated with a chicken pot pie and a game of 10s on Alaya that evening. 

Another transmission project in the books, we also wanted to go snorkeling one more time before leaving Hope Town. The next afternoon was warm and sunny, so we loaded up the dinghy, picked Ginny up as we passed by and headed out to a sunken barge we’d heard about on the bank side of Elbow Cay. On our way, we convinced Devin to join us, he was just coming back into the harbor after diving for conch that morning. The barge was cool but wasn’t quite what we were hoping for. Feeling a little disappointed, we started back towards Alaya. 

As we approached Hope Town, we decided to try a new spot – Devin’s conch hunting grounds. The wind had really died down over the past hour and the water was flat calm. We motored to the inlet on the north side of Elbow Cay, out where the guys had spearfished a few weeks prior. Devin explained the best way to find conch was to troll behind a dinghy. Feeling excited but nervous, I jumped in and Lucas threw a rope to me. I strapped on my mask and held on. 

Lucas and Ginny towed me along the ocean, head underwater. It was so fun! The reef out there was beautiful and the water was crystal clear. Conch were pretty hard to spot but once I knew what to look for, I could see them everywhere. I trolled behind for a while and then convinced Lucas and Ginny they had to get in too. We dropped anchor and everyone else jumped in. Devin attempted to spearfish while we snorkeled. He didn’t catch anything on this outing but it was cool to see him in action. The reef and sandy areas were beautiful; I even saw my first turtle! I think this was my favorite snorkeling trip yet. I was really proud of myself for trying another new snorkeling activity. Later that afternoon, Devin showed us how to remove the conch meat from the shell. Then he fried it up and we feasted on our harvest that night. Delicious!

Snorkeling checkbox marked, we had a few boat projects to finish before we could start moving again. Lucas spent one day diagnosing and another day fixing the windlass. The brushes on the motor had failed. Amazingly (because Lucas is awesome like that), he had spare brushes on board. He was able to rebuild the windlass and got it working as good as new. That will make anchoring a lot easier, especially since Paul could no longer help me on the bow. 

I fit in one last beach walk and lighthouse visit while Lucas worked on his projects. We capped the week off with a fun dinner at On Da Beach. Ginny, Larry and their son-in-law, Julius, invited us to join them for one last meal before we all left Hope Town. It was a windy dinner full of laughter, conch and a few rum drinks. A wonderful way to end our time in Hope Town. 

It is officially time to start the long journey back to Mackinac Island.