OtherGoose: Royal Harbour to Green Turtle Cay

April 18 Today we crossed from Eleuthera to the Abacos. No wind, beautiful 3 foot swells and flat seas. THere was a lot of boats with us and we all met here in Lynyard Cay...little George Town actually...BiIl on Providence called an ARG [for the uninitiated Alcohol Research Group] meeting when we arrived. It took from 6:30 this morning til 6 pm but we lost an hour while Rick and Todd fought with another Mahi-mahi.

april 20 ThIs morning we are eating pancakes and bacon for breakfast in Marsh Harbour.Then we will go for groceries and head over to Great Guana Cay and Nipper's for one last look. I just might check out the beach for old rope!! We will head over to Green Turtle for a couple of days while the winds settle again then head out to stage for the crossing.

Yesterday when we anchored, High ZZ's came by. Shep and Deb have been cruising the out islands since George Town and no are waiting for some visitors to come before they head back to Virginia. we sat and visited for about an hour. we will see them over at Great Guana oday when they guests arrive.
Haven't seen anyone from "the Fleet" yet but they may be back in the depths of the harbour. We are staying close to the dinghy dock so we can paddle into it.

Mahi for supper was great! Made peas and rice..almost tasted Bahamian...need to keep tweaking the recipe!

There is no wind here this morning and its getting HOT! Not looking forward to the hike to the grocery store in this! We had to close all the blinds and screens to keep the boat semi-cool. Sorry...no-one in Canada wants to know that...but you can blame global warming, people, cuz that's what's doing it! And the colder it gets up there, the more fossil fuels we burn and the worse the situation becomes. Stephen Hawking wasn't kidding !! Sorry...off the soapbox now.

Got to Great guana around 3;30 and took a mooring ball because there was no room to anchor.We rowed to shor and went to Nippers to get the cup lids [primary objective- got there just as the store was closing! We had a burger. No-one was around. Bill and Annette were in Canada; Johnny and Jenesse weren't there yet, so we talked to High Zz's and their guests, ate and left.

April 21 Stormy morning here and the whole week looks like its going to be a bad one ...not close enough to get the one good crossing day unless we want to test Mother Nature!

On a brighter note, our granddaughter, Natasha, had one of her paintings chosen to be on a city banner on Owen Sound for 2019!! And she is amongst a group of illustrious. artists, her "Aunt Kelly" Maw being one of them! www.owensoundartbanner.com

We left Great Guana this morning around 11:30 after we determined that there were no rogue waves on the Sea of Abaco. That's the extent of the good news. It was some ugly out there especially crossing "Don't Rock" only because the waves from the ocean were surging through the Whale. It was of little comfort to see that we were not the only stupid people out there...I don't consider being part of a stupid group is better than being stupid alone.

So we are at the dock at Bluff House. Going to have a REALLY hot shower in FRESH water, and tomorrow I am going to do laundry...$5.00 wash/$5.00 dry but Todd really needs his blankets washed...even he can't stand the smell any more! We are here for two nights then will forge ahead to Manjack or Great Sail [I know... that's not how it's spelled but I'm sure whoever named it couldn't spell anyway, and meant to name it after the activity , not retail events!]

As we were leaving Marsh Harbour yesterday, Robin on Step-by-Step came by. I tried to call Anja and Andre but their radio wasn't on. Robin hung out with Todd while we went to shore to ... ahem ... deliver some books...that I should have taken to Blackpoint but we missed it [long story - my bad.].They did however, go to a school for developmentally delayed kids,[ the Every Child Counts School] and the school was most grateful...so thank you, GT Library and sorry, Blackpoint.

There is absolutely no weather window here for 7 days. This does not bode well for heading up the coast this spring to sail back to Canada. Left the winter clothes in the trailer, however, so we'll retrieve them before Liz leaves!

I'm not happy about this year and depending on what happens here next winter...we may install wheels on the Goose, or plant her as a permanent residence. At my age, I want more good days than bad...and I don't believe that "a bad day on the water is better than a good day on land!" ...not in my books!

April 23 Yesterday was laundry day which took up the whole morning. After lunch we went for a walk to check out the sea. It was pretty wild out there, Then we walked the road to see if we could get to the ocean.

Todd was fascinated by the number of lots for sale along the road, some with waterfront and docks and the sizes.He was trying to compare them with his own at home...no prices listed of course. We're going to look them up.

I was stunned by the number of poisonwood trees covering the lots! Once you experienced that stuff, you don't forget what it looks like! We didn't get to see the ocean side, another storm started rolling in and we got back to the boat in time to close everything up.

Today we need to leave here...all docks are booked, no moorings available and we can't anchor in the hole because the tides are not compatible with getting in and out there. Also the wind is pushing the water out and there are white caps in there. Already shallow so we don't want to get stuck. So its out to find an anchoring spot out of the winds and waves until we can move ahead.Rick wants to be at an island where he can swim off the boat and go to shore if he wants to.

Its supposed to rain for the next 7 days, which makes sailing a bit difficult. Wed /Thurs/ Fri are the only days this week that are passable. Can't see far enough on any weather sites to predict next week. Man,