Hope Town, Abacos, The Bahamas

March 3, 2007

The winds have been great the last couple days, so we’ve acted like real sailors and have gone sailing yesterday and the day before. Yesterday Kristen, Hans and Dave from “Shannon Glyn” sailed Whisper 4 miles south to Tahiti Beach which is at the southern end of Elbow Cay. Despite the alluring name, we did not stop at the beach but instead dinghied a little further south to look for lobster and grouper. As seems to be the norm these days, we did not get ourselves dinner although we did find an active coral reef with lots of fish, coral heads, sea fans and even a nurse shark sleeping underneath the rocks. We tacked all the way south and anchored under sail. When it was time to go, we hoisted the main and simultaneously weighed anchor to sail away from the beach and back to Hope Town. Dave invited us over for a hamburger & hot dog dinner on his boat and Don and Brad joined us. Hans played some guitar and we learned the not only is Don a good singer, but he remembers lyrics too!

The day before we were treated to a sail on Dave’s boat, a 45 foot Shannon Yacht. It was a fairly windy day and the seas were a little rough, but at 38,000 pounds, the Shannon Glyn sailed at 7-8 knots with ease. We took turns steering, trimming the sails and sitting on the bow pulpit. It was a real treat to sail on such a first-class sailboat.

We plan on staying in Hope Town until later in the week. The next race for cruising sailboats is on Wednesday and we want to attempt to have a better showing than the last race. We’ve also met some great people here and we’re enjoying their company.


Dave, the Captain of Shannon Glynn.


Don, from the boat Epilogue, and crew for the day on Shannon Glynn.


Shannon Glynn under sail.


Kristen and Hans posing for the camera.


Kit Kat blocking her eyes from the sun which is disturbing her beauty rest.