Ahoy there Snowday!

March 30 to April 1, 2007

Most mornings we eat breakfast and listen to the cruisers’ net on VHF 68 at 0815. It is a good resource for weather, news and acts like a bulletin board for cruisers to share information. It also includes a section at the end of the broadcast for arrivals and departures into the Abacos. What a surprise when we heard Snowday announce their arrival on Friday morning! Kristen was so excited that she temporarily forgot that she was on a boat with 5’7” headroom and jumped straight in the air, promptly hitting her head on the cabin ceiling! Ouch! Snowday had raced up to the Abacos from the Exumas to spend a couple days with us before we leave for the Exumas. We met them at the Southern end of Elbow Cay and decided to pick up moorings in Hope Town harbor since the wind was rather strong out of the North East. Hans made Dominican Chicken (Jorge’s famous recipe) and we all stayed up past midnight catching up on the past couple months. On Saturday morning we all sailed down to Lynyard Cay and found a great deserted beach—exactly what we were dreaming of in Florida! Rob brought the bbq ashore and we cooked up hot dogs, sausages and baked beans. Then it was back to Whisper for a game of Quiddler.


Fearsome Pirate Matthew with Abbey lurking in the background. aaaaarrgh!


Checking out the waves on the Atlantic side of Lynyard Cay.

By Saturday morning the winds had switched more to the southeast so we dinghied over to Sandy Cay and snorkeled in the Land and Sea Park. The reef was huge and varied, although we were all surprised at the small numbers of fish. We did, of course, see some huge groupers which we couldn’t spear for dinner since the waters there are protected. We dinghied over to a nearby beach and flew the kite for a couple hours. Matthew and Abbey became real pros.

Back to the boats for lunch and then an evening bonfire on the beach. We sang some songs and eventually, after another sad goodbye, Kristen and Hans went back to Whisper for an early night in anticipation of Monday morning’s crossing to Nassau. It was fantastic to see everyone on Snowday again and trade stories and advice for the Exumas and the Abacos. We had a great time catching up and hanging out on our eagerly awaited Bahamian beach. Now it is north-bound for Snowday and south-bound for Whisper. We’ll miss them again and will conspire to meet again in the Caribbean or perhaps in the canals of Europe!


Getting the fire started.


Playing some guitar and enjoying the beach bonfire.


The crew of Snowday hanging out at the bonfire.




Whisper and Snowday at anchor together again.