Wow, its good to be back. On Saturday Jan 17th we made it to Abraham’s Bay in Mayaguana. The shallow five-mile long bay requires good lighting to navigate through it and with a rainstorm approaching, we dropped anchor for the night just inside the entrance of the bay. The next morning we motored in to check-in with Custom’s and Immigration. To our surprise, there was another sailing yacht in the anchorage. We made sure not to anchor on top of them. By the time we had set anchor and reopened all the hatches, a dinghy was approaching from the other boat. It was Tom inviting us for cocktails with his wife Doris that evening aboard Footloose. They had not seen another boat for over two weeks. For us, an invitation like that had not happened in a very long time. Cruisers in the Bahamas definitely have a different mindset than down in the Caribbean.
The town’s people are also super friendly. They stop to offer you rides if you are walking down the street. The administrator, Mr. Roberts, is very welcoming to his island. Our check-in process went smoothly with warm smiles from the locals. We even got invited to watch the Obama swearing in ceremony on TV several days later. Like the Bahamians say: ”It’s better in the Bahamas.”
After two days in our anchorage, three more boats entered the bay. One of them was a German boat from Arnis, a small fishing town along the German coast of the North Sea. I dinghied over to say “Guten Tag!” Peter and Petra invited me aboard their pristine steel hulled ketch. They had planned to head to the Turks and Caicos the next day, but changed their minds and decided to go diving with us instead. After a very successful day of spearing lobster, we were invited over for dinner aboard Meridian’s aft deck. Phil had speared a monster lobster in only six feet of water, the biggest of the trip. Check out these pics of Meridian's and Adamo's joint catch.
Peter and Phil worked on figuring out how to cook the thing because it wouldn’t fit into any pots. It was simply too large. They finally lopped all the legs and antennae off and managed to cram it into a pot while they pushed the lid down on it.
That one lobster feed the five of us. Phillip, for the first time ever, simply could not eat another bite. It’s too bad they could not stay longer; we really had a great time with Peter and Petra. A day later all the boats but Footloose had left the bay heading for the Turks and Caicos.
Tom and Doris invited us to have a guided tour of the island with them for Phil’s birthday. Our driver “Skully” showed us the island’s three settlements and one small tourist hotel. We also toured a cold war era US air force missile tracking station that had been abandoned since the 1980’s.
On the north end of the island the beginnings of a timeshare development has virtually been put on hold. One worker was finishing the concrete for the swimming pool on the only completed building. The remaining construction sites consisted of half erected walls and freestanding pillars with rusty rebar detruding from the tops of them.
For the past several days the crews from Footloose and the Adamo have been taking turns preparing gourmet meals from our bountiful lobstering and chonching expeditions.
After an early dinner we return to our respective boats and watch DVD movies that we have exchanged with each other. What a treat to see new movies!
We have no definitive plans for leaving Mayaguana at this point. The plan for now is to hang out and enjoy the fishing and the people. We'll also be completing Phillip’s home school for the month.
The town’s people are also super friendly. They stop to offer you rides if you are walking down the street. The administrator, Mr. Roberts, is very welcoming to his island. Our check-in process went smoothly with warm smiles from the locals. We even got invited to watch the Obama swearing in ceremony on TV several days later. Like the Bahamians say: ”It’s better in the Bahamas.”
After two days in our anchorage, three more boats entered the bay. One of them was a German boat from Arnis, a small fishing town along the German coast of the North Sea. I dinghied over to say “Guten Tag!” Peter and Petra invited me aboard their pristine steel hulled ketch. They had planned to head to the Turks and Caicos the next day, but changed their minds and decided to go diving with us instead. After a very successful day of spearing lobster, we were invited over for dinner aboard Meridian’s aft deck. Phil had speared a monster lobster in only six feet of water, the biggest of the trip. Check out these pics of Meridian's and Adamo's joint catch.
Peter and Phil worked on figuring out how to cook the thing because it wouldn’t fit into any pots. It was simply too large. They finally lopped all the legs and antennae off and managed to cram it into a pot while they pushed the lid down on it.
That one lobster feed the five of us. Phillip, for the first time ever, simply could not eat another bite. It’s too bad they could not stay longer; we really had a great time with Peter and Petra. A day later all the boats but Footloose had left the bay heading for the Turks and Caicos.
Tom and Doris invited us to have a guided tour of the island with them for Phil’s birthday. Our driver “Skully” showed us the island’s three settlements and one small tourist hotel. We also toured a cold war era US air force missile tracking station that had been abandoned since the 1980’s.
On the north end of the island the beginnings of a timeshare development has virtually been put on hold. One worker was finishing the concrete for the swimming pool on the only completed building. The remaining construction sites consisted of half erected walls and freestanding pillars with rusty rebar detruding from the tops of them.
For the past several days the crews from Footloose and the Adamo have been taking turns preparing gourmet meals from our bountiful lobstering and chonching expeditions.
After an early dinner we return to our respective boats and watch DVD movies that we have exchanged with each other. What a treat to see new movies!
We have no definitive plans for leaving Mayaguana at this point. The plan for now is to hang out and enjoy the fishing and the people. We'll also be completing Phillip’s home school for the month.
