Week 5: Always Something New to See

We have fallen into a comfortable living routine now, and after Sue and Daryl left, we followed our typical pattern of resting, followed by a couple of days of chores.  

Once we'd done what was needed, we took advantage of a promising weather window and went off-shore fishing and spent another night anchored at Great Guana Cay.  Alas, our fishing luck has not returned....but we haven't given up hope!!

In preparation for our next visitors, and to take advantage of the last few days of lobster season, we revisited some of the areas where we had had lobster luck and Steve netted another three lobster for the next night's welcoming meal for Brenda and Mike.

Brenda and Mike are friends of ours who live next door to Steve's parents in Satellite Beach, and we were thrilled they decided to join us for a long weekend in the Bahamas.

Brenda and Mike's Bird's Eye View of the Abacos

They arrived on Thursday, and as seems to be the weather pattern of late, the next day was quite blustery.

We decided to visit Hope Town via ferry on Friday, since the weather wasn't conducive to any water-related activities.

It was fun to ride the ferry (which travels considerably faster than Starry Night....LOL), along with a lot of locals who commute via ferry to other islands for work each day,

We toured the town but, this time, also inquired about access to the lighthouse.  The literature had been unclear as to whether it was open to climb to the top. Luckily for us, it was, and we had a gorgeous view of Hope Town from the top.

Atlantic Side Beach on Hope Town

View of Hope Town from Lighthouse

By Saturday morning the winds had calmed and we set sail for Great Guana Cay, hoping that we could find decent snorkeling on the bay side of the cay since the ocean was too rough to snorkel the Atlantic side.

The sail was outstanding with perfect wind speed and direction, and we reached 8 knots!  Woo hoo!!  Mike and Brenda helped with setting and stowing the sails, which was especially nice in such fresh winds.

We anchored at a location we hadn't tried before and ferried Brenda to one of Great Guana's beautiful beaches where she read while Steve, Mike and I snorkled.  

We were delighted to find that there was actually a good deal of coral in the harbor and a fair amount of fish and other life. I spotted a fish that I hadn't ever seen before - a dusky squirrelfish.  It turns out that there have been squirrelfish in many of the places I have snorkled before, but they typically hide in holes (like the ones where Steve looks for lobster) and I just had missed out before now.

Squirrelfish (photo not taken by me)

Mike and Brenda at Sunset on Starry Night

All told it was a wonderful weekend, even though the weather wasn't perfect.  Steve and I were super-happy that we were able to share the sailing and snorkeling with Mike and Brenda and they seemed to really enjoy the time.