Northern Florida and the Abacos
Winter 2022
Until the last minute, we debated whether to cross to the Bahamas this season. With a time-consuming repair in Palm Coast at the front end, a hard deadline for being home at the back end, and a possible weather window wait at both ends, did it make sense to cross the Gulf Stream?
After a week’s wait in Riviera Beach, the weather window cracked open a bit, and we squeezed through. With a smooth early morning start, we thought we'd scored the perfect crossing day. Until winds picked up and the Stream bumped us around. Finally, a spirited squall caught us near West End, Grand Bahama. Thankfully, we made it safely.
Once we cleared customs and relaxed for a night at Old Bahama Bay, we headed across the Little Bahama Bank. Two calm anchorages rewarded us after our crossing.
And then we arrived in Marsh Harbour. We stayed at Conch Inn Marina, which is partly rebuilt, and walked around to see how the island had recovered. Two and a half years have passed since the unthinkable devastation and heartbreak of Hurricane Dorian, and almost nothing is as it was.
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Every marina in Marsh Harbour was reduced to
a few pilings. Most remain in that state.
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| This boat is at least a quarter mile from the water. |
The business district is nearly a ghost town, except for a well-stocked grocery store and a couple restaurants. Heaps of rubble where houses and businesses once stood brought us to tears. More than 75 percent of all the homes in Abaco were damaged or destroyed. Rebuilding is underway but is painfully slow. Aid flowed in after the catastrophe, and numerous houses got new roofs or even entire rebuilds. But so many haven’t, and their former occupants have no home to return to. Or they may be too traumatized to risk returning. Bahamians from other islands have moved here to help with the reconstruction. Marsh Harbour is coming back, and we were glad we visited and brought some tourism business, but the situation is still distressing.
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Conch Inn Marina is partially rebuilt. The docks are
beautiful, and construction is moving quickly. |
One bright spot from our days in Marsh Harbour was getting to meet the 2021 WNBA League MVP, Jonquel Jones. She and her family, who live in Marsh Harbour, sat at the table next to ours at Colors Restaurant. We didn’t notice her at first until a steady stream of people came to her table requesting a picture with her. Then we looked UP to all of her 6’6” and did we ever notice! Bahamian through and through, as she told us, she was born on Grand Bahama and now plays for the Connecticut Sun. Seeing her kind interactions with others, and chatting with her several times ourselves, we can say that in addition to her first-rate skills on the court, she is an outstanding, genuine, gracious young woman through and through. We’re huge fans!
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Keith with Jonquel Jones, 6'6", 190 lbs.
She could take him! |
Other islands seem farther along in their recovery. We anchored next outside Elbow Cay, where the photogenic red-and-white striped lighthouse still stands over Hope Town harbor. The thick concrete walls of the lighthouse suffered only cosmetic damage in Hurricane Dorian, and repairs are in progress. Elbow Cay and Hope Town have made much greater strides in coming back to their pre-hurricane appearance.
The first stop on Elbow Cay: lunch ashore at Firefly where, on previous trips, we’ve enjoyed truly the best burgers ever. Then Abaco Inn, where we spent our first-ever night in the Abacos in 1992. Both reopened within months of Dorian.
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Elbow Cay Lighthouse in Hope Town
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| The view over the Sea of Abaco from Firefly Restaurant |
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| Abaco Inn, on the Atlantic side of the island |
In Hope Town, most of the cute, characteristic cottages have been restored.
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A cottage in Hope Town, perfectly recovered
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But there was one special place we wondered about in the wake of Dorian: a small beach bungalow called Hope Chest. Back in 2016, the owner, Sally Goodrich, sat in front of us at a concert at the island’s church. She turned around and struck up a delightful conversation, inviting us to stop by her cottage. Built by her parents in 1957, the simple cottage proudly maintained its original style and had endured multiple hurricanes. But Dorian proved too destructive. Sally was not there when the hurricane struck and has since passed away. When we stopped by to see what had happened, her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter happened to be on the property doing clean-up. It was sweet for all of us to talk about Sally, for us to be able to tell the story of how we met their mom and grandma, how we’d exchanged letters and photos, and how much we had appreciated her.
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| Sally and Keith outside her bungalow, taken in 2016 |
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| The Hope Chest, taken in 2016 |
Tilloo Cay was the farthest south we ventured on our short itinerary before turning north again and transiting around Whale Cay for a second time.
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| Unscathed by the hurricane on Tiloo Cay |
On our way north, we went ashore at Green Turtle Cay to check out the island and reprovision. Our impression was that the community of New Plymouth on Green Turtle had suffered less damage. In fact, no lives were lost on the island. But at Sid’s Grocery, "Mrs. Sid" told us that most of the homes on the island were uninhabitable after the storm. Of the seven homes owned by her family members, only one could be lived in. Rebuilding is progressing quickly there, with freighters loaded with building supplies arriving every week.
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| Some damage remains on Green Turtle Cay |
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| Beauty also remains |
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"Ye Olde Gaol" built in the 1880s as part of a government
complex. The rest of the building (where the stairs originally led) was destroyed in a hurricane in 1932, but the jail stands solid. |
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| Residents grateful for international help after Dorian |
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| At Pineapples Restaurant in New Plymouth, GTC |
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| Pelican anchored in the sunshine by Green Turtle Cay |
Throughout our time in the Abacos, frequent fronts brought steady winds for a few days, punctuated by a short calm break. In the Atlantic, from the Pacific, “La Niña” made the winds terrific!
For the rest of our time in the Bahamas, we meandered slowly around the turquoise Sea of Abaco and the less inhabited islands north of Green Turtle Cay looking for safe and comfortable anchorages. Bonus points for anchorages with few other boats nearby. These pristine islands were the highlight of our trip.
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| A mangrove stream at Manjack Cay and Crab Cay bight |
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| The mangrove stream was a hawksbill turtle nursery |
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We walked this beautiful beach on Manjack Cay
and didn't see another soul in three miles |
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| On Manjack Cay |
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| A tropic bird by Powell Cay |
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Brilliant contrast, such beautiful handiwork by our
Creator who pays attention to the smallest detail |
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| Cruisers' "signing tree" at Allens Pensacola Cay |
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| Our signature |
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Cero mackerel caught on the banks
made for delicious ceviche |
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| Something that washed up on the beach |
We decided we needed cross the Gulf Stream by April 10 at the latest. Since weather windows were few and far between, we took our opportunity on April 4, along with quite a few other boats. Again, it was uncomfortable out there, but not unsafe. In the moment, I try to recognize the difference!
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| Our Bahamian courtesy flag taken down |
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| Back home in the USA |
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A couple favorite stops before we put the boat away;
St. Augustine, Flagler College |
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One of the Tiffany windows in the
Flagler College dining hall |
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| Dungeness ruins, Cumberland Island, Georgia |
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| Wild horses on Cumberland Island |
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| Armadillos are plentiful on Cumberland Island |
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The maritime forest (we like to call it the "fairy forest")
on Cumberland Island
We chose the right answer to our question: "Should we stay or should we go?" Those weeks in the Bahamas were during the season of Lent, a time meant for laying aside distractions and preparing our hearts for Easter. As part of that, I spent time in the first chapter of Ephesians. I would mull over one phrase or sentence each day, gazing across the aquamarine water (such a beautiful expression of God's love in its own right) and pondering, "How blessed is God, and what a blessing he is!... He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.... Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love." Those moments restored my soul.
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On Easter Sunday we attended First Presbyterian
Church in St. Marys, Georgia, the oldest building in
Georgia used continuously as a church since built in 1808.
The people were so warm and welcoming! |
Even though we were only in the Bahamas for two and a half weeks, they were so packed with delightful experiences and gifts of wonder that it felt much longer. All in all, so worth the trip!
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The End
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God guides us, despite our uncertainties and our vagueness.... Only afterwards, as we look back over the way we have come...do we experience the feeling of having been led without knowing it, the feeling that God has mysteriously guided us.
Paul Tournier
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