Freedom’s Turn is settling into her second week at slip #57 at Sea Spray Resort and Marina, on the Abaco island of Elbow Key.
It is her third week overall in the Bahamas. She is side by side to her boat friend Kismet.
The boats’ captains and first mates have certainly enjoyed greeting each other daily across boat railings and have shared cocktails, stories, and meetings in nearby Hope Town. One fine evening, the two couples had a delicious potluck dinner (lobster, grouper, salad, potatoes and peanut butter pie!) on the Kismet. The wind had died down that night and the stars were out in their full glory. This past Saturday night, Sea Spray Marina had a live band outside on the Tiki Bar deck where both couples and several others danced under the little white lights wrapped around the palm trees on the deck..JPG)
Since arriving here on February 21, Freedom’s Turn has seen magnificent sunrises and sunsets, pink and white sandy beaches in the distance, palm trees loaded with coconuts swaying, waters of aqua and turquoise, and the national flag of Bahamas welcoming her off the main dock. While she has cruised and at her slips she has also seen U.S., Canadian and British flags as well as the Bahamian courtesy flag she has seen on all visiting pleasure craft. Charlie attached one on Freedom’s Turn at the upper helm radar antenna when she cleared customs back in West End. All visiting pleasure boats are required to fly this flag while staying in the Bahamas.
Freedom’s Turn has had her lines tied and retied more times than she can remember in the ever changing 2-3 ft tides and wind direction. She feels and hears the howling winds blowing her away from her dock constantly.
During the early part of the morning, Freedom’s Turn and her crew hear the local roosters crowing nearby and at night, the roar coming from the ocean, just a sand dune away. Since crossing over the Atlantic, she has had big tastes of salt water spray and thus has several engine and zinc checks, washings and protective sprays applied to the Strata glass window at the upper helm which is sensitive to salt water, lots more polishing of her stainless steel railings, and salt deposits scrubbed out of grommets and snaps.
Since she has been docked at Sea Spray, Freedom's Turn has witnessed exotic looking foods on her decks including a cracked open coconut and fresh lobster waiting to be grilled. Linda and Charlie picked up a green coconut lying on the side of the road. The locals use the jelly meat mostly for baking and the coconut water is supposed to be very healthy to drink so the locals tell us. So Linda and Charlie drank the sweet coconut water and fried the coconut with butter and sugar and put it over their ice cream. (Healthy and not so healthy but good.)
The first day at Sea Spray Marina, Linda and Charlie paid for a day of the local internet service and that evening, they used ‘’Skype’ on their computer to talk to Linda’s mother on her mother’s phone, sound only. Then they used their computer to call daughter Carrie and Jody’s at their home on their computer equipped with a video cam! Other daughter Christa had come over to her sister’s to be a part of the big event! Everyone saw and heard each other! What computers can do! If both computers, have 'Skype', are on line at the same time,(free to sign up) their computer calls and videos are free! Both computers have to have the video cam to see each other. Calling Linda’s mother from Skype on the computer to her mother’s phone cost Linda and Charlie .02 per minute and they had to be on the internet at the time of the call and had to have a pre-paid account with 'Skype' to make the call work.
During the evenings, Charlie and Linda read or watch their DVD’s they’ve saved for these nights of no TV. They also have been laughing at the craziness of some DVD's of a season of the TV series “Arrested Development” given to them by their daughter Christa. They have not eaten a dinner out yet (just a few lunches in Hope Town) but on Wednesday nights in March next to the Tiki Bar and the decks of the Boathouse Restaurant, they plan on attending the marina’s Bahamian buffet soon (fish, ribs, chicken and all the fixin’s!) including the same live band which, by the way, features the harbormaster Junior, as the drummer and Junior’s right hand man Rodney as a guitarist.
.JPG)
The first afternoon here, Linda and Charlie walked to the beach and watched part of a youth surfing club age group competition going on. There were parents of the club selling grilled hot dogs and all the trimmings from their beach concession stand. Linda and Charlie felt at home while they ate their lunch there right on the beach and stayed for some of the competition. It made them think of all the swim meets they have watched and participated in while their girls swam competitively from 1988-2001.
.JPG)
This past Saturday, Freedom’s Turn watched while Captain Charlie took the dinghy down for he and Linda to go into Hope Town to attend the annual fair put on by the Hope Town Firefighters and Rescue Department. Charlie wore his Michigan State Shirt because he and Linda were going to meet the man from Okemos named Pete, (who wore his Lansing Lugnuts shirt for us) an Okemos Chieftain graduate in 1972, who lives with his wife in Hope Town during their winters. It turns out that Charlie had Pete’s dad as an inorganic chemistry professor at MSU (small world!).
Since arriving here at Sea Spray, Linda and Charlie have listened to Pete and others broadcasting on the Abaco Cruisers Net program. The program can be found on channel 68 on the VHS marine radio at 8:15 every morning. Boaters and non-boaters alike in the Abaco area can hear the local weather and happenings of the day as well as being invited to talk on the program to let others know who is currently cruising in the area and their personal updates on the sea conditions. Pete and his wife now live in Oregon for the rest of the year.
During the early part of the morning, Freedom’s Turn and her crew hear the local roosters crowing nearby and at night, the roar coming from the ocean, just a sand dune away. Since crossing over the Atlantic, she has had big tastes of salt water spray and thus has several engine and zinc checks, washings and protective sprays applied to the Strata glass window at the upper helm which is sensitive to salt water, lots more polishing of her stainless steel railings, and salt deposits scrubbed out of grommets and snaps.
Since she has been docked at Sea Spray, Freedom's Turn has witnessed exotic looking foods on her decks including a cracked open coconut and fresh lobster waiting to be grilled. Linda and Charlie picked up a green coconut lying on the side of the road. The locals use the jelly meat mostly for baking and the coconut water is supposed to be very healthy to drink so the locals tell us. So Linda and Charlie drank the sweet coconut water and fried the coconut with butter and sugar and put it over their ice cream. (Healthy and not so healthy but good.)
The first day at Sea Spray Marina, Linda and Charlie paid for a day of the local internet service and that evening, they used ‘’Skype’ on their computer to talk to Linda’s mother on her mother’s phone, sound only. Then they used their computer to call daughter Carrie and Jody’s at their home on their computer equipped with a video cam! Other daughter Christa had come over to her sister’s to be a part of the big event! Everyone saw and heard each other! What computers can do! If both computers, have 'Skype', are on line at the same time,(free to sign up) their computer calls and videos are free! Both computers have to have the video cam to see each other. Calling Linda’s mother from Skype on the computer to her mother’s phone cost Linda and Charlie .02 per minute and they had to be on the internet at the time of the call and had to have a pre-paid account with 'Skype' to make the call work.
During the evenings, Charlie and Linda read or watch their DVD’s they’ve saved for these nights of no TV. They also have been laughing at the craziness of some DVD's of a season of the TV series “Arrested Development” given to them by their daughter Christa. They have not eaten a dinner out yet (just a few lunches in Hope Town) but on Wednesday nights in March next to the Tiki Bar and the decks of the Boathouse Restaurant, they plan on attending the marina’s Bahamian buffet soon (fish, ribs, chicken and all the fixin’s!) including the same live band which, by the way, features the harbormaster Junior, as the drummer and Junior’s right hand man Rodney as a guitarist.
.JPG)
The first afternoon here, Linda and Charlie walked to the beach and watched part of a youth surfing club age group competition going on. There were parents of the club selling grilled hot dogs and all the trimmings from their beach concession stand. Linda and Charlie felt at home while they ate their lunch there right on the beach and stayed for some of the competition. It made them think of all the swim meets they have watched and participated in while their girls swam competitively from 1988-2001..JPG)
This past Saturday, Freedom’s Turn watched while Captain Charlie took the dinghy down for he and Linda to go into Hope Town to attend the annual fair put on by the Hope Town Firefighters and Rescue Department. Charlie wore his Michigan State Shirt because he and Linda were going to meet the man from Okemos named Pete, (who wore his Lansing Lugnuts shirt for us) an Okemos Chieftain graduate in 1972, who lives with his wife in Hope Town during their winters. It turns out that Charlie had Pete’s dad as an inorganic chemistry professor at MSU (small world!).
Since arriving here at Sea Spray, Linda and Charlie have listened to Pete and others broadcasting on the Abaco Cruisers Net program. The program can be found on channel 68 on the VHS marine radio at 8:15 every morning. Boaters and non-boaters alike in the Abaco area can hear the local weather and happenings of the day as well as being invited to talk on the program to let others know who is currently cruising in the area and their personal updates on the sea conditions. Pete and his wife now live in Oregon for the rest of the year.
Freedom’s Turn heard about the beautiful island sights of Hope Town and its bay from Linda and Charlie when they came back from their first visit there. Hope Town is the second largest town in the Abacos with about 350 permanent residents; in addition would be the boaters and vacationers. The largest town is Marsh Harbor, just across the Abaco Sea (3.5 miles).
When visiting the Hope Town, one sees a clean and pretty town with a freshly painted look. Its people are friendly and helpful. It has three grocery stores; small and quaint with items like homemade baked goods and produce just picked out of someone’s garden. One store, Vernon’s, makes bread everyday except Sunday. He and his wife post little signs on the food shelves giving one advice as you shop as you can see below.
It has one bank which shows the true laid back ambiance of the town by it's sign posted outside.
It’s Post Office, Police Department and Commissioners Office are all in one bright blue building where the Post Office closes for lunch from 12-1:10 p.m.
Announcements posted on the telephone poles show several local organizations to be involved in as well as lots of events planned around the sailing club. The Coffee House proved to be a place for those that really appreciate a great cup of coffee (like us) and seems to be a popular meeting place for retirees who stay in the area for the winter, or permanent, (all are youthful and vibrant looking like us!). The large harbor in the town offers a marina or mooring balls and anchorages and the docks are used by fishing boats and small runabouts; small dinghies can tie up at two special areas. We have ridden our bikes into town (3.5 miles one way) and have gone on the inside through the Sea Of Abaco in our dinghy as well. It is fun!
Hope Town’s red and white striped lighthouse is the landmark of the city.
Click on photos in blog to see them enlarged then to back arrow to continue
Both Charlie and Linda enjoyed touring it and the view from the top.
Charlie liked walking around looking at boats and buildings while enjoying a cup of homemade coconut ice cream. He and Linda found a basketball court (!) He wonders how his 50+ team in Lansing, MI, Art’s Bar, is doing this winter without him!
Linda was charmed by the views of a quaint Methodist church and several cottage homes with the brightly painted gingerbread designs. The architecture here, particularly the gingerbread designs, date back from New England influence dating back to Colonial America. It was during the American Revolution when loyalists to the British crown fled America to live in the safe haven of the British ruling Bahamas. Hope Town was settled in 1785 by these Loyalists and was first named "Grand Harbor".
Charlie and Linda found a beautiful view of the ocean (below)and a pretty beach where they rested for awhile.
The fair was small but filled with lots of enthusiasm with a quaint and laid back feeling, just like the town. The fair was hosted by and benefited the Hope Town Fire and Rescue Department. They had a silent auction, a raffle, baked goods, games, and good food, including yummy giant chili foot longs and sweet potato rolls with coconut in them, both of which we ate. And we topped our meal off with a refreshing local drink called a swiggle (pronounced swishel), consisting of coconut juice and gin. Also featured was a chicken soup called “Souse” which is heavily stocked with chicken and vegetables of which we did not try, but it looked nourishing.
.JPG)
Other happenings from Freedom’s Turn view was witnessing Charlie’s bike being blown off the dock next to her into several feet of salt water, land upside down then watched while Jim and Charlie got Charlie’s dinghy anchor/ grappling hook to pull the bike out. Luckily, they found it and Charlie cleaned it very carefully.
Today the morning sun and breezes are making Linda feel like ending this blog and going for a one mile walk to the closest grocery to buy some butter, salt and a few potatoes. Charlie and Jim did go out fishing just now. Charlie will let you know what happened out there. He adds: caught two fish, a 15” snapper and a 14” angelfish. Snapper fish fight about like largemouth bass; the anglefish actually fought very hard like a trout. Both were edible, but not kept. They also saw a large turtle and a couple of rays (probably manta).
Three things we are grateful for: being in good health, Freedom’s Turn is doing her job very well, and we have good friends right next door with Lisa and Jim.
(And of course we are grateful for no snow here!
(And Charlie adds the MSU Big Ten Basketball Championship)
(We sure do miss family and friends, though)
Sincerely, Linda and Charlie
When visiting the Hope Town, one sees a clean and pretty town with a freshly painted look. Its people are friendly and helpful. It has three grocery stores; small and quaint with items like homemade baked goods and produce just picked out of someone’s garden. One store, Vernon’s, makes bread everyday except Sunday. He and his wife post little signs on the food shelves giving one advice as you shop as you can see below.
It has one bank which shows the true laid back ambiance of the town by it's sign posted outside.
It’s Post Office, Police Department and Commissioners Office are all in one bright blue building where the Post Office closes for lunch from 12-1:10 p.m.Announcements posted on the telephone poles show several local organizations to be involved in as well as lots of events planned around the sailing club. The Coffee House proved to be a place for those that really appreciate a great cup of coffee (like us) and seems to be a popular meeting place for retirees who stay in the area for the winter, or permanent, (all are youthful and vibrant looking like us!). The large harbor in the town offers a marina or mooring balls and anchorages and the docks are used by fishing boats and small runabouts; small dinghies can tie up at two special areas. We have ridden our bikes into town (3.5 miles one way) and have gone on the inside through the Sea Of Abaco in our dinghy as well. It is fun!
Hope Town’s red and white striped lighthouse is the landmark of the city.
Click on photos in blog to see them enlarged then to back arrow to continue
Both Charlie and Linda enjoyed touring it and the view from the top.
Charlie liked walking around looking at boats and buildings while enjoying a cup of homemade coconut ice cream. He and Linda found a basketball court (!) He wonders how his 50+ team in Lansing, MI, Art’s Bar, is doing this winter without him!
Linda was charmed by the views of a quaint Methodist church and several cottage homes with the brightly painted gingerbread designs. The architecture here, particularly the gingerbread designs, date back from New England influence dating back to Colonial America. It was during the American Revolution when loyalists to the British crown fled America to live in the safe haven of the British ruling Bahamas. Hope Town was settled in 1785 by these Loyalists and was first named "Grand Harbor".
Charlie and Linda found a beautiful view of the ocean (below)and a pretty beach where they rested for awhile.
The fair was small but filled with lots of enthusiasm with a quaint and laid back feeling, just like the town. The fair was hosted by and benefited the Hope Town Fire and Rescue Department. They had a silent auction, a raffle, baked goods, games, and good food, including yummy giant chili foot longs and sweet potato rolls with coconut in them, both of which we ate. And we topped our meal off with a refreshing local drink called a swiggle (pronounced swishel), consisting of coconut juice and gin. Also featured was a chicken soup called “Souse” which is heavily stocked with chicken and vegetables of which we did not try, but it looked nourishing.Another example of the laid back feeling in Hope Town, Linda and Charlie rode their bikes into town last Friday and joined Lisa and Jim, who got a ride from our harbormaster around 12:30 p.m., to buy fresh fish off the city’s main dock. After being told the boat comes in between 1-3 p.m., they waited. By 2 p.m. they went to have a drink and watch for the boat. By 4 p.m. the waitress at the bar told them it always comes in by 4 p.m. and the locals added that it comes in between 4-5 p.m. The boaters settled into local time with a sigh and eventually purchased their fish around 4:30, the quality and prices for delicious lobster tail and strawberry grouper, being well worth the wait.
And this past week, Freedom’s Turn watched while Charlie took the dinghy to go play with Jim, where they explored the local waters, coves and inlets while imagining when their first fishing expedition will take place. And to Linda’s and Lisa’s dismay they ended up at a local island bar called Cracker P’s on Lubbers Quarters. Don’t you just love these names!
Jim went into town to buy some shrimp bait for them for the future days of fishing.
Jim went into town to buy some shrimp bait for them for the future days of fishing.
.JPG)
Other happenings from Freedom’s Turn view was witnessing Charlie’s bike being blown off the dock next to her into several feet of salt water, land upside down then watched while Jim and Charlie got Charlie’s dinghy anchor/ grappling hook to pull the bike out. Luckily, they found it and Charlie cleaned it very carefully.Today the morning sun and breezes are making Linda feel like ending this blog and going for a one mile walk to the closest grocery to buy some butter, salt and a few potatoes. Charlie and Jim did go out fishing just now. Charlie will let you know what happened out there. He adds: caught two fish, a 15” snapper and a 14” angelfish. Snapper fish fight about like largemouth bass; the anglefish actually fought very hard like a trout. Both were edible, but not kept. They also saw a large turtle and a couple of rays (probably manta).
Three things we are grateful for: being in good health, Freedom’s Turn is doing her job very well, and we have good friends right next door with Lisa and Jim.
(And of course we are grateful for no snow here!
(And Charlie adds the MSU Big Ten Basketball Championship)
(We sure do miss family and friends, though)
Sincerely, Linda and Charlie
