Day 281, Sunday March 30th - last day in Hopetown, Abacos

Day 281, Sunday March 30^th

The day starts with a run and a power walk.  Even Julie does 2 short runs during her power walk as the eating and snacking has been out of control on this section of the adventure.  It is a lovely sunny day with high winds.  At the end of the exertion we have a cool down by walking the beach.  We are looking for sea beans.  Blake had found a sea bean when he was visiting in December but we did not know what it was.  We now know they are seeds from Africa which are rare, but wash up on the beach and quite collectable.  We don’t see any sea beans, but we do pass by people to say hello to and we see a portuguese man of war washed up on the beach dead.  We also meet up with Beth and Craig who confirms that she is offering a free yoga class up by the lighthouse at noon.

Dawson searching for electrical wires

We head back to the boat and Dawson undertakes his job of the day which is to relocate the stern light.  We have not used this stern light since doing the big passage, but it needs to be moved as the light is blocked by the dinghy hanging off the davits at the back of the boat.  We may do some overnight passages on our way back so time to deal with the light relocation.  Today is only a planning day to find all the parts and supplies that will be needed for the job. 

Dawson discovers a case of beer

Dawson finds all the supplies he needs and starts to climb around the bowels of the boat looking for the electrical wires etc. to ensure he has a full understanding of what will be required.  Meanwhile Julie is in the cockpit doing her French lesson.  Suddenly Dawson does a bit of an alarming yell and Julie’s first thought is he got an electric shock so immediately goes to investigate.  Fortunately the shout was a gleeful shout as Dawson has found a case of beer in the storage area off the aft berth.  We knew we had brought about 3 or 4 cases for the trip as beer in the USA was about $17 for a case and it is $50 here in the Bahamas, however we thought we had drank it all back in November and December, so have not been drinking beer except for the odd beer at a pub.  Anyways, a much nicer surprise than an electrical shock.  We put a few beers on ice and they are still good.

It is now noon hour so we head up to the lighthouse grounds for couples yoga led by Beth.  We are the only couple besides the instructor so we get great supervision and Beth customizes the class for us.   The high light of the class was doing a head stand something we have not done since we were kids.  The class is about an hour long so we rush back to the boat to tidy up and get an appetizer made for our 2:00 hosting of Toby and Joanne for bridge.  We play bridge somewhat successfully.  We make most of our contracts and definitely learn lots.  The final hand determines the winner and we come up short, but are pleased with our play and have a good visit. 

After bridge we head off to the marina to say hello to our other friends and we manage a tour of Louise and Guy from Sarnia’s boat which is a 40 foot Valiant.  They have done an amazing job of maintaining and improving their boat and the woodwork is a work of art.  A beautiful boat.  Guy is also a painter and we get to view his series of Bahamas dinghies he has been working on.  They are very beautiful.  Louise also shows us her art which is jewelry making with sea beans and beach glass.  Her labour of sanding the sea beans is lots of work, but creates some beautiful pieces.  Both of them are very talented.  From the valiant we head over to the patio and connect with the other boaters and socialize for a couple of hours.  We bid ado as we are leaving tomorrow however will reconnect with many of them next week on the next leg of everyone’s journey.  Most of us are making our way north.

Back on the boat for a late dinner and a quiet evening of King’s cribbage. 

Cheers

Julie and Dawson