Time to get on down the road

The winds and weather have finally calmed down. Tonight at sunset the water was nearly glass-like for the first time since we've been here in this beautiful place. With the calm it is time to move on even though we've enjoyed our time on this little island. But, since the storm hasn't moved far enough north, we can't jump off tomorrow to St Augustine as we hoped. So we're going to spend a few days moving north and west through some other islands and then jump off with a shorter trip to St Augustine.

Tomorrow, Friday, we plan to make the short trip over to Great Guana Cay just 10 miles north to hangout at Nippers. A well-known beach bar and resort with lots to do and some other cool places on the island. Saturday our plan is to take a longer sail for about 40 miles northwest to Spanish Cay and then Sunday another 40 mile trip to Grand Cay. From there the Gulf Stream is about a half-day sail where we can turn north and pick up speed using the current flow.
 
I've made many comments in other blog articles about the island we're leaving but it is such a pleasant place and even though they only have a few restaurants they are very good. Tonight we ate at the little restaurant by the marina and had very nice and fresh salads with a veggie pizza that was as good or better than most pizzas we've had.

But overall the island is clean, orderly and prosperous unlike many other islands in the Bahamas. The original settlers of these islands were Americans who left the America during the revolution because they remained loyal to the British crown. They are very much like people on Virginia's Eastern shore who were similar and actually still speak with a similar brogue.

But many of the homes here grow fruit and vegetables in their yard. The stores are well stocked. There is a hardware store here that has as much stuff as many Ace hardware stores in the US. When we visited other islands the stores had nothing in them and nothing much was being grown. I don't have information about all the factors but I'm curious what is different here that makes these islands so much more productive and attractive. There are also far more people in these islands probably because there are jobs here. But, most jobs and opportunities are from entrepreneurs who are performing a need in the community.

Folks in the Abacos are very religious and on this island everything is closed on Sunday (even the marina office) and alcohol is not sold on the island. But whatever it is the island is almost completely built up now with many beautiful houses.

Well, tomorrow we start our trip back to the US where we will work through the issues we've uncovered in the boat, visit family, take care of medical events and spend the summer in New England visiting friends and enjoying the sights.