More time in the Abacos, Bahamas

Hello!  5/23/2026 

Update:

I missed writing last week; no time to write with friends on board. After arriving in the Bahamas, we stayed in West End at a dock for about a week. Bob and Fran joined us there for a trip across the Little Bahama Bank into the Sea of Abaco. After a day in West End we spent two days moving the boat eastward towards the beautiful Abaco Islands. We anchored in two remote places on the bank, Mangrove Cay and Crab Cay and then picked up a mooring ball in Green Turtle. Green Turtle was worth a day of golf cart sightseeing, and we made it to New Plymouth, Pineapples and the beach where turtles swim right up to you looking for a handout. The next day was an easy crossing around the Whale and the famous pig roast party at Nippers where the beach was outstanding. We moved on from there to a protected anchorage in Marsh Harbor where we all took the ferry to Hope Town the next day. I consider it a happy achievement to deliver guests back to their home in one piece and having had a good time. There was a lot of storytelling, funny mishaps and inside jokes during the trip. We all had a wonderful time and are all still friends! Times like these are one of the supreme joys of this type of travel.

We will probably stay at anchor in Marsh Harbor for a week or so and then start moving north to spend the summer in cooler weather. Hopefully, another guest will be onboard soon to help us begin the passage north.

There have been so many wonderful happenings in the past two weeks. I will have to focus, or this will get too long.

Question:

Why is water so appealing?

This was the question on my mind as I walked on the Atlantic beach in front of Nippers Beach Bar, Great Guana Cay. It was a particularly beautiful day. We descended the bluff from the restaurant to a beach of cream-colored sand. Crystal clear bubbling salt water spilled over rocks along the entire shoreline. The weathered limestone formations created multiple varied waterfalls and pools of water. To me the rocks and pools were begging to be explored except that a brisk wind was blowing directly onshore and waves and currents made it risky. The shallow water just beyond the limestone rocks was a turquoise color which turned to a deep blue farther out. I walked up to a space of about 20 feet of clear water between two large limestone rocks. I had to get in and completely submerge. A young man nearby was also submerged and bodysurfing on the small waves but expertly holding his rum drink above his head and out of the water. That guy still makes me laugh but, in all seriousness, to immerse myself in water like that is something I live for. 

At another location, in West End the calm beach water was the color of a clear green coke bottle. I loved sitting in the water up to my waist and watching as turtles bobbed their heads up for air 30 feet away. These perfect beach days are some of my favorite experiences, but even other views of water catch my eye. Looking out from our boat the water is different every day. Water reflects the color of the sky as it changes from blue to orange or pink and then to the black of night. The sun shining on water can look like sparkling diamonds or a road of shimmering gold bricks. There is so much more to say about water. I don’t think I am any closer to answering my question. Without getting scientific or philosophical I’ll take the easy way out and talk about my own genetic tendency to love the sea.  

Frances Faries Thomas, my maternal grandmother, loved Tybee Island beach as a child growing up in Savanah and she lived on Indian Rocks Beach for a time in the 50’s. Shells she collected are a part of my shell collection. My grandfather, Edwin Thomas, worked on ships in his early twenties and wrote that he needed to come home and finish his schooling in Georgia or he would never come in from the sea. He became a lawyer and moved to Tampa in 1923. Edwin sailed all over Tampa Bay and as far as Cuba. The wooden water jug from his sailboat is an end table in my living room. Growing up, my father always had a sailboat. We sailed all the gulf waters around Pinellas County from Caladesi to Egmont Key. We learned to read charts, tie knots, tack, jibe and anchor plus always had a delicious lunch on board made by my mother. Early on, the elements of water, the outdoors, a little adventure and good food were a regular part of my life. Maybe this is why I never left Florida and have always lived within a mile or two of a body of water. For some people it is as natural as breathing to love the water. I am one of those people.

I believe this should be it for today. I’ll continue to blog weekly after this.

Thanks so much for reading!

Love and Peace,

Fran Lima

 

 

 

Marathon to the Bahamas

 Hello! 

 Update:

We are now in the Bahamas! We left Marathon Wednesday at 10 am and arrived at West End Thursday at 11 am. In 2011 when we were here, West End just had a customs office with a marina and seemed desolate. Now there is a complex with hotel rooms, a souvenir shop, an upscale restaurant and a Tiki bar near the beach and pool. Several boats were checking in at the same time, sail and power. Quite of few of us went straight to the beach and visited Da Straw Bar. The rum drinks and cracked conch hit the spot, and we met a bunch of other boaters. Among them, two couples from Treasure Island, right near where we live.

 Last few days in Marathon:

To finish up with Marathon, it was overall very relaxing. The last two days were busy, with a day trip to Key West and a day of laundry and grocery shopping. Getting to Key West involves catching the Lower Keys Shuttle, and the trip takes 1 ½ to 2 hours. Figuring out the schedule and bus stop location is I believe what is called, “Getting out of your comfort zone.” We never really knew we had it right. Luckily in Key West there were people at the bus stop to ask, but in Marathon we just guessed. The bus came pretty much on time, and we bumped along the Overseas Highway in air conditioning for a change. Once there we went straight to the Conch Republic, had 2 Pain Killers, then to Bo’s Fish Wagon for cracked conch and then to Kermit’s for frozen chocolate covered Key Lime pie on a stick. I found my favorite shop, Dragonfly Imports, was still open and had to support them. We relaxed on a shady park bench for a while, wandered around Duval Street and managed to find the bus stop again to make it home before dark. Do we sound like old people? Well, yes, because we are!

 Question:

What Makes you grin ear to ear?

Al did not want to make the trip to Key West. I really wanted to go and once we arrived, I remembered why. To me Marathon and the Keys between there and Key West look like scrubby, sparsely populated windswept places. Key West is vibrant. The difference in Key West is evident as soon as you drive onto the island. Key West is solidly developed, has tons of old houses, history, character and almost every kind of shop or restaurant you can think of. I have visited all the historic sites on previous trips, including Fort Jefferson. After 2 and ½ weeks in sleepy places I loved being there. When we were back on the boat that evening Al told me he could tell I really wanted to go and that when we got on the bus towards Key West he noticed I was grinning ear to ear. I had to ask him, “What makes you grin ear to ear Al?” I did get an answer out of Al but it took a day or two. I think it's a good question.

 Passage from Marathon to the Bahamas / Three little birds:

The passage went well for the humans onboard and for 1 out of 3 birds. Al worked on the route and timing and figured that we would arrive at noon Thursday. He was only 1 hour off, pretty good! From Marathon we went essentially straight south in between the reefs and into the Gulfstream. The water turns a beautiful blue in the Gulfstream and the current gave us a 2 knot speed advantage for most of the trip. We chose the weather, very little wind, because again, to wait for great wind for sailing is to never go anywhere. And, to go in the wrong weather is to risk hating this type of travel or to risk your life. This route always brings us into contact with other boats. Lots of sport fishing is done in the Gulfstream. The Margaritaville cruise ship was 5 miles behind us for a while off Miami and we saw several tanker and container ships close to West End. It was exciting when two small birds joined us near 4 pm. It seemed to be an adult and a juvenile wren. This has happened several times to us around Florida. They usually fly away when you get close to land or in the morning after finding a safe place to sleep down below. You see a little pile of bird poop and know, oh, that’s where you slept little bird. The little wrens hopped all over the boat inside and out, even landed on us. They were a joy to watch. We gave them water, but they did not drink much. In the morning the little one hopped up in front of me and sat on the depth sounder panel. He then hopped all over the front deck and flew down below. Al found him shortly afterwards sitting in the V berth and realized he had died. Right at that time a sparrow came aboard and thoroughly checked out the boat. The sparrow was there for a while and we assume he flew away when we came close to shore. Unfortunately though,  we found the other wren had died in the back cabin. I did some checking online and felt better after learning it’s common for small birds to die that come on board. They can be migrating, exhausted and dehydrated. I am thankful to have had the chance to observe such small birds up close for so long and for the tough little Jack Sparrow that we hope is happy now somewhere in West End.

We plan to explore the Abacos after a day or two here in West End.

Thank you for reading!

Love and Peace,

Fran Lima

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marathon, Boot Key Harbor

 Hello!

Update:

We remain in Boot Key Harbor Marathon, at the City Marina on a mooring ball. We have been exploring the area by dinghy and occasionally Uber, plus doing chores. Laundry and grocery shopping take a lot longer from a boat. The harbor has hundreds of boats but is fairly quiet. There is no car traffic noise here, just an occasional generator and always dinghies going back and forth. We have tried several restaurants and liked them all, Dockside, Keys Fisheries and Keys Steak and Lobster. We like to end each day in the cockpit with one of our boat drinks and watch the evening come in before fixing dinner. We plan to sail to the Bahamas next week. 

 Marathon stories:

Boaters here are extremely helpful. We came into the mooring field and promptly ran aground in an area marked by an informational buoy as “shallow.”  Go figure! But the writing on the buoy was very faint. A man in a nearby boat started gesturing wildly in the direction we needed to go. Al got us off the shallow area and we headed to our assigned ball. Meanwhile the woman from the boat with the gesturing man got in their dinghy and started off in a direction. It took us a few minutes to realize she was helping us. She picked up part of the mooring ball, I snagged it with a boat hook, and we strung a thick line through it to attach to the ball So nice! Another man helped us find the way into the marina office. Again, with some wild gesturing as we were headed towards the shallows in our dinghy. On the second day here, we put our dinghy in the water, started the engine, put it in gear and immediately wrapped one of our lines around the propeller. A massive catamaran was motoring towards us. The woman on the front of the boat kept saying over and over “Our brakes went out.” I had a couple of choice words for her, but I managed to hold them in. Al started paddling the dinghy so we would not be run over by the catamaran. Luckily the man at the helm noticed us and slowed down to avoid us. Seconds later our next-door neighbor came out on his deck to ask if we needed help. I thanked him and said we were out of practice. He replied that he and his wife had been cruising for only a year and had wrapped their dinghy prop 8 or 10 times. So nice!

 Info and Questions:

Are you missing your friends from home? Yes, the hard thing about travel is leaving your buddies at home. We like to make “Happy Hour Calls” to our friends and family while watching the sunset. Hopefully some will be able to join us on this trip. We have met a few folks here, in the marina laundry room or the mail and gathering area. We met some locals at the Dockside Restaurant. People here seem very friendly and down-to-earth. One way to communicate in an anchorage is to put up a flag that signifies something about yourself. A boat in the harbor Horizon had a Seven Seas Cruising Association Commodore flag up. We are also Commodores in that club, so we dinghied up and said hello. They circumnavigated the world in 8 years and now spend their winters here and summers traveling in a campervan around the US. We had a nice chat, one interesting thing the woman said was “I always tell people, if you don’t like working on your boat, don’t get a boat.” So true!

How did you prepare for this trip?

It’s hard to know when to say we began preparations for this trip. In the 80s Al built a 31’ wooden cruising sailboat, Christine, and he has been making overnight trips on sailboats for decades. When we met in 1998, we started taking trips on that 31-foot boat up and down the west coast of Florida as far as Key West and Cuba. So, you could say we started preparations way back then! To get specific about this trip, in the last few years we have steadily upgraded our current boat Jade with a new engine, new sails, updated electrical system, new dinghy, new navigational systems plus the decks, hull and bottom have been painted. We wrote out a boat project list in the beginning of 2025 to get focused. We worked on project after project all year, interspersed with normal life! When that list was complete, we started another list. Usually, several items are being worked on at the same time, and we try to finish a task completely before crossing it off the list. In mid-February 2026 we moved on to the boat.  That helped us finish the final projects and put a pause on most of normal life! In the last two weeks we had a meeting every night covering what we did that day and what needed to be done the next day. Those last two months were busy and tiring but it got us off the dock on April 15^th.  

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thank you for reading!

 Love and Peace,

Fran Lima