The trip back to the Bahamas from Canada was uneventful but too long! We were up at 4:30am, departed from Toronto on Air Canada shortly after 8:00am and arrived in Nassau at 11:00. But after that we had a long 6 hour wait in the dingy airport--the “new” facility STILL under construction--until boarding the half hour Bahamas Air flight out to Marsh Harbour at 5:00. There must be a better way to get here! We hate leaving in the dark and arriving in the dark when it’s really such a short hop from here to Toronto. In April, we’ll check out flights flying directly from Marsh Harbour to North America cutting out Nassau directly. Hopefully eventually something better will turn up. But until then--it’s whatever it takes.
Our first week back was phenomenal, weather-wise. Sunny and warm--77 degrees--every day, winds virtually non-existent and water smooth as glass. After spending a day provisioning and settling in, we met with Jeff and Sandy on “Oasis” to organize a dinghy convoy over to Hopetown for lunch. What a hoot! Seven boats made it over in the record time of 15 minutes skimming across the glassy surface at full speed. But after a great lunch and more than a few drinks later, 8 of us decided to take the “slow boat” home, lashing 4 dinghys together and doing a “slow drift” across the Sea of Abaco to our slips on the other side. This took considerably longer--almost 2 hours. But it was two hours of laughter, conversation, and gorgeous views--we could see the entire sea floor through the still, turquoise water all the way back! It was virtually snorkelling without the snorkels.
The new marina complex at Hopetown was unbelievable. When we were last here it was all rubble, concrete and sand. But what a transformation! A great little outdoor restaurant forms the centrepiece of the facility and is flanked by a small but exquisitely designed pool (two of them actually, linked with a little waterfall) on one side, and state of the art marina facilities on the other. There is a range of accommodations for guests as well. These include rooms with 2 double or 1 kingsize bed plus inroom refrigerator to spacious 1 & 2 bedroomed apartments with beautiful furnishings, and an expansive upper level deck overlooking the harbour and village. Landscaping and outdoor lounging areas are superb. We were given a “tour” of the entire facilities and will certainly return-- hopefully with friends and relatives from Canada--at some point in the future.
We had such a fun time on our day-trip over to Hopetown, that we decided to do it all again the next day to Man ‘O War. But we awoke to worsening symtoms of a “flu” that we had picked up when home, and had to give it a pass and choose rest & relaxation for the day instead. Bummer!! There was even a bigger convoy to Man ‘O War and, once again, a good time was had by all. We thought that our sore throats and coughs were a result of the drastic temperature change and drop in humidity we experienced back in Canada. Not! This same thing happened to us last year too--but it was almost a full week of quarantine then. It wasn’t so bad this year--only 3 days. But they were 3 glorious days here--no wind and waves--so rare! And it was so maddening not to be able to take advantage of them all. But we DID have Hopetown. (And we are SO spoiled here!)
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