As we exited the taxi at the Marina in Marsh Harbour Judy and I said it is good to be "home " . Thursday was spent getting groceries. The weather is going to be good(not windy) Friday and Saturday, so it is time for another side trip from the marina. Little Harbor is about 15 miles south of here by water and located on Great Abaco Island, the same island where Marsh Harbor is located. In all 5 looper boats made the trip. Salty Dawg (Pat & Patty) had been here a couple of weeks ago so he was our guide. Our trip was a little "rolly" in places. Most of the Sea of Abaco which is the traveled route is protected by the various cays. In certain places there is an opening to the Atlantic, and the waves roll in from the Atlantic and give us wave action that makes you hold onto your seat. The entrance to the harbor is narrow and shallow. We arrived at mid tide and the depth sounder read 5' in a couple of places. The harbor is small and protected. It probably holds 30 boats. Once inside you pick up a mooring ball courtesy($15) of Pete's Pub which is another story in itself. What's in Little Harbor you ask. Well nothing unless you like the scenery of a beautiful harbor, the ambiance of a very unusual pub or bar, the Atlantic Ocean only steps away, a cave and some back water country. First things first, it was lunch time so down came the dinghy and a trip to Pete's Pub was in order. Pete's is more or less a hut built in the sand. Chairs and picnic tables surround it. Sans shoes is best unless you like sand in them. Busy busy. Tee shirts from clients on the ceiling. Good food. Bartenderess takes drink orders-If its beer or made with rum you are in luck. She also takes food orders-nothing fancy but very good. A few people arrive by car on the single lane sand road that serves the Harbor but most arrive by boat. Reservations for dinner are required--why I don't know but we made a reservation for eight. After lunch we walked about a hundred yards from Pete's to the Atlantic for some more breathtaking pictures as the surf was rolling in and breaking over the nearby reefs. After that it was cocktails on Salty Dawg's boat at 5pm. Pictured above from left to right is Salty Dawg( Pat & Patty), Gypsy Time(John & Pat),us,Lamb Chop(Mike & Jan), and Chris belonging to Pat & Patty and his new fiancee Lindsey. Suncat(Steve & Jeanne) were the photographers. After cocktails it was off to dinner at Pete's Pub with all except the Salty Dawg crew. Dinner was excellent even though it seemed like organized chaos-same procedure-order drinks and food at the bar-still very busy but only one bartender. I am not sure I have had a $23 dinner at a picnic table in the sand. I had Hog fish and Judy had Wahoo . Slept well-wind died to a whisper during the night. Arose to all boats pointing in a different direction a sure sign the wind has died. Normal picture is all boats pointed in the same direction tugging on their mooring rope.
9am was the appointed hour the next day for our guided tour courtesy of Pat of Salty Dawg. First we dinghied over to the west side of the harbor to the cave. We did not go back into the cave very far and for sure the girls came to a complete halt the minute they heard and saw the bats. Lots of openings one could explore if one was a true spelunker. The original inhabitants of the Harbor lived in the cave (1950's), I presume while they were building their house. After the cave tour we were off for some backwater exploration. Exiting the harbor we turned left and entered another bay and then the Man--O-War Bush and finally crossing into some shallow back water. The tide was rising but in several locations we had to tilt the motor and the dinghy scraped bottom. Saw lots of turtles (fast ones), barracuda, a shark and various other fishes. The highlight of our trip was the spotting of a blue hole. It is where the water drops from 2' to who knows how deep and all you can see is blue water. Our see through bucket came in handy for viewing the bottom in this shallow back water. Divers like these blue holes for exploration. Unfortunately 3 divers lost their lives back in the nineties exploring this hole as there was a plaque on shore noting this. We arrived back at the boat about noon and after lunch set off for Boat Harbor, our marina. What a delightful trip. Not much wind so the water was very clear and you could clearly see the bottom. It is so neat when you are travelling over a white sand bottom with no grass on the bottom. Pictured above is the only street in Little Harbor and the only other business besides Pete's Pub-the art gallery which sells some very very expensive bronze castings.
9am was the appointed hour the next day for our guided tour courtesy of Pat of Salty Dawg. First we dinghied over to the west side of the harbor to the cave. We did not go back into the cave very far and for sure the girls came to a complete halt the minute they heard and saw the bats. Lots of openings one could explore if one was a true spelunker. The original inhabitants of the Harbor lived in the cave (1950's), I presume while they were building their house. After the cave tour we were off for some backwater exploration. Exiting the harbor we turned left and entered another bay and then the Man--O-War Bush and finally crossing into some shallow back water. The tide was rising but in several locations we had to tilt the motor and the dinghy scraped bottom. Saw lots of turtles (fast ones), barracuda, a shark and various other fishes. The highlight of our trip was the spotting of a blue hole. It is where the water drops from 2' to who knows how deep and all you can see is blue water. Our see through bucket came in handy for viewing the bottom in this shallow back water. Divers like these blue holes for exploration. Unfortunately 3 divers lost their lives back in the nineties exploring this hole as there was a plaque on shore noting this. We arrived back at the boat about noon and after lunch set off for Boat Harbor, our marina. What a delightful trip. Not much wind so the water was very clear and you could clearly see the bottom. It is so neat when you are travelling over a white sand bottom with no grass on the bottom. Pictured above is the only street in Little Harbor and the only other business besides Pete's Pub-the art gallery which sells some very very expensive bronze castings.
Today, Sunday, we took our usual bus trip to Church. Church was a little light on attendance as some of the winter residents are departing, but the enthusiasm of the locals was still evident. Every verse of every song is sung and some accompanied by hand clapping. After church, we met a former resident of Little Harbour. They were one of the first settlers (not the ones that lived in the cave) but they built their house 40 years ago. No roads just a boat that went there. We didn't have time to talk long, but it sure would have made for an interesting conversation.
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