Where to Begin?? (60 days until our 1st visit)

[WillyT]

Hi everyone.

As a way of introduction, my wife Jackie & me usually vacation @ St. John, VI. But last year, she said that she wanted to do something similar to STJ, but also something "new".

After looking around, we decided on Elbow Cay ... in no small part due to the great info I've read on this forum. (Jackie loves those photographs!!!) We'll be there for about 10 days in May. We'll be staying at Sea Spray Resort, and we have an Albury reserved from Island Marine for our time there.

But I still have questions, mostly about how to "get around" the area.

1. Is Hopetown within reasonable walking distance of White Sound? I imagine that we'll sometimes want to go there, without taking the boat.

2. Are there docking facilities in Hopetown, Guana, Marsh Harbour, etc? Do you pay for them?

3. If anyone is familiar with an Albury, does the console have a power outlet (for a GPS)?

Thats enough for now, although I know I'll have more later.

Thanks for any replies.

JohnM

[abacorik]

Congradulations on your plans to visit Elbow! You should love it. Great people and a great getaway.
To answer your 1st question: Hopetown would be a "Healthy" walk at the least but it could be done.
2nd question. yes there is dockage at all the places you mentioned and most have public docks that do not charge - dockage is never a problem.
3rd question. I have rented an Albury and if my memory serves me correctly there is an outlet to plug into.
Enjoy your Trip!!!

[DaGoose]

Hi JohnM (or is it WillyT?), When will you be on Elbow? Rick and I will be there May 3rd thru the 11th before we head up to our place on Guana.
I would think you'd want a cart to get from Seaspray to Hopetown. You could walk it hoping to catch a ride with someone tho' or maybe the folks at Seaspray will give you a ride.
As Abacorik said there are public docks in all of the settlements just make sure not to park on the end of the dock, or where the ferry docks!
You're going to love it!
Tina

[DaGoose]

Oops, I just read your post again and 60 days from now is late May! I guess we won't run into you!

Tina

[gummy67]

WillyT:
The ONLY circumstance that I would consider walking from Sea Spray to Hopetown is if my golf cart broke down in the middle of the night.

Hopetown public dock space is very limited and really limited if you are the last boat in for the night.

I have never seen a cigarette type lighter in a boat I rented.I have rented from Island,SeaHorse and Waterways.If you need one I would call or email and ask if they have one.My gps takes AA batteries.

[flyingdogs]

Most auto supply or radio shacks will carry this for about $5-6 bucks, sure would save a hassle if thats what your looking for.

[Cathy Arizona]

You can sometimes ride a bike to town from Sea Spray but you might want to check with Island Cart Rental or Hope Town Carts and I can't recall the name of the other. The golf cart ride to town is nice.

[WillyT]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I gave some thought to renting a cart (and it make lots of sense to do so), but the Albury rental itself is a big but necessary expense ... about as much as our accomodations at Sea Spray will be .... and I hate the idea of renting a cart, when it'll sit around unused most of the time. (Maybe we'll rent a cart just for a day or two.)

My GPS is battery-powered, and it'll also play MP3s, provided that its externally powered. No biggie if the boat doesn't have a power plug.

BTW, we're in Abaco May 17-26, so we'll get a chance to do a Sunday at Nippers, plus a Full Moon Party someplace. But most of the time will involve lazily exploring the different locales. We're both looking forward to this adventure.

Again, thanks for all of your input.

JohnM

[Cathy Arizona]

If you like to ride bikes that might be a consideration for an alternate transportation although the boat should be enough for the most part. We rode bikes every day from Abaco Inn (near Sea Spray) into Hope Town on our first visit to Elbow.

[CanoeDave]

Your Albury will make all the difference. It's worth every penny. In our experience, the folks at Island Marine are great to do business with.

We have great memories of our week with three generations of the family - 11 of us - exploring the Sea of Abaco in our 23' Albury rental, "Johnnycake."

Like everyone else, we're looking forward to our next trip.

Hopetown is one of those special places Docking is very limited. Ask the folks at Island Marine to teach you the Bahamian anchoring / mooring method; and get their advice on when and where to dock in Hopetown.

Cracker P's on Lubbers Quarter Cay is a great place to eat / drink, and it has a sizable dock. If you had a vote at one of our family reunions on the proposition "if we could go to any restaurant, anywhere, where would it be?" I am sure Cracker P's would win, hands-down.

[Blue Tang]

Just realize, while cruising around in the Albury that the water is waayyyyy thinner in the Abacos than around St. John and the VI. But, you'll love it I'm sure!

[blue moon]

sea spray and abaco INn both are in white sound have free shuttle to and from hopetown. if you want a cart you will need to reserve in advance as they are always booked it seems. the island is about 5 1/2 miles long so bikes are easy. if you have a boar you can come and go and the docks in HT proper are plenty and the INn and sea spray also have docks if ya buy a drink. GPS is cool but not really important as the water is very shallow and always in line of site of island. charts are easy to read.ISLAND MARINE is great to rent a boat . have fun and maybe we will bump into you on the island.

[WillyT]

Again, thanks for the replies!!!

JohnM

[Summer Knot]

Your have gotten good info for your trip. Couple of idle thoughts. Get yourself a Dodge guide and get familiar with it. It is worth every penny. You have a great boat lined up, but you will probably not use the GPS as much as you think. (if at all). Dockage in Hopetown is kind of a mystery for the first trip. The sailing club dock, just north of Harbours Edge is a good place to check for a visit to the village. Your overnight dockage will probably be as Seaspray. A trip to Little Harbour is one of our favorites. They pour the castings there generally on Thursdays about 1PM. You have been notified about skinny water. Don't try to take any short cuts. You will have a great time. As we will starting May 2

[oceanluvr30]

Ditto for all the other replies, however I was curious as to why you think you need a GPS? The aforementioned Dodge Guide to the Abacos has almost every route very well detailed and includes not only chart headings but in many cases photos of approaches to various spots. Unless you are targeting specific areas offshore for fishing, which to my knowledge is prohibited by the rental companies I don't really think you need a GPS. As for you choice of rental boat, you will absolutely love the Albury. I own an Albury 20' and it is by far the best boat i have ever owned...
I have also spent time in St. Johns and the experience will definitely be different but just as good and I personally think the snorkeling is better in the Abacos not to mention the people are great...

[elbowcayvet]

you will need to talk to Junior and Sea Spray about docking the boat there. They will probley charge you to do so

[WillyT]

Ditto for all the other replies, however I was curious as to why you think you need a GPS?
I just figured that I could enter the Dodge's waypoints into the GPS, and use them as reassurance for where I'll be going. Island confirmed that the Albury doesn't have a power outlet, but my GSP has battery power.

[gummy67]

Willyt I bought a Gps for our Aug2006 trip because I was driving my four month old daughter around.I loaded waypoints from the dodge guide and actually realized I was driving more miles than I had to as well as the reassurance value. I can navigate the sea of Abaco at night without a Gps but why not have all the information without speculation.I have even purchased a sirius radio set up to have constant music,what is the crime?

[WillyT]

you will need to talk to Junior and Sea Spray about docking the boat there. They will probley charge you to do soSeaSpray has confirmed that as long as the boat is less than `24, I can moor there for free during my stay there.

[oceanluvr30]

SeaSpray has confirmed that as long as the boat is less than `24, I can moor there for free during my stay there.

Moor or dock at SeaSpray..? Big difference..

[WillyT]

Moor or dock at SeaSpray..? Big difference..
Oops, my mistake.

Dock.

[Sage]

junior is the man