Last Stop in The Abacos

Hangin' out at Pete's Pub

Fred and Michael relax at Little Harbour

Our intention this morning was to get up at a reasonable hour, take care of a few details, put the dink up on the deck, and cast off for Little Harbour by about 9. Like I said, that was the plan. But, as so often happens - the plan didn't cooperate.

Ken had finished up his charter with the French folks and rode his motorcycle over to the Marsh Harbour Marina to see us off. Of course, that meant that we engaged him to try to help us make sense of the brand new Maretron electronic engine instrumentation. Then, I remembered that I had wanted to dinghy over to the Fish House to buy some Slipper Lobster tails to have for our trip.

So, by about 9, Mike and Ken were concentrating on the electronics and Fred and I were busy hauling the dinghy back up with the electric deck crane to stow it in its cradle - 12 feet off the water.  The winch seemed to be making a lot more straining and creaking noises than usual, but we continued to haul her up. What we didn't know is that the cable had slipped off the pulley at the tip of the deck crane and was cutting into the aluminum side plate.  This put the cable under a tremendous amount of strain. You can see what's coming, right? As the dinghy got to the apex of its lift, the cable snapped in two and the 600-pound dinghy dropped to the water - twelve feet straight down!

This got our attention. Fortunately, the dinghy dropped perfectly flat onto the water and did no damage to itself or Sea Glass. We soon figured out what had happened - and I felt pretty stupid for not having checked the cable when it was making all its creaking noises.

So, I jumped onto the motorcycle to try to find a replacement cable. That's right, with the thousands of dollars in spare parts we had put aboard Sea Glass - including a spare deck crane winch - we had no spare cable. Luckily, Abaco Standard Hardware had the proper size cable and hook - and the aluminum swages we needed. Twenty minutes later, we had the cable installed on the winch and were able to bring the dink up and finally stow it safely away for its trip south.

So instead of a 9am start, we got underway about 10:45. Still, it was a beautiful day and we set off for the 2 1/2 hour run down to Little Harbour, home of the famous Pete's Pub & Gallery. We picked up a mooring ball in the harbor, quickly put the dinghy back down and headed in for cold frosty beverages. Mission accomplished, we wandered over to the rocky beach and watched the waves for a while, then toured the gallery where the Johnston family displays (and sells) their beautiful bronzes.

Little Harbour was settled in the 50s by sculptor Randolph Johnston and his young family, who were fleeing from what Rand considered the "Megamachine" of modern American civilization. They booked passage to the Abacos, where they bought and restored an old schooner at Man O' War Cay. They then set off for a voyage, intending to sail halfway around the world to Tahiti to make their new home. But just 30 miles later, they pulled into Little Harbour, took a look around and said, "This'll work."

The story of the hardships and trials they endured settling and raising a family in such a remote area is told in Randolph's book "An Artist on his Island". It's been out of print for some time, but you can still find copies occasionally on eBay or Amazon (that's where I got my copy.) Rand died in 1994, but Pete Johnston, his youngest son, runs "Pete's Pub" (a sand floor, open air, beach bar/restaurant with the best food in the Abacos), the gallery, and the foundry where he and his son Greg continue to cast fabulous bronze sculptures.

After taking a siesta and doing some reading aboard Sea Glass - and watching a movie on her satellite TV system - we dinghied back in to the pub for a delicious dinner. Ken had ridden his motorcycle down, so he joined us and picked up the tab (thanks Ken!)

After dinner, we said goodbye to Ken and headed back to Sea Glass where we once again stowed the dinghy and stood on the swim platform watching the harbor bottom beautifully lit up by Sea Glass's cool underwater lights. It's about 10pm as I write this and I can barely keep my eyes open. Tomorrow at dawn we leave for Eleuthera, where we plan to overnight at Hatchet Bay.

So watch our progress on SPOT. Goodnight.