We left Hope Town at high tide, 8:00 am. The weather forecast called for some wind, but not dangerous. We wanted to give the snorkeling a chance, since we were going right by Sandy Cay on our journey, but when we got to the spot the wind was so strong and water so choppy, we decided the snorkeling would be more work than fun. We drove a little further and anchored at Lanyard Cay for the night. Still pretty windy, but somewhat protected, we made it through the night without serious incident. We did drag our anchor a little, but the anchor held us in place for the night.
Day 56 April 11 Sunday
Sunday morning, I reached Pete’s Pub at Little Harbor (by email). Their harbor had mooring balls for rent, so I arranged for our 2 boats to be there for 2-3 days. We pulled anchor and travelled the short distance to the harbor. We stayed on the boat most of the day, but took the dinghy over to the beach later and showed Steve and Susie what we had enjoyed just a couple days before (Pete’s Pub). The food was just as good and got acquainted with another boating couple, Harold and Pearl, on a nice big sailboat. They are soon to be northbound, so our paths will probably not be crossing again.
Rock formation at the entrance. 
Stay centered as you enter by boat. It can get a little “busy” on the rocks. 
The entrance to the harbor shows off these pretty bungalows. 
Little Harbor is protected virtually on all sides. 
This cave is where Pete, as a child, and his family lived when they first settled here. 
T shirts are what people leave as memories when they come here. We saw one from Savannah. 
Susie, Steve, and I wait for our food.
The main reason we holed up in this harbor was because of the weather forecast. Stronger winds and squalls were predicted, and we didn’t want to be on the hook rocking all night long. So, after dinner, we went back to the boat for the evening, feeling safe about our location, if the weather did pass our way. Just before dark, the wind totally reversed and came from the North and West. The rain came. With the wind gusting 30-40 knots (we estimate), the boat spun around on the mooring. I was surprised how quickly it turned the opposite direction. But turn, it did. Our mooring was across from a dock, a dock with a 50’ plus yacht tied to it. When I realized what was happening, I grabbed a fender to cushion the impact with the piling, if necessary. But still not too concerned, I’m thinking this is a mooring. There should be plenty of room for a boat to swing 360 degrees with no concern for contacting anything. The boat swung around and bumped the piling (as strange as I thought this was). The piling was there to tie the other boat. The piling stopped the swing of my boat. I thought all would be well until I saw the piling start to lean toward the other boat. The wind was pretty relentless. No one was on the other boat, so I couldn’t get any assistance from their side. Amanda and I continued to try to protect the other boat during the storm. I jumped on their boat and hung fenders over the rail to stop or soften the impact. We were losing the battle as the piling continued to lean further toward the other boat. After almost 2 hours, the boat owner (with a few drinks under his belt) and his captain came to the boat. The ranting of the owner about how I needed to get my boat out of there did not bring the best out in me. But I did agree, something needed to be done. I asked the captain if he would board my boat and assist me in getting it moved. He jumped on board. I got the engine going and maneuvered the boat laterally to take the tension off the mooring. Once that was done, I let the other captain take the wheel and I grabbed the mooring line off the bow. He held her steady so there was slack in the line and after 3-4 minutes, I was able to get us loose from the mooring. I moved the boat to a new location in the harbor and dropped the anchor, as the winds and rain began to slow. Anthony, the young captain from the other boat, was a professional and a gentleman. I appreciated his help and mostly, his attitude in addressing the situation. His employer was not quite that way, but that is irrelevant at this point. It turned out to be okay and all the efforts Amanda and I made insured the other boat owner had a boat without a scratch. The next morning, we rode the dinghy over to the dock to get my fenders off the other boat. It was then I realized the mooring had dragged no less than 20 feet. Mystery solved. My boat would have clearly missed the piling and the boat if the mooring had held.
Before the storm/wind, this piling was plumb and our boat was well north of it. This is the next morning, after figuring out the mooring had moved more than 20 feet.
You can see the mooring just at the surface, between the piling and the sailboat. That mooring used to be way to the right.
Day 57 April 12- Monday
Susie had contacted the folks at Little Harbor who operate the foundry. We were able to take the tour of the place and get an education on how the sculptures are made. Frank, the lead in the foundry explained each of the 12 step process to us, from building the forms, the wax process, the hydraulics, the coating in silicate, firing the oven, and pouring the bronze. And then the steps required to get the piece colored and sellable. So fascinating, we enjoyed learning and seeing the processes.
Pete’s Pub is closed M-W, so after the foundry, there wasn’t much left to do here at the most southerly portion of the Abacos. We puttered back to the boat for a quiet evening (this time) with a 5-8 knot breeze air conditioning our boat all night. With Steve, we discussed the weather for the next couple days and determined Tuesday was a better travel day to Eleuthera than Wednesday. The sea forecast was virtually flat and the swells were to be well spaced. We always opt for the calmer day when possible, so we settled to pull out tomorrow morning.