Manjack Cay & Reflection

Wink and Wilma have been at Manjack Cay for the last two days. The weather was so beautiful and we are traveling with friends, Salty Dawg (Pat & Pat), Roving Seas (Brian & Jan). We're having so much fun that we missed our weather window for tomorrow and now we're headed to Bowell Cay and expect to cross the Gulf Stream on Friday, maybe Saturday. Above, Abaco - we'll miss you.

Great picture of flowers and fish in Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abaco, Bahama

Here are a few of Wilma's favorite stores in Marsh Harbour. Maxwell's is a huge grocery store with all you ever need to maintain a healty diet. The prices are about 1/3 more. Ice Cream is about $10 1/2 gallon. Fresh Veggies and Bread comes in on Monday's.

Matilda's makes the best Hamburgers on the entire island, maybe even in all of the Abaco's. Hamburgers run around $6-7 each (usually $12-20 other resturaunts). Another plus is they are only about a block from Abaco Beach Resort.

Island Boy Tackel is less than a block away from the resort and Wink really likes it. It's located above Jamie's Resturaunt. Jamie's turned out to have the best Peas and Rice according to Wilma.

Andy and Wilma went into Monkey's Uncle and both enjoyed it's unique gift selection. They were going to go back, but didn't for some reason or another (probably off having more fun).

Every day at 8:30 am there is a "Walk & Talk" group that walks between 3-5 miles. Wilma was able to lose 10 lbs. What a thrill. Jonathan Jenkins (lower right) lead the group on a Mystery Walk and Narrated the Historic Events of the Walk. It was great. Not all walkers are pictured below, but these are the die hards. Wilma in pink in middle.

Wink and Wilma are enjoying a dance at the Commodore's Ball. Wilma continues to have request for more roller skating car hop photo's so ENJOY!

Wilma (Grandma) with Amber 10, and Wink (Grandpa) with Emma 8 saying Good-Bye and we'll see you in June for the summer.

Wilma from John Henry and Bettie from Moon Beam blowing their conch horns at sunset.

Wilma also attended Arts and Crafts a few times. Wilma made these two baskets below and she decorated her Easter Eggs with Watercolors.

Wilma did some watercolor art. These four are before she had the lesson with Fred (her new watercolor teacher and compadre).

Treasure Cay Anchoring Out

We (Motor Vessel John Henry & crew, Wink the Captain, Wilma the First Mate and Sara the Sea Dog) left Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahama on Thursday morning. We were sad that the season had come to an end, but more sad because we were one of the last boats left on the dock, all alone (almost). We traveled to Treasure Cay and anchored out north of the entrance to the harbour.

Wink and Wilma at Treasure Cay Ice Cream Parlor.

We met up with Pat and Pat from "Salty Dawg" who had left the dock about 2 weeks prior to do some local cruising. They anchored next to us at Treasure Cay. As we were all having a light dinner on John Henry, we enjoyed the sunset near Salty Dawg.

Wilma managed to get Pat & Pat in one picture of the sunset with their boat.

Bettie & Klaas with "Moon Beam" a N37, a sister Great Harbour built by Mirage made their repairs and also met us at Treasure Cay. Here, Bettie is preparing to anchor.

Bettie & Klaas enjoy previewing "Salty Dawg" on our second night at Treasure Cay anchorage.

The first afternoon that we were all at Treasure Cay, we went to the Ice Cream Parlor and then over to the seaside resturaunt for a snack. We also were told that the Fishing Tournament was on and that we would see about 30 sport fish boat leave and return each day - and what a site it was to see.

Wilma and Bettie went to the beach and hunted for sea shells and enjoyed the beautiful blue water.

The morning after our arrival at Treasure Cay, the three couples boarded their dingy's and headed out to do some Turtle watching. Above, Wilma & Wink wore wetsuits as they hoped to snorkel part of the day.

We did spot numerous giant Sting Rays and they were a site to behold. We also saw several small sharks, and about a dozen or so Turtles. The Turtles are extremely fast underwater and it was almost impossible to get a picture. I did get one picture, but it's kind of a blurrrrr...

Granddaughters Amber and Emma - Spring Vacation

Emma noticed that we had collected about 6 coconuts and she talked her grandpa into opening 3-4 of them so she could have fresh coconut. Amber had promised her Uncle Jim that she would bring him back a picture of fresh lobster cooked with melted butter. We thought that a better picture would be of Amber enjoying fresh lobster for dinner.

Our friends Bettie and Klaas from "Moon Beam" finally arrived from their cruising the Exuma's. Emma and Amber both enjoyed her dog "Scoshi". (Hope I spelled that right).

Above, Sue Graham blows the Sunset Horn while Bettie, Emma and Scoshi enjoys the evening.

Within 10 minutes, Emma became a proliflic Conch Horn blower while Grandma still struggles to make a mall sound.

Amber and Emma have been practicing snorkeling in the resort pool. Grandma and Grandpa take them out for a snorkeling adventure.

Above, Grandma and girls are having a blast checking out under the Abaco's.

Of course, both girls love fishing also. We took them fishing and everyone caught fish.

Grandma was very surprised when she looked back and saw that Emma was driving the boat and Grandpa was just sitting back enjoying the ride.

One of the more spectatular sites are the large star fish. This is a rear 6 legged star fish. (usually they have 5 legs).

While, both girls are excellent at swimming and snorkeling, Amber seems to have the grace and ease of a dolphin. She can regulate her breathing and without weights (and in a wetsuit) can dive down to about 10 feet easily).

Amber collecing sand dollars and sea bicuits.

Granddaughters Amber and Emma - Spring Vacation

Double JJ (a Mirage Great Harbour 37 Trawler that FOR SALE) owned by Judy and Jonathan Jenkins - see link below for more of their adventures - left this week.

Their cat Ami looked a little reluctant to give up her dock space. Wilma, now known as Grandma, left on Friday April 4th and flew to West Palm Beach, FL where she collected her two granddaughters and brought them back on Saturday for a weeks visit in the Abaco's.

This picture represents how tall they have grown. Emma - 8 yrs old and Amber 10 yrs old.

The picture below was taken in August 2007 which compares with picture above. The rest of this posting will be done by my Grandchildren, Amber and a small section by Emma (displayed in Green).

On the flight from Delray Beach to the Bahamas, the flight was fantastic. We went past baby blue oceans that looks like pieces of a patchwork quilt, coral reefs that are covered green and purple, and islands that have thousands of citizens and buildings. Next, we headed for the John Henry by Taxi. Grandma ordered a taxi, but he was unable to come so we used a different Taxi.

As we approached the John Henry, Grandpa came out to meet us while Sara whined to give us kisses. Grandpa helped us on to the boat and showed us our room. It was full of food on the upper bunk bed. We took Sara for a long walk before gathering our new snorkel equipment and headed to the pool. I (Amber) swam like a dolphin after only a few minutes of instruction on snorkeling. I can hold my breath while going underwater and then blow out as I come to the surface and I have no problem diving back down again and again and again. Grandpa says I'm a natural and the fins that Grandma had on board are easy to use.

This is Emma and I also had a snorkel lesson with horrible flippers. My snorkel was not very good. Grandma was so nice because she let me use her snorkel that keeps the water out. Grandma also found a better pair of flippers that fit me great. I think we will go to Mermaid Reef and snorkel sometime this week.

There was a whole coconut in our room. Grandma drilled two holes in it and got the milk out. Then I helped Grandma bang the coconut until it was loose enough to crack. We cracked it and had some good nibbles of coconut. Grandpa went to help a friend fix a boat, but it didn't work.

We had Fried Rice for Dinner and cookies for a dessert.

The second day on the John Henry was splendid. But in the morning, there was a terrible storm. There was a heavy shower, the power went off instantly, and Grandma and Grandpa were soaking wet bringing in the stuff from the back of the boat. During the storm, that was when we ate Emma Surprise for lunch (Peanut Butter, fried plantains with chocolate chips on a bun). We already ate Cheerio's covered in sugar for breakfast. After the storm, the light came in a blink of an eye! Soon after lunch, Emma, Grandma, and I took Sara for a walk and Grandpa made our dinner. He said it was fried donkey, but it was bologna. After dinner, Emma and I are allowed to watch TV and play with our Nintendo DS.

Amber made her famous Baked Apples for a snack this morning.

There was a terrible storm again. It poured and poured. But don’t worry, it didn’t last all day. It only made me yawn, and Boy, I was tired. It was also foggy. But, in the afternoon was a lot more fun.

In the afternoon, Emma, Grandma, and I took Sara for a walk. (Grandpa was fast asleep.) After the walk, we went to Ms. Sue’s boat. We made ankle bracelets and necklaces.
Grandma took pictures of us with them on for the blog. Emma sitting in the Captain's chair showing off her new fish necklace & ankle bracelet. Amber's are on the table next to her. Sara is in the bottom right corner, keeping an eye on the photographer (me).

Next, we went swimming and snorkeling at the beach and at the pool. At the beach, there I saw a sting-ray. (Up close and under water it was huge!) I screamed and ran to Grandma. ‘’It is not that big,” said Grandma. She was right. Far away, it looked like it was half the size of a ruler. But I didn’t have to worry about it in the pool. I never want to get out. When I got out, Emma was shivering, and we went to the showers. Ah! It was warm. We went home (back on the boat).

Amber is working on letters to parents which have been condensed for this posting of the Blog. Please note: Amber is wearing her new necklace with hearts and her ankle bracelet with a fish that she made at Ms Sue's boat.

Sara whined to kiss us. Soon, Grandpa made omelets for dinner. He offered us many ingredients to choose from. (I wanted all the ingredients.) After dinner, Emma made a wonderful dessert. Yum!
It was chocolate Ice Cream, topped with Dream Whip and a vanilla cookie inserted. MMMmmm, delicious.

LISA & KEVIN BRADSHAW - Plano, TX

Our good friends Lisa and Kevin Bradshaw came for a visit from Plano, TX. Kevin picked out the clock you see to the right which was given to Wink upon retirement from FM Global. Kevin and Lisa arrived at our boat "John Henry" in the early afternoon and we had a fly bridge happy hour on our Mirage Great Harbour Trawler with lots of friends.

From left is Kevin, Sherry, Lisa, Herman & Mina, Rachel & Henry, Fred (Sherry's hubbie) and Wink is sitting at the top of the ladder.

Wink is sitting near Rachel and Henry. Henry is Sherry & Fred's son and Rachel is their daughter-in-law. On the second day of Lisa and Kevin's visit, a large sea turtle came by the boat and Wilma tried to get a picture and hit the wrong button on the camera and did not get the picture. The picture turned out to be a 3 second movie of the turtle which has been included somewhere in this posting- hopefully it will work.

Kevin went snorkeling many times with Wink and they also had lots of fun fishing. Above photo is Kevin in the Abaco Bank snorkeling.

While Wink was snorkeling, he saw this small turtle hiding under a rock and decided to get Wilma a nice picture for the blog.

We took the Ferry over to Elbow Cay (pronounced key) to visit Hopetown. Here Kevin and Lisa are enjoying the ride.

The lighthouse is a spectacular site. We can see it all the way over to Boat Harbour which is about 4 miles.

Wink and Wilma are on the left with Lisa and Kevin are on the right with the lighthouse in the background.

We went to the beach for a short visit, but the winds were about 25 knots so we didn't stay long.

These curly tail lizzards are everywhere. This is a small one. The average size is about 5-6 inches with the largest being 8-10 inches.

We found a great sidewalk that leads to the water with two chairs. Lisa and Kevin demostrates just how fast or slow times passes. Not a care in the world.

We all went to the lighthouse in the end and this is the view. It's like a picture postcard and says it all. Goodbye Lisa and Kevin, ya'll come back again soon.