Little Harbour

Once again, we had a slight change of plans. We decided to skip Hope Town (we've had enough Bahamas Disneyland for cruisers), and moved past Tilloo (which is a shame, it's a protected island that local birds use for nesting) because of poor anchorage. We had an incredible sail over to Little Harbour, which is the last point from the Abacos to Eleuthera.

Channel Cay Lighthouse (it's only decorative). 

Dave pulling up the mains'l (pronounced mainsul, just to make it more confusing).

 Fluffy love.

The jib.

A hard day of sailing. 

Thankfully, we've avoided such calamities, so far.

Little Harbour is gorgeous. As Dave aptly says, it's straight out of Gilligan's Island. It's a tiny little cove, nestled into land that is buffered by vertical rocky shores littered with caves and sandy beaches. There's a ton of history on this part of the Abacos. Randolph Johnston, a prior assistant professor from Smith College in Massachusetts, relocated his entire family in 1950 to leave behind the "Megamachine." They sold all their property and bought a boat to sail to Man of War Cay in the Bahamas, finally ending in Little Harbour, feeling this was heaven on earth. Upon arrival, the family; his wife, Margot, and three sons, moved into a sheltered cave at the southwest end of the harbour (photos will be posted soon) and endured numerous hardships while making themselves a home and building a foundry for Randolph and Pete's bronze sculpting. (A Cruising Guide to the Northern Bahamas, Pavlidis, 2002). 

Randolph became a famous sculptor, and his youngest son, Pete, has now taken over the foundry and continues to work bronze sculptures. He also opened the well-known, Pete's Pub. In all, the town of Little Harbour consists of the foundry, the pub, and some houses. We can't buy groceries, water, fuel - we love it. 

We've been enjoying exploring the remoteness of the area. We've snorkeled on mile-long secluded white sand beaches, offering the best snorkeling we've seen yet, with vivid and thriving reefs. We went bushwhacking in search of one of the many caves hidden in the area, and met a long-time local to help show us the entrance.

Allison, our local cave tour guide. She gave us her own drawn-out maps to help us find more caves and secret blue holes. We might be here awhile.

We were lucky enough to catch the foundry during a bronze melting, something in which very few places in the world will allow the public to watch. 

Reichard and Brett pouring into the casts.

Reichard adding copper to the crucible. He likes to live dangerously.

A close up of the crucible during the pour.

There was a little bit of a spill during the pour and Brett had to act quickly as liquid bronze is not very forgiving.

Brett getting ready to hoist the crucible.

Reichard checking the temperature 2170 degrees F.

Reichard sporting the latest in summer fashion.

The melting copper had some oxide on it which caused the flame to glow purple and green.

A view of the foundry.

Another view of the foundry.