I spoke with our guide JR last night and he said; “it is going to be a bit windy tomorrow are you guys sure you still want to go”? Using good judgment, I listened to our guide and said “what do suggest as an alternative”? JR suggested Wednesday and I fully agreed.
So, what else to do….hit the road and be the tourist verses the angler? We headed off to Hope Town. It takes about a 20 minute ferry ride to get there. The Hope Town Lighthouse (Elbow Key is the correct name) is one of only three Manual Lighthouses left in the World. It has a spring mechanism that has to be hand cranked every several hours to maintain the sequence of five white flashes every 15 seconds. The lamp burns kerosene with a wick and mantle.
The weather in Hope Town is very similar to that of South Florida. Hope Town and the surrounding islands of Abaco generally follow five weather patterns throughout the year. The winter cold fronts (or Canada Clippers) that pass down to south Florida also affect the Abacos, although occasionally some stall before getting to the Northern Bahamas. They are often over by the end of April (well almost over) and from that point, Hope Town’s temperature increases, staying warm until September. Staying warm is not a problem but a few heavy showers accompanied with thunder and lightning can make a quick exit off the flats. Somehow carrying around a graphite rod during a lighting storm may not be exercising good judgment.
We look forward to tomorrow and maybe the squalls will calm down…meanwhile 85 degrees isn’t bad! LV
I can taste the conch salad from here!
As i set here searching for a day on the news in the “extentended” forcast that might give us half a chance to let something cure in the cold and wet Oregon weather. I’m listening to momma chip away at the old glovit on the bottom of our new old drift boat and can’t help but think just how much i hate you guys….. so have fun, catch some big’uns and bite me.