Day 77 - The Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade

We said good-bye for now to our fellow Loopers on Dream Catchers and left Orchid Bay Marina at 8:42 am for Marsh Harbor on Great Abaco Island.  It was about 6 nautical miles away and the seas had only a light chop.  The first picture below is the marina restaurant.  About a mile outside Guana Harbor there was what looked like a private island with a large home on it, Foots Cay.  On the port, Great Guana Cay was lined with a few private homes and docks.

Southeast of Great Guana Cay was Man-O-War Cay and Great Abaco Island was now on the starboard (to the southwest).  As we headed into Marsh Harbor, Elbow Cay was to our port.  We plan to visit Elbow Cay after a couple days at Marsh Harbor.  We were going to stay at Mangoes Marina but they were full, so we got a slip next door at Harbor View Marina and tied up by 9:30 am.  I think there were as many Canadian boats as American  boats in the mooring field and the Marina.  We have seen that throughout the Bahamas.  Right next door on the harbor was Snappa's, a popular bar/restaurant.

 Marsh Harbor is the largest town in the Abacos at 6,000 and the 3^rd largest town in the Bahamas after Nassau and Freeport.  There were more cars than we had seen since leaving Florida.  We walked along the harbor and visited the shops by the marinas, then went into the actual town of Marsh Harbor.  They have a very nice grocery store, Maxwell’s, and we saw a number of boaters shopping there.  Otherwise we found the shopping in town to be disappointing for being the hub of the Abacos.  We did stop into a local bakery where I picked up a few items to try.  The town has more local shopping and services while the area by the harbors has higher end items and restaurants catering to visitors (including a KFC).

The harbor hosts an annual event called The Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  The route is about a half mile with a beer stop halfway through.  The boaters put on their green shirts, hats, beads, etc. and gather at Memorial Park at 4:30 pm.  By 5:00 there were about 200 people gathered.  The Irish flag was flown on boathooks, there was one fiddler, and everyone else was making noise by blowing conch shells, whistles, or whatever else they could find.

A decorated jeep led the way to Snappa’s, the waterfront bar that gave each parade participant a free green rum punch.  There was live music, a bagpiper, corned beef and cabbage, and very cheap drinks. There was a hanging carving of the insignia of the Scurvy Few Motorcycle Club. This club does some organized rides through the Abacos, the biggest one being in November as a charity drive for Toys for Tots (as bikers do in the US).  The TV was on over the bar, showing Washington, DC, after 10 inches of snow.  It made me think of our families and friends in the north who were still enduring the never-ending winter.  Wish you were here in the warm sunshine!  Did we pick a good year to be on the boat most of the winter or what?  As we were walking out, who do we run into again?  Our young sailboat friends!  They sailed over that day and one of the boats was having its motor checked out because they had been having problems with it.  We had a fun time at Snappa’s - good thing it was right next to our harbor so we could find our way back to the boat!